Everything Trump promises to do on day one
Donald Trump will hit the ground running with a ‘shock-and-awe’ onslaught of executive actions. Here’s what he plans for day one.
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Donald Trump is planning to hit the ground running on day one in a ‘shock-and-awe’ strategy to begin delivering on his laundry list of campaign promises.
The 78-year-old Republican will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States at around midday on Monday, January 20 (early Tuesday morning Australian time) in Washington DC.
Immediately after taking the oath of office and re-entering the White House, Mr Trump has vowed to begin an onslaught of executive orders and other actions related to key policy priorities including immigration and the economy.
Mr Trump reportedly told Republican senators earlier this month that he was preparing more than 100 executive orders for day one, many of which will seek to reverse the policies of outgoing President Joe Biden.
“Look, I can undo almost everything Biden did … through executive order,” Mr Trump told Time in November. “And on day one, much of that will be undone.”
Some outlets have put the figure as high as 200.
By comparison, Mr Trump only signed one executive order on day one of his first term — targeting Obamacare — while Mr Biden signed more than a dozen, at the time said to be a record.
Mr Trump has also made a number of other promises for day one of his presidency, including ending the war in Ukraine, giving Hamas “hell to pay” if the October 7 hostages are not released — and finally explaining what’s up with those mysterious drones.
Here are the biggest promises Mr Trump has made for day one.
IMMIGRATION
Begin mass deportations
Ending illegal immigration, as in 2016, was the centrepiece of Mr Trump’s campaign. Unlike in 2016, when his focus was on building a wall with Mexico, Mr Trump’s 2024 platform vowed to more aggressively go after millions of illegal aliens living in the US.
Mr Trump promised during the campaign that on day one, he would launch “the largest deportation operation” in US history, surpassing 1954’s “Operation Wetback”, when President Dwight Eisenhower rounded up more than one million mostly Mexican migrants.
It’s not known exactly how many illegal aliens, also referred to as undocumented immigrants, are living in the US without authorisation. A 2022 Pew Research Center estimate put the number at 11 million, or 3.3 per cent of the total population.
Republicans have maintained the numbers are far higher. They have accused the Biden administration of allowing millions of people to flood into the country since 2021, both through record illegal border crossings and official schemes like the CBP One “mass parole” program.
The exact scope, logistics and legality of the deportation campaign remain to be seen but Mr Trump and his advisers have said the initial focus will be on recent arrivals, those who have been convicted of crimes or already issued deportation orders.
“That’s the low-hanging fruit,” Republican Senator James Lankford told the Associated Press. “People that recently crossed, people that were legally present and committed other crimes, people that the court has ordered them removed — that’s well over a million people. Start working through that process.”
Mr Trump will reportedly kick off a “large-scale immigration raid” in Chicago on Tuesday.
The American Immigration Council estimates that deporting more than 13 million people — 11 million as of 2022, plus 2.3 million who entered after January 2023 — would cost up to $US1.7 trillion, exacerbate labour shortages and devastate industries such as construction, agriculture and hospitality.
Mr Trump told NBC News in November it was “not a question of a price tag”. “We have no choice,” he said. “When people have killed and murdered, when drug lords have destroyed countries, and now they’re going to go back to those countries because they’re not staying here. There is no price tag.”
Close the border
Mr Trump promised to “seal the border and stop the migrant invasion” as his number one policy platform.
That’s expected to come in the form of a number of actions on day one, such as ending “catch and release”, ordering the completion of the US-Mexico border wall, and reinstating a number of policies from his first term including travel bans from certain Muslim-majority countries, and requiring migrants to remain in Mexico while asylum claims are processed.
“On day one of the Trump presidency, I will restore the travel ban, suspend refugee admissions, stop the resettlement and keep the terrorists the hell out of our country,” Mr Trump told a campaign rally in July.
Mr Trump will direct designations of drug cartels as foreign terrorist organisations, according to Fox News, unlocking new powers to deal with the threat.
The Trump administration may also seek to revive Title 42, a law brought in before Covid that saw the US dramatically speed up the expulsion of migrants on public health grounds before it was allowed to expire in May 2023.
Key Trump adviser Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner, has also floated finding new ways to withhold federal funding for so-called sanctuary cities and states — jurisdictions which refuse to share information on non-citizen arrests with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
End birthright citizenship
Under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, anyone born in the US, including children of illegal aliens, automatically becomes a citizen.
Mr Trump has long railed against birthright citizenship — falsely claiming the US is the only country in the world that has it — and vowed to end the practice through executive action.
“As part of my plan to secure the border, on day one of my new term in office, I will sign an executive order making clear to federal agencies that under the correct interpretation of the law, going forward, the future children of illegal aliens will not receive automatic US citizenship,” Mr Trump said in 2023.
“My policy will choke off a major incentive for continued illegal immigration, deter more migrants from coming, and encourage many of the aliens Joe Biden has unlawfully let into our country to go back to their home countries.”
Mr Trump’s proposed executive order will argue that the wording of the 14th Amendment, which extends citizenship to those born in “and subject to the jurisdiction” of the US, should not be understood to apply to those in the country illegally.
He has also promised to outlaw “birth tourism” in the same executive order.
Mr Trump told NBC News in December he “absolutely” still intended to target birthright citizenship on day one — a move certain to kick off immediate legal challenges and ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court.
“Something has to kick off the legal battle,” one source close to Mr Trump told CNN.
DOMESTIC
Pardon January 6 prisoners
As one of his very first official acts, “maybe the first nine minutes”, Mr Trump has promised to pardon people convicted in relation to the January 6, 2021 Capitol riots, when his supporters stormed Congress during the certification of Mr Biden’s election victory.
Pardoning January 6 prisoners is likely to be one of the most controversial of Mr Trump’s first acts, and the most closely watched by his diehard MAGA base who have called for nothing less than blanket mass pardons, even for those who were involved in violence.
While the majority of the roughly 1600 January 6 defendants were charged with misdemeanours, some were charged with felonies including assaulting police officers.
Mr Trump has already dismayed his supporters with noncommittal statements about whether he will pardon violent January 6 offenders, and his Vice President JD Vance sparked outrage earlier this month by saying they “obviously” should not be included in any clemency.
“The President saying he’ll look at each case (and me saying the same) is not some walkback,” Mr Vance later wrote on X in response to a storm of criticism. “I assure you, we care about people unjustly locked up. Yes, that includes people provoked and it includes people who got a garbage trial.”
Give briefing on mystery drones
Since November, a wave of mysterious drone sightings has plagued New Jersey and several surrounding states in the northeast US.
The craft, spotted over neighbourhoods, airports and military bases, were described by witnesses as much larger than conventional drones — in some cases the size of an SUV — and were reported to display advanced technology including “going dark” when under observation.
With zero answers forthcoming from the federal government and even state governors expressing frustration, frenzied theories emerged ranging from aliens to “Iranian motherships” to US drones hunting for loose nuclear warheads.
“I’m going to give you a report on drones about one day into the administration,” Mr Trump, who received intelligence briefings as President-elect, told reporters earlier this month. “Because I think it’s ridiculous that they’re not telling you about what’s going on with the drones.”
ECONOMY, ENERGY AND TRADE
Enact sweeping tariffs
Mr Trump has called it “the most beautiful word in the dictionary, more beautiful than love” — and on day one has vowed to begin enacting his sweeping tariff agenda.
So far he has suggested imposing 10-20 per cent tariffs on all imported goods, additional tariffs of 60-100 per cent on Chinese products, a 100 per cent tariff on BRICS countries that attempt to undermine the US dollar, and a 25 per cent tariff on all products from Mexico and Canada — two of America’s largest trading partners.
The President-elect first threatened in a November post on Truth Social that he would slap 25 per cent tariffs on America’s northern and southern neighbours if they did not stop what he called the flow of drugs and immigrants across the border.
“As everyone is aware, thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before,” he wrote.
“On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25 per cent Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders. This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country! 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!”
The National Retail Federation has warned that Mr Trump’s tariff plan would cost US consumers “between $US46 billion and $US78 billion in spending power” on basic goods including apparel, toys, furniture, footwear and household appliances.
Scott Bessent, Mr Trump’s Treasury Secretary nominee, outlined the broad tariff strategy during his Senate confirmation hearing.
“The American people should think about tariffs in three ways under the Trump administration,” he said.
“One will be for remedying unfair trade practices … two may be for a more generalised tariff as a revenue raiser for the federal budget. And President Trump I think has added a third use of tariffs. He believes that we’ve probably gotten over our skis on sanctions, and that sanctions may be driving countries out of the use of the US dollar. So tariffs can be used for negotiations.”
Mr Trump doubled down last week, writing on Truth Social that he would establish an “External Revenue Service” on January 20 “to collect our Tariffs, Duties, and all Revenue that come from Foreign sources”.
“We will begin charging those that make money off of us with Trade, and they will start paying, FINALLY, their fair share,” he wrote.
Cancel electric vehicle ‘mandate’
Environmental regulations that would have forced a greater share of electric vehicles onto the road will be wound back under the fossil fuel friendly Trump administration.
Mr Trump repeatedly promised on the campaign trail to end what he called Mr Biden’s “EV mandate”, although Democrats have disputed that characterisation of the regulations which were finalised in March by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The emissions standards for cars and light duty trucks would have, in effect, required two-thirds of all new vehicles sold in the US be EVs — or other yet-to-be-determined low-emissions alternatives — by 2032 when the rules fully took effect.
“I will end the electric vehicle mandate on day one,” Mr Trump told the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, saying the move would result in “saving the US auto industry from complete obliteration, which is happening right now, and saving US customers thousands and thousands of dollars per car”.
Lee Zeldin, Mr Trump’s nominee to lead the EPA, would not commit to rolling back the rules during his Senate confirmation hearing, saying he was “not allowed to prejudge outcomes” but that he “heard concerns” from Republican members.
Transportation Secretary nominee Sean Duffy told senators that “we shouldn’t be forced to buy cars that Washington wants”.
“We should be able to buy the cars that we want,” he said. “And I think there’s room in this space for electric vehicles and gas-powered vehicles, and it might depend on your priorities, the places that you live, the temperatures of where you live. But I want to see a robust marketplace.”
‘Drill, baby, drill’
Energy policy is one of Mr Trump’s major focuses, with the President-elect vowing to reverse bans on drilling and fracking in a bid to restore American “energy independence” and bring down costs for consumers.
One of Mr Biden’s first actions after coming into office was cancelling the $US9 billion Keystone XL pipeline, which would have carried 830,000 barrels per day of crude oil from Canada to US refiners.
And weeks before leaving office, Mr Biden moved to ban new offshore oil and gas drilling in most US coastal waters, sparking a furious rebuke from Mr Trump who said he would “reverse it immediately”.
“We will drill, baby, drill and we’re going to be drilling in a lot of other locations and the energy costs are going to come way down,” he told reporters.
Other likely changes include withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord and restarting federal permits for liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals, which were paused last year by Mr Biden’s Energy Department.
Mr Trump’s pro-fossil fuel agenda will be spearheaded by North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, his Interior Secretary nominee, and Energy Secretary pick Chris Wright, a Colorado-based energy executive.
“Our electricity grid [has] become more expensive and less reliable, reversing a 100-year trend where that was becoming cheaper in inflation-adjusted cost and more reliable,” Mr Wright told his Senate confirmation hearing.
“We cannot go that direction. That’s not good for America, it’s not good for our industries, and that is a top priority of mine to work on.”
Remove ‘burdensome’ regulations
Mr Trump has promised to begin immediately cutting “burdensome” federal regulations, and ultimately wants 10 regulations eliminated for every new one.
“On day one, I will sign an executive order directing every federal agency to immediately remove every single burdensome regulation driving up the cost of goods,” he told a campaign rally in October.
Meanwhile billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been tapped to lead the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), which will be tasked with cutting spending and slashing the bureaucracy.
Contrary to its name, rather than a fully fledged federal agency Mr Trump has said DOGE will be an external task force that will offer advice to the White House and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
Mr Trump has ordered DOGE’s work to be completed by July 2026. “I am confident that the American people will be happy with the outcome,” Mr Musk wrote on X last week.
FOREIGN POLICY
End the war in Ukraine
One of Mr Trump’s most audacious campaign promises was that he would bring an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine within “24 hours” of taking office, or even before.
“That is a war that’s dying to be settled,” Mr Trump said during the September debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I will get it settled before I even become President. I know [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky very well, and I know [Russian President Vladimir] Putin very well. I have a good relationship and they respect your President, OK, they respect me. They don’t respect Biden.”
Russia invaded its neighbour in February 2022 and now controls around one-fifth of its territory. Mr Trump is already pushing for peace talks, but it looks highly likely his promise to bring the war to an end quickly won’t be fulfilled.
“This is not going to be an easy endeavour, but it’s going to require bold diplomacy,” Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio told the Senate.
“And my hope is that it could begin with some ceasefire. In order to achieve objectives like the one that needs to occur in Ukraine, it is important for everyone to be realistic. There will have to be concessions made by the Russian Federation, but also by the Ukrainians.”
Release October 7 hostages
Mr Trump warned last year that there would be “hell to pay” if hostages still held by Hamas following the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel were not released by his inauguration.
That threat was credited by some with spurring an 11th-hour ceasefire in the 15-month war, which saw the release of three female captives — the first of 33 under the first phase of the deal — on Sunday after 471 days.
Israel will in exchange return 95 Palestinians prisoners — 69 women, 16 men and 10 minors. Talks will begin in two weeks on the second phase, which will include “the release of Israeli soldiers and a permanent end of the war without Hamas in power or able to threaten Israel”, Mr Biden said.
Ronen Neutra, whose son Omer was killed on October 7, praised Mr Trump’s ultimatum.
“Let’s face it, the fact that President Trump had a clear message, ‘By my inauguration, I want to see hostages coming out, or else there will be hell to pay’, made a huge impact in the Middle East, and we are hopeful that with his leadership, we’re going to see all 98 hostages coming out starting today with the three female hostages,” he told Fox News.
EDUCATION AND GENDER
Crackdown on ‘woke’ schools
Mr Trump has railed against “wokeness” and “left-wing indoctrination” in America’s education system, threatening to withhold funding to schools that teach critical race theory or “transgender insanity”.
He also said he would “not give one penny” to schools with mask or vaccine requirements.
“Rather than indoctrinating young people with inappropriate racial, sexual, and political material, which is what we’re doing now, our schools must be totally refocused to prepare our children to succeed in the world of work,” Mr Trump said during the campaign.
His campaign website lays out a laundry list of proposed reforms to “turn back the tide” on what he calls the “leftist takeover” of schools and “get reading, writing, and arithmetic back in”.
Reversing Mr Biden’s “barbaric” gender-affirming care policies, abolishing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offices and restoring “patriotic education” are all on Mr Trump’s list of priorities.
Ultimately Mr Trump says he wants to abolish the federal Department of Education entirely, “sending all education and education work and needs back to the states”.
Transgender bans in military, sports
More broadly, Mr Trump has promised to ban transgender women from competing in female sports, and reinstate a ban on transgender military service first enacted during his first term in 2017 and overturned by Mr Biden in 2021.
“With the stroke of my pen, on day one, we’re going to stop the transgender lunacy,” Mr Trump said at a rally in December.
“And I will sign executive orders to end child sexual mutilation, get transgender out of the military and out of our elementary schools and middle schools and high school. And we will keep men out of women’s sports.”
Mr Trump’s team was developing an executive order that would medically discharge the estimated 15,000 transgender service members from the military, according to reports in November.
LGBT advocates have warned the sudden discharge of so many troops would be chaotic at a time when the military is struggling with recruitment.
“In an era of recruiting challenges, readiness, recruitment and retention should be the priority, not radical social experiments,” Out in National Security CEO Lucas Schleusener told Military.com. “We can’t really afford to lose a single service member.”
Originally published as Everything Trump promises to do on day one
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