OPINION | Setting the stage: Trump's first 40 executive orders

Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed in this article do not reflect those of The Collegian.

The president’s belongings are still in boxes across the White House as paper after paper after paper is shoved in front of him. 

President Donald Trump barely looks them over as his pen signs the executive orders into law. On Jan. 21, his militaristic attention is not on Ukraine or Palestine: it’s here at home. 

Trump signed the first of many executive orders, memoranda and proclamations with a clear goal in mind: to demonstrate the type of term he will lead. If the first Trump presidency was remarkable for its laughable incompetence, the second is looking like it will be known for Red-Scare-era “us-versus-them” rhetoric, hard-line cronyism, and heavy-handed enforcement of traditionalist values. 

Put simply, Trump’s executive orders are worrisome, not just because they set the country back value-wise to the 80s, but also because they give him rhetorical artillery in a culture war arms race. 

To anyone who’s been online at all in the past 10 years (which is everyone), it’s frightfully obvious that the United States is becoming more polarized, and it's even more obvious that the Democrats are losing the popularity contest. This is largely the result of a shift in tactics from the Grand Old Party. 

The Republican Party has no real platform beyond reacting to the flimsy but real (or more often imagined) “liberal agenda.” They’ve leaned into being the defenders of an old world status-quo through divisive language. 

This transition in tactics is clear when we examine the verbiage of each executive order. Each one positions the President as the swift and immediate solution to a vast array of culture war issues. 

With such bangers as “Protecting Children From Chemical And Surgical Mutilation” and “Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing,” each executive order is meant to signify an enemy the President is heroically vanquishing. 

What’s interesting is that Trump is winning the arms race, and conservatives will corroborate that he’s done a fantastic job at pointing out their enemies. He’s successfully reinforced the trust and confidence of his already fiercely loyal supporters. We’ve known since the first time Project 2025 was unveiled that the pitiful progress of the past 4 years was going to be on the chopping block. (Project 2025 is the Heritage Foundation’s plan to restructure the government in line with conservative values.)

With the help of the Republican Party’s own maladroit Messiah, DEI programs and environmental programs were shut down, immigration was vilified and birthright citizenship was threatened—among much more. These, alongside a slew of “America First” policies, mean that the Republican party has more rapport with its supporters than ever before.

Trump and his supporters are clearly here to stay, and MAGA Republicanism is going to grow in the next 4 years. Luckily, since the government hiring process has been radically altered just as a new bogus department is created, there will certainly be new job openings for the next round of loyalists. 

But hey, picking the worst between two evils was really hard, right?

Contact contributing writer Saxon Hernandez at saxon.hernandez@richmond.edu