Trump Signs 3 Memorandums, Including Withdrawal From Pacific Trade Deal

President Trump acted on Monday to keep a signature campaign promise: withdraw the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.  Trump's action is mostly symbolic.

As he signed the memorandum in the Oval Office, Trump said, "We've been talking about this for a long time," adding it's "a great thing for the American worker."

Trump also signed two other presidential memorandums (a pool report, and the original version of this story, referred to these actions as "executive orders").

One imposes a hiring freeze on federal workers, except for military positions and in the case of national security. The other action reinstates the so-called Mexico City policy, a rule that began in 1984, when Ronald Reagan was president. As NPR has reported, the policy "blocked federal funding for international family planning charities unless they agreed not to 'promote' abortion by, among other actions, providing patients with information about the procedure or referrals to providers who perform it."

The TPP, as it's known, is a trade agreement with 12 Pacific Rim nations. It was never ratified by the U.S. because of congressional opposition but was strongly backed by the Obama administration. It would create a free trade area stretching from Japan to Chile, and it was seen as an effort to create a counterweight to China, which is not a party to the agreement. - Read More, NPR

Trump Signs 3 Memorandums, Including Withdrawal From Pacific Trade Deal

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