President-elect Donald Trump has promised an deluge of administrative action on Monday, the first day of his second term in the White House.
Trump is reportedly planning to mark lots of executive orders quickly after the opening, though perhaps his assistants disagree on exactly how many will make it across Trump’s office on Monday.
WHAT TRUMP HAS PROMISED TO DO ON DAY 1 IN THE OVAL OFFICE
Stephen Miller, Trump’s longtime director and receiving White House deputy chief of staff, predicted last year that the president-elect would signal 100 first-day professional orders, while Trump campaign financial advisor Stephen Moore suggested in a January interview with Politico that the number may come in closer to 50.
Trump earth insiders suggest that, honestly, Trump’s Day One moves will mainly focus on three important areas, the economy, immigration, and international policy, with more announcements and directives to appear in the next days and weeks.
“A lot of President Trump’s agenda will require legislation from Congress, like extending his tax cuts for the middle class, but there is a lot the president can do through executive action when it comes to securing the border and deporting illegal immigrants, ” one incoming Trump administration official said.
Like in 2016, Trump’s 2024 campaign made immigration a core leg of the president-elect’s platform. The president-elect promised to restore COVID-era travel restrictions at the border, immediately begin deportation proceedings, and end birthright citizenship on Jan. 20. That third promise, in particular, will likely be challenged in the courts.
HERE’S WHICH BIDEN EXECUTIVE ORDERS WILL BE THE FIRST TO GO UNDER TRUMP
Trump’s incoming border czar, former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Tom Homan, additionally said on Fox News Friday that ICE will be carrying out illegal immigration raids in sanctuary cities across the nation starting Monday.
When it comes to the economy, Trump will have to wait for congressional Republicans to decide on a vehicle to advance the president-elect’s tax policies, but the president-elect will likely move immediately when it comes to rolling back President Joe Biden‘s climate and energy policies. Trump has long argued that reversing Biden’s energy regulations, specifically lifting caps on new oil and gas drilling projects, will be the quickest way to lower costs for households.
Moore added that Trump can swiftly counter the current administration ’s green agenda “because a lot of what Biden did was through executive order on energy. ”
“A lot of them would be rescinding things like the EV mandate and some of the environmental rules will be softened and some of the funding of the green energy programs will be lifted, ” he continued.
The biggest questions about Trump’s Day One economic plan have to do with his proposed tariffs. Some Trump allies have claimed that Trump’s recent flirtations with increasing tariffs on U. S. allies, like Canada and Mexico, should be viewed more as a negotiating tactic rather than a serious, long-term policy proposal, but the president-elect said shortly after the 2024 election that he would “sign all necessary documents ” to place 25 % tariffs on all Canadian and Mexican imports.
WHY TRUMP IS LIKELY SO INTERESTED IN GREENLAND
Trump officials also view foreign policy as a major way to repudiate the Biden administration ’s legacy, and earn goodwill from voters who are still skeptical about Trump’s fitness for office.
“President Trump probably won’t end the War in Ukraine on Day One, like he’s promised, but just look at how international leaders are tripping over themselves to get in the president ’s good books, ” a former Trump National Security Council aide told the Washington Examiner, noting that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has criticized Trump’s rhetoric about the U. S. bankrolling the Ukrainian war effort, has already met with the president-elect multiple times since the election.
“ Unlike President Biden, President Trump just flat out projects strength, and even aggression, in a way that can’t be ignored by other leaders, ” that person said.
Both Trump and Biden have also claimed credit for the recently brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. But two incoming Trump administration aides told the Washington Examiner that the ongoing tension in the Middle East will allow Trump to prove his worth as a peacemaker.
“There’s a very real chance that fighting could break out again, ” one Trump official assessed. “It’s going to take a herculean effort to keep the tiered-peace process on track, but we’ve got the right guy in the White House for the job. ”
TRUMP’S ENERGY AGENDA IN THE NEXT ADMINISTRATION: A CLOSER LOOK
The Trump transition team did not answer questions about Trump’s specific plans for governing on Monday.
The president-elect had promised Day One action across countless sectors of American life, ranging from education reform to social media regulation, but his recent rhetoric suggests he’s already narrowing the aperture for Monday itself, and working to give himself more breathing room to address other issues down the line.
In a December interview with Time, Trump pumped the breaks on Rep. Nancy Mace’s Capitol Hill transgender bathroom war.
Trump told Time that he “absolutely ” agreed with Rep. Sarah McBride (D-DE ), the first transgender member of Congress and the target of Mace’s attempted transgender bathroom ban, that we “should all be focused on more important issues, ” despite criticizing pro-trans policies repeatedly on the campaign trail.
The president-elect has also cast himself as TikTok’s savior, a flip from his past positions on banning the app, after the platform likely contributed to his win in November.
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But when the Supreme Court upheld the Biden-era law banning TikTok beginning January 19, Trump said that he was n’t ready to make a decision about intervening in either direction.
“The Supreme Court decision was expected, and everyone must respect it. My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, ” he wrote Friday. “ But I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned! ”
