Five things Donald Trump has done in his first days as US president

WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump has issued a number of decisions and decrees since being sworn in to office on January 20, beginning with a proclamation declaring his inauguration a "National Day of Patriotic Devotion."

Here is a brief chronology:

January 20: First decree against Obamacare

Trump proclaims his inauguration day January 20, 2017, a "National Day of Patriotic Devotion." He did this, the proclamation said, "in order to strengthen our bonds to each other and to our country — and to renew the duties of government to the people."

"When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice," Trump said in his inaugural speech.

In 2009, his predecessor Barack Obama proclaimed his inauguration day a "National Day of Renewal and Reconciliation."

Trump signs his first decree targeting Obama's signature healthcare reform, commanding government offices to grant all possible exemptions to limit the "economic and regulatory burden" of the law, as a prelude to full repeal.

January 22: Towards a NAFTA renegotiation

Trump announces he will begin renegotiating the North American Free Trade Accord with the leaders of Canada and Mexico. He is scheduled to meet with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on January 31.

January 23: Withdrawal from TPP, aid cuts to pro-abortion NGOs

Trump formally withdraws the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a huge free trade agreement signed by Obama but never ratified by the US Congress.

Seen as a counter to China's growing influence, the treaty was signed in 2015 by 12 countries from the Asia-Pacific region representing 40 percent of the world economy.

Trump signs a decree reinstating a Reagan-era rule that bans US foreign aid money from going to NGOs overseas that provide abortions or advocate for abortion rights.

The decree comes the day after the 44th anniversary of Roe v Wade, the emblematic Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion in the United States, and two days after millions march worldwide in defence of women's reproductive rights.

The new president also signs a decree freezing hiring of new federal workers, excluding members of the military.

January 24: Oil pipeline projects revived

Trump gives new life to the gigantic Keystone XL pipeline linking Canadian oil sands in Alberta to refineries on the US Gulf coast.

Obama had blocked construction of a 1,179-mile (1,900-kilometer) section of the pipeline for environmental reasons.

Trump said restarting the project would depend on terms being renegotiated with Canadian firm TransCanada.

He also signs a decree clearing the way for construction of a pipeline project in North Dakota. Energy Transfer Partners had its permit blocked in December after protests by Native Americans and environmentalists.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe charged that the so-called Dakota Access Pipeline threatened to contaminate their water and disturb land they consider sacred, as well as sacred objects and burial sites.

January 25: Erecting barriers to immigration

Trump signs decrees taking the first steps toward building a wall between the United States and Mexico, a major theme of his campaign.

The president is also expected to issue executive orders restricting immigration and access to the United States for refugees and visa holders from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, according to the Washington Post.

Trump has also pledged to suppress a program put in place by Obama in 2012 allowing more than 750,000 undocumented immigrants who arrived in the country as children to obtain residency and work permits.

To come: Reopening the CIA's secret prisons?

Trump has said he will announce on February 2 his choice to fill a Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of conservative justice Antonin Scalia nearly a year ago.

The new administration has drafted an order that could lead to the reopening of secret overseas CIA prisons closed by Obama, The New York Times reported Wednesday.