Trump cancels AI security, halts environmental protection and infrastructure
The new US president reverses dozens of his predecessor's decrees and thus puts the brakes on innovation. More energy is required to be supplied by oil and gas.
Never before has a US president been as old as Donald John Trump at his inauguration.
(Image: WeiĂźes Haus)
Donald John Trump became US President for the second time on Monday. On the first day of his second term, he signed numerous decrees and rescinded dozens of those of his predecessor. This is just the first step. So far, the huge catalog of IT security measures that Joe Biden ordered US federal authorities to implement last week has not been affected.
On the other hand, Trump is canceling the security measures agreed with the AI industry. Biden codified this agreement in his Executive Order 14110 in October 2023 (Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence). According to this, companies should subject AI systems that could pose a threat to national security, the economy or public health to safety tests (red teaming) before placing them on the market. Federal agencies should watermark their content to make it easier to distinguish it from AI-generated deep fakes. An IT security program was supposed to protect critical infrastructure, while the use of AI to develop chemical, biological or nuclear warfare agents was banned. All of this is being scrapped, as are special work visas for AI experts.
Trump is withdrawing not only from the World Health Organization (WHO), but also from the OECD tax agreement on global minimum taxes and fair distribution of tax revenues. Instead, he is ordering protectionist measures against all countries that could tax US companies extraterritorially or disproportionately. This applies in particular to the various controversial digital taxes.
Withdrawal of environmental protection and e-cars
All international environmental protection and climate agreements and all associated obligations will be terminated. In addition, a US initiative for international climate protection will be stopped, meaning that export subsidies for US environmental technology will be discontinued. Another now deleted decree required US federal authorities to take environmental protection measures, from waste avoidance and the economical use of water to the procurement of electric vehicles and building renovations. This also means that the declared goal of making the electricity supply COâ‚‚-neutral from 2035 and the entire economy COâ‚‚-neutral from 2050 no longer applies.
Trump has explicitly called for a halt to all environmental regulations that would have led to higher fuel prices, higher food prices or higher purchase costs for household appliances. Trump's "Putting People Over Fish" decree, which rescinds measures to protect fish stocks, is emblematic of this. Trump also believes that combustion vehicles have become more expensive due to requirements for the sale of electric vehicles, which he would have liked to change. Accordingly, he is removing Biden's Executive Order 14037 from summer 2021, which aimed to make the USA the world market leader in electric cars. On this basis, federal authorities have imposed new emissions and efficiency regulations for new vehicles.
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One of the White House advisory committees immediately closed by Trump is the one for science and technology. It is fitting that the new incumbent is scrapping Executive Order 14030 on the assessment of the financial risks of climate change. It is no longer intended to survey what federal authorities, insurance companies, the financial sector and the pension system are facing.
Offshore wind power has had its day under Trump, who has stopped all licensing until further notice and revoked certain licenses. Fishing is to take precedence over wind power in the future. Conversely, the Republican has ordered an end to restrictions on the extraction of fossil fuels and minerals. He has set development aid to zero for 90 days, after which it will only flow if it is in the interests of the USA.
Brake on infrastructure
The new president is also not happy with two major legislative packages passed by both parties, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Anti-Inflation Act. Trump cannot repeal these, but Biden's executive orders can.
A council called USTOC, which coordinated the fight against transnational organized crime between various authorities, also has to go. The focus was on international drug trafficking and its money flows. In addition, Trump cancels the plan to phase out private prisons.
Among the other presidential decrees withdrawn by Trump are those to improve healthcare and reduce drug prices, for more civil rights, to increase voter turnout, to combat discrimination or the causes of migration. US sanctions against people allegedly responsible for ethnic crimes in the West Bank also no longer exist.
- Non-exhaustive list of presidential decrees that Donald Trump rescinded on January 20, 2025
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