Many executive actions reflect Mr. Trump’s messaging, in some cases closely echoing inaccurate claims that have long been a feature of his public appearances.
Since retaking office, President Trump has issued a pace-setting number of executive actions that have become a hallmark of his approach to governing.
Some of the 164 directives signed so far have had profound consequences while others largely express opinions. Some pertain to administration priorities like immigration and energy production, while others cover more niche topics like showerheads and seafood. Some have been challenged in courts.
Many reflect Mr. Trump’s public messaging. Some repeat nearly verbatim inaccurate claims that have long been a feature of his campaign rallies, news conferences and interviews. Here are a few examples.
Targeting sanctuary cities
Central to Mr. Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign were his claims that the Biden administration had allowed an “invasion” of villainous immigrants. Those claims typically exaggerated the number of migrants who entered the United States and used misleading statistics to imply broad criminality.
Aug. 24, 2024
At one rally in Michigan, Mr. Trump distorts the number of unauthorized migrants who have crossed the border.
Oct. 20, 2024
He repeats that claim in many other campaign stops, including at one in Pennsylvania in the closing stages of the 2024 election.
“They allowed so many people into the country, 21 million people, 13,000 of which were murderers, released from prisons all over the world.”
April 28, 2025
An executive order in April echoed that sentiment.
“The prior administration allowed unchecked millions of aliens to illegally enter the United States. The resulting public safety and national security risks are exacerbated by the presence of, and control of territory by, international cartels and other transnational criminal organizations along the southern border, as well as terrorists and other malign actors who intend to harm the United States and the American people. This invasion at the southern border requires the federal government to take measures to fulfill its obligation to the states.” See full text ›
The executive order, which targets local and state jurisdictions the administration considers sanctuary cities, or places that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, avoids repeating the specific statistics Mr. Trump invoked during his campaign, but it alludes to his warnings about the dangers posed by immigrants.
The Biden administration recorded nearly 8.8 million unauthorized crossings at the southwestern border from February 2021 to January 2025, but many were repeat crossings and the administration also deported more than four million. Government and independent immigration groups have estimated that the Biden administration granted parole or allowed entry to pursue asylum claims to 4.3 million to 5.8 million immigrants.
While there are certainly cases of migrants committing crimes, including violent ones, a body of research shows that immigrants, including those who are unauthorized, are not more likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans.
Doubling down on a specious theory
A research project from the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, laid the groundwork for a speculative theory that aides were signing executive orders and pardons without President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s knowledge by using an autopen, a machine that copies a person’s signature. Mr. Trump has repeatedly amplified the theory in rallies and on social media, criticizing the use of the autopen.
March 16, 2025
In remarks to reporters, Mr. Trump claims, without evidence, that his predecessor was unaware of the autopen’s use.
April 29, 2025
He repeats the claim at a rally marking his 100th day in office.
June 4, 2025
He issues a memorandum requesting an investigation into those claims.
“Although the authority to take these executive actions, along with many others, is constitutionally committed to the president, there are serious doubts as to the decision making process and even the degree of Biden’s awareness of these actions being taken in his name. The vast majority of Biden’s executive actions were signed using a mechanical signature pen, often called an autopen, as opposed to Biden’s own hand. This was especially true of actions taken during the second half of his presidency, when his cognitive decline had apparently become even more clear to those working most closely with him.” See full text ›
The autopen theory stems from the Oversight Project, formerly a branch of the Heritage Foundation. The group says it examined Mr. Biden’s signatures to produce its analysis and questioned whether Mr. Biden was fully aware of each use of the autopen. Mr. Biden has said, “I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation and proclamations,” and any suggestion otherwise is “ridiculous and false.”
Mr. Trump’s directive also inaccurately described the Oversight Project’s findings. The group has claimed that 58 out of Mr. Biden’s 164 executive orders and that 32 out of the 51 warrants providing clemency and pardons were signed by autopen. That is less than half of the documents the group said it examined, not the “vast majority.”
Those figures do not represent the totality of documents signed by Mr. Biden. Presidents also sign proclamations, memoranda, nominations and appointments. It is unclear how many documents in total the Oversight Project reviewed or how it chose to categorize those records, but the Federal Register lists 162 executive orders, 745 proclamations and 382 other documents signed by Mr. Biden. The Justice Department lists 67 clemency warrants.
And at least one assertion by the Oversight Project claiming a signature by autopen requires additional scrutiny. Its database states that an executive order in August 2022 involving reproductive health care was signed by an autopen — despite video showing Mr. Biden personally signing the order.
Misleading examples of Christian persecution
Mr. Trump, on the campaign trail, warned of sprawling government persecution of Christians, citing specific anecdotes while often sanitizing the circumstances in which anti-abortion activists were arrested.
Oct. 9, 2022
At a rally during the midterm elections, Mr. Trump characterizes the handling of anti-abortion activists as unfair harassment of Christians.
Oct. 31, 2024
He continues those misleading appeals in the 2024 presidential election.
“What they’re doing is unbelievable. They’re persecuting Catholics.”
Feb. 6, 2025
He repeats those claims in an executive order.
“Yet the previous administration engaged in an egregious pattern of targeting peaceful Christians, while ignoring violent, anti-Christian offenses. The Biden Department of Justice sought to squelch faith in the public square by bringing federal criminal charges and obtaining in numerous cases multi-year prison sentences against nearly two dozen peaceful pro-life Christians for praying and demonstrating outside abortion facilities. Those convicted included a Catholic priest and 75-year-old grandmother, as well as an 87-year-old woman and a father of 11 children who were arrested 18 months after praying and singing hymns outside an abortion facility in Tennessee as a part of a politically motivated prosecution campaign by the Biden administration. I rectified this injustice on January 23, 2025, by issuing pardons in these cases.” See full text ›
The order established a task force to eradicate what it described as “anti-Christian bias” in the government. But experts have said that there was no evidence of such systematic persecution under the Biden administration.
The people cited by Mr. Trump were not merely arrested for protesting, singing and praying outside abortion clinics. They were arrested and convicted of violating a 1994 law by blocking entrance to reproductive health services. The law protects First Amendment rights to peaceful protest outside of clinics.
Prosecutors said that the grandmother and others forcefully entered a clinic in the District of Columbia in 2020, blockaded two doors “using their bodies, furniture, chains and ropes,” livestreamed their activities and prevented patients from entering. The priest was arrested after blocking entrance to a Planned Parenthood facility in New York by using several padlocks and bike locks as well as his own body. The father and 87-year-old woman, too, were arrested after blocking the doors to abortion clinics in Tennessee and Michigan, preventing patients and employees from entering and trying to stall the police. They were all convicted and then pardoned by Mr. Trump.
Warnings about wind turbines
For more than a decade, Mr. Trump has vehemently opposed wind turbines, calling them “ugly” and “horrible” and claiming they kill wildlife. His dislike dates to his unsuccessful effort to stop the construction of windmills outside his golf course in Scotland.
Oct. 9, 2023
At a rally, Mr. Trump ties the deaths of whales to offshore wind projects.
May 11, 2024
At a rally in New Jersey, he again blames wildlife loss on wind turbines.
April 28, 2025
Mr. Trump makes his dislike official policy under a memorandum.
“The assessment shall consider the environmental impact of onshore and offshore wind projects upon wildlife, including, but not limited to, birds and marine mammals. The assessment shall also consider the economic costs associated with the intermittent generation of electricity and the effect of subsidies on the viability of the wind industry.” See full text ›
The executive order temporarily halted new approvals and renewals of leases for windmills built on federal lands and in oceans. It did not repeat Mr. Trump’s more specific claims and instead ordered an assessment of the effect of wind farms on wildlife.
While wind farms do kill hundreds of thousands of birds, other things — inanimate and living — pose a far greater threat. By one estimate, as many as 328,000 birds die each year from flying into wind farms. By contrast, cats kill as many as four billion birds annually in the United States, fossil fuel power plants 14.5 million and collisions with buildings as many as 988 million. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and marine biologists have said they are unaware of any whale deaths caused by offshore wind turbines, surveys or construction.
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