The global impact has already been felt as Trump returned to the White House on his first day of office. In response to the drastic U.S. policy changes, the international community has expressed deep worry, regret and even readiness to take counter-measures to hit back.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump signed on Monday, Day One of his second presidency, a record number of executive orders spanning border security, immigration, energy, government efficiency, pardons for Jan. 6 rioters, pausing the TikTok ban and rescinding 78 Biden-era executive actions.
On international affairs, Trump signed orders to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Agreement, to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America," and to pause foreign aid for 90 days pending review.
The global impact has already been felt as Trump returned to the White House on his first day of office. In response to the drastic U.S. policy changes, the international community has expressed deep worry, regret and even readiness to take counter-measures to hit back.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday that her country "does not have to bow its head" to the United States, and urged the public "to remain calm."
"We are a great country, a cultural power, and Mexicans are a hard-working, honest people, who are fraternal, supportive, and have a lot to boast about to the entire world. So, the relationship with the United States has to be between equals," the president said during her usual morning press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City.
Regarding Trump's threats to begin deporting undocumented migrants en masse, Sheinbaum unveiled a program called "Mexico embraces you," which aims to offer deportees help and orientation.
"Mexicans are very important to the economy in the United States and the Trump administration knows that. In the event of deportations, which would be a unilateral measure on their part, in addition to defending them in the United States through the consular network and the support of lawyers and other schemes, when they arrive in Mexico there is also a comprehensive program," she said.
The program establishes protocols at border crossings and airports for receiving those being repatriated, including offering "admission to the Mexican Social Security Institute, employment, transportation, so they can get to their places of origin, and a small initial support" should they arrive with no money, she said.
Some 38.4 million people of Mexican descent reside in the United States, including 11.5 million first-generation Mexican-Americans, with 4.8 million lacking documents, according to official data.
As for the U.S. exit from the Paris Agreement, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on her X account that "All continents will have to deal with the growing burden of climate change. Its impact is impossible to ignore."
"The Paris Agreement continues to be humanity's best hope. Europe will stay the course. And we'll keep working with all nations that want to stop global warming," she said.
On Monday, a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the United States to remain a leader on global environmental issues after Trump announced the withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement.
"The Paris Agreement was adopted by all the world's nations in 2015 because they recognize the immense harm that climate change is already causing and the enormous opportunity that climate action presents," the spokesperson said in a written statement.
"The last ten years have been the hottest in recorded history. We have to look no further than Los Angeles to see this human, ecological and economic disaster play out. The collective efforts under the Paris Agreement have made a difference, but we need to go much further and faster together," the statement said, urging world leaders to seize opportunities in this critical decade for climate action.
Despite the U.S. withdrawal, the UN chief "remains confident that cities, states and businesses within the United States -- along with other countries -- will continue to demonstrate vision and leadership" by working for the low-carbon, resilient economic growth that will create quality jobs and markets, it said.
"It is crucial that the United States remains a leader on environmental issues," the statement stressed.
The first Trump administration officially let the United States, one of the world's top emitters of greenhouse gases, exit the Paris climate accord in November 2020, dealing a major blow to international efforts to combat the climate crisis.
Joe Biden, who succeeded Trump to become the 46th U.S. president in 2021, signed an executive order on Jan. 20, 2021 -- his first day in office -- to bring the United States back into the Paris climate accord.
As Trump was sworn into office on Monday, dozens of anti-Trump protests broke out across the United States.
In Washington D.C., several hundred protesters braved the frigid temperatures to hold a rally at Malcolm X Park in the northwest of the city as Trump was being sworn into office and moved to Dupont Circle by Monday afternoon, crying against what they called "Trump's billionaire agenda."
"A lot of people are feeling a lot of fear today and feeling kind of just like they want to give up. And so a lot of us were out here today to show people there are other organizations that are doing things that can get involved, and they're not alone in how they feel," one attendee told FOX 5.
In downtown Chicago, thousands of protesters marched toward Trump Tower on Monday, carrying signs "Stop the Trump agenda", "Free Palestine Now," "Keep immigrant families together," etc.
In Manhattan, New York City, thousands marched along Sixth Avenue, demanding a free Palestine, calling for the protection of immigrant families, and honoring Martin Luther King Jr.
About 80 cities across the United States held anti-Trump protests during his inauguration on Monday, according to media outlet KSHB affiliated with NBC.■