On Jan. 20, Donald Trump was sworn into office for a second term as the 47th president of the United States. In his address, he stated his goals for the next four years, promising, “We are at the start of a thrilling new era of national success.”
But what does that mean? Here’s a summary of the main points Trump made in his inaugural speech and what he did in week one of his second term.
- Immigration
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Since 2016, Trump has been campaigning on a platform of deporting illegal immigrants and controlling immigration in America. This continued in his 2020 and 2024 campaigns and seemed to be a primary factor in his victory. So, it’s no surprise that in his inauguration speech, he said, “We will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came.”
Trump criticizes former President Joe Biden’s relaxed border policies and leaders in sanctuary cities — those that don’t enforce federal immigration law — continuously claiming that undocumented immigrants are “dangerous criminals.”
He vowed on the campaign trail he would end birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants. On Inauguration Day, he signed an executive order that challenged the 14th Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to “all people born or naturalized in the United States.” By ending this right, children of undocumented individuals may face a loss of citizenship and potential deportation. However, as of Jan. 22, U.S. District Court Judge John Coughenour has blocked this order, citing it as “blatantly unconstitutional.”Â
- Education
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In light of recent natural disasters, like the Los Angeles wildfires and Hurricane Helene, Trump emphasized the significance of timely response by federal officials. To bring more funding to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Trump plans to eliminate the Department of Education, a significant theme on his campaign trail and was reinstated by the Department of Education website.
He has targeted the education department for its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives and its alleged support of topics like critical race theory. “Yet more money is spent on it than any country anywhere in the world. Our education system teaches our children to be ashamed of themselves,” Trump emphasized in his speech.
The removal of the Department of Education could be catastrophic for K-12 students, as the department helps distribute federal funds to underprivileged schools, develop programs that benefit many different populations, including students with disabilities, and oversees educational policies. The Department of Education also administers federal student aid for higher education, raising serious questions about how college students would receive FAFSA funding and grants.Â
- environmental
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In the words of our new president, “We will drill, baby, drill.” The climate crisis has been an ongoing issue for conservatives as climate initiatives restrict oil drilling and limit greenhouse gas emissions. Trump intends to end initiatives supported by proponents of the Green New Deal and revoke the electric vehicle mandate, which he reinstated in his speech, enacted under former President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
Trump has had a well-documented disagreement with the Green New Deal proposed by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and U.S. Sen. Edward Markey in 2019. The key points of the Green New Deal were to tackle economic inequality through union jobs, workers’ rights, universal healthcare, and guaranteed employment. However, the main goal of the Green New Deal is to bring U.S. greenhouse gas emissions down and tackle climate change by shifting to more sustainable solutions. On his first day of office, Trump signed an executive order to withdraw from the Paris Agreement.
- new names
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Trump also said, “A short time from now, we are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.”
Not only does Trump seek to change the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, but he also plans to change Mount Denali back to Mount McKinley after former President William McKinley, as stated in his speech. Alaska’s state government requested the name change in 1975 after the Alaskan Athabaskan people lived north of the mountain. However, it wasn’t until 2015 that the name was officially changed by former President Barack Obama.
- equal rights
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Republicans have long complained about “cancel culture” and government infringement on free speech. Many of their concerns stemmed from back to the COVID-19 crisis when social media companies sought to control “misinformation” about the virus, though some felt they were silencing alternative viewpoints. Trump swiftly moved to “sign an executive order to immediately stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to America.” Following his lead, Meta, Instagram, and Facebook’s parent company have removed fact-checkers from their apps.
On LGBTQ matters, Trump declared that there are only two genders, male and female. “It will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female,” he said. Already, Trump has repealed several of Biden’s policies that ensured ethnic, racial, and LGBTQ rights.Â
Similarly, he signed an executive order that places all federal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) employees on paid leave pending their removal. According to AP news, Trump has “repealed Department of Education guidelines on Title IX concerning transgender rights and various documents advising schools on how to support and protect LGBTQ persons.” Trump also referred to a vaccination policy in effect from August 2021 through January 2023 in which military members were required to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Refusal could result in discharge. “This week, I will reinstate any service members who were unjustly expelled from the military for objecting to the Covid vaccine mandate with full back pay,” Trump said.
In total, Trump signed over 20 executive orders in his first week in office, according to USA Today. Trump also reversed 78 executive actions put in place by Biden’s administration. His inauguration speech brought a lot of excitement to the Republican Party. There is uncertainty, however, about what will come out of his executive orders and the appointments of his cabinet. Americans and allies are waiting with bated breath to see what will come from Trump’s presidency.Â