Paris (France) (AFP) – With a stroke of his favorite black pen, Donald Trump has signed what should become his 221st executive order since January—a figure that exceeds the number in his entire first term, as he forges ahead with one of the biggest displays of US presidential power in modern history. To promote artificial intelligence, fight “woke” culture, and even increase the water flow of showers, Trump has churned out executive orders at a rate unprecedented since World War II, according to an AFP analysis. The latest, signed Monday, classifies fentanyl as “a weapon of mass destruction.”
Previously, 220 texts—legally binding and requiring no Congressional approval—have been published in the Federal Register, according to its update on Tuesday. This total surpasses what he signed during his first stint at the White House from 2017 to 2021, and is far more than his predecessors Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and George W. Bush, who signed an average of only 30 to 40 orders per year. Only Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt—who, over four terms, signed nearly 4,000 executive orders between 1933 and 1945—produced at Trump’s rate, although that occurred in the context of the Great Depression and World War II.
Trump, who returned to the White House on January 20, has relied on executive orders despite having a congressional majority. “These orders are a part of a communications strategy,” said John Woolley, professor of political science at the University of California, Santa Barbara. “It’s a way of signaling to important constituent groups that he is advancing ‘the cause,'” added Woolley, who is also co-director of the American Presidency Project website, the main independent source of archives and analysis on the US presidency.
An AFP analysis of official government data shows that the majority—nearly 60 percent—of Trump’s orders deal with domestic issues, while fewer than 10 percent concern pure foreign policy. The rest cover miscellaneous matters. Social issues dominate, ranging from culture and civil rights to education and health. These account for roughly 30 percent of all orders, surpassing trade, economy, and investment (around 20 percent) and government reform (around 18 percent). Immigration and security—his main campaign theme in 2024—rank fourth at around 10 percent.
The orders classified within the social issues category include some that explicitly reference an “ideology” or value judgments. For example, a July 23 order calls for AI systems to ban models that give attention to diversity and inclusion concerns, reflecting the Trump administration’s anti-“woke” agenda. Another order from August 28 decrees that “classical and traditional architecture” is the preferred style for federal buildings.
Questions have been raised over whether governing by executive orders is efficient, given the number of texts disputed in court. According to the independent legal website Just Security, linked to New York University School of Law, just over one-fifth of Trump’s orders have been challenged in court. More than 20 of them have already been blocked at least provisionally or partially by the courts. In late August, a federal appeals court ruled a large part of the texts on the new customs duties illegal. The Supreme Court, whose conservative majority was bolstered by Trump during his first term and has been called to rule on the matter, appeared skeptical of the legality behind a swath of Trump’s tariffs in a November 5 hearing.
However, Trump is not “afraid of being attacked about the substance of the orders,” Woolley stated. “He is deliberately testing the limits of the law.” Woolley added, “His bet is that on most of the big issues, the Supreme Court will agree with a lot of his view of executive power.”
An AFP analysis of the language and vocabulary used in Trump’s executive orders shows a characteristically direct style. He uses the verb “impose” five times more than his three predecessors. His language also appears more patriotic; he speaks of the “nation” two to three times more often than Biden, Obama, and Bush, and the “American people” two times more frequently. In another difference, he attacks the previous administration frequently, accusing it, for example, of having let in millions of illegal immigrants. More than 15 percent of the orders can be categorized as “settling of scores.” “No prior president issued orders explicitly attacking his critics and prior opponents,” Woolley noted. In November, Trump asserted that all executive orders and documents signed by autopen—technology that replicates signatures—under Biden were “terminated” based on allegations that Biden has rejected.
© 2024 AFP
