WASHINGTON (AP) — Three weeks in, President Donald Trump keeps cranking out executive orders designed to remake the government while billionaire Elon Musk hunts for more ways to upend the federal workforce.
Trump also provoked — then called off — trade wars with Canada and Mexico but allowed one with China to move forward. He seemingly made light of potentially thorny political issues while insisting he was serious about the United States seizing Gaza, emptying out its residents and redeveloping the area into “the Riviera of the Middle East.” It was an idea that friend and foe alike around the world rejected.
Here are some Week 3 takeaways:
So many executive orders
Trump has spent 20 days in office, and on nearly every one of them, he has signed executive orders — often several.
Just like Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden before him, Trump used Inauguration Day to put pen to paper on actions meant to wipe out large numbers of his predecessor’s policies. Trump also issued Day 1 orders to pardon most members of the mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate accord and keep TikTok functioning.
He hasn’t stopped since, taking at least 92 presidential actions, including one marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. One that would ban paper straws is supposed to come soon.
The president signed most of the orders in the Oval Office; some were done aboard Air Force One. At times, officials have carted around a mini desk, affixed with the presidential seal, for the signings. It was there in the White House’s East Room when Trump signed an order intended to ban transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports.
Trump used a similar desk to sign executive orders during a rally at Capital One Arena after his inaugural address. It’s a prop Trump loves. He even mused about incorporating a special desk into his presidential swearing-in ceremony before it happened.
“I may even have a very tiny little desk put on the 20th stair because I always like to sign with a desk,” Trump said in Iowa on Nov. 18, referring to his Inauguration Day walk up the Capitol steps.
Trade wars are off, for now
Trump temporarily backed away from his tariff threats against Canada and Mexico, staving off a possible North American trade war as the U.S. holds separate talks over the next 30 days with its two biggest…