Trump upholds campaign promises in historic Oval Office signing ceremony

President Donald Trump’s vow to put America first played out in a big way Monday with multiple signing ceremonies impacting drug cartels, Jan. 6 prisoners, and former President Biden.

From the campaign trail to the inauguration, the 45th and 47th President of the United States made clear the priorities of his administration. Wasting no time amid the formalities of the day, Trump participated in three separate signing ceremonies that included undoing actions of his placeholder, issuing around 1,500 pardons for J6 defendants and officially declaring cartels foreign terrorist organizations.

“That’s a big one,” said the president as he signed the order from the Oval Office and faulted the cartels for the deaths of between 250,000 and 300,000 Americans each year.

The order itself declared, “The Cartels have engaged in a campaign of violence and terror throughout the Western Hemisphere that has not only destabilized countries with significant importance for our national interests but also flooded the United States with deadly drugs, violent criminals, and vicious gangs.”

“The Cartels functionally control, through a campaign of assassination, terror, rape, and brute force nearly all illegal traffic across the southern border of the United States,” noted the order that detailed how cartels act as “quasi-governmental entities” in certain areas of Mexico before adding, “The Cartels’ activities threaten the safety of the American people, the security of the United States, and the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere. Their activities, proximity to, and incursions into the physical territory of the United States pose an unacceptable national security risk to the United States.”

During his speech from the Capitol Rotunda, Trump said, “Our sovereignty will be reclaimed. Our safety will be restored. The scales of justice will be rebalanced. The vicious, violent, and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end. And our top priority will be to create a nation that is proud, prosperous, and free.”

Promises made were promises kept as he made appointments during his initial signing ceremony at the U.S. Capitol before signing nine more orders before a packed house at Capital One Arena that included rescinding nearly 80 orders from the Biden administration, requiring federal employees to return to work in-person immediately and withdrawing from the Paris Agreement.

Upon returning to the White House, Trump proceeded to pardon roughly 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants and commuted six sentences while pursuing the dismissal of about 450 pending cases.

“So this is Jan. 6. These are the hostages,” he said while signing the order, acknowledging the hope that the prisoners would be released within hours.

Additional actions from the president included ordering an end to the weaponization of the federal government with a review of actions taken during the previous administration; withdrawing from the World Health Organization; restoring names that honor American greatness like Mt. McKinley; officially renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America; establishing the Department of Government Efficiency; restoring merit-based systems in the government; recognizing two sexes “grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality;” clarifying the Fourteenth Amendment regarding birthright citizenship; and issuing actions on energy that including unleashing Alaska and declaring a national energy emergency.

During the third signing ceremony, Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked about the customary letter from the preceding president, at which point Trump looked in the Resolute Desk and joked that he might read it to the press.

“Ooooh, thank you, Peter. It could have been years before we found this thing,” said the president before ultimately setting it aside.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt boiled down “President Trump’s HISTORIC first day” by the numbers before he attended Monday’s balls and noted three speeches had been given; 42 executive orders, memoranda, or proclamations were signed; 60 minutes had been spent fielding questions from the press; 115 personnel actions were taken as well as more than 200 executive actions.

Trump, who’d also instructed agencies to address the cost of living issues impacting Americans and put an end to DEI in the government, also issued a statement on social media declaring, “Our first day in the White House is not over yet! My Presidential Personnel Office is actively in the process of identifying and removing over a thousand Presidential Appointees from the previous Administration, who are not aligned with our vision to Make America Great Again.”

“Let this serve as Official Notice of Dismissal for these 4 individuals, with many more, coming soon: Jose Andres from the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, Mark Milley from the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, Brian Hook from the Wilson Center for Scholars, and Keisha Lance Bottoms from the President’s Export Council,” he specified before issuing his iconic line, “You’re FIRED!”

Kevin Haggerty

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

Latest Articles