President Donald Trump began his first full day with a bang by signing three executive orders that withdraws America from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), defunds International Planned Parenthood, and freeze hiring of federal workers.
TPP became a hot topic on the campaign trail with Trump vocally against it. Former President Barack Obama worked on the agreement for almost two years with the aim of “eliminating most tariffs and other trade barriers among the U.S., Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Vietnam and half a dozen other countries around the Pacific.”
On Sunday, Trump said that he will speak with leaders of Canada and Mexico about NAFTA. He wants to stick with this “America First” slogan and views these trade agreements “as lopsided against the US.”
Obama even worked closely with Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), but “Congress never approved the deal itself.” From The New York Times:
Mr. Obama and his Republican allies argued that the pact would open growing foreign markets to American businesses. But Democrats, ultimately including Hillary Clinton, even though she had helped push negotiations forward as secretary of state, said it would benefit wealthy corporations at the expense of workers and the environment.Mr. Trump sided with them, and he beat Mrs. Clinton in crucial Midwestern industrial states like Michigan and Wisconsin that had traditionally gone Democratic but have been hurt by changes in manufacturing over recent decades.
Since Congress never ratified the deal, the order is more symbolic to show Trump will have a tough stance on trade to make sure no one takes advantage of America. On Monday afternoon, Trump will “meet with union leaders and blue-collar workers several hours after signing the executive action, as well as separate meetings with business leaders.”
Trump also brought back the Mexico City Policy, first brought up by President Ronald Reagan in 1984, which requires “nongovernmental organizations to agree as a condition of receiving any federal funding that they ‘would neither perform nor actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in other nations.'”
The bill to fully defund Planned Parenthood lies in hands of Congress, but Trump can defund International Planned Parenthood. The order means that leg of Planned Parenthood and other NGOs that promote the murder of unborn human beings as a way of family planning can no longer receive any aid from the US Agency for International Development:
“President Trump is continuing Ronald Reagan’s legacy by taking immediate action on day one to stop the promotion of abortion through our tax dollars overseas.” said Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser in an email to LifeNews.com. “President Trump’s immediate action to promote respect for all human life, including vulnerable unborn children abroad, as well as conscience rights, sends a strong signal about his Administration’s pro-life priorities.”
Trump then signed an order to freeze government hiring, which does not include the military:
[Chief of Staff Reince] Priebus presented him with the document, Trump interrupted to make clear that the freeze exempted the military. He made no further comment about the new directive.Trump’s call for a hiring freeze dates back to an October speech in Gettysburg, Penn. as part of his “Contract with the American Voter.”During that speech, he promised a “hiring freeze on all federal employees to reduce the federal work force through attrition,” but noted that there would be an exemption for military, public safety and public health jobs.
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