Donald J. Trump was inaugurated as the forty-fifth president of the United States on January 20, 2017. Now, nearing the end of the first year of his four year term, The Lion’s Roar takes a look back at some of the most notable events that occurred within the administration in 2017.

January
     January 20, 2017: President Trump is inaugurated. Also on this day, he signs an executive order minimizing the “economic burden” of the Affordable Care Act (more commonly known as Obamacare), and formalized his Cabinet nominations.
     January 23, 2017: President Trump signs a presidential memorandum saying that the United States will withdraw from the Trans-Pacific partnership, fulfilling a campaign promise. 
         January 27, 2017: An executive order (commonly known as the ‘travel ban’) is signed, barring for 120 days the entry of refugees into the US and ordering officials to conduct additional screening to ensure that incoming refugees “do not pose a threat” to the US. In addition, the order also indefinitely barred Syrian refugees from entering the country and banned for ninety days immigration from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen, all of which are predominantly Muslim nations.
     January 31, 2017: Neil Gorsuch is announced as President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee to fill the gap left by the 2016 death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

February
     February 3, 2017: The administration imposes new sanctions on Iran following ballistic missile tests by the Middle Eastern nation.
     February 7, 2017: Betsy DeVos is confirmed as the Secretary of Education with Vice President Mike Pence casting the tie breaking vote in the Senate, who voted 50-50.
     February 8, 2017: Jeff Sessions is confirmed as Attorney General.
     February 14, 2017: National Security Adviser Michael Flynn resigns amid revelations that he did not fully disclose the extent of his contact with Russia.

March
     March 2, 2017: Attorney General Jeff Sessions recuses himself from investigations of the Trump campaign.
     March 6, 2017: A new ‘travel ban,’ which no longer prohibits Iraqis,  is issued following legal troubles with the first one.
     March 7, 2017: Republicans announce a plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, which is swiftly criticized by conservatives.
     March 27, 2017: An executive order is signed that dismantles Obama-era regulations fighting climate change.  

April
     April 5, 2017: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi announces a petition to require President Trump to release his tax returns.
     April 7, 2017: The Senate confirms President Trump’s Supreme Court Nominee, Neil Gorsuch.
     April 12, 2017: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson meets for two hours in the Kremlin with Russian President Vladimir Putin, ditching his press pool.
     April 17, 2017: Vice President Mike Pence, on the South Korean side of the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) warns North Korea not to test US resolve or “the strength of our military forces.”

May
         May 9, 2017: FBI Director James Comey is fired by President Trump “because he wasn’t doing a good job,” and because he claimed to have been displeased with the way he handled the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email server. Democrats do not believe that was the reasoning, however, saying that they believe the firing was due to the progress being made in Comey’s investigation into possible Russian collusion with the Trump campaign.
     May 17, 2017: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appoints Robert Mueller as special prosecutor in the investigation into possible Russian collusion with the Trump campaign.
     May 19, 2017: President Trump leaves for Saudi Arabia on his first official trip abroad as President of the United States on a tour of the Middle East and Europe.
     May 31, 2017: Press Secretary Sean Spicer announces that any further questions regarding the investigation into possible Russian collusion with the Trump campaign will be directed to President Trump’s lawyer, Marc Kasowitz.

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June
     June 1, 2017: President Trump formally announces that he will withdraw the United States from the 2015 Paris climate agreement, sparking global criticism.
     June 5, 2017: On a diplomatic visit to Australia, President Trump publicly suggests that China should take stronger action to prevent the development of a North Korean nuclear missile.
    June 8, 2017: Former FBI Director James Comey testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee that President Trump was not under any FBI investigation while he was director, but that Michael Flynn was under criminal investigation before his resignation.
     June 29, 2017: Following months of back-and-forth in the courts, a partial version of the ‘travel ban’ goes into effect at 8 pm.

July
     July 7, 2017: President Trump attends the G20 summit held in Germany by Chancellor Angela Merkel.
     July 21, 2017: President Trump appoints Anthony Scaramucci as the new White House Communications Director. That same day, Press Secretary Sean Spicer resigns from his position, effective at the end of August. Spicer is replaced by Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
     July 26, 2017: President Trump announces that “the United States government will not accept or allow...transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the US military.”
     July 31, 2017: Anthony Scaramucci is removed from his post at White House Communications Director.

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August
     August 8, 2017: North Korea is warned by President Trump of “fire and fury” should they retaliate against new United Nations sanctions as threatened.
     August 10, 2017: The opioid crisis is declared a national emergency by President Trump, who said it will require both lots of attention and money to fight.
     August 12, 2017: Violence on both sides of a far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, is condemned by President Trump, without mentioning the murder of Heather Heyer or additionally condemning the neo-Nazi movement that led to the event.
          August 25, 2017: A disaster declaration is signed by President Trump at Camp David, promising federal aid to those affected by Hurricane Harvey. Additionally, a presidential pardon is issued to Joe Arpaio, an Arizona sheriff convicted of criminal contempt in a case involving the racial profiling policy at his department.

September
     September 4, 2017: At the request of President Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announces that, effective immediately,  the Department of Homeland Security will stop accepting applications for the DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, program. Current recipients remain unaffected until March 5, 2018.
     September 7, 2017: Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos confirms a rollback of Obama-era Title IX guidelines regarding college campus sexual assault, which are officially rescinded on September 24, 2017.
     September 8, 2017: A $15.25 billion disaster relief bill to aid in the recovery from hurricanes Harvey and Irma is signed by President Trump. 
     September 14, 2017: President Trump signs a Congressional declaration condemning hate groups including the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis; however, before the signing, the President reiterated his belief that both sides were at fault in the violent August rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
       
October
     October 3, 2017: Following the devastation Hurricane Maria brought upon the US Virgin Islands, President Trump meets with its governor, Kenneth Mapp, to discuss the territory’s urgent need of funding.
        October 8, 2017: At the request of President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence walks out of a football game where fifteen players on the San Francisco 49ers had knelt during the national anthem.
     October 12, 2017: It is announced that, due to what the administration perceived as “anti-Israel bias,” the United States will be withdrawing from UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization).
     October 30, 2017: Former Trump Campaign officials Paul Manafort and Rick Gates surrender themselves to the FBI on counts of conspiracy and money laundering. 

November
     November 2, 2017: In support of President Trump’s promise to cut taxes, the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017 is introduced by House Republicans.
     November 16, 2017: It is announced by Senators Chuck Grassley and Dianne Feinstein that Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and advisor, has failed to hand over documents related to the possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.
     November 20, 2017: President Trump announces that North Korea, which was removed from the US list of State Sponsors of Terrorism in 2008, will be added back to said list. Also, it is announced that, effective July 2019, the temporary residency program for victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake will end.
     November 29, 2017: The New York Times announces that, in November, Jared Kushner was interviewed by prosecutors from Robert Mueller’s team investigating possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. Also, it is announced that Kellyanne Conway will be overseeing efforts by the White House to fight the opioid epidemic, in addition to already being Counselor to the President.
     November 30, 2017: It is announced that President Trump will be donating his third quarter salary to the US Department of Health and Human services to help fight the opioid epidemic.

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December
     December 1, 2017: Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn pleads guilty to having lied to the FBI in January 2017 regarding his communications with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States.
     December 6, 2017: President Trump announces that the United States will now recognize Jerusalem, rather than Tel Aviv, as the capital of Israel, and will be moving the embassy there. The US is the first nation to have done this.
     December 11, 2017: A policy directive is signed at the White House ordering NASA to once again make manned voyages their priority, with goals of returning to the moon and sending humans to Mars.
     December 14, 2017: Net neutrality regulations are repealed by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission).
     December 20, 2017: Following passage along party lines in the House of Representatives the night before, and the later passage in the House again following a re-vote due to procedural error, the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017 passes in the Senate.
     December 22, 2017: The Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017 is signed into law by President Trump.