Donald Trump plans blitz of executive orders for first days in White House

Donald Trump and his top advisers are finalising about 100 executive actions that he will sign in his first days in office beginning on Monday, as the incoming president rushes to enact his populist and nationalist agenda.

The first measures by Trump, who has vowed to be a dictator “on day one” of his second term, are set to include curbing immigration, increasing tariffs, and deregulating sectors ranging from energy to cryptocurrencies.

Trump and his team aim to immediately reset US policy and start fulfilling some of the huge promises of change he made to American voters during the campaign, when he vowed to reverse many of Joe Biden’s actions.

“Their intent is to do shock and awe so that their opponents’ heads are spinning,” said Stephen Myrow, managing partner at Beacon Policy Advisors, a consultancy, and a former George W Bush administration official.

“They have spent the last four years, day in, day out, preparing for Monday, and they’ve had teams of lawyers thinking through how they can accomplish what they want to accomplish.”

Trump’s first steps will serve as a test of how far he believes he can act unilaterally without Congress, given his view that US presidents should have wide-ranging authorities compared with other branches of government.

Details of the first blitz of executive actions were still under wraps at the weekend, but Trump and his top officials have already signalled what their priorities will be. The incoming president wants to make a national emergency declaration regarding the southern border, free up federal resources to detain migrants crossing from Mexico, limit the ability to seek asylum, and launch what he has described as the largest deportation effort in US history.

On Saturday, Tom Homan, who will serve as Trump’s border “tsar” in the White House, told Fox News that “targeted enforcement operations” will begin as early as next week to deport undocumented immigrants in US cities.

Actions from Trump on trade are also expected early next week, which could affect financial markets. Trump wants to force US trading partners to cut deals on issues ranging from migration to drug trafficking and even the sale of Greenland. He also vowed to slap broad levies on imports to encourage companies to manufacture more in the US, and raise revenue for the US government. 

In recent weeks, Trump’s advisers have looked at options that include a gradual introduction of tariffs by hitting particular critical sectors and industries related to energy and defence, according to people familiar with the discussions. But others including his former and incoming White House trade and manufacturing counsellor Peter Navarro, are advocating for a high tariff to be applied on all US imports from day one.

Trump could use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to quickly apply tariffs, and his staff are also exploring use of the existing Section 232 authorities to swiftly boost levies on steel and aluminium imports, according to people familiar with the talks.

Republicans on Capitol Hill, who also traditionally have opposed tariffs, are already pre-emptively defending Trump’s opening moves.

“I think what you’ll see is more countries coming to the table,” a Republican member of Congress said. “And I think it’s gonna be more effective than you think it is without actually increasing the prices,”

On foreign policy, Trump’s main concern on the first day of his second term will probably be implementation of the ceasefire deal reached between Israel and Hamas to pause the war in Gaza last week.

But analysts said there could be executive orders and efforts to impose new sanctions on Iran and toughen enforcement of those already on the books, as part of his goal to impose “maximum pressure” on the Tehran regime.

Trump’s team is also figuring out how to deal with the transitional government in Syria, led by one-time al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. Some US allies would like to see Washington lift the terror designation on Syria as well as on the group, but Trump’s team is worried about doing so too quickly.

On the campaign trail, Trump had pledged to end the fighting between Russia and Ukraine on his first day in office. But he has more recently said he hopes to resolve it in the first six months. In the short term, Trump will have funds from last year’s Congress to continue supplying Ukraine with weapons, but it is unlikely he will pass another package once those are used up.

Trump has also said he plans to speak to Vladimir Putin soon, while the Russian president has expressed interest in meeting him. Other world leaders are expected to begin flocking to Washington to try to begin new relationships on the right track.

Trump is expected to make early moves to help the US oil and gas industry as part of his promise to usher in a new era of American “energy dominance”. Among his day one executive orders, he has vowed to direct the federal government to slash red tape and “end all Biden restrictions on energy production”.

He is also set to order the immediate restart of licences for multibillion dollar liquefied natural gas export terminals. The suspension of new permits by Biden a year ago has been a particular bone of contention for executives keen to increase LNG shipments. 

The Biden administration’s rules that cracked down on vehicle tailpipe emissions — blasted by Trump as an “insane electric vehicles mandate” — are anticipated to make the incoming president’s day one hit list. Also expected is a directive to reopen protected lands in Alaska to drilling.

“He’s going for maximum shock value,” said Myrow.