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--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): Donald Trump is back. Here I am. The American people have spoken. Within hours in the White House, he signed a flurry of executive orders to roll back President Biden's policies and implement his own.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): I'm A. Martinez. That's Leila Fadel. And this is Up First from NPR News.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): His executive orders paved the way for his promised crackdown on immigration. With these actions, we will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): But some of the moves pushed the bounds of the law and the Constitution. Trump also issued sweeping pardons and commutations for everyone convicted in connection with the attack on the Capitol, including those who beat police officers with bats and pulse.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day.
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--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): To get matched with a therapist, visit BetterHelp.com slash NPR for 10% off your first month.
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--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): This is Eric Glass. On This American Life, we like stories that surprise you. For instance, imagine finding a new hobby and realizing... To do this hobby right, according to the ways of the masters, there's a pretty good chance that you're going to have to bend the law to get the materials that you need. If not break it. Yeah, to break international laws.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): Your life stories, really good ones, this American life.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): President Trump begins his first full day at the White House today. So let's catch up because yesterday was a lot.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): After being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, he wasted no time undoing President Biden's policies and starting to implement his own, all while using his trademark Sharpie marker.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): So this is a big one. That was the sound of Trump signing one of dozens of executive orders, actions, and proclamations on his first night back in power.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): Here with us to break down all that's already happened in the Trump presidency is White House correspondent Franco Ordonez.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: Good morning, Franco. Good morning, Layla.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): Okay, so you were at the White House as Trump signed these actions in the Oval Office. What really stood out to you?
--:-- Franco Ordonez: Yeah, I mean, I think clearly it's the pardons of those involved in the riots of the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. I mean, he pardoned 1,500 people who were involved, a really big number.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: I mean, he also signed a series of orders on immigration. He took a big step toward his own stated goal of overhauling the federal government.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: Doing so, he signed an order reclassifying tens of thousands of career civil servants so that they can be easily replaced with basically loyalists who are more willing to carry out his agenda.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: I'll just note that's likely to face legal challenges.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): Okay, so not even a full day in office and he's signing all these orders. Including things as you point out that will likely be contested in court. Why the hurry?
--:-- Franco Ordonez: Well, I mean, on the one hand, it's a full assault on President Biden's legacy. Trump revoked nearly 80 executive actions taken by the Biden administration on issues like climate, energy, and diversity programs.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: On the other, it's a sign of how Trump plans to expand his presidential powers. I mean, a number of these orders will be challenged in the courts, like you said, but Trump and his team just do not seem to care.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: I mean, they've made it very clear they're willing to be creative when interpreting and applying these old laws and new ways to fulfill his agenda.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): It also shows how Trump is willing to get back at people who he feels wronged him. I mean, just as an example, one executive order, there was a measure revoking the security clearance of his former national security advisor, John Bolton.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: Bolton, of course, wrote a book that Trump was unfit to be president.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): Were his orders and actions generally focused on domestic issues overall?
--:-- Franco Ordonez: I mean, it was kind of a mix of domestic and foreign, long list.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): And as he signed, he actually took questions from reporters who were in the pool in the room about his plans to do in office.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: I mean, one of them asked when he'll talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the war in Ukraine.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): Here's what Trump said.
--:-- Trump: I have to speak to President Putin. We're going to have to find out.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: He can't be thrilled. He's not doing so well. I mean, he's grinding it out. But most people thought that war would have been over in about one week.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: And now you're into three years. So he can't be thrilled. It's not making him look very good.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): So that all happened like in hours, not even a full day in office. So today is actually his first full day in office. What should we expect?
--:-- Franco Ordonez: I mean, he's already busy. You know, he posted on social media this morning that he was removing more than a thousand of Biden administration appointees like celebrity chef Jose Andres and retired general Mark Milley.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: And my colleague Deidre Walsh confirmed that House Speaker Mike Johnson is planning to come to the White House today.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): But really, beyond that, we don't know much more.
--:-- Franco Ordonez: NPR's Franco Ordonez.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): Immigration is at the center of Trump's first moves as president, a key part of his campaign message and rise back to power.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): As commander in chief, I have no higher responsibility than to defend our country from threats and invasions. And that is exactly what I am going to do. We will do it at a level that nobody's ever seen before.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): He signed a handful of actions tied to immigration yesterday evening and rescinding other Biden administration policies on asylum in the border.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): Some, though, push the legal bounds of the law and the Constitution.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): NPR's immigration policy reporter Jimena Bustillo has been covering all of this. And joins me now.
--:-- Jimena Bustillo: Hi, Ximena. Good morning.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): Good morning. So Trump has made some very specific promises around immigration. What actions did he take yesterday?
--:-- Jimena Bustillo: Trump signed executive actions aimed at increasing border security and reducing pathways for legal migration.
--:-- Jimena Bustillo: Some included his boldest promises, like reinterpreting the 14th Amendment to mean that those born in the U.S. do not get automatic citizenship, as has been the most common interpretation.
--:-- Jimena Bustillo: Trump also brought back and policies from his first term, resuming border wall construction and pausing refugee resettlement.
--:-- Jimena Bustillo: A few other things happened yesterday as well. He shut down the CPB1 app. This was something President Joe Biden created, which allowed migrants to schedule appointments at ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border.
--:-- Jimena Bustillo: This created immediate impact at the southern border. People who had waited months to be able to schedule an appointment suddenly lost that chance.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): Is everything he signing legal and constitutional? I'm thinking of birthright citizenship.
--:-- Jimena Bustillo: I mean, can he just end it? The 14th Amendment of the Constitution says all persons born in the United States are citizens.
--:-- Jimena Bustillo: This is something that he has long promised to do, though this is already being challenged in courts.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): Last night a coalition of civil rights and civil liberty groups filed a lawsuit in New Hampshire saying Trump's decision was unconstitutional and goes against congressional intent and longstanding Supreme Court precedent.
--:-- Jimena Bustillo: And others are looking into this, too.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): And there's a lot of unknowns generally about the ability to implement many of these actions.
--:-- Jimena Bustillo: For example, Trump says he wants to send the military and National Guard to the border, but there's no clarity on who would go, how many or to do what.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): I mean, and just a reminder, I mean, Trump's been in power for not even a full day yet. That starts today.
--:-- Jimena Bustillo: But he does have some of his cabinet in place, like Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): Does he have his immigration team assembled?
--:-- Jimena Bustillo: Trump selected South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to lead Homeland Security, but she has not been confirmed yet by the Senate.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): There are also key posts at the Defense Department that may need to be in place to deploy resources to the southern border.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): And agencies like DHS do need congressional funding to scale up their operations.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): And while there is interest in having border security be a part of the next budget-related measure, that's still several weeks away, if not months.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): And speaking of Congress, I mean, lawmakers did actually take action on immigration last night.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): What did they do?
--:-- Jimena Bustillo: Twelve Democrats joined Republicans to pass the Lake and Riley Act.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): This is a bill that would lower the bar for who the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents can detain and deport based on their crimes, such as theft or assault against law enforcement.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): The bill now goes back to the House, which is expected to pass it.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): And this could reach Trump's desk as the first legislation that he signs in his second term.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): But it might be pretty hard to implement.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): I got an internal memo from Immigration and Customs Enforcement that said that they'd need $26 billion in just the first year to comply with the order to house those they detain and to hire more people to process them.
--:-- Jimena Bustillo: NPR's Ximena Bustillo.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): As we mentioned earlier, President Trump issued pardons and commutations to every single defendant charged and convicted in connection with the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): Yeah, that includes people convicted of assaulting police on that day with batons and pepper spray, and other weapons.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): More than 140 officers were injured on January 6, and their injuries included crushed spinal discs, traumatic brain injuries, and a heart attack.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): And NPR's Tom Dreisbach has been covering the attack and the pardons, and he joins me now.
--:-- Tom Dreisbach: Good morning.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): Good morning. So take us through the pardons and the commutations that Trump issued.
--:-- Tom Dreisbach: Right. So almost every single defendant got a full unconditional pardon. That means their conviction is forgiven.
--:-- Tom Dreisbach: If they're locked up, they get released. If they were convicted of a felony, they get their gun rights back.
--:-- Tom Dreisbach: And that group includes more than 400 people charged or convicted of violent assaults on law enforcement, driving a stun gun into an officer's necks, for example, beating officers with a bat.
--:-- Tom Dreisbach: And then just 14 people are getting these commutations. So they still have a felony on the record, but they are getting out of prison.
--:-- Tom Dreisbach: And all of those people are linked to the far-right groups involved in January 6th, the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys.
--:-- Tom Dreisbach: Most of that group were convicted of seditious conspiracy.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): But I should say the headline here is everyone charged in connection with January 6th, whether they pleaded guilty or lost at trial, whether they assaulted cops or not, whether they were found to be violent extremists or not, they are all getting relief from Trump.
--:-- Tom Dreisbach: I mean, it's not a surprise, right, that Trump had promised pardons for January 6th rioters for years.
--:-- Tom Dreisbach: But were you surprised by the scope?
--:-- Tom Dreisbach: Well, yeah, members of the incoming administration had said this would not happen. Vice President J Vance told Fox News earlier this month that quote obviously they should not pardon people who assaulted police.
--:-- Tom Dreisbach: In fact, Trump has embraced, however, even the violent January 6th defendants for years.
--:-- Tom Dreisbach: At his rallies, he featured a song with the January 6th defendants recorded on a jailhouse phone singing the Star-Spangled Banner.
--:-- Tom Dreisbach: He calls them hostages, says they were treated unfairly.
--:-- Tom Dreisbach: And even rioters were attending inaugural events, including a rioter named Timothy Hale Cusinelli, who prosecutors described as a Nazi sympathizer.
--:-- Tom Dreisbach: And he once went to work at a naval base with a Hitler mustache, compared Orthodox Jews to a plague of locusts.
--:-- Tom Dreisbach: And he actually posted his invite to the inauguration on social media.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): Wow.
--:-- Tom Dreisbach: Where does this leave the January 6th cases?
--:-- Tom Dreisbach: Well, federal law enforcement said that January 6th and the attack then was an act of domestic terrorism, and they launched the largest single criminal investigation in the history of the Justice Department in response.
--:-- Tom Dreisbach: Trump has essentially undone all of that with the stroke of a pen.
--:-- Tom Dreisbach: And for police officers who were hurt, their families, this was the worst case scenario.
--:-- Tom Dreisbach: They are watching people who assaulted them or their family member get out of prison.
--:-- Tom Dreisbach: Of course, many defendants, on the other hand, are celebrating today.
--:-- Tom Dreisbach: Jacob Chansley, the rioter many people know as the QAnon shaman, the guy with the horns that was seen in the Capitol, he said he's going to buy some guns now that he can legally.
--:-- Tom Dreisbach: And then there's the larger concern I've heard from counterterrorism experts, extremism experts, that this essentially is an endorsement of political violence by the incoming Trump administration, as long as that violence is against Trump's opponents.
--:-- Tom Dreisbach: The Proud Boys have kept a much lower profile since January 6th, but they were actually back out on the streets in D.C. on Inauguration Day.
--:-- Tom Dreisbach: And given their history of violence, that has a lot of people worried.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): That's NPR's Tom Dreisbach. Thank you so much for your reporting.
--:-- Tom Dreisbach: Thanks, Leila.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): And that's Up First for Tuesday, January 21st.
--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): I'm Leila Fadel. And I'm A. Martinez.
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--:-- Host (Leila Fadel): Today's episode of Up First was edited by Roberta Rampton, Anna Yukhananov, Robert Little, Olivia Hampton, and Alice Woelfle.
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