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Trump Signs Executive Orders in the Oval Office, Feb. 10, 2025

February 10, 2025 · The White House · 0:37:13

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

President Donald Trump signed a stack of executive actions in the Oval Office on Feb. 10, 2025, in a session carried on the White House channel (uploaded Feb. 11). The headline order, per the official White House description, imposed 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum. As the order was presented at the desk, it reimposed the 25 percent ad valorem steel rate first set in 2018, closing out the exclusions and exceptions added since, which the presenter said had damaged the U.S. steel industry. The President called it “the beginning of making America rich again,” and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the first-term tariffs had added 120,000 jobs, as he stated the figure.

The same session paused the practical bite of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, directing the Justice Department to use its prosecutorial discretion so American firms could compete abroad - the President called the act’s enforcement “a disaster” that left partners afraid to pick up the phone - eliminated the Federal Executive Institute, designated Doug Collins as acting head of both the Office of Special Counsel and the Office of Government Ethics, and transmitted 56 subcabinet-level appointments, including seven ambassador nominations, to the Senate, as the actions were presented at the desk. Looking ahead, the President previewed the reciprocal-tariff program: “If they charge us, we charge them. If they’re at 25%, we’re at 25%,” with an announcement he said would come within days.

Why it matters

The Feb. 10 session is the trade program’s opening signature of the second term: the steel and aluminum tariffs restored in full, the reciprocal doctrine stated as a rule at the desk, and the FCPA pause signed alongside - the baseline filings for this site’s tariff and trade record.

Scoreboard watch

Scoreboard candidate: the Feb. 10, 2025 orders reimposing 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports (per the official description and the presentation at the desk) and the reciprocal-tariff announcement the President said would follow within days - flagged for the scoreboard editors; the entry itself remains review-gated.

Sources: The White House, “President Trump Signs Executive Orders in the Oval Office, Feb. 10, 2025” (YouTube, 2025-02-10) - official description and broadcast transcript as aired.