Following his second inauguration on the 20th of January, President Trump has gotten to work forming a cabinet and pushing his agenda and key policies he so fervently campaigned on at break-neck speed.
After his inaugural address and luncheon, the newly sworn-in president went to Capital One Arena where he signed executive orders in front of a large audience of his supporters. He then returned to the White House for more signings and a press conference before dropping in on three inaugural balls. In the days that followed, President Trump continued his push, signing more executive actions in his first 100 hours, 42, than most newly elected presidents do in their first 100 days. Biden, for reference, signed 42 in his first 100 days.
From his key cabinet appointments, to certain policy measures, the beginning of this new presidency has not been without controversy. The president has picked certain figures such as Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Pete Hegseth for important positions in his administration that have riled up many on both sides of the aisle, including the senators who are required to confirm all presidential appointees.
Trump’s pick for the Secretary of Health and Human Services is Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a former Democrat and vaccine skeptic whose views on health have been questioned by many experts. Kennedy has made what many doctors consider dangerous comments about the efficacy of vaccines and has openly stated that he believes there is a correlation between vaccines and childhood autism diagnoses, a theory that has been widely debunked for decades. Despite Kennedy’s tendentious approach to health, it appears he has enough support from the Senate to be confirmed.
In addition, Trump tapped Pete Hegseth to lead the Department of Defense. Hegseth, a former Fox News host and Army Veteran, had stirred up controversy following an article in the New Yorker in December that alleged his mistreatment of women and a history of alcohol abuse—many senators had concerns over the allegations and Hegseth’s inexperience in leading one of the largest government departments, but he was finally confirmed in the Senate by a 51-50 vote, which required Vice President Vance to break the tie.
Other Senate confirmations—such as those of Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence and Kash Patel for the director of the FBI—will likely be contentious, but the administration believes that Majority Leader Thune will be able to push all of the president’s nominees across the finish line.
On policy, Trump has focused on fulfilling campaign promises, mostly by the presidential power of executive actions, of which Trump signed over 200 on his first day. Trump rescinded over 78 Biden-era executive actions, and signed new ones. Trump’s executive orders were focused on his campaign against DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs in the federal government; border security and deportations; pardons of the January 6th rioters; and an order directing his agencies to do everything in their power to lower costs and reduce inflation.
Arguably, the most controversial actions are the mass deportations which were promised during the campaign and are now being executed by Border-Czar Tom Homan, who has directed ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to raid major cities and deport convicted criminal unlawful immigrants. A quota of 1,800 deportations a day has been set by the president, though the administration hopes to achieve a rate of 5,000 per day. The administration is also going by the “worst is first” policy, meaning violent criminals will be deported first.
Trump has also deployed the US Armed Forces to the border and has reinstated his Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as the Remain in Mexico policy, which requires asylum seekers to remain outside of the US as they wait for asylum court hearings.
Along with his border policy, Trump has overhauled the federal government by signing an executive order requiring federal employees to come back to the office for work, putting an end to remote-work for millions.
As mentioned, the pardons of roughly 1,500 January 6th rioters stirred up controversy from both Democrats and Republicans, as the president’s far-reaching pardons freed people who damaged the United States Capitol; threatened police officers and former Vice President Mike Pence; and caused chaos on January 6th, 2021. Many, including Republican Senators who were present that day and had to be evacuated from the Capitol, felt the pardons were inappropriate.
On foreign policy, Trump has gotten to work freeing the Israeli hostages and managing the Israel-Gaza ceasefire. The president has also declared that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin have both agreed to meet for peace negotiations.
Trump’s tariffs have also been a point of contention, but the White House claimed a win when President Trump was able to convince Columbia to accept deportation flights of their own citizens after previously refusing following his threat of a 50% tariff and visa revocations for the citizenry of that country. These actions tend to align with the president’s America First foreign policy maxim.
Trump also rolled back regulation on businesses, including environmental regulations, to produce economic growth and increased the drilling of fossil fuels. The administration hopes that by bringing fuel costs down, the interest rates and inflation will follow the downward trend. The president also pulled out of the Paris Climate Accords, a move which some analysts say could save the country over $1 trillion over the next half decade.
On cultural issues, Trump signed an order that declared the US Government would only recognize two genders—male and female—and he banned transgender service people from the military. Finally, he signed an order ensuring that freedom of speech be protected by all federal agencies.
It remains to be seen just how broadly and quickly President Trump will be able to pursue his agenda in the coming months, however. Trump appears to have delivered on many of his promises that could be accomplished through executive actions, though some are being held up in court, but the real test of his ability to negotiate and his relationship with his party will show in the coming months when he is forced to work with Congress to pass legislation that aligns with his agenda.
