45 things Donald Trump has done in first seven days as US president
The billionaire New Yorker has lost no time in implementing his vision of how to 'make American great again'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Becoming US President would be the high point of anyone's week.
Since entering office Donald Trump has repeatedly made false claims about trivial matters despite clear evidence to the contrary, fallen foul of the United Nations over his planned freeze on resettling refugees and seen his staff spell Theresa May's name incorrectly three times the day before she became the first foreign leader to meet him as President.
It has been a busy few days for the 45th President to enter in the Oval Office. Here are 45 things Mr Trump has done since he was sworn in:
Friday 20 January
- Used his inauguration speech to promise the "forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer", and that "every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs will be made to benefit American workers and American families"
- Made two inaccurate statements about the weather and the size of the crowd at his inauguration, at two different official functions
- Danced to Frank Sinatra's My Way with First Lady Melania Trump
- Called his critics "enemies"
- Used his first executive order to direct the government to begin dismantling Obamacare
- Deleted pages from the White House website
Saturday 21 January
- Earned the ire of former CIA director John Brennan and, reportedly, serving agents, with a "despicable display of self-aggrandisement" during a speech in Langley when he talked up the size of his inauguration crowd. But he also told staff: "I am so behind you"
- Told the CIA it might have "another chance" to seize Iraq's oil reserves. It was a recycled campaign remark and experts were unsure how seriously to take it. The country's prime minister was clear that "Iraq's oil is constitutionally the property of the Iraqis"
- Ordered his press secretary, Sean Spicer, to make demonstrably false claims in his first ever White House press briefing. Spicer also told journalists: "We're going to hold the press accountable. The American people deserve better"
- Watched hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets around the world in Women's Marches that protested his sexist campaign statements
- Misspelled "honoured" in a tweet
- Personally called the director of the National Park Service about the inauguration photos
Sunday 22 January
- Claimed Women's March demonstrators did not vote in the election
- Inducted 30 senior staffers including Steve Bannon and son-in-law Jared Kushner
- Become inextricably linked to the phrase "alternative facts"
- Declined, through his adviser Kellyanne Conway, to release his tax returns
Monday 23 January
- Reinstated the 'Mexico City Policy' which strips funding from US funding for health clinics around the world that provide abortion services
- Declared the day of his inauguration a National Day of Patriotic Devotion
- Told business leaders he would cut Obama-era regulations by 75 per cent or more, at the same time as he would impose border taxes on businesses that outsource jobs
- Praised FBI director James Comey, who re-opened the investigation into the hacking of Hillary Clinton's emails
- Pulled the US out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, calling the move a "great thing for the American worker"—a position he shares with Senator Bernie Sanders, the former Democratic presidential hopeful
- Ordered a freeze on government hiring
- Repeated a false claim that he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton because of millions of illegal ballot papers
Tuesday 24 January
- Banned Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Agriculture and other staff from talking to the press
- Gained low approval ratings for his first two days in office. Gallop found 45 per cent of Americans approved of his early performance, compared to 67 per cent for Barack Obama and 57 per cent for George W Bush. Mr Trump called the poll "rigged"
- Signed executive orders to advance the construction of the controversial Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines
- Asked the press to keep from publishing stories about Mr Trump's children, likely meaning 10-year-old Barron, his son with First Lady Melania. A statement said: "It is a longstanding tradition that the children of Presidents are afforded the opportunity to grow up outside of the political spotlight"
- Threatened Chicago he would "send in the feds" if the city did not address gun violence. The Chicago Police Department later disputed the figures he had used
Wednesday 25 January
- Started, and lost, a Twitter spat with CNN over how many people watched his inauguration
- Released a long list of positive headlines about himself
- Signed an executive order mandating the start of construction of his long-promised border wall between the US and Mexico (which used to be much larger than it is today)
- Showed off a panoramic photo of his inauguration that will be displayed in the White House. Unfortunately, it was dated incorrectly
- Inspired his staff members to leak stories about his conduct behind closed doors
- Reviewed Barack Obama and John Kerry's last-minute payment of $221 million (£171 million) to the Palestinian Authority for humanitarian aid and other projects
- Ordered his administration to publish a weekly list of crimes committed by immigrants
Thursday 26 January
- Called receiving the nuclear codes on inauguration day, a "sobering moment"
- Took his first trip aboard Air Force One, forsaking his own private "T-Bird" jet. The President's official plane features medical facilities, a gym and anti-missile technology
- Claimed during his first Presidential prime-time interview that he had the biggest audience "from all of the various sources" in the history of inaugural speeches
- Called for a 20 per cent tax on all imports from Mexico to pay for the border wall. Former Mexican President Vicente Fox Quesada told Mr Trump on Twitter that his country would never finance the "f***ing wall"
- Told ABC News that torture "absolutely" works and said "we have to fight fire with fire" in the battle against Isis
- Saw his staff misspell the name of Prime Minister Theresa May three times in an official schedule for her visit handed to reporters. Teresa May—as the White House had spelled it—is in fact the name of a softcore porn actress
Friday 27 January
- Cited a conspiracy theory about illegal ballots—something for which experts say there is no evidence—amid reports he was considering shelving an investigation into voting fraud he had previously called for on Twitter
- Scheduled his first calls with Vladimir Putin and Angela Merkel since taking office, which will take place on Saturday
- Prepared to meet with Ms May following her speech to the Republican Retreat on Thursday
- Entered office just as George Orwell's novel 1984 hit the top of Amazon's US best-selling list
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments