These presidential directive and the NGF commitments, while timely, joins a series of previous presidential pronouncements and subnational efforts aimed at improving our national security landscape.

Reuters analyzed 656 executive orders since the second Obama administration to assess how Trump’s presidential directives differ from his predecessors, using Mayer’s research as a basis.

Executive orders are presidential directives that do not require Congressional approval and have the force of law if the topic of the order falls under the president's constitutional authority.