Washington, Jan 21 (AP) Soon after taking charge as the 47th US president on Monday, Donald Trump signed a first round of executive orders aiming to assert control of the federal workforce, and withdraw from the Paris climate treaty, among others, to halt a slew of orders passed by the previous Joe Biden administration.

Among the executive orders Trump signed with a flourish in front of a cheering crowd was one mandating that federal workers return to their offices five days a week.

The move followed the new president's pledge to end the work-from-home culture that became common during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Last month, at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, Trump said he planned to dismiss federal employees who don't return to office to comply with the order.

Trump also ordered a federal hiring freeze on his first day back in office, mirroring an action he took at the start of his first term to try to reduce the size of government.

The order suspends hiring for new positions and many open ones. It includes exceptions for posts related to national security and public safety, as well as the military.

During his campaign, Trump pledged to dismantle a federal bureaucracy that he derided as the "deep state".

The order issued eight years ago was intended as a temporary, 90-day measure until federal budget officials, as well as those in charge of the government's personnel office, could devise a longer-term strategy for reducing the size of the federal government -- and it was effectively lifted that April.

How long the latest freeze may last is less clear. It is a drastic step away from the Biden administration, which took steps to increase the federal workforce and give pay raises to many in its ranks.

Trump also signed an executive order directing the US to again withdraw from the landmark Paris climate agreement, dealing a blow to worldwide efforts to combat global warming and once again distancing the US from its closest allies.

Trump's action echoed his directive in 2017, when he announced that the US would abandon the global Paris accord.

The pact is aimed at limiting long-term global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels or, failing that, keeping temperatures at least well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Trump also reversed an executive order issued by Biden that moved to lift the US designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Biden formally notified Congress just last week of his decision to lift the designation as part of a deal facilitated by the Catholic Church to free political prisoners on the island.

The day after the announcement, Cuba began releasing people who were convicted of various crimes, including some who were arrested after taking part in the historic 2021 protests, according to Cuban civil groups following the cases of detainees on the island.

Trump also issued an order freezing many new or pending federal regulations, effectively blocking last-minute protections issued by the Biden administration.

Such an order is fairly common when a new administration takes over, but it could be the first in a series of moves designed to tamp down what the new president and other top Republicans have consistently decried as "federal overreach".

The move recalled the first day of Trump's first administration in 2017. Then, he froze all pending federal regulations, effectively suspending Obama-era actions that were new or closer to implementation.

That "immediate regulatory freeze" did not apply to some regulations being implemented for emergency situations relating to health, safety, financial or national security.

Implementation of the new administration's order is likely to include similar language allowing for key exceptions.

What Trump has signed orders on: * Halting 78 Biden-era executive actions * A regulatory freeze preventing bureaucrats from issuing regulations until the Trump administration has full control of the government * A freeze on all federal hiring except for military and a few other essential areas * A requirement that federal workers return to full-time in-person work * A directive to every department and agency to address the cost of living crisis * Withdrawal from the Paris climate treaty * A government order restoring freedom of speech and preventing censorship of free speech * Ending "weaponisation of government". (AP) ARI ARI