Tracking Trump’s actions so far in his second term and thinking about what comes next.
President Trump has been in office for less than three months and already has signed more executive orders in his first 50 days than any president in recent history. Despite the flurry of executive action, little has been delivered for working Americans or U.S. interests. While everyday Americans are losing access to essential programs, facing job loss and skyrocketing prices on goods, billionaires are making great progress under the Trump-Musk administration.
Oxfam’s experts examined the administration’s second term policy agenda, and here’s what you need to know about these inequality-increasing policies and their potential impact on all of our lives.
Humanitarian Aid
In February, the Trump administration moved to dismantle USAID and freeze foreign assistance, and on March 10, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that he had cut 83% of USAID activities. U.S. humanitarian assistance accounts for less than 1% of the U.S. federal budget yet it delivers immense results for vulnerable people around the world and US interests.
Cutting funding at this level will have deadly consequences: Children and families will no longer have the food, clean water, healthcare, education, and other essentials needed to survive and build their futures.
Immigration
The Trump administration has suspended the refugee resettlement program, ended humanitarian parole programs, such as CHNV and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for a number of countries, and ended the CBP One app—the only remaining pathway for individuals to request asylum interviews by land—reinstated the Remain in Mexico policy, rescinded the task force on the reunification of families, increased family detention, and attempted to end birthright citizenship.
Executive orders mandating deportation efforts target members of specific groups, such as alleged gang members, without providing them with access to legal counsel nor the opportunity to present a defense.
Simultaneously, House Republicans have sought to criminalize migrants in the United States through the passage of the Laken Riley Act, which mandates the deportation of any immigrant accused of a crime, and through the introduction of a variety of additional laws that will further criminalize migrants.
These actions will have staggering costs on society as a whole. We know from experience how these policies will tear families apart, send asylum seekers back into harm’s way, and destabilize the economy.
Environmental Costs
On his first day in office President Trump made undermining climate action a top priority, declaring an “energy emergency.” He signed an executive order pulling the United States out of the Paris Agreement. With this move, the United States is shirking its responsibility to people everywhere, but especially those most vulnerable to climate disasters.
Under the guise of maintaining “energy dominance,” President Trump halted spending passed under Inflation Reduction Act that allows the United States to transition to a clean energy economy. This includes lifting the Biden administration’s bans on offshore drilling, revoking the mandate for auto manufacturers to invest in electric vehicles, and shutting down wind and solar projects. The move will line the pockets of billionaires and fossil fuel companies while further exposing frontline communities to air and water pollution, extreme weather, and climate-induced disasters.
Health and well-being
President Trump announced plans to withdraw from the World Health Organization on his first day in office. Oxfam believes this decision would undermine the health and safety of Americans and people around the world.
In his first week, President Trump delivered a devastating blow to global health and women’s rights by reinstating the Global Gag Rule, also known as the Mexico City Policy. This policy bars foreign assistance to organizations providing, counseling, or advocating for legal abortion services, putting organizations in the position of choosing between much-needed funding and providing comprehensive care. This rule effectively cuts off critical services to millions of people, particularly women and girls in low-income countries.
What is Trump doing for the economy?
In his March 4 speech to the joint session of Congress, Trump announced that he was “fighting to make America affordable again.” Thus far, prices have gone up and there has been little relief for working people. We have however seen massive DOGE driven-layoffs, including at the IRS, where cuts serve billionaire interests. Republicans in Congress are already moving forward to pass Trump’s tax plan, which would to cut over a trillion from spending on programs including Medicaid and food assistance to pay for tax cuts for corporations and the ultra-rich.
Elon Musk’s actions as the head of DOGE are all in service of the Trump administration’s key priority: slashing taxes for large corporations and billionaires and making ordinary Americans pay. While the ultra-rich get richer, the rest of us lose essential services and programs that we rely on.
President Trump also plans to impose broad import tariffs instead of taxing income and corporations. By instituting tariffs in the place of progressive taxes, the cost of goods and services will continue to rise, likely hitting the poorest amongst us the hardest.
Taking action
Now that you know what’s coming, how can we stop this agenda and keep inequality from growing further? The good news is that there are three branches of government and many of these issues are being fought in the courts. As of March 8, there were 114 challenges to the Trump administration’s actions in the courts and 41 of these rulings had at least temporarily paused the actions. Among the wins: temporary orders to block the ending of birthright citizenship, re-instatement of the refugee admissions program, and motions in multiple states to unfreeze federal funding.
Oxfam supporters are already playing a role in fighting back against the Trump administration’s plans to dismantle humanitarian aid. Thousands of Oxfam supporters have called their representatives to urge them to support USAID’s live-saving work. We organized over 130 organizations to send a joint letter to Congress to protect foreign assistance. Oxfam has also joined together with other organizations and government employee unions to take the administration to court in order to protect USAID’s life-saving work.
Oxfam is also supporting efforts to ensure the tax system works better for everyone, including strengthening the child tax credit and funding a care economy. In March, our Sisters on the Planet ambassadors and members of the Oxfam Action Network met with more than 130 Congressional offices to argue for a fairer tax system that doesn’t give tax cuts to billionaires on the backs of working people.
At this time of upheaval, we at Oxfam are inspired to see that this work is not contained to international development or non-profit sector. Movements are building organically on the ground, around the country.
Large protests, such as ones against Trump’s regressive agenda for women on International Women’s Day, Stand up for Science rallies, and President’s Day demonstrations are making the headlines. These are a fraction of the efforts sweeping the country; demonstrations are being organized daily to protest the administration’s unjust actions.
People everywhere are harnessing the power of collective action to show up for issues driving inequality and this gives us a reason to be hopeful that a better world is still within our grasp.