MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Trump exits Paris Agreement and WHO, pardons Jan. 6 rioters

Trump had a busy first day back at his old job

In his first hours in office, US President Donald Trump signed a barrage of Executive Orders reshaping the entire geopolitical scenario worldwide.

Among his leading measures, were the unfreezing of arms deliveries to Israel, the declaration of all drug cartels as terrorist organizations (thus allowing the Armed Forces to get involved in the fight against them), exiting the Paris Agreement regarding environmental caps for governments, and pulled out from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UNRWA, thus depriving both questionable agencies of significant US funding. He also pardoned some 1,500 people convicted for the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill riots.

Trump also declared a state of emergency on the southern border and issued an order seeking to end birthright citizenship to irregular migrants crossing the border to claim those rights. In addition, he signed an executive order delaying the enforcement of a federal ban on TikTok. “The United States should be entitled to get half of TikTok” to protect U.S. national security, Trump insisted. TikTok is owned by China's ByteDance.

During his first presidency, Trump had already departed from the WHO but his successor (and now predecessor) Joseph Biden reversed that measure in time for the Covid-19 pandemic. “So we paid US$ 500 million to World Health, so I terminated it,” Trump said. China paid only US$39 million with a much larger population. “The World Health ripped us off. Everybody rips off the United States and it's not going to happen anymore.”

Trump also pledged to regain control over the Panama Canal claiming that his country had handed it over to Panama and not to China, which effectively controls most traffic there these days. “We have been treated very badly with this foolish gift that should never have been given,” Trump stressed.

He also insisted on renaming the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America. A Florida State weather advisory on the region already used the expression “Golf of America” later Monday.

Regarding the Jan. 6 pardons, Trump argued that “this proclamation ends a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begins a process of national reconciliation.” The directive also orders the attorney general to dismiss all pending indictments against people related to the Jan. 6 events of which there are currently about 300. Over 1,100 people were convicted in the case. More than 700 defendants already served their sentences or did not receive jail sentences.

Trump also signed an executive order creating the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to be led by Elon Musk to detect budgetary deficiencies and cut costs.

About the ongoing war in Ukraine, Trump said he intends to talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin about ending it. “The war with Ukraine and Russia should have never started,” he argued.

Trump also declared a national energy emergency and halted all permits for wind energy projects until there can be a “comprehensive assessment” of the industry's impact on the economy and environment.

Although Trump is no newbie at the White House, it seems the world needs to catch up fast with the new times ahead.