Trump began his second term by signing a spate of executive orders, many echoing directives from his first administration. He promised tariffs on all goods from Canada and Mexico (as Dean Baker wrote about this week) and codified an anti-immigrant “invasion” narrative into law (as Jeanne Morefield scrutinizes).
Trump also withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement on climate change—for a second time. He rescinded U.S. membership in the World Health Organization. He initiated a process to end birthright citizenship, directed the federal government to oppose “gender ideology,” canceled U.S. involvement in the OECD global tax deal meant to combat tax havens, opened Alaskan territory to resource extraction, and suspended the U.S. refugee system indefinitely.
The pieces in this week’s reading list illuminate what’s at stake in all these areas, and more.
