What were the key executive orders signed by Donald Trump in his first 100 days in office?
Executive summary
In the first 100 days of his second presidency, President Donald J. Trump unleashed an unusually rapid slate of executive orders—well over a hundred by most counts—focused on immigration, deregulation, government reorganization, national security, and cultural-policy issues such as DEI and transgender rights [1] [2] [3]. Those orders included high-profile, substantive directives—tariffs and trade measures, ending birthright citizenship, broad rollbacks of diversity initiatives, and mass pardons for January 6 defendants—as well as many procedural instructions aimed at shrinking regulatory agencies or changing how federal agencies operate [2] [4] [5].
1. The scale and pace: a record-setting flurry
The sheer number and speed of signings was itself a story: independent trackers reported between roughly 141 and 147 executive orders in the first 100 days, with some counts noting 26 on Inauguration Day alone, making this pace unmatched among recent presidents and comparable only to the extraordinary mobilizations in earlier eras [1] [3] [6]. Media outlets and data projects documented that the administration did not let a week pass without new directives, signaling an explicit strategy to govern by executive action rather than wait on Congress [3] [7].
2. Immigration and citizenship: sweeping, controversial moves
Several of the most consequential orders targeted immigration: measures tightening asylum and deportation authority, an order attacking birthright citizenship, and immigration-related election-policy directives requiring documentary proof of citizenship for voter registration were all flagged by reporters and policy trackers as key priorities during the first 100 days [2] [4] [8]. Those moves prompted immediate legal and political pushback, and civil-rights groups warned many of the steps exceeded executive authority or violated constitutional protections [9] [10].
3. Trade and economic policy: reciprocal tariffs and auto levies
Economic signaling came quickly: the administration issued executive orders to impose “reciprocal” tariffs and steep duties on imports, including high-profile auto tariffs, which administration officials hailed as industrial rebirth while foreign leaders and markets reacted with alarm and uncertainty [2]. Some tariff plans were later narrowed or adjusted—an internal back-and-forth reported in national press—illustrating how executive orders can be both forceful and subject to operational recalibration [2].
4. Culture wars, personnel rules, and pardons: DEI, transgender policy, and mass clemency
The new president used orders to eliminate federal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs, to curb what the administration described as “gender radicalism” in the military, to restrict recognition of transgender and intersex identities in federal documents, and to reclassify thousands of federal employees as political appointees—moves the ACLU and other advocates described as discriminatory and unlawful and which have spawned multiple lawsuits and court stays [2] [10] [9]. On Day One the administration also issued pardons for many January 6 defendants, a highly politicized act noted across outlets [2].
5. Deregulatory and institutional rewrites: withdrawing from organizations, new agencies, and legal fights
Beyond headline policies, many orders were procedural: directives to shrink or alter independent regulatory agencies, to withdraw the United States from dozens of international organizations and treaties, and to create new entities such as a Department of Government Efficiency—efforts that legal scholars say are designed to expedite deregulatory aims but which have also provoked litigation and questions about statutory limits on executive powers [5] [11] [4]. Civil-liberties groups and courts have already blocked or limited several orders, underscoring that executive orders can be powerful yet reversible or susceptible to judicial constraints [10] [9].
Conclusion: what the first 100 days disclosed about governing strategy
Taken together, the first-100-days portfolio reflected an administration intent on rapid, unilateral change across trade, immigration, social policy, and the structure of government; it prioritized immediacy and breadth over incremental consensus, producing tangible policy shifts and an avalanche of litigation and international concern that will likely define both short-term impacts and long-term legal contests [3] [11] [4]. Where sources differ—on exact counts or the legality of particular steps—reporters and advocacy groups agree the scale was historically unprecedented in modern peacetime and that many orders will face sustained judicial and political pushback [1] [3] [10].