Donald Trump is already making some sweeping changes in his second term as President of the United States.
The 78-year-old, whose first term ends in 2021, was sworn in yesterday, January 20, as America’s 47th president.
At the event, Elon Musk was compelled to deny allegations that he performed a “Nazi” salute, and Trump’s wife Melania wore a striking headgear that sparked conspiracy theories.
Trump has signed several executive orders since taking office, including one pertaining to the death sentence.
Since 2021, a moratorium on federal executions has been in force, after just three convicts remain on federal death row when former Democratic President Joe Biden changed 37 of their sentences to life in prison.
In the executive order, which aren’t required to be approved by Congress, Trump has blamed the former president for ‘commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 most vile and sadistic rapists, child molesters, and murderers on Federal death row: remorseless criminals who brutalised young children, strangled and drowned their victims, and hunted strangers for sport’.
“Judges who oppose the death penalty have also disregarded the law by falsely claiming that the death penalty is unconstitutional, even though the Constitution explicitly acknowledges the legality of the death penalty,” the statement added.
‘Capital punishment is a crucial weapon for deterring and punishing those who would conduct the most egregious crimes and acts of fatal violence against American civilians,’ according to the directive issued by Trump.
When the Trump administration was first in charge from 2017 to 2021, it carried out 13 federal executions during – more than under any president in modern history, Associated Press writes.
“Before, during, and after the founding of the United States, our cities, States, and country have continuously relied upon capital punishment as the ultimate deterrent and only proper punishment for the vilest crimes,” the decree stated.
“Our Founders knew well that only capital punishment can bring justice and restore order in response to such evil. For this and other reasons, capital punishment continues to enjoy broad popular support.”
“Yet for too long, politicians and judges who oppose capital punishment have defied and subverted the laws of our country.”
“At every turn, they seek to thwart the execution of lawfully imposed capital sentences and choose to enforce their personal beliefs rather than the law.”
It added: “The Government’s most important responsibility is to safeguard its citizens from terrible conduct.”
“And my Administration will not tolerate efforts to stymie and eviscerate the laws that authorise capital punishment against those who commit horrible acts of violence against American citizens.”
The Attorney General “must take all necessary and lawful action to ensure that each state that allows the death penalty has a sufficient supply of drugs needed to carry out lethal injection,” according to the directive.
All the executive orders Donald Trump has signed so far
Policy recognising only ‘two genders’
‘Two genders’ will be the official policy, according to an edict signed by the president.
The policy reads: “Agencies will cease pretending that men can be women and women can be men when enforcing laws that protect against sex discrimination.”
“These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.”
Along with “defending women from gender ideology extremism,” the order will also terminate “wasteful” government initiatives that support diversity and inclusivity.
Free speech
The president accused the previous administration of ‘trampling free speech rights by censoring Americans’ speech’ and vowed to restore freedom of speech.
According to the order, it would “end censorship of protected speech” and “ensure that no Federal Government officer, employee, or agent engages in or facilitates any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen.”
Leaving the World Health Organisation
The president declared that the US would no longer be “ripped off” by the organization, accusing it of mishandling the COVID-19 pandemic.
While signing a document to have the US leave the health agency, Trump said: “World Health ripped us off, everybody rips off the United States. It’s not going to happen anymore.”
TikTok ban
As anticipated, Trump issued an executive order halting the US’s ban on the well-known app to give time for a “suitable course forward.”
“I guess I have a warm spot for TikTok that I didn’t have originally,” he said.
January 6 pardons
Following Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election, there was an uprising in the Capitol on January 6, 2021, which led to several Trump supporters being arrested.
And as expected, the president has not slowed down in pardoning criminals; according to Trump, he has pardoned approximately 1,500 people and granted six commutations.
Immigration
Since declaring illegal immigration at the US-Mexico border a national emergency, Trump has issued a number of immigration-related policies on his first day back in the White House.
Trump plans to send US troops to assist immigration agents and restrict refugees, and he has already begun to reverse a number of immigration orders from the Biden administration.
Additionally, the president has started the process of denying citizenship to children of illegal immigrants in the United States.
When he was inaugurated, he stated: “All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came.”
Restoring the death penalty
Calling capital punishment a ‘essential tool for deterring and punishing those who would commit the most heinous crimes’, Trump signed an order which will ensure states have enough lethal injection drugs for executions.
“The Attorney General shall pursue the death penalty for all crimes of a severity demanding its use,” the decree states.
Renaming the Gulf of Mexico
Trump now has the authority to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, as he promised at a press conference earlier this month.
“President Trump is bringing common sense to government and renewing the pillars of American Civilization,” the executive order said.
Its worldwide naming will remain same notwithstanding the order.
Energy policy
Trump signed the order in the midst of what he calls a “national energy emergency,” vowing to “unleash American energy” and export US energy worldwide.
“America is blessed with an abundance of energy and natural resources that have historically powered our nation’s economic prosperity. In recent years, burdensome and ideologically motivated regulations have impeded the development of these resources, limited the generation of reliable and affordable electricity, reduced job creation, and inflicted high energy costs upon our citizens,” the order states.
As Trump said that America “will be a rich nation again,” the decree will also overturn Biden’s drilling prohibition in Alaska.
Cost of living
Trump pledged in the order to provide Americans with “emergency price relief” in order to reduce housing costs and supply while generating “employment opportunities for American workers.”
Trump will also “get rid of damaging,” coercive “climate” policies that drive up the “price of fuel and food.”
Drug cartels
Drug cartels will now be categorized as terrorist organizations, according to Trump.
“International cartels constitute a national-security threat beyond that posed by traditional organised crime,” the orders says.
Federal workers
The classification of federal employees as political hires would theoretically make it easier to fire them.
In order to shrink the size of the federal government, Trump also announced a federal hiring freeze.
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