Donald Trump and his top advisers are finalizing nearly 100 executive actions he will sign in his first days in office starting Monday, as the incoming president rushes to enact his populist and nationalist agenda.
The first actions taken by Trump, who has vowed to be a dictator “on day one” of his second term, are scheduled to include limiting immigration, increasing tariffs, and liberalizing sectors ranging from energy to cryptocurrencies.
Trump and his team aim to immediately reset US politics and begin fulfilling some of the huge promises of change he made to American voters during the campaign, when he pledged to undo many of Joe Biden's actions.
“Their goal is to shock and awe until their opponents' heads spin,” says Stephen Miro, managing partner at consulting firm Beacon Policy Advisors and a former official in the George W. Bush administration.
“They've spent the last four years, day in and day out, preparing for Monday, and they've had teams of lawyers thinking about how to achieve what they want to achieve.”
Trump's first steps will be a test of how much he believes he can act unilaterally without Congress, given his view that US presidents should have broad powers compared to other branches of government.
Details of the first sweep of executive actions were still under wraps at the end of the week, but Trump and his senior officials had already indicated their priorities. The next president wants to issue a national emergency declaration regarding the southern border, free up federal resources to detain migrants crossing from Mexico, limit the ability to seek asylum, and launch what he has described as the largest deportation effort in U.S. history.
On Saturday, Tom Homan, who will serve as Trump's border “czar” in the White House, told Fox News that “targeted enforcement operations” will begin as early as next week to deport illegal immigrants in U.S. cities.
Trump is also expected to take action on trade early next week, which could impact financial markets. Trump wants to force US trading partners to conclude deals on issues ranging from immigration and drug trafficking to sales From Greenland. He also pledged to impose broad tariffs on imports to encourage companies to manufacture more in the United States, and to increase revenues for the US government.
In recent weeks, Trump's advisers have considered options that include gradually introducing tariffs by hitting certain critical energy and defense sectors and industries, according to people familiar with the discussions. But others include a former and incoming White House trade and manufacturing adviser Peter Navarrocalling for high tariffs on all US imports from day one.
Trump could use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to quickly implement tariffs, and his staff is also exploring using existing Section 232 powers to quickly boost duties on steel and aluminum imports, according to people familiar with the talks.
Republicans on Capitol Hill, who have traditionally opposed tariffs, are already proactively defending Trump's opening moves.
“I think what you'll see is more countries coming to the table,” a Republican congressman said. “And I think it will be more effective than you think without actually increasing prices.”
Regarding foreign policy, Trump's main concern on the first day of his second term may be implementing the agreement Ceasefire agreement An agreement was reached between Israel and Hamas to stop the war in Gaza last week.
But analysts said there could be executive orders and efforts to impose new sanctions on Iran and tighten enforcement of those already in place, as part of his goal of imposing “maximum pressure” on Tehran's regime.
Trump's team is also considering how to deal with the transitional government in Syria, which is led by the former al-Qaeda branch. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. Some US allies would like to see Washington lift the terrorism designation on Syria as well as 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 hopes to solve the problem in the first six months. In the short term, Trump will receive money from Congress last year to continue supplying weapons to Ukraine, but he is unlikely to pass another package once those weapons are exhausted.
Trump also said he intends to speak with Vladimir Putin soon, while the Russian president has expressed interest in meeting with him. Other world leaders are expected to begin flocking to Washington to try to start new relations on the right track.
Trump is expected to take early steps to help the US oil and gas industry as part of his promise to usher in a new era of US “energy dominance.” Among his first-day executive orders, he pledged to direct the federal government to cut red tape and “end all Biden restrictions on energy production.”
He is also set to order the immediate restart of licenses for LNG export terminals worth billions of dollars. Biden's suspension of new permits a year ago was particularly contentious for executives eager to increase LNG shipments.
The Biden administration's rules cracking down on automobile tailpipe emissions — which Trump criticized as a “crazy electric vehicle mandate” — are expected to be on the incoming president's list on day one. A directive to reopen protected lands in Alaska for drilling is also expected.
“He seeks maximum shock,” Miro said.
