Donald Trump Withdraws from Paris Climate Agreement and WHO
US President Donald Trump, upon taking office, began making swift decisions. In keeping with his campaign promises, he signed multiple executive orders on his first day as President. He annulled several orders made by former President Joe Biden. Through these executive orders, Trump granted amnesty to 1500 of his supporters involved in the Capitol Hill riots. He also pulled the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement and announced that the US would no longer be a member of the World Health Organization (WHO). Furthermore, Trump moved to end birthright citizenship in the US, which had granted citizenship to those born on American soil regardless of their parents' nationality.
Notably, on January 20th, Trump signed an executive order to withdraw the US from the Paris Climate Agreement. Before signing the order, he said, "I am immediately withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement." The US had previously exited the agreement during Trump’s first term in January 2017, but it rejoined under President Joe Biden. The Paris Agreement aims to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels to avoid severe effects of climate change.
Trump's withdrawal from the agreement is expected to deliver a setback to the global push for clean energy. Additionally, he signed an order for the US to exit the WHO, stating that the organization had failed in managing the COVID-19 pandemic and other global health crises.