Trump has already issued more executive orders in his second term than he did in his first

A report by the Pew Research Center revealed that, as of Dec. 15, 2025, President Donald Trump had issued more executive orders in his second term than in his entire first presidency, reaching a total of 221 orders. On his first day in office alone, the president signed 26 of them.

According to the study, based on data from the American Presidency Project, the 221 executive orders Donald Trump has issued so far in his second term more than triple the 58 signed in the first year of his first administration.

The limits of power

Since the time of George Washington, presidents have relied on executive orders as instruments to set policy goals and guide the tasks of administration officials. However, the study highlights that during Trump's second term "many orders have been challenged in the courts, raising questions about the legal bounds of presidential power."

In that regard, the paper explains how, for example, the Supreme Court is weighing the legality of presidential use of executive orders to impose global tariffs.

"So far, Trump's second-term executive orders have often focused on topics including government operations, foreign relations and defense, energy, and immigration," the report reads.

A comparison with other presidents

According to the Pew Research Center study, from the second term of Franklin D. Roosevelt through the Joe Biden administration, recent presidents have issued an average of 200 executive orders per term. These Pew Research estimates include presidential terms that lasted less than four years, such as the 14-month first term of Lyndon B. Johnson following the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Trump surpassed that median in the first eight months of his second term. Still, according to the report, Trump has a long way to go to match the 1,112 executive orders issued by Franklin D. Roosevelt in his second term (1937-1941).

Likewise, Pew Research notes that, prior to Trump, the last time a president surpassed 100 executive orders in the first year in office was in 1945, when Harry Truman took office after FDR's death. The study highlights that at the time World War II was still raging in 1945, and many of Truman's orders concerned the war effort.

Memoranda and proclamations

The study also notes that executive orders are only one type of unilateral presidential action and emphasizes that presidents also routinely use memoranda or proclamations to introduce policy changes.

Memoranda are functionally similar to executive orders, but are not subject to as many filing requirements. Proclamations, on the other hand, are often ceremonial in nature but are sometimes more substantive.

One example mentioned in the study is that, in January, Trump issued a proclamation that indicted some 1,500 people charged or convicted for their alleged involvement in the Capitol Hill riots on Jan. 6, 2021.

Other comparative figures

Since the presidency of George H. W. Bush, presidents have regularly issued more than 200 memos per term and an average of about 65 substantive proclamations, according to the Pew Research Center's analysis of data from the American Presidency Project.

So far in his current term, Trump has signed 221 executive orders, 77 memoranda and 29 substantive proclamations. During his first term, he issued 220 executive orders, 245 memoranda and 89 substantive proclamations.