Trump issues array of orders on first White House evening
President Donald Trump fulfilled his promise of a productive first day by signing a series of presidential decrees Monday night after taking the oath of office. These decrees include plans to withdraw the US from the World Health Organization (WHO) because, as Trump asserts, ‘We are being ruined by the WHO. Everybody is trying to take advantage of the US, but not anymore.’ He criticized WHO’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and accused it of aiding China in misleading the world about the virus’s origins during his first term from 2017 to 2021. Reuters reports that this will lead the US to formally leave the WHO and cease all financial support within about a year. Trump also announced the US withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement and granted clemency to approximately 1500 individuals involved in the Capitol storming on January 6, 2021.