Dave Gordon
In his second term, Donald Trump reportedly signed more executive orders on his first day in office than any other president in U.S. history. It was the harbinger of things to come, as he rapidly followed through on his campaign promises of promoting law and order, fighting anti-Semitism, increasing government efficiency, ridding the country of woke policies, and more. His first few weeks of office included scores of new executive directives that many believe will steer the country to safety, security, and sovereignty.
In terms of security and related issues, Mexico and Canada border patrols have increased, and both countries have also pledged to shore up their own patrols. The president seeks detention and deportation of anyone in the U.S. illegally.
Trump has also made it harder for those who cross the border specifically to have a child in the U.S. Children born to these parents are pejoratively called “anchor babies,” implying that the child’s birth is intended to help the parents and other family members gain legal residency or avoid deportation.
A Trump order redefines birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment, which grants citizenship to all persons born on U.S. soil. Trump asserts that a child born in the U.S. is not a citizen if either parent does not have legal immigration status or is in the country legally but only temporarily.
Anti-Semitism
Within ten days of taking office, Trump signed a pledge to deport non-citizen college students, and others who took part in pro-Hamas protests.
Trump’s Executive Order 13899, signed during his first term in 2019, was designed to prevent anti-Semitism by making it easier to use laws that prohibit institutional discrimination against people based on race, color, or national origin to punish discrimination against Jews. Expanding on this, Trump promised immediate action by the Justice Department to prosecute “terroristic threats, arson, vandalism, and violence against American Jews,” and marshal federal resources to combat what it called “the explosion of anti-Semitism on our campuses and streets” since the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. It also calls for the cancelling of student visas of Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, and deportation on non-citizens who are pro-jihadist protesters.
The executive order mandates that within 60 days, heads of agencies and departments must submit to the White House their recommendations on all potential criminal and civil legal measures that could be employed to combat anti-Semitism. Additionally, it calls for a comprehensive review and analysis of legal cases involving alleged civil rights violations related to pro-Palestinian demonstrations at K-12 schools, colleges, and universities. This review could potentially result in actions to remove non-citizen students and staff members.
Trump noted in the memorandum that after the October 7 terror attacks “pro-Hamas aliens and left-wing radicals began a campaign of intimidation, vandalism, and violence on the campuses and streets of America. Celebrating Hamas’ mass rape, kidnapping, and murder, they physically blocked Jewish Americans from attending college classes, obstructed synagogues and assaulted worshippers, and vandalized American monuments and statues.”
Trump added that the Biden Administration “turned a blind eye to this coordinated assault on public order; it simply refused to protect the civil rights of Jewish Americans, especially students.” Trump also cited the December 2024 U.S. House of Representatives Staff Report on anti-Semitism, which said “the failure of our federal government departments and agencies is astounding.”
“I will issue clear orders to my Attorney General,” Trump continued, “to aggressively prosecute terroristic threats, arson, vandalism, and violence against American Jews.”
Support of Israel
Trump has shown strong and steadfast support for Israel.
Within 15 days of swearing in, Trump welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House. (President Biden did so after1,283 days.)
This meeting symbolically showed that the two nations were closer than ever, especially seeing that Netanyahu was the first foreign dignitary to visit after the inauguration.
In his first term, Trump made great strides to bolster ties with Israel. He opened the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem (recognizing it as Israel’s capital), he recognized the Golan Heights as Israeli territory, closed the PLO office in Washington, cut $500 million to the Palestinian Authority, reduced UNWRA funding (the UN Relief and Works Agency – supposedly dedicated to relief work, but actually has been a haven for supporting terror against Israel), spearheaded the Abraham Accords, and said that Israelis living in Judea and Samaria were not violating international law. In his second term, Trump continued his unwavering support of Israel.
Trump withdrew from the United Nations Human Rights Council (that was notoriously anti-Israel), completely defunded UNWRA, lifted sanctions on Israelis in Judea and Samaria, and supported a bill to officially call the area of the “West Bank,” Judea and Samaria. By early February Trump had already released weapons that were blocked by the Biden administration, citing the reason: “Because they bought them.”
In one of his last acts of office in 2021, Trump designated Yemen’s Houthis as a terrorist organization, which was quickly reversed by Biden, and then reinstated by Trump in his second term.
Energy and Oil
Trump has been a strong proponent of domestic oil and gas drilling, and within a short time he ordered agency heads to revoke, rescind, or revise regulations that restrict oil and gas leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He also lifted bans on oil and gas exploration in parts of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.
Trump is against relying on foreign oil, even from Canada. Trump asserts that Alaska’s vast wilderness areas hold immense potential for oil and gas development that could significantly benefit both the state and the nation as a whole. Trump believes there are compelling economic and energy dependence reasons to support expanded drilling in Alaska’s wildlife areas, despite strong criticism from environmental groups.
Although the U.S. has made significant strides in reducing its reliance on foreign oil, it still imports a considerable amount of petroleum products. By tapping into Alaska’s vast reserves, estimated at 7.7 to 11.8 billion barrels of oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge alone, the U.S. could further reduce its dependence on foreign sources.
The geopolitical implications of increased domestic oil production are significant. As Alaska’s Senator Lisa Murkowski noted, “Even after just a few years, we are already beginning to see the significant shifts brought on by our growing oil production.” Expanded drilling in Alaska could strengthen America’s position in global energy markets and provide leverage in international relations.
Proponents note that proposed drilling areas represent only a small percentage of Alaska’s total wilderness. For instance, the area under consideration for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is 1.5 million acres out of the refuge’s total 19.6 million acres.
In concrete terms, Trump signed an executive order revoking the Biden Administration’s ban on new offshore oil and gas development along most of the country’s coastlines, despite the outcry of environmentalists. Trump also revoked Biden’s action that prevented oil and gas drilling in 2.8 million acres in the Arctic Ocean. Moreover, Trump directed the Secretary of Energy to restart reviews of applications for liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects, lifting a freeze imposed by the Biden administration.
Paris Climate Agreement
President Trump swiftly withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement (also called the Paris Accords or Paris Climate Accords), an international treaty on climate change, adopted by 196 parties at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in December 2015, which took force in November 2016. The new order blocks transfer of U.S. funds previously obligated to the International Climate Finance Plan.
The Paris Agreement, while a landmark global effort to address climate change, has several significant flaws that some say hinder its effectiveness. One of the most significant weaknesses of the Paris Agreement is its reliance on voluntary compliance. Countries can set their own targets and policies without binding implementation. There are no penalties for countries that fail to meet their targets.
The Paris Agreement places a higher burden on more highly developed nations. Developed nations are expected to contribute more financial resources to help less developed nations and are expected to make larger emissions reductions. Some argue that the agreement’s goals rely heavily on speculative science, and an overreliance on computational models that may or may not reflect actual future outcomes. Others strongly disagree.
DOGE
Trump took swift action against what he felt was misspending, overspending, and waste, when he installed the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), under the direction of Elon Musk. On February 11th, Musk announced that DOGE had uncovered “billions and billions of dollars in waste, fraud, and abuse.”
Some examples include: a $36,000 contract for DEI-related (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) workshops at the Department of Homeland Security, a $1 million contract supporting the “Gender X Initiative” at the Social Security Administration, a $1 million contract for a diversity communications campaign for agricultural professionals at the Department of Agriculture, a $375,000 contract for DEI and onboarding services at the U.S. Forest Service, a $30,000 contract for a Central America Gender Assessment Consultant at the U.S. Forest Service, a $230,000 contract for Brazil forest and gender consultant services at the Department of Agriculture, and a $4 million contract for DEI consultation services and training in the Jobs Corps program at the Department of Labor.
Reporters estimate that the elimination of 85 contracts related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) at more than a dozen federal agencies, will cut government spending by approximately $1 billion. In addition, 12 underutilized leases were cancelled, saving approximately $3 million and the termination of 22 leases, saves $44.6 million. Another $1 billion was saved by rescinding government over-hiring. And still another $45 million was saved by elimination of scholarships to students in Burma.
DOGE has targeted the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for cuts, with Musk claiming the agency is “incredibly politically partisan” and a “radical-left political psy op.” Some 99 percent of the 12,000 jobs at USAID have now been cut, saving a reported $40 billion.
Some of the USAID money had been spent on farming equipment for the Taliban, $1.5 million to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities,| and $70,000 for a DEI musical in Ireland, $47,000 for a transgender opera in Colombia, $32,000 for a transgender comic book in Peru, $2.5 million for electric vehicles in Vietnam, $6 million to fund tourism in Egypt, millions that were directed to the Wuhan lab in China (that allegedly leaked COVID-19), and hundreds of thousands of dollars that made its way to fighters affiliated with al-Qaeda-in Syria.
Gender Identification
There will be no more “they/them” or “zhir/zim” or thirty-six genders promoted by the federal government. Trump has required that the U.S. government recognize only two genders, male and female, on passports, visas, Global Entry cards, all other forms and documents, and in all programs and communications.
Trump also forbade federal money, including grants, from being used to promote gender ideology and he directed the attorney general and Homeland Security secretary to “ensure that males are not detained in women’s prisons or housed in women’s detention centers.”
President Trump signed an executive order on February 5, 2025 that aims to ban men from participating in women’s and girls’ sports. The executive order, titled, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” directs federal agencies, including the Department of Justice, to interpret Title IX as prohibiting transgender girls and women from competing in female sports categories. The order threatens to withdraw federal funding from schools and institutions that allow men to participate in women’s sports. (While executive orders are significant, they are not laws passed by Congress. They can be challenged in court and may be overturned by future administrations. Already, there are legal challenges being mounted against this order.)
President Trump’s first month in office during his second term has been marked by a flurry of executive orders and policy changes that have set a clear direction for his administration. These actions have touched on a wide range of issues, from immigration and energy policy to government efficiency and social issues.
Conclusion
Community members, while interested in all aspects of American life, are especially thankful to President Trump for his strong stand to support Israel and to abolish anti-Semitism, especially on college campuses. Trump famously declared that if the hostages held by Hamas were not all released by noon February 15th, “all hell will break loose.” Hamas declared it was breaking its agreement, but backtracked, certainly due to Trump’s threat, and delivered three hostages on the 15th.
