How Donald Trump shook US and the world in his first month in office

Four weeks ago, on January 20, the United States and the world welcomed Donald Trump back into the White House (however, some weren’t too welcoming) for his second term. The day he was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, temperatures dipped to depressingly low levels — almost to -6 degrees Celsius — which may have been an indication of Trump’s term: chilly and shiver-inducing.

In the one month since he came to power, Trump has shocked the world with his many executive orders — he has signed almost 70 of them—, upended generations of US policies, called for mass layoffs of government employees, spread confusion around the country and the globe, and even found time for sports.

As The Hill notes, the rate at which Trump is moving has left a head-spinning trail of news in its wake. For those who are still trying to play catch up with all of Trump’s big decisions, we break it down for you — bit by bit and topic by topic.

Trump’s twist on the Ukraine war

Trump is very, very different from his predecessor, Joe Biden. And this has been made amply clear by his handling of world events, particularly conflicts. On the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, it is evident that he is no longer going the Biden way. In fact, Europe and Ukraine believe that he is siding with Russia and Vladimir Putin.

Why?

It all began on February 12 when the US president held a 90-minute phone call with Putin . The outcome: the two leaders decided to hold talks on how to end the Russia-Ukraine war, without Kyiv’s assent. What was more concerning was that Trump chose to keep Europe away from the negotiating table as well.

Many wondered if Trump was switching sides and those doubts were mostly answered on Tuesday (February 18) when the US president blamed Ukraine for having “started” the war with Russia and even called for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to hold elections in his country. He took it further a day later, when he branded Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy a “ dictator ” for not calling elections, and admitted he didn’t care much about the outcome of the war.

This turn of events is a far cry from the past when Europe viewed US as a reliable security partner. As one European diplomat, who didn’t want to be named, told The Politico, “The transatlantic alliance is over.”

Trump’s tariff war

Trump doesn’t believe in wasting time and he did just that as he entered office. He set the cat among the pigeons globally when he introduced a slew of punishing tariffs on trade with Canada, Mexico, and China. Subsequent calls with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canada’s Justin Trudeau led to a one-month pause before the tariffs kicked in. However, he went ahead with his 25 per cent tariff on China, prompting Beijing to take its “own countermeasures”.

In early February, Trump also ordered a 25 per cent import tax on all steel and aluminium entering the US, ending previous exemptions for allies. Trump said he was “simplifying” the rules and the measures would boost domestic production. “This is a big deal, the beginning of making America rich again,” Trump said, signing the proclamation, which said the measures would come into force on March 12.

“Our nation requires steel and aluminium to be made in America, not in foreign lands,” he added.

But Trump’s tariff war hasn’t ended there. He’s also rolled out reciprocal tariffs , which he calls the “big one” — asking his administration to put together new tariffs in the coming weeks and months to match what other countries charge.

Trump has acknowledged that consumers may feel short-term pains but has also promised that it would also make the country rich. Democrats, meanwhile, are arguing Trump’s policies are hurting instead of helping.

Trump’s USAID war and mass firings

Hours after his inauguration, President Donald Trump signed an executive order freezing nearly all foreign funding, including USAID . His administration also plans to cut about 10,000 USAID workers.

Defending his move, Trump says that the money would be better spent on America. He even called it an organisation being “run by a bunch of radical lunatics”. His closest advisor and ‘First Buddy’ Elon Musk went even further, calling it “a radical-left political psy op” and a “crazy waste of money” and claimed, “USAID has been paying media organisations to publish their propaganda.”

But not everyone sees it the same way. As Mitchell Warren, executive director of the HIV prevention organisation AVAC, which relied on USAID, said to New York Times, “You’ve gotten rid of all of the staff, all of the institutional memory, all of the trust and confidence, not only in the United States but in the dozens of countries in which USAID works. Those things have taken decades to build up but two weeks to destroy.”

Others also note that without this funding, countries reliant on this aid would be left floundering and the US could face repercussions in terms of its global influence.

Apart from Trump’s war on USAID, he’s also unleashed Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) on several federal agencies. This has led to mass firings, access to personal data and bulk buyouts. There have been job cuts instituted at Department of Veterans Affairs, Education Department, Energy Department, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Doge’s campaign has sparked major protests across the country. People have taken to the streets calling for Musk to get out of government. One man protesting in New York in early February said, “Musk is just some guy who bought the election for Trump.”

As the Associated Press notes, Trump’s moves could have far-reaching implications for thousands of federal employees around the country and drive up the unemployment rate if large numbers of layoffs happen at once.

DEI dies in Trump’s America

One of Trump’s first executive orders as he entered office was putting an end to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes across the federal government and the private sector. He also issued an order to end funding for schools supporting critical race theory, an academic framework most often taught in law schools that rests on the premise that racial bias — intentional or not — is baked into US laws and institutions.

Trump has long railed against DEI, saying it unfairly discriminates against other Americans, including white people and men, and weakens the importance of merit in job hiring or promotion. “My administration has taken action to abolish all discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion nonsense — and these are policies that were absolute nonsense - throughout the government and the private sector,” Trump told the World Economic Forum after taking office for his second term.

Moreover, Trump also signed executive orders proclaiming that the US government will recognise only two sexes , male and female. The gender order stated that it would “defend women’s rights and protect freedom of conscience by using clear and accurate language and policies that recognise women are biologically female, and men are biologically male.”

It also requires that the federal government use the term “sex” instead of “gender,” and directed the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security to “require that government-issued identification documents, including passports, visas, and Global Entry cards, accurately reflect the holder’s sex.”

By doing this, Trump effectively negated the transgender community in the country, removing protections that had been put in place for them.

His orders have perturbed civil rights organisations, who have sued the Trump administration, calling the orders “discriminatory and illegal”.

Trump’s big immigration changes

Since taking office, Trump has announced a flurry of immigration-related executive orders, paving the way for a widespread effort to crack down on undocumented migrants in the US. In more than 21 actions, Trump has moved to overhaul parts of the US immigration system, including how migrants are processed and deported from the US.

He’s also suspended the entry of all undocumented migrants to the US, and border patrol agents have been instructed to turn people away without granting them asylum hearings. Before the order, migrants were able to arrive at the US border and had the legal right to seek asylum. Trump has also halted the US refugee resettlement programme.

Perhaps, the biggest change in Trump’s immigration policy was seen in India. The US has deported 333 Indians in February — all on military planes . While the deportation itself wasn’t too shocking, visuals showing the Indian deportees in shackles and chains angered many. There were also tales of them being treated poorly and of Sikh immigrants being asked to remove their turbans.

Trump’s audacious Gaza takeover

Trump is known to shock people. But no one was ready for this. In early February as Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Washington, Trump announced his audacious takeover of Gaza. Speaking to the world press along with Netanyahu, the US president declared that the US would take over the Gaza Strip and turn it into the “ Riviera of the Middle East ” while all Palestinians should permanently leave the land for “nice homes” in Egypt and Jordan.

While the Israeli PM hailed the plan, others condemned it, saying it was tantamount to ethnic cleansing. As Fawaz Gerges, a veteran Middle East expert and professor at the London School of Economics, told NBC News, “This is the most foolish idea any American president has put forth in the modern history of the United States. It is beyond any kind of rational thinking, any kind of policy feasibility.”

Countries like Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt have also been vocal about their opposition to the proposal, with the Saudis stating that they will not normalise ties with Israel if it is executed.

While we may be astounded by Trump’s moves in the past month, experts state that shouldn’t be the case. That’s because he had promised all of this on his campaign trail. However, they note that what should concern us is that he’s done all of it at once.

With inputs from agencies