Among a flurry of executive orders signed by President Donald Trump on the first day of his second term, two promise a significant shift in the federal government’s approach to nonprofit donor privacy. The orders, titled “Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship” and “Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government,” make explicit the new administration’s commitment to respecting First Amendment rights and ending past abuses by federal agencies that chilled Americans’ freedoms of speech and association.

Among many features, President Trump’s free speech executive order prohibits federal agencies from censoring Americans’ protected speech or spending federal resources towards such purposes. The order also requires the U.S. attorney general to partner with agency heads to investigate federal censorship practices and to propose remedies for violations of free speech rights.

While the free speech order focuses primarily on the Biden administration’s social media censorship practices, there are also positive implications for nonprofit donor privacy. The same cabal of politicians, federal officials, and activist groups who sought to control speech on the internet under the guise of combatting “misinformation” have also repeatedly targeted nonprofits and their donors who oppose their agendas under the guise of combatting “dark money.” These parallel campaigns are tied to a broader assault on free speech and anonymity.

The weaponization order begins to tackle another key aspect of that pressure campaign: the rampant misuse of government power to target political opponents. The order notes an alarming rash of “investigations, prosecutions, civil enforcement actions, and other related actions” against government critics. “These actions appear oriented more toward inflicting political pain than toward pursuing actual justice or legitimate governmental objectives,” the order observes. The EO further directs the attorney general and the director of national intelligence to conduct investigations of past weaponization efforts.

Nonprofits and their donors know all too well the pain of being targeted for political ends. The same bureaucratic systems that allowed federal agents to target the government’s enemies and censor conservatives on social media persist and have also been used to silence nonprofits from exercising their First Amendment rights. Sometimes, the same individuals have been involved. Before being tasked with prosecuting Donald Trump, special counsel Jack Smith was an instrumental figure in the IRS’s targeting of grassroots conservative activists during the Obama administration.

The IRS is often a common denominator in these scandals. For example, in 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act, which authorized the IRS to hire 87,000 new agents. Within nine months of the law’s enactment, the IRS instituted a practice of unannounced field visits where IRS agents visit an unsuspecting taxpayer’s home. Journalist Matt Taibbi was an early victim of the policy, raising concerns that he was a target of retribution for his reporting on the Biden administration’s social media censorship practices. Furthermore, a politically-motivated contractor for the U.S. Department of Treasury stole and leaked confidential tax returns belonging to thousands of Americans, including President Trump, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos. He was charged with only one felony count, shocking the judge who heard the case.

Of course, the free speech protections affirmed in President Trump’s executive order should be assumed based on the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Under the guise of “combatting misinformation,” however, the Biden administration concocted a complex censorship apparatus designed to silence conservatives who were critical of his presidency. President Trump’s free speech executive orders are a repudiation of the past four years of government weaponization.

The executive orders are a welcome development that signal a continuation of pro-free speech reforms from President Trump’s first term. In 2020, the Trump administration finalized a rule repealing an invasive and unnecessary donor disclosure requirement for most nonprofit organizations. Prior to the rule, nonprofits were forced to report their major donors to the IRS on an annual basis, even when donors did not receive a tax deduction for their giving. These donor lists were sometimes leaked, consequently exposing nonprofits and their supporters to harassment from activists. By eliminating this requirement, President Trump restored Americans’ freedom to support nonprofits active in policy debates without fear of retribution from IRS agents or political leaders.

Trump’s judicial appointments also played a pivotal role in advancing free speech by safeguarding donor privacy. The Supreme Court’s 2021 decision in Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta struck down California’s demand that all nonprofits expose their donor list to state officials, affirming that compelled disclosure violates the First Amendment’s protections for free association. All three Trump-appointed justices ruled in the majority.

While the executive orders only apply to the federal government, government weaponization and free speech restrictions also occur in many states. Therefore, state and local lawmakers should follow President Trump’s lead and proactively expose and dismantle the tools that empower meddling bureaucrats to target and stifle their critics.

Ultimately, the Biden administration’s coordinated censorship campaign created a chilling effect, deterring Americans from engaging in advocacy or supporting disfavored causes for fear of reprisal. But in reversing a culture of censorship, President Trump’s executive orders affirm the rights of all Americans to speak, advocate, and associate freely without government interference. By addressing the abuses of the Biden era and building on his administration’s legacy of defending donor privacy, the orders ensure that Americans can support causes they believe in without fear of harassment.

We encourage the new administration to uphold the spirit and policies within these important orders, regardless of the viewpoint of future critics of the federal government. Doing so will cement President Trump’s legacy as a friend of free speech.