Keeping Up With Trump: Here’s Everything He’s Done The Past Two Weeks

Every week, The Daily Wire will summarize the latest from President Donald Trump and his team.

President Donald Trump continued his administration’s breakneck pace through his second and third weeks in office, tackling issues from trade to terrorism and gender ideology.

The president issued multiple executive orders nearly daily, fulfilling one campaign promise after another, while turning his attention to tariffs, meetings with foreign leaders, and disaster responses.

Here’s what Trump’s been up to.

Aircraft Crash

Trump’s second week was rocked by a deadly aircraft disaster that launched the administration into action.

On Tuesday last week, an American Airlines flight was hit by a Black Hawk military helicopter minutes before landing, causing both craft to fall into the icy Potomac River and killing all 67 crew and passengers.

Trump held a press conference the next day with Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who had been confirmed hours before the crash.

The president suggested that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies could be to blame for the crash.

“Because I have common sense,” he told a reporter who questioned his theory.

On Thursday last week, Trump ordered a review of all aviation hiring decisions and changes to safety protocols over the past four years.

“This shocking event follows problematic and likely illegal decisions during the Obama and Biden Administrations that minimized merit and competence,” the memorandum read.

Education

Trump took several actions on education, including signing an executive order last week prohibiting federal funding for schools teaching “radical, anti-American ideologies” including Critical Race Theory and gender ideology.

Another executive order on school choice directs the Education Secretary to determine how states can use federal funds to support school choice. Trump also proclaimed last week National School Choice Week.

Yet another order is aimed at combating anti-Semitism, including pushing colleges to investigate and remove alien students who engage in anti-Semitism if appropriate.

Meanwhile, the Department of Education has taken several actions on its own.

At the end of the administration’s first week, the department tossed out a slew of complaints about “book bans,” or school districts removing sexually explicit materials.

It also scrapped President Joe Biden’s reinterpretation of Title IX to include trans-identifying men as women, calling it an “unlawful abuse of regulatory power and an egregious slight to women and girls.”

The department also said it will investigate the University of Pennsylvania and San Jose State University for allowing trans-identifying males in women’s sports.

Gender Ideology

Trump signed an executive order committing that the United States will not fund or support the “so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures.”

This prompted a slew of hospitals to pump the brakes on transgender medicalization for children, including hospitals in New York City, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Colorado, and Virginia.

Trump also signed an order banning trans-identifying males in girls’ sports by threatening to rescind funds from schools that allow this, saying it “results in the endangerment, humiliation, and silencing of women and girls and deprives them of privacy.”

In response, the NCAA changed its policy to read that a “student-athlete assigned male at birth may not compete on a women’s team.”

Trump also issued an order banning trans-identifying members from the military.

“A man’s assertion that he is a woman, and his requirement that others honor this falsehood, is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member,” the order read.

Federal employees were also instructed to remove pronouns from their email signatures.

In a surprise move, Trump also fired several Kennedy Center board members, accusing the center of “Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth.”

Foreign Policy

Over the last two weeks, Trump secured the release of six more Israeli hostages and an American-Israeli citizen held by Hamas.

The president said he would like to see Egypt and Jordan accept more Palestinian refugees. He spoke recently with both Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Egypt’s President El-Sisi about the Hamas hostage situation. Abdullah is set to visit the White House later this month.

Trump made waves internationally when he proposed the United States take over Gaza after resettling the Palestinian population, and turn the seaside area into a “Riviera of the Middle East.”

He announced the plan at a joint press conference on Tuesday after meeting with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at White House.

Trump also issued an executive order sanctioning the International Criminal Court, which faced backlash from the United States in November when it issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu, accusing him of war crimes.

The president also ordered his first major military operation — air strikes on ISIS operatives in Somalian caves who had “threatened” the U.S., saying “Biden and his cronies wouldn’t act quickly enough to get the job done.”

Trump also revived his “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, announcing sanctions aimed at driving its oil exports to zero to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. He accused Biden of failing to keep pressure on Tehran.

The United States had a victory related to China when Panama announced it would leave China’s “Belt and Road” infrastructure and influence program. Panama’s decision came after Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned the country to immediately reduce Chinese influence over the canal area or the United States could retaliate.

Immigration

The president signed the Laken Riley Act, which mandates that federal immigration authorities detain illegal migrants who are accused of theft and other violent crimes. The law is named after the Georgia college student who was killed by an illegal migrant on her morning run last year.

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Chicago and Illinois over “sanctuary” policies for migrants.

Trump directed that Guantanamo Bay’s migrant operations be expanded to take in “high-priority” criminal illegal aliens. The first flight there included 10 members of the violent Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang.

The Trump administration also evoked Biden’s deportation protections for Venezuelan migrants. Richard Grenell, Trump’s envoy for special missions also secured the release of six Americans detained in Venezuelan prisons, and the country agreed to accept the return of illegal migrant Tren de Aragua gang members.

Economy And Trade

The United States had a brief but heated showdown with Colombia after the country refused to accept American military planes trying to return Colombian illegal migrants.

Trump immediately threatened a 25% emergency tariff on Colombia that would increase to 50% after a week, as well as visa sanctions, banking sanctions, and enhanced inspections by border authorities.

Colombia quickly caved to all of Trump’s demands, even offering the Colombian presidential plane for migrant flights.

Trump imposed tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China — 25% for the first two, 10% for China.

The president said the tariffs were to hold the countries accountable for stopping illegal immigration and fentanyl at the U.S. border, accusing the Biden administration of “letting problems fester.”

“Access to the American market is a privilege,” the White House said of the tariffs.

Trump subsequently paused the tariffs on Canada and Mexico for a month after both countries agreed to help stop illegal immigration and drugs. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum offered 10,000 Mexican soldiers at the southern border, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada will deploy a joint strike force with the United States and put $200 million towards combating organized crime and fentanyl.

China responded with retaliatory tariffs including 10% on U.S. crude oil and 15% on coal and natural gas.

Trump directed his administration to make a plan for a Sovereign Wealth Fund, which he said could held finance the purchase of TikTok.

Meanwhile, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has thrown federal employees and Democrats into a panic.

Democrat lawmakers claimed that Elon Musk’s DOGE team, which has been tasked with finding federal waste to cut, had unfettered access to the government’s massive payment system for things like Social Security and Medicare. In fact, DOGE has “read-only” access to the payment system.

DOGE targeted the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for elimination, with Musk calling the agency not just an “apple with a worm it in” but rather a “bowl of worms” and Trump saying it is run by “radical left lunatics.”

Now, the Trump administration is planning to slash the number of USAID workers from more than 10,000 to just 290 positions.

The Trump administration has also seen more than 60,000 federal employees accept a buyout offer to resign.

Trump also directed that administrations may not finalize new deals with federal worker unions 30 days before a new administration takes over, as the Biden administration did three days before the inauguration.

Religious Freedom

On Thursday, Trump signed an order aimed at eradicating the “anti-Christian weaponization of government.”

The order noted that the Biden administration targeted pro-life Americans, including federal agents arresting a father of 11 at his home after he prayed outside an abortion clinic, and two elderly women who were also prosecuted. It also cites Biden ignoring attacks on Catholic churches and pro-life centers, the FBI’s 2023 memo targeting traditional Catholics, and the Biden Department of Health and Human Service’s attempts to shut out Christians from the foster care system if they did not affirm gender ideology for children.

In another order, he established the White House Faith Office to help faith-based organizations serve communities.

Other Moves

The administration has removed thousands of government web pages, including vaccine guidelines for “pregnant people, a “Reproductive Rights” page, and an FAQ about the Monkeypox vaccine.

Trump met with Texas Governor Greg Abbott and discussed border security. He also met with California Governor Gavin Newsom and discussed wildfire disaster aid.