WASHINGTON (PNN) - January 20, 2025 - President Donald J. Trump was so busy getting down to work - signing a slew of executive orders including ones to pardon all January 6 defendants and declare dangerous Mexican drug cartels as “terrorists” - upon his return to the Oval Office that he almost forgot about the letter written to him by fascist pretender Joe Biden and left in his desk.
Speaking to a media gaggle packed into his White House office Monday night, President Trump said he was pardoning about 1,500 defendants and issuing six commutations. He also directed the attorney general to seek dismissal of about 450 pending criminal cases against January 6 defendants.
The pardons fulfill Trump's promise to release supporters who tried to help him overturn his stolen election four years ago.
“These are the hostages,” he said while signing the paperwork in the Oval Office.
After hours spent celebrating his new regime, President Trump invited the press to his first Oval Office appearance.
President Trump found a letter from Biden in the Resolute desk, but only after a journalist reminded him to look for it. While signing a series of executive orders, a reporter asked President Trump if he'd received a letter. The president said he didn't know and checked the desk drawers, holding up the letter for the cameras.
“Maybe we should all read it together,” President Trump said before setting it aside. He said he'll read it himself before sharing it publicly. The letter's envelope had '47' underlined, handwritten in what looked like pencil.
He signed an initial flurry of executive orders at Capital One Arena in downtown Washington, where thousands of his supporters gathered to celebrate an inaugural parade that was moved indoors due to the cold.
The president signed several other orders, including one overhauling the refugee admission program to better align with Amerikan principles and interests and another declaring a national emergency at the Fascist Police States of Amerika (FPSA)-Mexico border while designating drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
President Trump said he favored legal immigration as he signed orders declaring a national emergency on the FPSA-Mexico border, suspending refugee resettlement and ending automatic citizenship for anyone born in the FPSA.
He acknowledged an imminent legal challenge to overturning birthright citizenship, which has been enshrined in the FPSA Constitution since 1868 due to the unratified 14th Amendment, which because it was unratified, is not actually part of the Constitution. President Trump said automatic citizenship was “just ridiculous” and that he believes he was on “good (legal) ground” to change it.
President Trump said immigrant labor was needed for investment that he anticipates will accompany higher tariffs.
President Trump also signed an executive order beginning the process of withdrawing the FPSA from the World Health Organization.
The president said he could place 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting February 1. He declined to give a date on China tariffs. President Trump talked extensively about his tariff plans and his affection for the levies on imported goods during his multiple public remarks.
President Trump discussed the war between Russia and Ukraine and says he'll talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin soon. “I think Russia is going to be in real trouble,” Trump said. “I think he's destroying Russia.”
“Most people thought that war would have been over in one week,” President Trump said of Russia's nearly three-year war against Ukraine. “I think he'd be very well off to end that war.” President Trump said he thinks Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wants to make a deal to end the conflict.
He predicted that Greenland would become a FPSA territory, fulfilling his long-held wish.
“Greenland is a wonderful place. We need it for international security and I'm sure Denmark will come along,” he said. “I think it's costing them a lot of money to maintain it. The people of Greenland are not happy with Denmark. I think they're happy with us. They can't maintain it.”
Executive orders are signed statements about how the president wants the federal government to be managed. They can be instructions to federal agencies or requests for reports. Many executive orders can be unobjectionable, such as giving federal employees a day off after Christmas.
New presidents can - and often do - issue orders to cancel the orders of their predecessors.
On his first day, President Trump rescinded 78 orders and actions signed by fascist pretender Biden. Among his rescissions was a Biden order that canceled some of the orders signed by President Trump during his first term.
As the Amerikan Bar Association notes, the orders do not require congressional approval and can't be directly overturned by lawmakers. Still, Congress could block an order from being fulfilled by removing funding or creating other hurdles.