This move sees the US President pulling away from Asia and scrapping Obama’s most significant trade deal on his first full weekday in office, administration officials said.

Signing the document formalizing his decision, Trump said: “We’ve been talking about this for a long time. This is a great thing for the American worker.”

Though the deal had not been approved by Congress, the decision to withdraw the American signature at the start of his administration is a signal that he plans to follow through on promises to take a more aggressive stance against foreign competitors.

The president’s withdrawal from the Asian-Pacific trade pact amounted to a drastic reversal of decades of economic policy in which presidents of both parties have lowered trade barriers and expanded ties around the world.

The US President has also reportedly ordered a hiring freeze in the US federal work force.

While exempting the military, Trump re-instituted limits on nongovernmental organizations that operate overseas and receive American taxpayer money.