Within a day of being sworn in for his second term as president of the United States of America, Donald Trump has unleashed an avalanche of decisions that signpost just how fundamentally he hopes to reshape the country and its relationship with the world. Mr Trump, whose inauguration on Monday marked the culmination of a dramatic political comeback four years after he lost the keys to the Oval Office, signed 26 executive orders within minutes of taking oath. Some reversed policies of the outgoing Joe Biden administration on issues ranging from affirmative action and discrimination against transgender people to regulations meant to safeguard the environment. Others focussed on a key theme of his campaign — immigration. One order ended birthright citizenship, which allows anyone born in the US to automatically become a citizen — even if their parents are undocumented migrants. Another declared that drug cartels and their associates would be treated on a par with “terrorists”. Mr Trump also authorised the use of the US military to evict undocumented migrants. He pardoned all those who were facing prosecution for their involvement in the January 6, 2021 mob assault on the US Capitol to overturn results of the election that Mr Trump lost.

But it is the other decisions that Mr Trump announced that will impact the rest of the world — including India — more. The US president signed orders withdrawing the US, once again, from the Paris climate change agreement and dramatically increasing levels of US oil production. These shifts could complicate India’s own green transition as the US would no longer need to support emerging economies with climate finance and clean technology. Mr Trump’s decision to pull out from the World Health Organization could impact the UN agency’s funding and, consequently, its many global initiatives. The US president has also shown an expansionist streak, insisting that he intends to take over the Panama Canal and rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. The silver lining so far is that Mr Trump has not followed through on his threats to impose heavy tariffs on India or *on China. He appears to enjoy a strong relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and seems to want to give ties with China a shot. Nevertheless, the world needs to brace for a roller-coaster ride that is different from Mr Trump’s first term in only one way: the man at the helm has even less to lose if things go askew.