On January 20, President Elect Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. Trump has said he would not be a dictator “except for Day 1” when he intends to issues and extensive number of “executive orders”. According to one news report, Trump is preparing more than 100 executive orders starting Day One, in what amounts to a shock-and-awe campaign on border security, deportations and a rush of other policy priorities.
https://apnews.com/article/trump-day-one-border-executive-actions-30f78c3c983ae74555f281446fe22710
TRUMP’S DAY ONE INITIATIVES
On December 26, the online news agency AXIOS, that covers Politics and Policy, published a short but remarkable article entitled “Trump’s first day frenzy: Everything he promised to do on “day one” written by AXIOS staff reporters Zachary Basu and Erin Davis. Following is an edited version of the article:
President-elect Trump is setting the stage for an explosive first day in office: pardons for Jan. 6 rioters, a vacuum sealing of the southern border and a massive regulatory rollback affecting vast swathes of the American economy.
Why it matters: The tone of the next four years will be set on Day One. Trump and his transition — armed with a cannon of executive orders — are preparing an early shock-and-awe campaign to lay the foundation for his ambitious second term.
The big picture: Trump’s Day One promises largely fall under three themes:
- IMMIGRATION:
No issue has defined Trump’s political identity more than his crusade against illegal immigration, particularly after border crossings surged to record highs under President Biden.
- A brain trust of West Wing border hawks, led by Stephen Miller and former acting ICE director Tom Homan, will help unleash a flurry of executive orders ending Biden’s temporary “parole” programs, restarting construction of the border wall and suspending refugee admissions.
- Trump is hellbent on immediately launching the largest deportation operation in U.S. history, despite the logistical challenges. Watch out for a Day One photo op flexing the new administration’s deportation muscle.
- The president-elect has also vowed to issue an executive order ending birthright citizenship, setting up a constitutional clash over the 14th Amendment that could wind up at the Supreme Court.
- RED MEAT FOR MAGA:
The second bucket of executive orders will seek to institutionalize the conservative culture wars that have dominated Republican politics over the last few years.
- Top priorities for Day One include a ban on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs and requirements across the federal government, and pardons for supporters convicted for breaking into the Capitol on January 6.
- Trump, whose campaign spent millions of dollars on anti-trans ads, also wants to use executive action to ban trans women from women’s sports, though the exact mechanism for doing so is not yet clear.
- BIG BUSINESS:
CEO and investor confidence has soared in the wake of the election, as Corporate America revels in Trump’s promise to slash 10 regulations for every new one introduced during the Biden administration.
- Trump has vowed to expedite permits for drilling and fracking, even if it means acting like a “dictator” for one day. Inauguration will also start the clock on his one-year goal of reducing energy prices by 50%.
- Trump plans to aggressively target Biden’s climate policies by cutting off support for electric vehicles and rolling back emissions standards, as well as any “job-killing” regulations affecting automakers.
- Wall Street, meanwhile, is working feverishly to persuade Trump not to impose sweeping tariffs on U.S. trading partners — but he seems intent on ushering in a new era of MAGA protectionism as quickly as possible.
Between the lines: Many of Trump’s sweeping promises will require the support of Congress. Others have proven to be hyperbole, which Trump himself has acknowledged.
- “It’s hard to bring [prices] down once they’re up. You know, it’s very hard,” the president-elect told NBC’s “Meet the Press,” despite constantly pledging to crush inflation on the campaign trail.
- Trump has also tamped down his talk of settling the Russia-Ukraine war within 24 hours of taking office, telling reporters last week that peace may even be “more difficult” than ending the Israel-Hamas war.”
The AXIOS article provides an extensive list of the things Donald Trump has said he will do on day one in office compiled from 122 speeches, press conferences and interviews that Trump did from January 1, 2023, to December 6, 2024.
https://www.axios.com/2024/12/26/trump-first-day-executive-orders
REPORTS ON DAY ONE PROMISES
Following is an edited and more detailed breakdown of Trump’s most extreme day one promises as reported by MSNBC News and the PBS News agencies:
SETTLE THE WAR BETWEEN RUSSIA AND UKRAINE
Trump has repeatedly said he could settle the war between Russia and Ukraine in one day. When asked to respond to the claim, Russia’s U.N. ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, said “the Ukrainian crisis cannot be solved in one day.”
Russia invaded Ukraine nearly three years ago. Trump, who makes no secret of his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, has criticized the Biden administration for giving money to Ukraine to fight the war.
At a CNN town hall in May 2023, Trump said: “They’re dying, Russians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying. And I’ll have that done — I’ll have that done in 24 hours.” He said that would happen after he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Putin.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/what-trump-has-said-he-will-do-on-day-1
IMMIGRATION
[Speaking at his Madison Square Garden rally in New York, Trump said this:
“On Day 1, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history to get the criminals out. I will rescue every city and town that has been invaded and conquered, and we will put these vicious and bloodthirsty criminals in jail, then kick them the hell out of our country as fast as possible.”]
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/what-trump-has-said-he-will-do-on-day-1
Trump has [also] said he intends to carry out “the largest mass deportation program” in the country’s history beginning on Day 1 of his presidency. It is totally unclear just how a such a large-scale operation will be executed, but immigration officials have said it would be a huge logistical and financial effort. Economists have also warned that such a program would cause an “economic disaster” for the U.S., which relies heavily on migrant labor. Trump told NBC News in November that there would be “no price tag” for his mass deportation plans.
In a move that could face a prolonged legal fight, the president-elect has also said that he wants to end birthright citizenship through executive action on his first day to deny citizenship to U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants. Birthright citizenship is a protection enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, but Trump has said that he would consider changing the Constitution to rescind the rule. And amending the Constitution is a power that lies with Congress, not the president.
https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/trump-day-one-deportations-jan-6-pardons-tariffs-rcna185019
TARIFFS
Trump has vowed to sign an executive order imposing steep tariffs on goods from some of the U.S.’ largest trading partners on the first day of his presidency.
In a Truth Social post in November, he threatened to charge a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico as punishment for what he called the “open borders” through which people are “bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before.”
“This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!” he wrote. “Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem. We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!”
During his campaign, Trump promised to impose a 60% tariff on goods from China. In late November, he further vowed to charge China an additional 10% tariff on imports as retaliation for “the massive amounts of drugs, in particular Fentanyl, being sent into the United States.”
Trump has also threatened to raise tariffs on countries in the European Union if they don’t increase their purchases of American oil and gas.
The president-elect has a history of pitching steeper tariffs on foreign countries as a way to protect American businesses, to generate federal revenue, to restrict illegal immigration and to encourage companies abroad to manufacture goods in the U.S.
However, many experts have said that tariff hikes will ultimately be a burden on U.S. consumers. Contrary to Trump’s claim that foreign companies pay for increased tariffs, it is in fact the American businesses that import goods from abroad that would foot the bill, and they are more likely than not to offload those additional costs onto the consumer.
https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/trump-day-one-deportations-jan-6-pardons-tariffs-rcna185019
Trump would likely not need Congress to impose these tariffs, as was clear in 2018, when he imposed them on steel and aluminum imports without going through lawmakers by citing Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. That law, according to the Congressional Research Service, gives a president the power to adjust tariffs on imports that could affect U.S. national security, an argument Trump has made.
“We’re being invaded by Mexico,” Trump said at a rally in North Carolina this month. Speaking about the new president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, Trump said: “I’m going to inform her on Day 1 or sooner that if they don’t stop this onslaught of criminals and drugs coming into our country, I’m going to immediately impose a 25 percent tariff on everything they send into the United States of America.”
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/what-trump-has-said-he-will-do-on-day-1
PARDON JANUARY 6 RIOTERS
More than 1,500 people have been charged since a mob of Trump supporters were ginned up by Trump to attacked the Capitol on January 6 , 202. Trump launched his general election campaign by not merely trying to rewrite the history of that riot, but positioning the violent siege and failed attempt to overturn the 2020 election as a cornerstone of his bid to return to the White House. As part of that, he called the rioters “unbelievable patriots” and promised to help them “the first day we get into office.” As president, Trump can pardon anyone convicted in federal court, District of Columbia Superior Court or in a military court-martial. He can stop the continued prosecution of rioters by telling his attorney general to stand down.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/what-trump-has-said-he-will-do-on-day-1
He has called the insurrection “a day of love” and cast the rioters as “patriots” who were “horribly and unfairly treated.” In an interview with NBC News, he also did not rule out pardoning individuals who pleaded guilty to their crimes, including assaulting police officers, saying that they “had no choice.” Trump told Time magazine in December that his administration would be looking “at each individual case,” starting “in the first hour that I get into office.”
https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/trump-day-one-deportations-jan-6-pardons-tariffs-rcna185019
ENERGY REGULATIONS AND CLIMATE POLICIES
Trump is looking to reverse climate policies aimed at reducing planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. With an executive order on Day 1, he can roll back environmental protections, halt wind projects, scuttle the Biden administration’s targets that encourage the switch to electric cars and abolish standards for companies to become more environmentally friendly. He has pledged to increase production of U.S. fossil fuels, promising to “drill, drill, drill,” when he gets into office on Day 1 and seeking to open the Arctic wilderness to oil drilling, which he claims would lower energy costs.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/what-trump-has-said-he-will-do-on-day-1
However, revoking regulations cannot be done simply with the sweep of a pen: The Environmental Protection Agency is required to go through a notice-and-comment process — which can take years — to do so, and the Trump administration will likely face fierce pushback from environmental organizations in courts.
https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/trump-day-one-deportations-jan-6-pardons-tariffs-rcna185019
ROLL BACK PROTECTIONS FOR TRANSGENDER STUDENTS
Trump said during the campaign that he would roll back Biden administration action seeking to protect transgender students from discrimination in schools on the first day of his new administration. Opposition to transgender rights was central to the Trump campaign’s closing argument. His campaign ran an ad in the final days of the race against Vice President Kamala Harris in which a narrator said: “Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.”
The Biden administration announced new Title IX protections in April that made clear treating transgender students differently from their classmates is discrimination. Trump responded by saying he would roll back those changes, pledging to do some on the first day of his new administration and specifically noting he has the power to act without Congress.
“We’re going to end it on Day 1,” Trump said in May. “Don’t forget, that was done as an order from the president. That came down as an executive order. And we’re going to change it — on Day 1 it’s going to be changed.”
It is unlikely Trump will stop there.
Speaking at a Wisconsin rally in June, Trump said “on Day 1″ he would “sign a new executive order” that would cut federal money for any school “pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity and other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content onto the lives of our children.”
Trump hasn’t said how he would try to cut schools’ federal money, and any widespread rollback would require action from Congress.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/what-trump-has-said-he-will-do-on-day-
Trump made several promises to crack down on transgender rights upon his return to office. He said he would cut federal funding for schools that teach “critical race theory” and what he called “transgender insanity.” He also said he would bar trans women from competing in women’s sports, fueling an issue that conservatives have framed as a widespread threat to cisgender women but in reality is supported by scant evidence. Research has shown that such rhetoric and threats to further disenfranchise trans people have a demonstrably negative impact on a community that is estimated to make up less than 1% of the U.S. population. After Trump’s win in November, several LGBTQ advocacy organizations reported a surge in calls to their crisis hotlines.
https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/trump-day-one-deportations-jan-6-pardons-tariffs-rcna185019
DISMANTLE THE ‘DEEP STATE’ OF GOVERNMENT WORKERS
Trump could begin the process of stripping tens of thousands of career employees of their civil service protections, so they could be more easily fired.He wants to do two things: drastically reduce the federal workforce, which he has long said is an unnecessary drain, and to “totally obliterate the deep state” — perceived enemies who, he believes, are hiding in government jobs.
Within the government, there are hundreds of politically appointed professionals who come and go with administrations. There also are tens of thousands of “career” officials, who work under Democratic and Republican presidents. They are considered apolitical workers whose expertise and experience help keep the government functioning, particularly through transitions.
Trump wants the ability to convert some of those career people into political jobs, making them easier to dismiss and replace with loyalists. He would try to accomplish that by reviving a 2020 executive order known as “Schedule F.” The idea behind the order was to strip job protections from federal workers and create a new class of political employees. It could affect roughly 50,000 of 2.2 million civilian federal employees.
Democratic President Joe Biden rescinded the order when he took office in January 2021. But Congress failed to pass a bill protecting federal employees. The Office of Personnel Management, the federal government’s chief human resources agency, finalized a rule last spring against reclassifying workers, so Trump might have to spend months — or even years — unwinding it.
Trump has said he has a particular focus on “corrupt bureaucrats who have weaponized our justice system” and “corrupt actors in our national security and intelligence apparatus.”
Beyond the firings, Trump wants to crack down on government officials who leak to reporters. He also wants to require that federal employees pass a new civil service test.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/what-trump-has-said-he-will-do-on-day-1
COMMENTARY
It was the economy and inflation that swept Trump to a decisive victory. Exit polls showed that the voting public were extremely disgruntled if not downright hostile with the direction the country is going, with inflation out of control. Voters were far more were concerned about making a decent living, angered over grocery and gas prices, as opposed to any threat Trump posed to democracy. Voters simply believed they were better off when Trump was President the first time believing all his lies. Voters chose to forget the 4 years of total chaos Trump brought upon the county and his failure to deal with the pandemic that killed millions worldwide and in the United States and that had a strangle hold on the country and that destroyed the economy.
In the end, voters simply ignored Trumps flawed character, the multimillion dollar civil judgements against him for sexual assault and slander, his criminal conduct in the private sector and while in office, his fraud in securing millions in loans in New York, the multiple state criminal convictions and pending federal criminal charges, his two impeachments, his misogyny, his racism, his threat to democracy, his attempt to overthrow the government with all his lies that the election was rigged and stolen from him, his attacks on woman’s rights and civil rights, his partiality to racists groups such as the Proud Boys, his promotion of racist policies and his cult following of Christian fundamentalist who totally ignored his immorality, multiple marriages and affairs and praised him as the second coming.
Trump will be our President come January 20 and there will be a peaceful transfer of power, unlike 4 years ago when Trump promoted an insurrection. The country will get the President it has elected. Voters will get a clown car of a cabinet filled with people who have no business being appointed and whose goal is to destroy the very agencies they will head. The reality is that with his executive appointments he is following the conservative Project 2025 agenda to the tee. (See postscript below on Project 2025).
There may be a peaceful transition of power, but come January 20, four years of total chaos will commence. Trump has already said he can only serve another term but hinted that may change if people really want to change that. With Trumps announced appointments, it his clear he intends to gut the Department of Justice, the military leadership, our health care system and dismantle government to carry out his personal vendetta.
Trump and his Republican Party will overreach declaring they have a mandate to do whatever they damn well want with no guard rails. Trumps selections for cabinet positions also indicate there will be no checks and balances from congress in that some Senate Republicans are already indicating a willingness to forego their “advise and consent” of appointments an allow for “recess appointments”. There will be no intervention from the Trump appointed Supreme Court of right-wing conservative disciples who have given him immunity from prosecution making him above the law.
As the saying goes elections have consequences. But that includes unintended consequences. Trumps agenda will go way beyond what people thought they were voting for. It’s not at all likely voters will be any better off financially than they are now in two years under a Trump second presidency let alone the 4 years to come. His imposition of tariffs and the effects of mass deportation on the agricultural work force will have an impact as will corporate greed and refusal to reduce consumer prices. It may be the “economy stupid” but in reality a President can do little to bring down the cost of goods and services which is subject to the laws of market supply and demand, and corporate profits and sure greed.
It’s only a matter of time before the general public turns on Trump as they did 4 years ago once they realize they have been had once again. The public turned on Republican President George W. Bush after he was elected by a popular vote and the Republicans lost congress. It will happen again. Voters have now voted for the return of chaos. Based on Trump’s agenda, and his cabinet appointments, chaos is exactly what we will get with millions getting hurt in the process. This is what happens when the big lies replace reality and personal finances outweigh preservation of our democracy.
Throughout his successful campaign, Trump campaigned on the idea that he would “rescue our middle class” and fight for the average American. Now that he has been elected, its clear from his day one plans he intends to sow chaos, controversy and divide the American people even further than we are now.
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