15 Trump’s Executive Orders That Changed America (2017-2021)

Trump’s presidency changed America’s political direction through his numerous executive actions. The numbers paint a clear picture: 80 executive actions to cancel existing policies, 1,500 pardons and commutations, and more than 140 officers who suffered injuries.

His executive orders affected every part of American life. These decisions ranged from healthcare and immigration to environmental policy and international relations. The American policy landscape witnessed several controversial moves under his administration. Trump pulled out of the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Agreement. He declared a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border and made major changes to federal hiring practices. These effective executive orders defined his presidency and still shape American policy today.

The Travel Ban Executive Order

President Trump signed Executive Order 13769 on January 27, 2017. This order put in place what became known as the “travel ban”. The ban stopped entry for immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.

Key Provisions of the Travel Ban

The executive order stopped the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for 120 days and put Syrian refugee admissions on hold indefinitely. The refugee cap dropped from 110,000 to 50,000 for fiscal year 2017. While the ban covered many visa types, diplomatic and UN-related visas stayed exempt.

Implementation Challenges

Federal courts blocked the order’s enforcement, which led to a new version in March 2017. The Supreme Court ended up upholding the third version of the ban in June 2018. This version affected eight countries:

• Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen (Muslim-majority nations)
• North Korea and Venezuela (non-Muslim nations)
• Chad (later removed)

Impact on International Relations

The ban damaged diplomatic relationships by a lot. Iran created matching policies in response, and Yemen’s deputy foreign minister called it “unjustified”. All Gulf countries but one supported the directive – Qatar stood alone in opposition. Iranian-Americans felt the effects deeply, since Iran had the highest number of nonimmigrant visas to the United States. President Biden canceled the policy in February 2021.

Border Wall Construction Order

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President Trump signed an executive order on January 25, 2017, calling for immediate construction of a physical wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The administration pulled USD 3.80 billion from the Defense Department’s budget for the wall. On top of that, it set aside USD 11.00 billion to build over 500 miles of barriers.

Funding Allocation and Sources

The Department of Homeland Security put the total project cost at USD 21.60 billion. Money came from these sources:

• Military construction projects: USD 3.60 billion
• Counter-drug programs: USD 2.50 billion
• Treasury Department’s Forfeiture Fund: USD 601 million

Construction Progress and Challenges

The administration built about 458 miles of border wall panels, with 62% of them on federal public lands. Land acquisition turned into a major hurdle, especially in Texas where private owners held 67% of the border. The project also met strong opposition from Native American communities. The Tohono O’odham Nation’s 62-mile reservation sat right next to the construction zone.

Environmental Impact

The wall construction left deep scars on the environment. The Government Accountability Office found that these barriers disrupted wildlife migration patterns and put over 100 endangered species at risk. Native vegetation suffered damage, including sacred saguaro cacti, while natural water flows changed course. Contractors blasted through sacred tribal sites in Arizona to clear construction paths. The administration bypassed many environmental protection laws to accelerate construction, including the Endangered Species Act and Clean Water Act.

Affordable Care Act Executive Orders

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Trump’s presidency began with a decisive move against the Affordable Care Act (ACA) through his first executive order in January 2017. This action set the stage for major shifts in America’s healthcare system.

Healthcare Policy Changes

The administration removed penalties for the ACA’s individual mandate. This change brought relief to many families, as low and middle-income households made up almost 80% of those who paid penalties for not having insurance. Instead of completely removing the ACA, several key changes took place:

• The open enrollment window became shorter
• Broker websites got permission to handle direct enrollment
• Short-term health plans extended to 364 days
• Insurers stopped getting cost-sharing reduction payments

Insurance Market Impact

These changes had big effects on insurance markets. ACA silver plan premiums went up by about 32% in early 2018. The administration’s State Relief and Empowerment Waivers helped lower premiums in several states – 11% in Wisconsin, 20% in Minnesota, and 43% in Maryland. Average benchmark premiums dropped by almost 4% for 2020.

State-Level Effects

States gained more freedom through reinsurance waivers. This let them move beyond strict ACA rules. More than 90% of U.S. counties could now offer multiple choices in individual insurance markets. The uninsured rates stayed lower than 2013 levels, and enrollment remained steady through early 2018.

Paris Climate Agreement Withdrawal

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Trump ordered America to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement through an executive action in 2025. This marked the second time the U.S. stepped away from its global climate commitments.

Economic Implications

This withdrawal has sent shockwaves through multiple economic sectors. The global clean energy technology market could reach USD 2.00 trillion by 2035, but now faces significant disruption. Developing nations will lose at least USD 11.00 billion in pledged U.S. climate funding. The key economic effects include:

• The U.S. will lose access to UN-backed carbon markets worth USD 10.00 billion by 2030
• Offshore wind leases stand suspended
• Electric vehicle targets face revocation
• The UN climate secretariat’s core budget loses U.S. contributions (21% of total)

Environmental Consequences

The U.S. generates about one-fifth of worldwide emissions as the second-largest global emitter. This withdrawal puts the Paris Agreement’s goal at risk of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The situation becomes more critical as 2024 became the first year to exceed this vital threshold.

International Response

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen led European leaders in reaffirming their commitment to the agreement. China voiced its concern and stressed that “no country can stay out of it”. The European Climate Foundation pointed out that the global context is different from 2017, as the clean energy transition moves forward with unstoppable economic momentum. China might fill the leadership gap in global climate efforts because of this withdrawal.

Federal Hiring Freeze Order

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A presidential memorandum put in place a federal hiring freeze that brought major changes to government workforce management. The new rules stopped agencies from filling empty federal civilian positions and creating new roles across executive departments.

Government Agency Impact

The freeze took a heavy toll on the federal workforce. Permanent positions dropped by 15,917 employees. The Treasury Department’s workforce shrank the most at 7.45%. The Internal Revenue Service lost 6,801 permanent workers – an 8.6% decrease. The Department of Defense’s civilian employee numbers also fell surprisingly.

Exception Categories

The order made specific exemptions to keep critical services running:

• Military personnel
• Immigration enforcement positions
• National security roles
• Public safety positions
• Social Security, Medicare, and Veterans’ benefits administration

The Office of Personnel Management could grant more exemptions when needed. Agencies could not bypass the freeze by hiring external contractors.

Long-term Effects

The Government Accountability Office found that hiring freezes did not save money and made existing workforce problems worse. The Partnership for Public Service pointed out that the freeze created critical staffing gaps and drove away skilled talent. Federal programs struggled to operate properly. The American Federation of Government Employees raised red flags about service delivery. The IRS freeze stayed active until the Treasury Secretary and leadership decided lifting it would serve national interests.

Regulatory Reform Executive Order

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Trump signed Executive Order 13771 just ten days after taking office. This groundbreaking regulatory reform agenda required federal agencies to remove two existing regulations whenever they added a new one.

Two-for-One Rule Implementation

The administration exceeded its deregulatory goals between fiscal years 2017 and 2019. They eliminated nearly eight regulations for every new most important regulation. We removed 150 deregulatory actions while adding just 35 new most important regulatory actions in a single year. The Office of Management and Budget documented cost reductions of USD 198.60 billion by the end of 2020.

Economic Benefits

American households saw substantial financial gains according to the Council of Economic Advisers:

• Real income increase of USD 3,100 per household annually
• Cost savings of USD 220 billion per year from 20 specific actions
• Potential GDP growth of 1.0% to 2.2% within 10 years

The reforms sparked remarkable job growth with more than 7 million net new jobs created during 2017-2019. Manufacturing jobs, which had remained stagnant before 2017, grew by 447,000 between December 2016 and December 2018.

Industry Response

Businesses responded favorably to these reforms as unemployment rates reached historic lows. Minority workers experienced notable economic improvements. Hispanic and Black Americans saw both unemployment and poverty rates drop to record lows in 2019. Manufacturing jobs grew sevenfold compared to previous years. Small businesses paid less in compliance costs. The shale industry revolution reduced oil prices by 10%, which saved the poorest quintile almost 7% of their household income.

Buy American, Hire American Order

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President Trump signed an executive order promoting “Buy American, Hire American” policies on April 18, 2017. This order changed U.S. manufacturing and immigration in the digital world.

Manufacturing Sector Impact

The directive made domestic production a priority through stronger “Made in USA” requirements. Federal agencies started stricter monitoring of Buy American laws and we focused on materials like steel, iron, and aluminum. These measures boosted over 1.1 million jobs through defense budget increases alone, according to the Department of Commerce.

Visa Program Changes

The order brought sweeping changes to employment-based immigration, specifically the H-1B visa program. The Department of Labor rolled out these key reforms:

• Better fraud detection in visa programs
• Created information sharing between immigration agencies
• Required higher wages for foreign workers

The Tennessee Valley Authority reversed its plan to replace 200 American employees with foreign workers. The Justice Department now actively pursues settlements with companies that favor temporary visa workers over Americans.

Economic Outcomes

The policy created 816,000 new apprenticeship registrations. The National Council for the American Worker got pledges from 440 companies that ended up creating 16 million education and training opportunities. Veterans gained significant benefits through the VALOR Act, which optimized multi-state apprenticeship programs. Federal hiring practices moved toward skills-based assessment instead of degree-based requirements, which expanded the government’s talent pool.

Energy Independence Executive Order

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Trump signed Executive Order 13783 in March 2017 to fulfill his campaign promises. This marked a radical alteration in U.S. energy policy. The order required an immediate review of regulations that affected domestic energy production. We targeted coal, natural gas, and nuclear resources.

Coal Industry Revival Efforts

The administration removed the federal land coal leasing moratorium that restricted mining on public lands. The Department of Interior optimized permitting processes for coal extraction. Coal production fell sharply to 511 million tons in 2020 from 775 million tons in 2017. The industry shed 5,300 mining jobs (about 10%) during this period.

Environmental Regulation Changes

Federal agencies received directions to review and possibly eliminate regulations that “burden” energy development. These policy changes included:

• Rescinding the Clean Power Plan
• Withdrawing methane emission standards
• Removing the social cost of carbon calculations
• Eliminating climate change considerations from federal reviews

Market Response

Market forces ended up shaping the outcomes despite regulatory relief. 145 units at 75 coal-fired power plants closed between 2017 and 2020. Coal’s share in power generation dropped to 20% in 2020 from 31% in 2017. Natural gas prices and renewable energy growth often overshadow regulatory benefits. This was evident when coal-fired electricity output fell 18% to its lowest level since 1975.

Sanctuary Cities Executive Order

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Trump’s sanctuary cities executive order in early 2017 threatened to withhold federal funding from jurisdictions that limited their cooperation with immigration authorities. The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance program allowed the Department of Justice to administer USD 250 million in annual grants.

Federal Funding Impact

The order’s effects reached far and wide across jurisdictions. New York state’s grant money decreased by more than USD 30 million. We distributed the Department of Justice’s 4.70 billion in grants through 313 unique programs. The administration needed compliance from nine jurisdictions and threatened to cut their federal funding.

Legal Challenges

Cities quickly challenged the order’s constitutionality in court. Lawsuits came from San Francisco, Santa Clara, and Richmond in California, as well as Chelsea and Lawrence in Massachusetts. The Second Circuit Court sided with Trump in February 2020, but other federal appeals courts made different rulings. The Ninth Circuit Court found the order unconstitutional, yet allowed it to stay effective within its jurisdiction.

State-Level Response

States took decisive action against federal pressure. Many jurisdictions created policies that limited their cooperation with federal immigration authorities. The restrictions led to a nationwide debate. Cities pointed out that close cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities made immigrants less likely to report crimes. Many states passed laws to protect their sanctuary status and emphasized their control over immigration enforcement. The policy remained controversial until President Biden’s administration removed these restrictions, which ended the need for grant recipients to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Trade Agreement Executive Orders

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Trump issued a detailed trade policy memo that asked federal agencies to get into and update existing trade agreements.

NAFTA Renegotiation

The administration reached a preliminary United States-Mexico Trade Agreement that brought radical changes to NAFTA. The new USMCA agreement made several important changes:

• Auto manufacturers must make 75% of their components in North America
• Auto workers must receive at least USD 16.00 per hour
• The agreement improved protection for intellectual property rights
• It created better agricultural trade conditions

China Trade Policy

The administration asked the U.S. Trade Representative to check China’s compliance with the 2020 Phase One agreement. This review looked at unfair practices, technology transfer, and intellectual property rights. The Department of Commerce now performs detailed economic and security reviews of the industrial base.

Economic Effects

These trade policies wanted to fix the growing annual goods trade deficit, which jumped from USD 115.00 billion in 1993 to almost USD 800.00 billion in 2017. The U.S.-Mexico trade balance moved from a USD 1.60 billion surplus to a USD 70.00 billion deficit. The administration threatened to impose 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada. These measures could affect more than 15% of U.S. imports from Mexico and 13.7% from Canada. The policies ended up affecting everyday items like agricultural products, food, beverages, automobiles, metals, wood, and industrial goods.

Military Transgender Ban

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Trump announced a ban on transgender individuals serving in the military through a series of tweets in July 2017. This announcement changed military personnel policy dramatically.

Policy Implementation

The Department of Defense created restrictions that changed life for transgender service members in three ways:

• People with gender dysphoria could not enlist
• Active personnel had to serve according to their birth gender
• The military would not cover transition-related medical care

The policy changed the lives of 15,500 transgender service members. The Palm Center’s report showed 13,763 transgender individuals lost their jobs after the ban took effect.

Legal Battles

Four federal courts blocked the ban at first. The Supreme Court allowed the military to enforce it through a 5-4 decision in early 2019. The government said they based the policy on an independent analysis. Service members needed to get a psychological diagnosis of gender dysphoria.

Service Member Impact

Transgender individuals serve in the military at twice the rate of the general population. Their unemployment rate reached 18%, which was five times higher than the national average. The ban hit highly trained personnel hard, especially aircraft carrier crews, fighter pilots, and submarine operators. This policy stayed active until President Biden signed an executive order in January 2021. His order allowed qualified transgender individuals to serve openly.

Social Media Executive Order

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Trump signed an executive order against social media companies’ content moderation practices after Twitter fact-checked his posts in May 2020. This order changed how Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act protected tech platforms.

Section 230 Changes

The Federal Communications Commission received directions to reinterpret Section 230’s scope. This focused on when liability protections should apply. The Department of Justice created legislation to control content moderation that could hold companies responsible for content they removed or kept.

Platform Regulations

The Federal Trade Commission gained power to look into platforms that showed “unfair or deceptive” content moderation practices. A new council with state attorneys general started to look at claims of political censorship. These rules affected every website that hosted user content, not just social media giants.

Tech Industry Response

Major tech companies pushed back against the directive:

• Twitter called it a “reactionary approach” that put online freedom at risk
• Google said it would damage America’s position as a global internet leader
• Facebook stressed the need to protect expression while keeping community standards

Legal experts predicted court challenges and said the order put First Amendment protections at risk. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce stated that executive orders can’t change federal law. Tech industry leaders said Section 230 is a vital part of internet innovation and America’s leadership in the digital world.

COVID-19 Response Orders

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The Trump administration declared COVID-19 a national emergency on March 13, 2020. This decision released USD 50 billion in federal aid. Multiple executive orders shaped America’s response to this unprecedented crisis.

Economic Relief Measures

The CARES Act became the life-blood of the response by providing USD 2.2 trillion in economic stimulus. The key provisions included:

• Direct payments of USD 1,200 to individuals earning up to USD 75,000
• Additional unemployment benefits worth USD 600 weekly
• Small business support through USD 350 billion in forgivable loans
• USD 500 billion in corporate assistance

Public Health Directives

The administration took strict measures to prevent hoarding of medical resources. The Department of Health and Human Services gained authority to modify Medicare and Medicaid requirements temporarily. The Defense Production Act enabled the government to direct private companies to produce essential medical supplies.

State Coordination

FEMA placed Incident Management Assistance Teams in state Emergency Operations Centers. States received flexibility through reinsurance waivers that ended up affecting healthcare delivery systems. The administration worked with governors to implement a three-phase reopening approach. This approach focused on testing capacity, healthcare system readiness, and protective equipment availability.

Police Reform Executive Order

Trump signed a detailed police reform executive order in June 2020. This came as a response to protests across the nation.

Law Enforcement Changes

The Department of Justice built a national database that tracks police misconduct, terminations, and civil judgments linked to excessive force. We focused on making federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies share information. The Attorney General got the power to give discretionary grant funding only to departments that submitted their misconduct data.

Training Requirements

The order put strict certification standards in place through independent credentialing bodies. These policy changes included:

• Chokeholds were banned except when deadly force was needed
• Better de-escalation techniques were put in place
• Early warning systems were developed to spot at-risk officers
• Performance management tools were created

Community Impact

America has not dealt very well with mental health treatment since the mid-twentieth century, as the directive pointed out. Social workers now play a bigger role in law enforcement responses. The Health and Human Services Secretary looked at community support models that help with mental health, homelessness, and addiction. Social services are now the first line of response when dealing with people who have mental health issues. Officers often face these situations in their daily work. The Attorney General made co-responder programs a priority, so social workers now work among officers.

Space Force Establishment

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Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act on December 20, 2019, which created the first new military branch in 73 years – the U.S. Space Force.

Military Branch Creation

The Department of Defense got the authority to set up the Space Force as the sixth branch of the Armed Forces under the Department of the Air Force. The service brought together all members of the Air Force Space Command into the new organization. The Space Force’s original headquarters at the Pentagon started with a small team of fewer than 800 personnel.

Organizational Structure

The Space Force runs through three main commands:

• Space Operations Command
• Space Systems Command
• Space Training and Readiness Command

The service began with about 16,000 military and civilian personnel and operates from six locations: Buckley, Los Angeles, Patrick, Peterson, Schriever, and Vandenberg. General Jay Raymond now serves as the first Chief of Space Operations and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Mission Objectives

The Space Force wants to organize, train, and give forces the tools to protect U.S. interests in space. This new branch works to curb aggression and defend national interests from hostile acts in and from space. The service ended up ensuring unrestricted access to space capabilities for all U.S. Combatant Commands. They also build a professional community that focuses on space domain security needs.

Comparison Table

Conclusion

Trump’s executive orders between 2017 and 2021 changed American policy in many sectors. His directives brought major changes. The controversial travel ban affected seven Muslim-majority countries and created Space Force as the sixth military branch.

These orders had important economic effects without doubt. American households saved $3,100 yearly through the regulatory reform agenda. The CARES Act gave $2.2 trillion in pandemic relief. Some initiatives like the energy independence order tried to revive coal but faced market challenges. The USMCA trade agreement succeeded in updating NAFTA.

Federal operations changed dramatically under these orders. A hiring freeze cut permanent positions by 15,917 employees. The regulatory reform removed eight regulations for each new one added. Border security projects set aside $21.6 billion to build the wall, though environmental issues and land acquisition slowed progress.

Many of these executive orders created permanent policy changes instead of temporary fixes. Space Force became a permanent military branch. The Buy American, Hire American order changed federal procurement and visa programs completely. Today’s insurance markets still feel the effects of healthcare policy changes through ACA modifications.

These presidential directives showed how executive power can change government operations and people’s lives fundamentally. Current policy debates still reflect their influence, which proves that executive actions often last longer than the presidents who signed them.