In less than a month into his second term back in office, President Donald Trump has made a range of policy changes. He has signed several executive orders into effect starting on the same afternoon he took office. Some of the orders have already gone into effect, while other changes are being further examined.
An executive order is an order signed by the president that orders the government to follow laws faithfully. It does not override federal laws or statutes.
President Trump promised to sign a large amount of executive orders on day one, and he kept that promise.
Some of the policy changes include:
- Diversity, equity and inclusion policy
- Immigration policy
- Implementing tariffs on imports from China, Mexico and Canada
- Federal grants
- Changing the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America
DEI practices executive order
The DEI executive order was signed into practice Jan. 21. The official title of the order is Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.
The order states it aims to cancel practices that “adopted and actively use dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race- and sex-based preferences under the guise of so-called ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion.’”
This order ended diversity initiatives in the federal workforce and ended affirmative action measures for federal contractors.
Students like Peter Dunham, a freshman chemistry major from West Jordan, said diversity and initiatives that further diversity are beneficial when it comes to higher education.
“All it really does is decrease diversity at a university,” Dunham said. “In my mind, diversity is what brings ideas and ideas are what bring ingenuity, especially from universities.”
Utah legislature had already taken steps last year to remove DEI from administrative practice, so changes have already taken place at Utah Tech. Both the Center for Inclusion and Belonging and the LGBTQ+ Resource Center were dissolved.
Immigration policy
A promise President Trump made before winning the 2024 presidential election was to conduct mass deportations of millions of immigrants. This promise has been seen through the executive order Securing Our Borders among eight other immigration orders.
This order said it seeks to “protect the American people from the disastrous effects of unlawful mass migration and resettlement.”
The policy changed zones where the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement service can and cannot visit. ICE has conducted raids in schools, hospitals and churches, striking fear into immigrant communities.
Geoff Allen, assistant professor of political science, said: “It’s something people should be aware of and know that can happen. Whereas in the past, a campus raid would have been against policy.”
Tariffs on imports from China, Mexico and Canada
President Trump announced tariffs on Mexico and Canada following his tariffs on China. The China tariff proposed a 10% tax on all imports, and the Canadian and Mexican tariffs would be a 25% tax.
Should the tariffs go into effect, United States citizens could potentially be affected. Mexico provides the U.S. with fresh produce and if the tariff goes into effect, produce prices could rise across the country.
After speaking with the president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, and the prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, Trump reached an agreement on a 30 day pause on all tariffs. The agreements were made on the account that both Mexico and Canada would aid the U.S. in boosting efforts on the borders to stop drug trafficking.
Canada provides the U.S. with fuel and energy. If that tariff goes into effect, transportation of goods would go up due to gas prices.
On these tariffs, Allen said, “If the Canadian and Mexican tariffs go into effect, those are more serious… Canada provides a very large proportion of the United States’ overall oil.”
Federal grants
On Jan. 27, Trump issued a memorandum that would freeze all federal grants. It excluded recipients of Social Security and Medicare from the freeze, as well as Pell Grants for students.
The memorandum said, “Federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders, including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology and the green new deal.”
The freeze never took place. Shortly after the memorandum was sent out, on Jan. 28, a federal court ruled a stay on the freeze. Then, following the stay, the Trump administration rescinded the freeze.
When asked about the announcement of the federal grant policy freeze, Kaydnn Metzgar, a senior art major from Saratoga Springs, said, “It kind of rattled me, [because] I’m actively looking for a loan… when you’re actively looking for [a loan] and then see something related to it, it’s like, ‘oh no am I still gonna be able to do that?’”
Jonathan Jimenez, an electrical engineering major from Mesquite, Nevada, said the grant freeze could help some students consider better options than student loans.
He said, “I think the fact that it’s being held off is allowing people to really think, ‘Should I get a student loan?’”
Renaming Gulf of Mexico
On Jan. 20, one of the first few executive orders signed by Trump was Restoring Names that Honor American Greatness. This order sought to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
The stated reason for this change was to promote extraordinary heritage and American greatness. The new name would only be recognized in America and have no impact on what other countries call the Gulf.
Jimenez said, “It’s just stupid… the fact that he did that kind of shows that it’s just more of an ego thing.”
President Trump has made a list of policy changes since taking office at the beginning of this year. These executive orders have made changes to U.S. institutions and practices.
Students can stay up to date on current executive orders by following the official White House website, where executive orders are published for the public to read.
