April saw President Donald Trump’s (R) second-lowest monthly executive order total thus far in his second term.
Trump issued five executive orders in April, having issued 259 total in his second term as of May 1. Trump issued orders on pharmaceuticals, college sports, the administrative state, and retirement savings. Click here to read more about each order.
Trump issued five fewer orders in April than he did in March, when he issued 10 executive orders. Trump issued 46 executive orders in Jan. 2025, more than in any other month of his presidency. Oct. 2025 was the month when Trump issued the fewest executive orders during his second term, when he issued only one.
Among all U.S. presidents, Trump has issued the 10th-most executive orders, with 479 orders across his two terms in office as of May 1. Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) issued the most of all U.S. presidents, with a total of 3,721 executive orders during his time in office. William Henry Harrison (Whig) issued the fewest, having issued none during his one month in office. Three presidents issued only one executive order each: James Madison (Democratic-Republican), James Monroe (Democratic-Republican), and John Adams (Federalist).
Trump has issued an average of 207 executive orders per year in office in his second term, the highest average among the seven presidents who have held office since 1981. In his first term, Trump averaged 55 executive orders per year, the second-highest in that time. Joe Biden (D) averaged 41 per year, the third-fewest in that time. Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) issued 307 executive orders per year on average, the most of all U.S. presidents.
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