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

Donald Trump has promised to “turn heads” and push his ambitious agenda full speed ahead after taking office on Monday.

Media reports say he may announce 100 executive orders within hours of the 47th president being sworn in.

These presidential directives to federal agencies can affect everything from immigration and border policy to climate action, energy, and even cryptocurrency.

Although these orders do not require Congressional approval, they have the force of law and remain in effect until revoked, repealed, suspended, or expired.

Trump’s Republicans have held on to Congress, but advocacy groups and Democratic state governors have vowed to challenge at least some of Trump’s plans in court and elsewhere.

Here’s what to expect.

Deportations

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

Tom Homan, his incoming “border czar,” has proposed a hotline for Americans to report undocumented migrants who they believe have committed crimes. Trump also said he would end a long-standing policy of federal immigration authorities not to raid churches and schools.

Any mass deportation program is expected to face logistical difficulties and numerous legal challenges from immigration and human rights advocates.

stay in mexico

Trump may move quickly to reinstate his “Stay in Mexico” policy, which has sent some 70,000 asylum seekers back to Mexico to await hearings.

Termination of birthright citizenship

Trump has called “ridiculous” the 150-year-old constitutional right that claims anyone born on US soil is an American citizen and has vowed to repeal it on day one.

But doing so is much more difficult than issuing an executive order. Because birthright citizenship is explicitly guaranteed by the US Constitution; to remove it, the basic legislative complex of the American document would have to be changed.

Border closure for health reasons

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

Build the wall

When Trump was first elected president, he signed an executive order to build a border wall. Although some parts of the wall have been built, there is still a lot to do and he may try to finish what he started.

Rates

Trump has vowed steep tariffs on imported goods as part of his pledge to prioritize American manufacturing.

Trump introduced tariffs during his first term, including some on China that Joe Biden kept in place.

But this time he is ordering tariffs of 10% on all imports, 25% on goods from Canada and Mexico and 60% on things from China. He said that they will start signing the executive orders establishing them on the first day.

Tariffs are likely to make consumer goods more expensive and could fuel inflation, experts say. Some countries are considering retaliatory tariffs.

Stack of crypto

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

Some believe Trump will move quickly to create a federal “Bitcoin repository” — a strategic reserve similar to the U.S. gold and oil reserves — that he says will serve as a “permanent national asset for the benefit of all Americans.” Crypto supporters have announced this plan, as well as efforts to reduce industry oversight.

Reject Joe Biden’s climate policies

He sees the directives, laws and funding programs that the outgoing president championed to promote green jobs, regulate pollution and finance infrastructure as one of his greatest achievements.

Trump has made it clear that he wants to undo a lot. The executive orders are expected to be used to lift restrictions on drilling on federal lands – fulfilling the promise to “drill, drill baby” and increase US energy production and independence. He has also pledged to ban new wind projects and cancel orders for electric vehicles.

Withdraw from the Paris Agreement (again)

Within six months of taking office in 2017, Trump pulled out of the Paris climate accord, a landmark international accord designed to limit global warming.

Biden decided to join the deal on his first day in office in 2021, but is expected to withdraw again when Trump returns to the presidency.

January 6 ‘hostages’

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

“I tend to forgive a lot of them,” he told CNN this summer. “I can’t say for every one because a couple of them probably got out of hand.”

Earlier this month, on the fourth anniversary of the rioting in the US Congress by Trump supporters, the Justice Department said it had arrested 1,583 people in connection with the incident. More than 600 were charged with assaulting or obstructing federal officers.

war in Ukraine

The president-elect claimed during the campaign that he would end this conflict on the first day of his presidency. He said it will take six months since then. It is not clear what he can do in his early days.

Gaza and Israel

Trump has already taken office with a ceasefire that will take effect a day before the inauguration. While Biden called the assertion a “joke,” reports suggest the president-elect and his negotiator’s tactics helped secure the deal.

Cuba and Venezuela

Trump may use executive orders to reverse Biden’s recent decision to remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. It could also reimpose sanctions against Venezuela. Both countries were frequent targets of his ire during his first administration, and that is not expected to change.

Greenland and Canada

Could Trump try to annex Greenland, Denmark’s self-governing territory and the world’s largest island, where the US already has a military base and large numbers of troops? Will Canada be the 51st state, as he has repeatedly joked?

Neither plan seems realistically in the cards. However, the president-elect has raised eyebrows in world capitals recently by taunting close US allies with the idea of ​​expansionism.

it has

In recent years, US schools and businesses have adopted policies designed to help women and racial minorities.

These practices, often classified under “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI), have angered many conservatives and faced legal challenges. Trump has promised to abolish them and large corporations such as Meta, Walmart and Amazon have already begun to roll back initiatives related to them since his election.

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

Abortion

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

It is also expected to reinstate the abortion rule that prohibits federal health care providers from Title X, the low-income family planning program, from referring patients to abortion, even if asked about it. The amendment stripped tens of millions of dollars from organizations that provide abortions or provide referrals.

Transgender rights

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

On Sunday morning, Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to issue an executive order promising to delay the law banning TikTok from taking effect.

His order, he said, would give them time to find a US partner to buy a 50% stake in the company.

“I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and let it say. Without US approval, there is no Tik Tok. Our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars, maybe a billion,” he said in his post.

Trump supported the TikTok ban, but recently backtracked on his stance, pointing to the billions of views his videos attracted on the platform during last year’s presidential campaign.