Today, January 20, 2026, marks the one-year anniversary of President Donald Trump’s second administration. After a historic comeback in 2024, President Trump returned to Washington, D.C. with a mandate for change, and he has surrounded himself with intelligent and highly-qualified women who have played a large role in making that change happen.
In fact, as one of his first acts after his electoral victory in November 2024, Trump named Susie Wiles as his chief of staff, making her the first female in U.S. history to hold this position.
Trump described Wiles in a statement as “tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected,” and said she “will continue to work tirelessly to Make America Great Again.”
“It is a well deserved honor to have Susie as the first-ever female Chief of Staff in United States history. I have no doubt that she will make our country proud,” Trump added.
Relatedly, Trump scored another first by selecting Karoline Leavitt as the White House press secretary, making her the youngest person in U.S. history to hold this role.
In addition to Wiles and Leavitt, many other highly-qualified, intelligent women are currently serving in the Trump Administration, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Administrator of the Small Business Administration Kelly Loeffler.
It should come as no surprise, then, that some of the major policy wins over the last year have directly impacted women and girls across the nation – whether relating to Title IX, national security, or health and wellbeing.
Indeed, one of Trump’s early actions after being sworn in was to sign an executive order declaring, “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female.”
The executive order, titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” made clear that the two “sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.”
Furthermore, the executive order defines a number of sex-based words, including “male” and “female” as well as “gender identity” and “gender ideology.”
May Mailman, director of Independent Women’s Law Center, served as deputy assistant to the President and senior policy strategist during the first seven months of the Trump Administration. Mailman has been credited as the architect of this executive order.
Speaking previously with IW Features, Mailman shared that the executive order addressed an issue “that Independent Women has been working on for a very long time,” and is “one of those things that nobody would’ve thought was necessary during Trump 1.0, that nobody would’ve thought was necessary for even maybe the first couple of years of Biden.”
Less than a month later, Trump signed yet another executive order addressing an issue that Independent Women has been fiercely fighting for nearly a decade: saving women’s sports.
The president fulfilled his campaign promise to protect women-only sports in the Feb. 5, 2025 executive order, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” which he signed surrounded by female athletes, coaches, and women’s advocates.
“We decided not to do that [executive order] day-one and instead to really have an event because so many people have put so much time into protecting women’s sports, spaces, opportunities, safety, privacy,” Mailman previously told IW Features.
“And so it was important to us to have an event because of the blood, sweat and tears that everybody had put in. That’s Independent Women, that’s a lot of the brave athletes. That’s everybody who’s spoken up who has put their back into it, they deserved at least a day, and so that was a fun event,” Mailman added.
Independent Women sports ambassadors and other female advocates, including Payton McNabb and Linnea Saltz, attended the executive order signing.
Less than a month later, on March 4, McNabb was a guest of the president and First Lady Melania Trump during his joint address to Congress.
The Trump Administration has continued to be an advocate for protecting and preserving women-only sports and spaces largely due to the leadership of U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.
McMahon, for example, spoke at Independent Women’s “Her Game. Her Legacy.” event to celebrate the 53rd anniversary of Title IX in Santa Fe, New Mexico last June.
“Today, we’re honoring the 53rd anniversary of Title IX and the incredible resilience of female athletes who are standing up and pushing back against the harms of gender ideology,” McMahon said in a statement.
“The Trump Administration is putting a stop to the madness that was allowed under the previous administration. Thank you to the athletes, parents, and advocates who are fighting alongside us. We will not let up, and we will not let you down,” McMahon added.
In addition to his actions preserving women-only sports and spaces, Trump has been steadfast on protecting Americans through various national security-related actions.
Notably, the very first law that Trump signed during his second presidency was the Laken Riley Act on Jan. 29, 2025. The law, named after 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley, who was brutally murdered by an illegal alien in Georgia, received bipartisan support in both the U.S. House and Senate.
“I’m incredibly proud of the bipartisan, lifesaving legislation we were able to achieve to protect American families and honor the life and legacy of Laken Riley,” Sen. Katie Britt, a Republican from Alabama who sponsored the legislation, said in a statement after the bill was signed into law. “This is an incredible first step toward making America safe again, and I will continue fighting to strengthen border security and interior immigration enforcement.”
Just shy of a year later, on Dec. 24, 2025, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security released a statement highlighting that “more than 17,500 criminal illegal aliens were arrested and detained with Laken Riley Act crimes.”
Noem also touted the success of ICE’s Operation Angel’s Honor, which resulted in over 1,000 arrests in a two-week span.
“President Trump has empowered us to arrest and remove the millions of violent criminal illegal aliens unleashed on the United States by the previous administration. Now, these criminals will face justice and be removed from our country. We can never bring Laken back, but we can do everything in our power to bring these heinous criminals to justice. I am so proud of what our brave men and women of ICE have done to remove these criminals from America’s streets,” Noem said in a statement.
Reviving the U.S. economy was a major focal point of Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Act,” which he signed on July 4, 2025. Key policies from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which were set to expire at the end of 2025, were included in the bill.
As documented in IW Features’ Earn More, Pay Less: How America Grew Under the Trump Tax Cuts series, the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s cost-saving measures were a game-changer for small business owners nationwide – particularly for women like Lana Pol and Jolene Riessen of Iowa, as well as Lisa Buddecke of Idaho.
“The One Big Beautiful Bill is a landmark victory for America’s small businesses, and it cements President Trump’s legacy as the greatest small business champion our country has ever known,” said Small Business Administration Administrator Loeffler.
“These historic tax cuts lay the foundation for generational prosperity on Main Street – ushering in a new era of growth, hiring, investment, and opportunity for job creators. I applaud Congressional Republicans for their efforts to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill, and I thank President Trump for his visionary leadership and unwavering commitment to putting American workers and job creators first.”
In yet another policy win, the Trump Administration’s focus on Americans’ health – especially relating to food and childhood vaccinations – has opened the door for medical transparency.
Most recently, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced on Jan. 7 new Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
“Thanks to the bold leadership of President Trump, this edition of the ‘Dietary Guidelines for Americans’ will reset federal nutrition policy, putting our families and children first as we move towards a healthier nation,” said Secretary Rollins.
“At long last, we are realigning our food system to support American farmers, ranchers, and companies that grow and produce real food. Farmers and ranchers are at the forefront of the solution, and that means more protein, dairy, vegetables, fruits, healthy fats, and whole grains on American dinner tables,” Secretary Rollins continued.
The new dietary guidelines, which cover the next five years, serve as a go-to resource for busy families – particularly mothers – looking to live healthier lives.
One year later, it’s evident that women played a large role in shaping the Trump Administration’s first year, and they will likely continue to make waves over the next three years, as well.
