Donald Trump has said he will act with “historic speed and strength” once he is back in the White House, promising a slew of executive orders – many expected on day one

Yannick Izabayo

Donald Trump has said he will act with “historic speed and strength” once he is back in the White House, promising a slew of executive orders – many expected on day one – targeting undocumented migrants, transgender rights and large chunks of Joe Biden’s legacy.

Donald Trump plans to issue a flurry of executive orders and directives after he is sworn in as US president at a frigid US Capitol on Monday, having promised to deliver many of his campaign pledges before the day is out.

Sources familiar with the planning said more than 100 such orders and directives could be released as early as day one, in what his team has described as a “shock and awe” effort. 

“Your head will spin when you see what’s going to happen,” Trump has said of his first day in office.

The vast powers enjoyed by US presidents mean Trump could steer border enforcement efforts and pardon some of the January 6, 2021 Capitol rioters with the stroke of a pen. 

But other executive orders will essentially be statements of intent, setting the stage for potentially much longer struggles in Congress and the courts.

Here is what we know about his planned executive action.

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• Launch ‘largest deportation program’ in US history

Many of the actions that Trump plans on his first day as president are aimed at ramping up immigration enforcement and following through on his pledge to deport record numbers of undocumented migrants.

Trump promises a hardline stance against an estimated 11 million undocumented migrants in the United States. 

“On day one, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history,” the president-elect has repeatedly pledged.

Under this core promise, Trump would unilaterally declare a national emergency to set the stage for tracking down millions of people in the United States illegally and holding them in huge detention centres until they can be removed from the country.

The executive actions would give federal immigration officers more latitude to arrest people with no criminal records, send more troops to the US-Mexico border and restart construction of the border wall, Reuters reported in November.

In addition, Trump has vowed to end automatic citizenship for those born in the US to parents in the country illegally, and advisers say his team is working on an executive order to this effect.

The US Constitution’s 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868 in the post-Civil War period, provides for granting citizenship to “all persons born or naturalised in the United States”.

Trump has described birthright citizenship as “ridiculous”, but any move to end it would certainly face a legal challenge.

• Quit Paris climate accord – again

Sources familiar with the plans of members of Trump’s transition team have said that Trump is considering a suite of executive orders to roll out within days of taking office targeting everything from electric vehicles to withdrawing again from the Paris climate agreement, an action he took in his first administration.

Members of his transition team are recommending sweeping changes to cut off support for electric vehicles and charging stations and to strengthen measures blocking the import of cars, components and battery materials from China, according to a document seen by Reuters.

The transition team also recommends imposing tariffs on all battery materials globally, a bid to boost US production, and then negotiating individual exemptions with allies, the document shows.

Trump’s executive orders will also likely seek to roll back Biden’s climate regulations on power plants, end his pause on liquefied natural gas exports and revoke waivers allowing California and other states to have tighter pollution rules. 

Having promised to “drill, baby, drill” for oil and gas, Trump also plans to boost offshore drilling, though he will need to secure congressional support to do that as Biden has selected swaths of ocean as protected no-drill areas.

• Trigger tariff wars

Trump has vowed to slap a 25 percent tariff on goods imported from Mexico and Canada as punishment for what he says is their failure to stem the flow of drugs and undocumented migrants into the United States.  

Such a move would unleash trade wars with two of the US’s most important trading partners and rupture a North American free trade agreement.

Some analysts have described the tariffs threat – and the even more provocative suggestion that Canada should be absorbed into the US – as little more than pre-negotiation bluster.

Trump has also threatened to impose a 10 percent tariff on Chinese products, adding to existing tariffs that date back to his first term. The president-elect accuses China of failing to crack down on the production of chemical components used to make fentanyl.

• Pardon Jan. 6 Capitol insurgents

Trump has also said he will take action immediately on taking office to issue pardons for some of the hundreds of people convicted or charged in connection with the January 6, 2021 assault on the US Capitol by his supporters.

The president-elect has described them as “hostages” and “political prisoners” and said that he will be “making major pardons” in connection with the incident, but it remains unclear how he might differentiate cases involving violence against police officers.

• Undo Biden’s gender-affirming care

Trump said in a campaign video that “On Day One” he would revoke the Biden administration’s policies that provide information and resources to those seeking medical care so they can align their bodies with the gender they identify with.That care can include hormone therapy and surgery.

• Axe transgender rights

Trump has vowed to sign an executive order ending transgender rights in the US military and inside US schools.As for transgender athletes, he told a rally on Sunday that he would act on his first day to stop the participation of trans athletes in women’s sports.

• Curtail diversity programs

During his first term, Trump signed an executive order to curtail efforts to address racial disparities in the workplace, through programs including diversity training inside companies.

Biden reversed that executive order on his first day in office in January 2021, and Trump is likely to reinstate his original order early in his second term, and perhaps on his first day in office.

Trump has also criticised “diversity, equity and inclusion” policies inside universities.

• Label drug cartels ‘terrorist’ groups

Trump plans to classify drug cartels as foreign terrorist organisations in an early executive order, Punchbowl News reported on Sunday, fulfilling a promise he made on the campaign trail to crack down on the sources of the lethal opioid fentanyl.

• End work-from-home for federal employees

Trump has railed against work-from-home arrangements for tens of thousands of federal employees, which were greatly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, and he has vowed to end them.

In December, Trump said if federal workers refuse to return to the office, “they’re going to be dismissed”.

By forcing government workers back into the office, Trump and his allies hope it could trigger large-scale resignations, which would assist in their goal of reducing the size of the federal bureaucracy. 

(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AP and AFP)