Secretary of Defense
Executive orders directing the Secretary of Defense · 60 in Trump 47 · 500 all terms.
Related departments
Orders
60 shown · Trump 47
Establishing an America First Arms Transfer Strategy
This executive order establishes an 'America First Arms Transfer Strategy' that redirects U.S. arms sales policy to use foreign military purchases as a tool to expand domestic defense production capacity, streamline export processes, and prioritize sales to allies that invest in self-defense or contribute to U.S. economic security. It creates an interagency task force, sets multiple deadlines for strategy implementation, and amends a 2013 executive order to reassign congressional notification responsibilities between the Secretaries of War and State.
Restoring the United States Department of War
This executive order authorizes the Department of Defense and its officials to use "Department of War" and "Secretary of War" as secondary titles in official correspondence, public communications, ceremonial contexts, and non-statutory documents, while leaving statutory names unchanged pending legislation. It requires the Secretary to report within 30 days on which offices adopt the secondary designation and within 60 days to recommend legislative and executive actions needed for a permanent statutory renaming.
Additional Measures To Address the Crime Emergency in the District of Columbia
This executive order expands federal intervention in Washington D.C. following a declared crime emergency two weeks prior. It directs multiple agencies to create specialized law enforcement units, hire additional personnel, establish a recruitment portal, ready National Guard forces for civil disturbance response, investigate HUD housing safety compliance, and review D.C. police procedures.
Enabling Competition in the Commercial Space Industry
This executive order directs federal agencies to streamline licensing, environmental reviews, and regulatory requirements for U.S. commercial space launches, reentries, and spaceport infrastructure. It sets specific deadlines for regulatory reforms at DOT, FAA, Commerce, DOD, and NASA, and creates new leadership positions to accelerate commercial space activity by 2030.
Establishing the White House Task Force on the 2028 Summer Olympics
This executive order creates a White House Task Force, chaired by the President and vice-chaired by the Vice President, to coordinate federal planning for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The task force brings together cabinet secretaries and senior White House officials to oversee security, transportation, visa processing, and emergency response, with administrative support from DHS and a reporting deadline of October 1, 2025 for agency plans.
Continuation of U.S. Drug Interdiction Assistance to the Government of Colombia
This determination certifies that Colombia meets statutory requirements for continued U.S. assistance in drug interdiction operations, specifically the interception of aircraft suspected of illicit drug trafficking in Colombian airspace. It extends a long-standing counter-narcotics security cooperation program originally authorized by the 1995 NDAA.
Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure
This executive order accelerates federal permitting for large-scale AI data center infrastructure by streamlining environmental reviews, expanding FAST-41 coverage, making federal lands available, and creating financial support mechanisms for qualifying projects exceeding $500 million or 100 MW of load. It revokes the prior administration's EO 14141 on AI infrastructure and directs multiple agencies to establish new categorical exclusions, programmatic consultations, and expedited permitting pathways.
Promoting the Export of the American AI Technology Stack
This executive order establishes the American AI Exports Program to promote global deployment of U.S.-origin AI technologies through industry-led consortia offering full-stack packages (hardware, cloud, models, applications). It mobilizes federal financing tools including loans, equity investments, and diplomatic coordination to counter adversary AI influence and extend American technological leadership.
Revoking PPD-6 on U.S. Global Development Policy
This memorandum revokes Presidential Policy Directive-6 (PPD-6), the 2010 Obama-era policy on U.S. Global Development Policy, on grounds that it conflicts with the current administration's executive orders on America First foreign policy, WHO withdrawal, international environmental agreements, and foreign aid realignment. The revocation directs a broad set of cabinet officials and agency heads but imposes no new affirmative mandates or deadlines.
Notice on Declaring a National Emergency at the Southern Border of the United States
This notice extends an existing national emergency declaration at the southern border by invoking 10 U.S.C. 12302 for the Secretary of Homeland Security, specifically authorizing recall of Coast Guard Ready Reserve members to support maritime border security. The action builds on Proclamation 10886 from January 20, 2025, which originally invoked the same statute for military department secretaries.
Establishing the President's Make America Beautiful Again Commission
This executive order establishes the President's Make America Beautiful Again Commission, chaired by the Secretary of the Interior, to advise on conservation policy, expand public lands access for recreation and hunting, reduce regulatory barriers, and address deferred maintenance in national parks and forests. The Commission includes Cabinet secretaries and senior White House officials but has no independent enforcement authority and is subject to appropriations.
Reissuance of and Amendments to National Security Presidential Memorandum 5 on Strengthening the Policy of the United States Toward Cuba
This memorandum reissues and amends Trump-era NSPM-5 to tighten U.S. policy toward Cuba, directing agencies to restrict financial transactions with Cuban military-controlled entities, enforce the tourism ban, expand internet access for Cubans, and oppose international efforts to lift the embargo. It sets multiple deadlines for regulatory adjustments and reports while explicitly maintaining the statutory embargo framework.
Empowering Commonsense Wildfire Prevention and Response
This executive order directs federal agencies to streamline wildfire programs, expand local preparedness partnerships, develop AI and technology roadmaps for firefighting, ease regulations on prescribed burns and fire retardants, reduce wildfire risks from power lines, and modernize response capabilities through declassified satellite data and performance metrics. It responds to the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires by targeting what it describes as bureaucratic barriers and mismanagement in wildfire prevention and response.
Leading the World in Supersonic Flight
This executive order directs the FAA to repeal the 50-year ban on overland supersonic flight within 180 days and establish interim noise-based certification standards. It also mandates rulemaking for permanent supersonic aircraft noise standards within 18-24 months, coordinates federal R&D through OSTP, and directs international engagement to align global supersonic regulations.
Restoring American Airspace Sovereignty
This executive order establishes a federal task force and directs multiple agencies to strengthen U.S. airspace security against threats from unmanned aircraft systems (drones). It mandates new rulemaking for flight restrictions over critical infrastructure, expands law enforcement and homeland security capabilities for drone detection and countermeasures, and prioritizes counter-UAS training for major upcoming sporting events including the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics.
Sustaining Select Efforts To Strengthen the Nation's Cybersecurity and Amending Executive Order 13694 and Executive Order 14144
This executive order amends two prior cybersecurity orders: it narrows the scope of sanctions under EO 13694 to target only foreign persons, and substantially revises EO 14144 by removing several Biden-era provisions while adding new deadlines for NIST guidance, post-quantum cryptography transition, AI vulnerability management, and Federal Acquisition Regulation updates for IoT security labeling.
Unleashing American Drone Dominance
This executive order accelerates U.S. drone industry growth by mandating FAA rulemaking for beyond-visual-line-of-sight commercial operations, establishing an eVTOL pilot program, prioritizing domestic drone procurement across federal agencies and the military, restricting foreign supply chain risks, and expanding export financing for American-made unmanned aircraft systems.
Presidential Waiver of Statutory Requirements Pursuant to Section 303 of the Defense Production Act of 1950: Reviving the Manufacturing and Defense Industrial Base for Munitions and Minerals
President waives standard statutory requirements under Section 303 of the Defense Production Act to expedite production capacity increases for munitions, missiles, critical minerals, uranium, copper, potash, and gold, citing severe national defense impairment from supply shortfalls. The waiver removes procedural hurdles for defense and mineral supply chains but does not specify funding amounts or implementation mechanisms.
Unified Command Plan Change
The President approved and directed implementation of a revised 2022 Unified Command Plan requested by the Secretary of Defense, and directed the Secretary to notify Congress. The memorandum was published in the Federal Register.
Deploying Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security
This executive order accelerates deployment of advanced nuclear reactors at military installations and DOE sites to power AI infrastructure and critical defense facilities, while streamlining export approvals and financing to compete globally against adversaries. It sets hard deadlines for reactor operations by 2028, HALEU fuel bank establishment, and aggressive diplomatic targets for new nuclear cooperation agreements. The order also directs NEPA streamlining, security clearance prioritization, and interagency coordination to overcome regulatory and supply chain barriers.
Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
This executive order directs comprehensive reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to accelerate nuclear power deployment, including structural reorganization, workforce reductions, new fixed licensing deadlines (18 months for new reactors, 1 year for renewals), abandonment of the linear no-threshold radiation model, and streamlined regulations for advanced reactors. The order sets targets to expand U.S. nuclear capacity from ~100 GW to 400 GW by 2050 and establishes an expedited pathway for DOD/DOE-tested reactor designs.
Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base
This executive order directs a comprehensive federal effort to rebuild the U.S. nuclear industrial base, including expanding domestic uranium conversion and enrichment capabilities, restarting closed nuclear plants, accelerating advanced reactor licensing, developing nuclear workforce training, and establishing spent fuel recycling and reprocessing programs. It sets specific capacity targets of 5 gigawatts in reactor uprates and 10 new large reactors under construction by 2030, while invoking Defense Production Act authorities to secure nuclear fuel supply chains.
Keeping Promises to Veterans and Establishing a National Center for Warrior Independence
This executive order establishes a National Center for Warrior Independence on the West Los Angeles VA Campus to house and serve homeless veterans, with a goal of restoring capacity for 6,000 veterans by January 1, 2028. It directs the VA Secretary to redirect funds from immigrant services, create a voucher program with HUD, restore accountability for VA misconduct, and expand healthcare choices including a full-service medical center in New Hampshire and reduced wait times nationwide.
Strengthening and Unleashing America's Law Enforcement To Pursue Criminals and Protect Innocent Citizens
This executive order directs the Attorney General and other officials to expand legal protections and resources for state and local law enforcement, including creating an indemnification mechanism for officers, reviewing federal consent decrees within 60 days, increasing military asset transfers to local police within 90 days, and prioritizing prosecution of state/local officials who obstruct criminal law enforcement or implement DEI initiatives that restrict policing. It also mandates using Homeland Security Task Forces established under EO 14159 to advance these objectives.
Unleashing America's Offshore Critical Minerals and Resources
This executive order directs multiple federal agencies to accelerate U.S. development of seabed critical minerals through streamlined permitting, mapping, international partnerships, and supply chain investment. It aims to reduce dependence on foreign adversaries—specifically China—for minerals essential to defense, energy, and manufacturing.
Reinstating Commonsense School Discipline Policies
This executive order directs the Department of Education and other agencies to replace what it terms "discriminatory equity ideology" in school discipline with behavior-based policies. It requires new guidance to schools, coordination with states, revised discipline codes for military families' schools, and a report on Title VI discipline investigations and federal grant funding.
Unleashing American Commercial Fishing in the Pacific
This proclamation lifts the commercial fishing ban in the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (PRIMNM) for U.S.-flagged vessels between 50-200 nautical miles from landward boundaries where the monument overlaps with the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone. It modifies Proclamation 9173's management provisions, directs the Secretary of Commerce to expeditiously publish new rules amending or repealing restrictive regulations, and maintains existing environmental and wildlife protections under laws like the Magnuson-Stevens Act and Endangered Species Act.
Ensuring National Security and Economic Resilience Through Section 232 Actions on Processed Critical Minerals and Derivative Products
This executive order directs the Secretary of Commerce to launch a Section 232 national security investigation into imports of processed critical minerals (including rare earth elements) and their derivative products, such as semiconductors, batteries, electric vehicles, and defense components. The investigation must produce a draft interim report within 90 days and a final report with recommendations within 180 days, potentially leading to tariffs, import restrictions, or other measures to reduce U.S. supply chain dependence on foreign sources—particularly those engaging in market manipulation.
Modernizing Defense Acquisitions and Spurring Innovation in the Defense Industrial Base
This executive order mandates sweeping reforms to Pentagon procurement and the defense acquisition workforce to speed weapons development and cut bureaucratic redundancy. It requires plans within 60-180 days to streamline contracting, review major programs for potential cancellation if over cost or behind schedule, and retrain acquisition personnel. The order also imposes a ten-for-one deregulation rule on new defense acquisition regulations and targets the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System for overhaul.
Reforming Foreign Defense Sales To Improve Speed and Accountability
This executive order reforms the U.S. foreign defense sales system to accelerate arms transfers to allies and partners while improving accountability. It directs the Secretaries of State and Defense to develop priority partner and end-item lists, streamline congressional notifications, review export control restrictions, and create a unified tracking system for defense sales.
Restoring America's Maritime Dominance
This executive order directs a comprehensive, interagency effort to rebuild U.S. commercial and defense shipbuilding capacity, expand the maritime workforce, and counter China's dominance in global shipbuilding. It mandates numerous reports and legislative proposals within 30-210 days, including a Maritime Action Plan, tariffs on Chinese-origin ship-to-shore cranes and cargo handling equipment, enforcement of harbor maintenance fees, financial incentives for domestic shipbuilding, maritime prosperity zones, and modernization of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.
Exclusions From Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs
This executive order excludes numerous federal agencies and subdivisions from federal labor-management relations statutes, amending EO 12171 to remove collective bargaining coverage from major departments including State, Defense, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, Justice, Homeland Security, and others. It also delegates authority to the Secretaries of Defense, Veterans Affairs, and Transportation to suspend labor relations coverage for their subdivisions, requires termination of grievance proceedings for affected employees, and mandates a 30-day agency review for additional exclusions.
Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections
This executive order mandates documentary proof of citizenship for federal voter registration, requires federal agencies to share databases with states for voter list verification, bars counting mail ballots received after Election Day, directs the Election Assistance Commission to recertify voting systems with paper-record requirements, and conditions federal election funding on compliance with these standards. It also explicitly ceases implementation of Executive Order 14019 and directs DOJ to prioritize prosecution of non-citizen voting and foreign election interference.
Protecting America's Bank Account Against Fraud, Waste, and Abuse
This executive order centralizes federal payment controls under the Department of the Treasury to combat fraud and improper payments estimated at $233–521 billion annually. It mandates pre-certification verification for all Treasury-disbursed payments, consolidates core financial systems across agencies, and phases out Non-Treasury Disbursing Offices (NTDOs) that currently handle about 22% of federal disbursements. Agencies must comply with new data-sharing requirements, system integrations, and delegated disbursing authority to Treasury within specified timeframes.
Immediate Measures To Increase American Mineral Production
This executive order directs federal agencies to expedite domestic mineral production through accelerated permitting, prioritized federal land use for mining, Defense Production Act financing, and new investment vehicles. It delegates presidential DPA authorities to the Secretary of Defense and DFC CEO, waives statutory requirements for emergency mineral production, and mandates multiple agency actions within 10-45 days to identify projects, streamline approvals, and mobilize public-private capital.
Revisions to the 2022 Unified Command Plan
The President approved and directed implementation of a revised 2022 Unified Command Plan, exercising authority as Commander in Chief under Title 10 and Title 3. The Secretary of Defense is directed to notify Congress and publish the memorandum in the Federal Register.
Establishing the White House Task Force on the FIFA World Cup 2026
This executive order creates a White House Task Force on the FIFA World Cup 2026, chaired by the President and vice-chaired by the Vice President, with members spanning major cabinet departments and White House offices. The Task Force will coordinate federal agency planning for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup and 2026 FIFA World Cup, with agencies required to submit planning reports by June 1, 2025, and the Task Force terminating on December 31, 2026.
Addressing the Threat to National Security From Imports of Timber, Lumber, and Their Derivative Products
This executive order directs the Secretary of Commerce to launch a Section 232 national security investigation into imports of timber, lumber, and derivative products (including paper, furniture, and cabinetry). The Secretary must report within 270 days on whether imports threaten national security and recommend actions such as tariffs, quotas, export controls, or domestic production incentives. The order frames the domestic wood products industry as critical to military construction and economic resilience.
Addressing the Threat to National Security From Imports of Copper
This executive order launches a Section 232 national security investigation into copper imports, directing the Secretary of Commerce to assess whether imports of copper in all forms—including raw, refined, scrap, and derivative products—threaten U.S. national security. The investigation must examine supply chain vulnerabilities, foreign dominance (particularly by a single producer controlling over 50% of global smelting), and potential remedies including tariffs, quotas, export controls, and domestic production incentives.
Establishing the National Energy Dominance Council
This executive order establishes the National Energy Dominance Council within the Executive Office of the President, chaired by the Secretary of the Interior with the Secretary of Energy as vice chair. The council comprises 18 cabinet-level and senior White House officials to advise the president on expanding domestic energy production across all sources including fossil fuels, nuclear, and critical minerals, with a mandate to deliver a National Energy Dominance Strategy and specific recommendations within 100 days.
Adjusting Imports of Aluminum Into the United States
This proclamation raises the U.S. tariff on aluminum imports from 10% to 25% ad valorem, effective March 12, 2025, and terminates alternative tariff arrangements with Argentina, Australia, Canada, Mexico, the EU, and the UK. It also expands tariffs to additional derivative aluminum products, terminates the product exclusion process, and targets transshipment through Mexico and other countries to address national security concerns about domestic aluminum industry capacity utilization.
Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias
This executive order establishes a Department of Justice-led interagency task force to identify and eliminate what it characterizes as anti-Christian bias in federal agencies, reviewing policies and practices from the previous administration and recommending corrective actions across government. The task force must submit an initial report within 120 days, a summary report within one year, and a final report before its automatic termination after two years.
Celebrating America's 250th Birthday
This executive order establishes a White House task force to plan the 250th anniversary celebration of American Independence on July 4, 2026, housed in the Department of Defense. It also reinstates prior Trump-era executive orders creating the National Garden of American Heroes and protecting monuments from vandalism, reversing their revocation by EO 14029 from the Biden administration.
Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling
This executive order directs federal agencies to develop a strategy within 90 days to cut funding to K-12 schools that promote "gender ideology" or "discriminatory equity ideology," mandates parental notification policies, reestablishes the President's Advisory 1776 Commission to promote patriotic education, and requires agencies to prioritize federal resources for patriotic education programs. It also directs the Attorney General to coordinate prosecution of teachers and school officials for certain activities related to social transition of minors.
Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families
This executive order directs multiple Cabinet secretaries to issue guidance and plans expanding K-12 educational choice, including private and faith-based school options, through federal formula funds, discretionary grants, and existing block grant programs. It targets military families, low-income working families receiving child care subsidies, and Bureau of Indian Education-eligible students, with most actions due within 60-90 days.
Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation
This executive order prohibits federal funding, sponsorship, or support for pediatric gender-affirming medical care, defining such treatments as "chemical and surgical mutilation" for individuals under 19. It directs multiple agencies to rescind supportive policies, exclude coverage from federal health programs (Medicaid, Medicare, TRICARE, FEHB/PSHB), prioritize enforcement of existing laws, and promote new legislation creating private rights of action for affected children and parents.
Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness
This executive order directs the Department of Defense to update medical standards to exclude individuals with gender dysphoria from military service, ends pronoun usage based on gender identity in the military, restricts facility access by biological sex, and formally revokes Biden-era EO 14004 which had allowed transgender Americans to serve openly. The Secretary of Defense must issue implementing guidance within 30-60 days, with Coast Guard to follow.
Reinstating Service Members Discharged Under the Military's COVID-19 Vaccination Mandate
This executive order directs the Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security to offer reinstatement with full back pay and benefits to service members who were discharged solely for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, and to allow those who voluntarily separated to return without penalty. It also requires a progress report within 60 days.
Restoring America's Fighting Force
This executive order abolishes all Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) offices and programs within the Department of Defense and Coast Guard, prohibits teaching of 'divisive concepts,' 'gender ideology,' and critical views of America's founding documents at military educational institutions, and mandates internal reviews and implementation reports. It directs the Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security to eliminate race- and sex-based preferences in favor of meritocratic, 'color-blind and sex-neutral' processes.
The Iron Dome for America
This executive order directs the Secretary of Defense to develop a comprehensive next-generation missile defense shield for the United States, including space-based interceptors, hypersonic tracking sensors, and layered defense capabilities against ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missile threats. It requires submission of architecture plans, funding proposals, and threat assessments within 60 days, while also reviewing theater missile defense cooperation with allies.
The Mexico City Policy
This memorandum revokes the Biden administration's 2021 policy rescinding the Mexico City Policy and reinstates the Trump-era 2017 version, which prohibits U.S. foreign aid funding for organizations that provide, counsel on, or refer for abortions. It directs the Secretary of State, in coordination with HHS, to expand these restrictions across all departments and agencies providing global health assistance, and to ensure no U.S. funds support coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization programs.
Council To Assess the Federal Emergency Management Agency
This executive order establishes a 20-member council co-chaired by the Secretaries of Homeland Security and Defense to review FEMA's disaster response performance, staffing, political impartiality, and structural role in federal-state disaster relief. The council must hold its first public meeting within 90 days and submit recommendations to the President within 180 days after that meeting, with the council terminating after one year unless extended.
Emergency Measures To Provide Water Resources in California and Improve Disaster Response in Certain Areas
This executive order directs federal agencies to override California state water policies to maximize water deliveries to Southern California for wildfire response, while also expediting disaster relief for Los Angeles wildfire survivors and North Carolina Hurricane Helene victims. It mandates reviews of federal funding to California, fast-tracks environmental compliance for water projects, and requires housing and debris removal plans for affected communities.
Declaring a National Emergency at the Southern Border of the United States
This proclamation declares a national emergency at the southern border, invoking military construction authority and deploying Armed Forces to support DHS in achieving 'complete operational control.' It mandates additional physical barrier construction, potential regulatory waivers for counter-drone operations, and revocation of Biden's 2021 border emergency termination. The order includes 30- and 90-day reporting requirements and raises the possibility of invoking the Insurrection Act.
America First Trade Policy
This January 20, 2025 memorandum directs multiple Cabinet members and agency heads to conduct broad reviews and investigations across trade policy, with reports due by April 1, 2025 (and one by April 30, 2025). It covers trade deficits, tariff structures, currency manipulation, USMCA renegotiation preparation, China trade practices, steel/aluminum national security measures, export controls, de minimis exemption reform, outbound investment rules, and procurement policy—but does not itself impose any tariffs or binding policy changes.
Unleashing Alaska's Extraordinary Resource Potential
This executive order directs federal agencies to aggressively reverse Biden-era restrictions on Alaska resource development, including oil and gas leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the National Petroleum Reserve, and Tongass National Forest protections. It mandates expedited permitting for LNG infrastructure, reinstates Trump-era environmental reviews and land management plans, and prioritizes Alaska's energy exports to domestic and Pacific allied markets.
Unleashing American Energy
This executive order revokes numerous Biden-era climate and environmental executive orders, pauses Inflation Reduction Act and infrastructure spending, directs agencies to rescind regulations burdening domestic energy and mineral development, eliminates the social cost of carbon, expedites LNG export approvals and federal permitting, terminates the American Climate Corps, and mandates review of state EV emissions waivers and appliance efficiency standards.
Declaring a National Energy Emergency
President Trump declares a national energy emergency under the National Emergencies Act, directing federal agencies to use emergency authorities to expedite domestic energy production, infrastructure, and permitting. The order invokes emergency provisions under the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, and Defense Production Act, with specific focus on addressing energy vulnerabilities in the Northeast, West Coast, and Alaska.
Securing Our Borders
This executive order directs a sweeping crackdown on illegal immigration at the southern border, mandating construction of physical barriers, maximum detention of apprehended aliens, termination of catch-and-release and CBP One parole practices, resumption of Migrant Protection Protocols (Remain in Mexico), and enhanced prosecution of border-related crimes. Multiple Cabinet secretaries must submit additional recommendations within 14 days.
Clarifying the Military's Role in Protecting the Territorial Integrity of the United States
This executive order directs the Department of Defense to prioritize military border security, assigning U.S. Northern Command a formal mission to seal U.S. borders against unlawful migration, narcotics trafficking, and transnational crime. It requires a revised Unified Command Plan within 10 days and new contingency planning guidance effective immediately, with a commander's estimate due within 30 days.