Nikolas Liepins

On January 20, 2025, Donald Trump was officially inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States. On that day, he participated in the usual inauguration activities and immediately hit the ground running, signing executive orders one after the other. Here are the top five most concerning protocols Trump has administered so far.

Immigration

Trump has multiple protocols regarding immigration. He wants to deport immigrants out of the United States and has already heightened border security. He says there is, “no price tag” for his mass deportation plan. According to FastCompany.com, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has come out saying, “Since January 2025, it is detaining and planning to deport 600 to 1,100 immigrants a day.” In comparison, under the Biden administration, an average of 282 arrests were documented daily.

 These mass deportations will take a toll on America’s economy, as they fill most hard-labor jobs like construction, transportation, and service occupations. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, “In 2023, the foreign-born accounted for 18.6% of the U.S. civilian labor force” and, “the labor force participation rate of the foreign-born increased to 66.6 percent.” Trump has even broadened the “requirements” it takes to get deported, and lifted bans on ICE enforcement in schools. He also wants to eradicate the “catch and release” policy, and “parole programs” that allow immigrants to live freely while their cases are being heard.

Additionally, Trump plans to revise the definition of birthright citizenship. If the mother or father are not fully legal citizens, their child will not be documented despite being born in the country. This contradicts the 14th Amendment, which explicitly states, “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.” As of now, this order has been blocked by the Federal Judge. However, he still has the option to take this case to the Supreme Court.

Taxes/Tariffs/Trades

As of February 1, Trump has implemented a series of tariffs on imported goods from countries including China, Mexico, and the UK, thus changing America’s trade system. He will suspend the United States’ participation in the Global Tax Deal, which sets a minimum corporate tax universally. He will also eradicate the Inflation Reduction Act, which was presented in 2022, and it presents financial relief to those in need. Trump will even repeal Biden’s tax increases for upper-class Americans and grant tax cuts for businesses. This is a crisis for middle to lower-class citizens, who will be negatively affected by this as their prices will continue to rise under Trump’s administration. 

Furthermore, as a candidate, Trump described how he plans to inspect the United States and China relations and threatened to raise tariffs by 60%. He claims that other world markets are “harmful” to America’s interests. In his inaugural address, he claimed, “Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens.” He will even dive into the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement with hopes of a renegotiation in 2026. Additionally, Trump wants to establish an “External Revenue Service,” to collect tariffs and other revenue. All of these new taxes and tariffs will significantly stunt trade across the world. Trump believes this will help Americans use more “American-made” products, however, this will cause prices to increase rapidly. 

Healthcare

Trump also has some alarming regulations set for America’s healthcare. He expressed that he has many plans to change the healthcare Americans know today. First, he will repeal the Affordable Care Act and Biden’s instruction to make Medicaid more accessible, excluding the price cap on insulin and prescription drugs. This will directly harm many Americans since the ACA has helped many people access affordable healthcare since its introduction in 2010. 

Moreover, he wants to suspend the USA’s participation in the World Health Organization (WHO.) WHO addresses critical development in disease research, and building healthier systems. America was even one of the founding countries during WHO’s inception. The World Health Organization released a statement saying that they, “Hope the United States will reconsider […] for the benefit of the health and well-being of millions of people around the globe.” Despite this, Trump is ordering the secretary and the United States Office of Management and Budget to research international partners America can trust to replace WHO.

Diversity and Equality Rights

The list of protocols does not end with diversity and equality rights. Trump is giving 60 days for all executive branches to eradicate all DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) policies, terminating over 60 years of diversity efforts. He plans to put all inclusion staff on paid leave to eventually lay them off. Trump wants to repeal many of Biden’s statements on the rights of racial and ethnic equity and LGBTQ+ members (i.e., military, schooling, government). He will also require that the government only recognize two genders on passports, visas, and many other documents. Trump also wants to get rid of the White House Gender Policy Council and Department of Education rulings created by Biden, which advocates for gender and race equality in the workplace and schools. As a result, many believe that Trump is reversing all efforts and progress made toward a more free and equal society for years within a couple of hours.

Climate

To summarize, Trump’s stance on climate change is that he doesn’t believe in it. 

He proposes new plans of using more fossil fuels. He is especially known for his popular chant, “Drill, baby, drill!” during his rallies as a candidate. He will be unbanning the leases Biden suspended in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, as well as removing the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement. This was an international treaty signed in 2016. It was created to reinforce modifications to help combat climate change. This will have a huge impact on America as climate change is altering Earth in multiple ways, like, for instance, LA’s recent wildfires.

Moreover, during his term, Biden implemented many policies and acts regarding climate change, which Trump plans to repeal almost all of. These include increased electric vehicle use, sections of the Inflation Reduction Act concerning the climate, and regulations on fossil fuel use.

Conclusion

Our 47th president, Donald Trump, made major changes to America within hours of taking office. These new laws, policies, regulations, and other changes will continue to affect all Americans as Trump’s term continues.