President Donald Trump speaks during inauguration ceremonies in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Jan. 21, 2025 By Shane O’Brien
Elected officials in Queens have sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s first day in office, condemning the flurry of executive orders he signed immediately after his inauguration.
The sweeping directives, many of which target immigration, environmental policy, and social issues, have sparked outrage from the left.
Trump’s initial actions as president included executive orders to end birthright citizenship, declare a national emergency on the southern border, and withdraw the United States from both the World Health Organization and the Paris climate accords. The President also abolished diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs within the federal government and mandated that the U.S. government officially recognize only two genders.
Other controversial orders included granting pardons to over 1,500 individuals involved in the January 6 Capitol attack and reinstating the death penalty for crimes deemed to warrant its application. Critics argue that these measures mark a dramatic shift in U.S. policy, with significant implications for human rights, climate change, and immigration.
Adding to the controversy, Elon Musk, tapped by Trump to lead the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, drew significant backlash after delivering a speech in which he performed a one-armed salute that critics likened to a Nazi gesture.
Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas, representing Assembly District 34, which includes parts of Corona, Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, and Woodside, criticized Trump over the executive orders and said New York must act “boldly” to protect the rights of its residents over the four years of the Trump presidency.
“Already, we have seen Trump revoke critical actions from the Biden administration, which were important to protect reproductive rights, combat climate change, and keep families together,” González-Rojas said in a statement. “Here in New York, we must act boldly to protect the dignity and rights of all our neighbors. I will do all that is in my ability to work with my colleagues and advocates to push back on the divisive policies of the White House. Our resistance begins now.”
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, meanwhile, criticized Elon Musk over the one-armed gesture made at the Capitol One Arena in Washington. In response to a post on X by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Ocasio-Cortez described the gesture as a “Heil Hitler salute” that was performed and repeated for “emphasis and clarity.” She also criticized the ADL for defending Musk and stating that the gesture was not a Nazi salute.
Elon Musk gestures as he speaks during the inaugural parade inside Capitol One Arena, in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
“People can officially stop listening to you as any sort of reputable source of information now,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a post on X.
The ADL defended Musk by describing the gesture as “awkward in a moment of enthusiasm.” Musk himself, meanwhile, responded to criticism by stating that his opponents need to find “better dirty tricks.”
“The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired,” Musk said in a post on X.
However, some historians, including Claire Aubin, a historian who specializes in Nazism within the United States, posted that the gesture was a “Sieg Heil” salute often associated with Nazi Germany.
“My professional opinion is that you’re all right, you should believe your eyes,” Aubin said in a post on X.
Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a history professor at New York University, also stated that the gesture mimicked that of a “Sieg Heil” salute.
“Historian of fascism here. It was a Nazi salute and a very belligerent one too,” Ben-Ghiat said.
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards also criticized President Donald Trump for signing an executive order to end birthright citizenship. The long-standing policy, which grants citizenship to anyone born in the United States regardless of their parents’ immigration status, is rooted in the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, according to its proponents.
Trump, however, disputes this interpretation of the amendment, arguing that stricter standards must be implemented to address immigration concerns.
Richards condemned the executive order as unconstitutional, calling birthright citizenship a “sacred law” that should not be undermined by political agendas. “This policy is enshrined in the Constitution and reflects the core values of our nation, no matter what the President thinks,” Richards said.
“We all know the last thing the new president cares about is adhering to or respecting the Constitution. But the very first words of the 14th Amendment — ‘All persons born or naturalized in the United States … are citizens of the United States,’ — are sacred law, regardless of whether or not a president believes in them,” Richards said in a statement.
He described the move to end birthright citizenship as a “sickening, xenophobic” attack on millions of American citizens.
“Under no circumstance will our borough of more than 1 million immigrants sit idly by while our Constitutional rights are trampled. For every push this new administration makes over the next four years to dehumanize and demoralize our neighbors, we will defend our values like our lives depend on it. Because they do.”
Many have cast doubt over Trump’s ability to unilaterally end birthright citizenship through an executive order, while attorneys general from 18 states have already sued the President over the measure, with New Jersey’s attorney general, Matthew J. Platkin, describing the order as “extraordinary and extreme.”
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