President Trump Introduces Sweeping Policy Changes Upon First Days in Office

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On the 20th of January, 2025, Donald Trump returned to office as the 49th President of the United States, pledging to introduce sweeping changes to current American policy immediately. On his first day, he signed numerous executive orders across various sectors. These included orders on DEI policy, international agreements and the economy, all of which have gained significant attention online. Many of the president’s policies have received much backlash, such as: 

DEI Reversals

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies have been used by both private and public corporations for several decades. These help groups who have been historically underrepresented in the past. Upon President Trump’s entry to office, many executive orders were announced to reverse the DEI frameworks put in place by his predecessors, particularly targeting the government and private sector. All employees of DEI offices were immediately put on paid leave, with agencies being expected to submit a written plan for the layoff of the aforementioned workers by January 31st. Many of these orders have been in place for decades, having been introduced by various presidents such as Johnson and Clinton. 

Civil rights groups, such as The American Civil Liberties Union, have condemned President Trump’s reversal of several DEI orders, accusing him of weaponising civil rights in an attempt to pressure companies to abandon their DEI initiatives. The president, however, claims that DEI policies are ‘illegal’, and has recently moved to target the military, banning DEI initiatives in the American army. He has also ordered the formulation of policy regarding transgender troops, which critics expect to lay the groundwork for a ban. The president has previously barred transgender troops from serving in 2017 on the grounds of transition surgery making service members ‘physically incapable of military standards’. Though he has not explicitly mentioned transgender people in his new executive order, likely in an attempt to avoid judicial scrutiny, the order’s wording bars members whose  ‘gender identity [is] inconsistent with individual sex’, leading to a lawsuit being filed by six transgender service members. The reversal of these policies may stand as President Trump’s rejection of long-standing institutions, as the majority of his anti-DEI executive orders focus on reversals of previous legislation, as opposed to the introduction of new policy. 

International Agreements: Climate

In keeping with his ‘America First’ stance, President Trump marked his entry to office by exiting several international agreements, including the Paris Climate Agreement. American international policy, and climate policy by extension, has swayed extensively over the past few years, with Democrat Joe Biden rejoining the Paris Agreement after Trump withdrew from it in his first term as president. 

President Trump’s second withdrawal from the agreement comes from his executive order to ‘Put America First in International Climate Agreements’, in which he claims that international climate deals have damaged the American economy. Simultaneously, the president favours the ascendency of fossil fuels, famously chanting ‘drill, baby, drill’ in his inaugural address. This seems to be in response to a supposed ‘energy crisis’ faced by America, with Trump pushing for increased oil production to curb his supporters’ fear of rising energy prices, despite America’s levels of oil production reaching record amounts globally. The reversal of climate legislation, in combination with environmentally damaging economic policy, could have catastrophic impacts on the worsening climate crisis, with America already producing the most emissions across the world. 

Healthcare

Perhaps the most controversial of President Trump’s policies on healthcare is his decision to withdraw America from the World Healthcare Organisation, stating the organisation severely mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic and demanded unfair payments from the USA in comparison to other nations. America funds 22% of WHO programmes, meaning the country's withdrawal would have devastating repercussions on healthcare across the world. 

Yet, Trump’s healthcare policy did not exclusively focus on cutting spending abroad. The president has also repealed several Biden-era directives which increased accessibility to Medicaid for low-income Americans. Moreover, he announced cuts to medical expenditure which posed threats to the Affordable Care Act, reducing state subsidies available to fund healthcare as well as changing the eligibility criteria for coverage, once again citing the ‘illegal’ embedding of DEI into the American system. An estimated 24 million Americans will be affected by the changes, with premium billing in American healthcare leading to many simply avoiding medical visits altogether. 

Looking to the Future: Trump’s mark on politics

The main focus of the Trump administration seems to be on boosting the American economy, no matter the cost. The withdrawal from international agreements concerning climate and healthcare, the reversal of DEI and a crackdown on immigration laws have led to accusations of the president acting dictatorially which, when reviewing his immediate actions, does not seem to be inaccurate. 

The question moving forward for the Trump administration is this: to what extent will the president sacrifice American quality of life for the sake of its economy? The answer does not seem positive at the moment.