Inside Donald Trump’s plan to remake America in a day

When Donald Trump returns to power, he knows the clock will be ticking on his final term. This is how he plans to immediately change the United States.

Washington DC was not ready for Donald Trump eight years ago, and Donald Trump was not ready for Washington DC. Even the man himself did not expect to win the White House in his first election race, and so as soon as he was sworn in, chaos predictably ensued.

The streets filled with angry protesters. Democrats and even some Republicans in Congress rebelled against the celebrity billionaire’s plans. The West Wing was gripped by messy power struggles between the president’s advisers that undermined his mandate.

When the 78-year-old takes the oath of office for a second time this week – something only one other man has done after a first-term election defeat – the circumstances could scarcely be more different. His enemies seem too exhausted to protest, political and business leaders are shamelessly genuflecting, and his team is more united than ever, or at least so they say.

Mr Trump’s extraordinary comeback has already changed the United States, culturally as well as politically. He can no longer be considered a bug in the American system for he is now a core feature. And come Tuesday (AEDT), when Mr Trump replaces Joe Biden in the Oval Office, he will seize that momentum to immediately implement his sweeping agenda.

“This will be the golden age of America,” the President-elect has promised.

More than 100 executive orders have been drawn up for the Republican to sign on the day of his inauguration to radically transform the work of the federal government.

At the top of the pile will be what his deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller has called “the most comprehensive border security package by executive order in American history”.

Then Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump visits the U.S.-Mexico border at Eagle Pass, Texas, in February 2024. Picture: Reuters/Go Nakamura

More than 1,000 immigrants walks towards a US Border Patrol field processing centre after they crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico in December 2023 in Eagle Pass, Texas. Picture: John Moore/Getty Images

Having built his campaign on the record influx of illegal immigrants across the US-Mexico border under Mr Biden, Mr Trump plans not only to slam the door shut, but to begin an unprecedented mass deportation operation.

He is also expected to renew construction of the southern border wall, slash federal aid to cities which provide safe haven to illegal immigrants, switch off an app allowing migrants to make appointments to seek asylum, and even suspend birthright citizenship.

“Nothing like this has ever been done before,” Mr Miller told Newsmax.

“It will, once and for all, restore American sovereignty.”

Central to Mr Trump’s “America First” blueprint is also the imposition of tariffs, which he has called “the most beautiful word in the dictionary”. How that plays out on day one remains to be seen, however, given his varying threats to whack imports to the US with hefty fees.

During the campaign, Mr Trump promised a 10 per cent on imports from all countries, upped to at least 60 per cent on imports from China. Then, after defeating Kamala Harris, he said his first priority was applying tariffs of 10 per cent to 25 per cent on imports from America’s three largest trading partners: Canada, Mexico and China.

His ultimate course of action must balance his desire to erase America’s trade deficits with the risk that sweeping tariffs – potentially implemented under a national economic emergency declaration – could shock the markets and once again drive up inflation.

President Donald Trump signs his first executive order on January 20, 2017. More than 100 executive orders have been drawn up for the Republican to sign on the day of his second inauguration. Picture: AP Photo/Evan Vucci

Indeed, while Mr Trump has also committed to reduce the cost of living, there will be few levers immediately available to him. He is expected to initially lean heavily on boosting energy supplies to drive down power bills, tearing up Mr Biden’s climate policies and clearing the way for expanded oil and gas production to “drill, baby, drill”.

The new president’s broader economic promises require legislation in Congress. This “one big, beautiful bill”, as Mr Trump has called it, could wind up as the biggest on record, encompassing an extension of trillions of dollars in income tax cuts which expire at the end of the year as well as new measures to remove tax from tips and increase family tax credits.

But even with control of Congress, it is no sure thing. In the House, where Mr Trump’s party holds a razor-thin majority, some fiscal hawks have vowed to block increased spending without substantial cuts that would likely be opposed by their Republican colleagues.

This mathematical reality helps explain Mr Trump’s determination to deliver with executive actions. On his first day, these are also expected to be used to scrap diversity, equity and inclusion programs, end vaccine mandates, and force public servants back to the office.

And then there is foreign policy, with America’s new commander-in-chief confronting a vastly different geopolitical landscape from when he handed back the nuclear football four years ago. Mr Trump has made his ambitions clear – ending the Russia-Ukraine war within 24 hours and punishing Hamas if it does not free its hostages – but his strategies remain vague.

Then US President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin in 2018. Picture: Yuri Kadobnov/AFP

... and with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as Republican presidential nominee in 2024. Picture: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/AFP

Overall, the scale of his vision to make America great again is only curbed by the fact that he has one term to deliver it. As his chief of staff Susie Wiles told Axios: “We are cognisant of a turning clock.”

Working in Mr Trump’s favour is that he “knows much more about the way Washington institutions work” in his presidential re-run, Ms Wiles said. To that end, she has been focused on hiring “competent and loyal” staff for the White House and beyond, filling 2000 out of 11,000 political posts by his inauguration compared to just 25 appointments in 2017.

“I will not tolerate backbiting, second-guessing inappropriately, or drama,” she said.

Of course, no one brings the drama quite like Mr Trump himself. In the thick of the transition, he has still found time to unveil the so-called “Donroe Doctrine”, threatening military action to take over Greenland and the Panama Canal, and even musing about annexing Canada.

He has also doubled down on his promise to promptly pardon those convicted of invading the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in a bid to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after he lost to Mr Biden. That Mr Trump will be able to do so after being sworn in on the very spot where the violence exploded is the clearest sign of all of how the US has changed.

Trump supporters battle with police and security forces as they storm the US Capitol building on January 6, 2021. Picture: Roberto Schmidt/AFP