(NewsNation) — President Donald Trump has already signed a 26 executive orders during his opening days back in the White House, taking action on a variety of topics ranging from the U.S. southern border to ending funding for diversity and inclusion programs among government agencies.
Trump’s busy return to the Oval Office came after the Republican promised that he would address issues such as securing the U.S.-Mexico border and beginning mass deportation plans as soon as he took office. But as Trump begins his second stint as president, he has vowed to quickly make changes to policies that had been in place under former President Joe Biden.
But where does Trump’s swift action fall historically among U.S. presidents over their first 100 days in office?
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According to the American Presidency Project, Trump already signed more than half of the 42 executive orders signed by Biden during his first 100 days in the White House in 2021. Biden did so after defeating Trump in the 2020 election and quickly set an agenda of reversing several Trump-era policies.
Biden ranked only behind President Teddy Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, who were the only U.S. presidents to sign at least 50 executive orders during their 100 days in office, according to data provided by the American Presidency Project.
Roosevelt signed 93 orders after taking office in 1933 while Truman signed 57 in 1945, data shows.
Trump’s first term in the White House ranked fourth historically after he signed his name to 33 executive orders during his first 100 days in office 2017 after he defeated Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. Trump’s presidency followed the two terms that Barack Obama served in the White House. Obama signed 19 in 2009 after first being elected to office.
The only other presidents to sign at least 20 executive orders during their 100 days in office included John F. Kennedy in 1961 (23), Gerald R. Ford (21, 1974) and Dwight D. Eisenhower (20, 1953), the data indicated.
Former President George W. Bush was among the least active U.S. presidents in terms of executive orders signed during his first 100 days as he signed 11. That total matched that of his father, George H.W. Bush, who also signed 11 executive orders after he took over the Oval Office in 1989.
