What might Trump do on his first day in the White House?

Donald Trump promised he would “turn heads” on his first day in office on Monday.

Reports indicate that he may announce as many as 200 executive orders within hours of being sworn in as the 47th President of the United States.

He offered a preview of some of these directives that have not yet been signed, saying they will target issues such as illegal immigration, climate rules, diversity policies, classified documents and more.

It is common for presidents to sign a set of executive orders upon taking office. Such orders carry the weight of law but can be overturned by subsequent presidents or courts.

But the scale of what Trump has planned may be unprecedented, with legal challenges expected.

Here's what you should know.

Deportations

Trump pledged to “launch the largest deportation program in American history” starting on day one.

He is expected to declare a state of emergency on the national border, and order the army to help secure the southern border, according to Fox News.

Trump also said he would end a long-standing policy that prevented federal immigration authorities from conducting raids on churches and schools.

Any mass deportation program is expected to face logistical difficulties, billions in costs and a series of legal challenges.

Stay in Mexico

Trump may move quickly to reimplement the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which during his first term sent some 70,000 non-Mexican asylum seekers back across the border into Mexico to await hearings.

Ending birthright citizenship

Trump described the 150-year-old constitutional right, which stipulates that anyone born on American soil is an American citizen, “ridiculous” and vowed to abolish it from day one.

But doing so is much more difficult than simply issuing an executive order, because birthright citizenship is explicitly guaranteed by the US Constitution.

Border closure for health reasons

A 1944 measure called Title 42 allows the U.S. government to limit immigration to protect public health. It was last used during the pandemic, but US media have reported that the incoming administration is searching for a disease that would help justify its plans to close the US southern border with Mexico.

Drug gangs

Trump is expected to classify drug cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations,” placing them on the list alongside groups such as Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and Hamas.

Building the wall

When Trump was first elected president in 2016, he signed an executive order to build a border wall. Although parts of the wall have been built, much remains unfinished, and he may be trying to complete what he started.

Definitions

Trump pledged to impose comprehensive tariffs on imported goods as part of his promise to prioritize American manufacturing.

Trump imposed tariffs in his first term, including some on China that Joe Biden maintained.

But this time, he promised to impose tariffs of 10% on all imports, 25% on Canadian and Mexican goods, and 60% on goods coming from China. He said he would start signing executive orders imposing it on day one.

Experts say the tariffs are likely to make consumer goods more expensive and could lead to inflation. Some countries are considering imposing retaliatory tariffs.

Encryption stack

Trump has championed cryptocurrency and his election saw the value of Bitcoin increase by 30%.

Some believe Trump will move quickly to create a federal “bitcoin stockpile” — a strategic reserve similar to the U.S. stock of gold and oil — which he said would serve as “a permanent national asset for the benefit of all Americans.”

Repeal Joe Biden's climate policies

The outgoing president sees the series of directives, laws and funding programs he championed to promote green jobs, regulate pollution and finance infrastructure as one of his biggest accomplishments.

Trump has made clear he wants to undo a lot of it. He is expected to use executive orders to remove restrictions on drilling overseas and on federal lands — fulfilling his promise to “drill and drill small” and increase U.S. energy production and independence.

He also pledged to ban new wind energy projects and eliminate electric vehicle mandates.

Withdrawing from the Paris Agreement (again)

Within six months of taking office in 2017, Trump withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement – ​​a landmark international agreement designed to limit rising global temperatures.

Biden moved to rejoin the agreement on his first day in office in 2021, but Trump is expected to withdraw from it again.

“Hostages” released January 6

Hundreds of people convicted after the 2021 US Capitol riots are awaiting a possible pardon on Monday, when Trump returns to office.

“I'm inclined to pardon a lot of them,” he told CNN over the summer. “I can't say for every one of them, because a couple of them, maybe, got out of control.”

More than 1,500 people were arrested in connection with the event. At least 600 people were charged with assaulting or obstructing federal officers.

At a campaign rally before his inauguration on Sunday, Trump said he would release secret documents related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the subject of countless conspiracy theories.

He said he would do the same for files related to the 1968 killings of Sen. Robert Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

Ukraine war

Trump claimed during the election campaign that he would end the conflict on the first day of his presidency. He has since said he may need six months. It is unclear what he might do in his early days.

Cuba and Venezuela

Trump could use executive orders to undo Biden's recent decision to remove Cuba from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism. He could also reimpose sanctions on Venezuela. Both countries were frequent targets of his ire during his first administration.

Subordinate

In recent years, schools and businesses across the United States have adopted policies designed to support women and racial minorities.

These practices, often categorized under the rubric of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI), have drawn the ire of many conservatives and faced legal challenges. Trump has promised to solve it, and major companies including Meta, Walmart, and Amazon have already begun to back away from related initiatives.

Trump could use an executive order to block federal funding from going to schools or other institutions with DEI programs. It could also ban funding for schools that teach “Critical Race Theory” (CRT).

miscarriage

Like most Republican presidents before him, Trump is expected to reinstate the Mexico City Policy, which bars federal aid to international groups that provide abortion counseling.

He is also expected to reinstate an abortion rule that prohibits federal health providers, a low-income family planning program, from mentioning abortion to patients. This change stripped tens of millions of dollars from organizations that provide abortion services or referrals.

Transgender women in sports

Trump has repeatedly criticized what he calls the “transgender craze” in schools and health care, and has specifically vowed to ban transgender women from competing in women's sports.

On Sunday morning, Trump promised to issue an executive order that would delay a law banning the implementation of the Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok.

He said his order would give them time to find an American partner to buy a 50% stake in the company.

Trump had previously supported banning TikTok, but recently reversed his position, citing the billions of views he says his videos attracted on the platform during last year's presidential campaign.