Trump takes on the US Constitution with day one executive orders

Trump issued an executive order to end birthright citizenship, which is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment, doubled down on fossil fuels that drive pollution, and targeted transgender Americans.

It’s official. Donald J. Trump has returned to the presidency. And on the first day of his second term, Trump unveiled dozens of executive orders that target everything from immigration to the environment to tariffs and trade. 

Let’s dive in.

Immigration and the border

Some of Trump’s biggest campaign promises were related to immigration. He vowed to fix the United States’ “broken” immigration system, further secure the border, and end birthright citizenship — the guarantee that all those born on US soil are US citizens.

On Monday, Trump tried to do just that, by issuing an almost certainly unconstitutional executive order to end birthright citizenship, which is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.

Section 1 of the 14th Amendment states that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

Amendments cannot be undone by an executive order, they can only be repealed by further amendments to the Constitution, and lawsuits are certain to follow Trump’s effort to unilaterally end birthright citizenship.

Trump also issued an order closing the border to asylum-seeking migrants – he cut off the CBP One app, which was set up under the Biden-Harris administration in order to curb southwest border crossings. Once in effect, the app was the only way for people to get an appointment to request asylum.

Trump also plans to declare a national emergency along the southern border, and will order the Department of Defense to use the US military at the border. This is likely to trigger immediate legal action as there are strict limits for how the US armed forces can be deployed. While the Constitution itself does not bar the domestic use of the military, the power to enact such deployments is vested in Congress.

Declaring a national emergency also allows the president to unilaterally unlock federal funding for further border wall construction, without approval from Congress.

Finally, Trump plans to designate drug cartels as “global terrorists,” which will mean that any payments made by a company to cartel-affiliated organizations or individuals and any logistical assistance that may be provided to them could be deemed terrorist activity. 

Energy and the environment

Trump has also declared a national energy emergency, which could allow him to speed up permitting for power plants and pipelines.

The US has made strides in recent years to move away from the fossil fuels that drive pollution that causes climate change and embrace clean energy alternatives like wind and solar power. But Trump opposes clean energy investments and has pledged fealty to oil and gas CEOs.

Trump also plans to order the federal government to roll back regulations that impede domestic energy production – including production from sources such as fossil fuels.

“We will drill, baby, drill,” he said during his speech on Monday. “America will be a manufacturing nation once again, and we have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have: the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth, and we are going to use it. We’re going to use it.”

As part of this effort, Trump plans to open the Alaskan wilderness to more oil and gas drilling.

Additionally, the president plans to eliminate environmental justice programs across the federal government, many of which are in place in order to protect vulnerable communities (like Black and brown Americans) from excess pollution.

He also plans to roll back energy efficiency regulations for dishwashers, shower heads, and gas stoves.

Tariffs and trade

On the campaign trail, Trump proposed that exorbitant tariffs be put on a number of countries including the US’ two biggest trading partners – Mexico and Canada – as well as China.

While he did not impose tariffs on Monday, he directed federal agencies to begin an investigation into trade practices such as deficits, counterfeit goods, unfair currency practices, and an exemption that currently allows certain goods to be shipped to the US tariff free.

Trump also plans to order an assessment of whether China is complying with a trade deal signed in 2020, as well as a review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which in 2018 replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which originally created a trilateral trade bloc in North America.

Trump has also ordered the federal government to assess the practicality of creating an “External Revenue Service,” which would apparently be responsible for collecting duties and tariffs.

“Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens,” Trump said during his speech. “For this purpose, we are establishing the External Revenue Service, to collect all tariffs, duties and revenues. [There] will be massive amounts of money pouring into our treasury, coming from foreign sources.”

Trump has promised that his wide-ranging tariff plan would be a key mechanism of lowering prices. But according to an analysis from The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) these proposed tariffs “would be largely passed onto consumers as increased prices.” The report also found that 80% of Americans would pay an average of $2,872 more per year as a result of Trump’s tariffs alone.

Another analysis, from the Yale Budget Lab, estimates the annual cost could actually reach as high as $7,600 for an average American household.

Gender and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives

The president also used his inaugural speech and some of his executive orders to attack transgender people and gender-nonconforming individuals — who make up about 1.6% of the population.

“As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female,” he said in his inauguration speech Monday.

Trump’s order also aims to direct the federal government to use the word “sex” instead of “gender,” and it orders the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security to “ensure that official government documents, including passports and visas, reflect sex accurately.”

Sex refers to the different biological and physiological characteristics of males and females, such as reproductive organs and hormones, whereas gender refers to the socially constructed characteristics of men and women, such as clothing and gender roles, according to the National Institute of Health.

Trump also plans to remove protections for transgender people in federal prisons, as well as remove protections for transgender migrants in US custody. A study released in August by Immigration Equality, the US’ largest LGBTQ immigrant rights organization, found that nearly a third of queer detainees interviewed claim to have been sexually assaulted or physically abused while in the custody of federal immigration authorities.

Similar occurrences happen in federal prisons, according to the NIH. 

Additionally, Trump plans to establish biological sex definitions for federal workers as part of revised Title IX guidance for US schools.

Other actions

Trump has also vowed to issue an executive order to give ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese owner, more time to satisfy an order from the US Supreme Court upholding a 2024 law banning the platform  unless ByteDance sells it to a US-based company or individual.  Notably, Trump led the effort to ban TikTok during his first term as president.

He’s additionally said he plans to issue blanket pardons to those convicted on nonviolent federal charges of storming the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 and commute the sentences of most or all of those convicted on more serious charges.