Donald Trump and his top advisers are finalizing about 100 executive actions he will sign during his first days in office starting Monday, as the new president races to implement his populist, nationalist agenda .
The first moves by Trump, who has pledged to be a dictator “from day one” of his second term, are expected to include cutting immigration, raising tariffs and deregulating industries ranging from energy to cryptocurrencies.
Trump and his team aim to immediately reset American politics and begin delivering on some of the huge promises for change he made to American voters during the campaign, when he pledged to reverse many of Joe’s actions Biden.
“Their intention is to cause shock and awe so that their opponents’ heads will turn,” said Stephen Myrow, managing partner of Beacon Policy Advisors, a consulting firm and former George W. Bush administration official. .
“They have spent the last four years, day in and day out, preparing for Monday, and teams of lawyers thinking about how they can accomplish what they want to accomplish.
Trump’s first steps will serve as a test of how far he thinks he can act unilaterally without Congress, given his belief that U.S. presidents should have broader powers than other branches of government.
Details of the first round of executive actions were still under wraps this weekend, but Trump and his top officials have already indicated what their priorities will be. The new president wants to declare a national emergency over the southern border, free up federal resources to detain migrants from Mexico, limit the ability to seek asylum and launch what he described as the largest effort of expulsion from the history of the United States.
On Saturday, Tom Homan, who will be Trump’s border “czar” in the White House, told Fox News that “targeted enforcement operations” would begin as early as next week to deport undocumented immigrants in U.S. cities.
Actions from Trump on trade are also expected early next week, which could affect financial markets. Trump wants to force U.S. trading partners to reach deals on issues ranging from migration to drug trafficking and even the sale of Greenland. He also pledged to impose broad taxes on imports to encourage companies to manufacture more in the United States and increase revenue for the U.S. government.
In recent weeks, Trump’s advisers have considered options including phasing in tariffs hitting particularly critical sectors and industries related to energy and defense, according to people familiar with the discussions. But others, including his former and new trade and manufacturing adviser at the White House, Peter Navarro, are calling for a high tariff to be applied from day one to all American imports.
Trump could use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to quickly implement tariffs, and his team is also exploring using existing Section 232 authorities to quickly increase levies on steel and metal imports. aluminum, according to people familiar with the negotiations.
Republicans on Capitol Hill, who are also traditionally opposed to tariffs, are already preemptively defending Trump’s first steps.
“I think you’ll see more countries come to the table,” one Republican congressman said. “And I think it will be more effective than you think without increasing prices,”
On foreign policy, Trump’s main concern on the first day of his second term will likely be implementing the ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Hamas to suspend the war in Gaza last week.
But analysts say there could be executive orders and efforts to impose new sanctions on Iran and strengthen enforcement of those already in place, as part of its goal of imposing “maximum pressure” on the Tehran regime.
Trump’s team is also considering how to deal with the transitional government in Syria, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a former al-Qaeda affiliate. Some U.S. allies would like Washington to lift the terrorist country designation on Syria and the group, but Trump’s team is wary of doing so too quickly.
During his election campaign, Trump pledged to end the fighting between Russia and Ukraine on his first day in office. But he recently said he hoped to resolve the problem within the first six months. In the short term, Trump will have funds from Congress from last year to continue supplying weapons to Ukraine, but he is unlikely to pass another package once those funds are exhausted.
Trump also said he planned to speak to Vladimir Putin soon, while the Russian president expressed interest in meeting with him. Other world leaders are expected to start flocking to Washington to try to get new relations on the right track.
Trump is expected to take swift action to help the U.S. oil and gas industry as part of his promise to usher in a new era of American “energy dominance.” Among his first-day executive orders, he pledged to order the federal government to cut red tape and “end all Biden restrictions on energy production.”
He is also expected to order the immediate restart of licensing for multibillion-dollar liquefied natural gas export terminals. Biden’s suspension of new permits a year ago has been a particular bone of contention for executives eager to increase LNG shipments.
The Biden administration’s rules that cracked down on vehicle tailpipe emissions — called by Trump a “insane electric vehicle mandate” — are expected to be on the new president’s priority list. A directive to reopen Alaska’s protected lands to drilling is also expected.
“It’s aiming for maximum shock value,” Myrow said.
