After Donald Trump becomes president again on Monday, he is on the hook for achieving a hefty chunk of his promises even before the day is out, including those he made while campaigning in Alabama.
“Your head will spin when you see what’s going to happen," he said of Day 1.
But there's only so much Trump can do without Congress, and some of his vows are bound to fall short.
Trump vowed to take steps to uproot the “deep state." He promised to launch an effort to fire or otherwise neutralize the influence of federal workers he considers disloyal and an impediment to his agenda. Also, use legal intimidation or other means to crush those he regards as his political enemies.
“You'll see that, on the very first day of my presidency, the ‘deep state’ is destroying our nation. But the tables must turn, and we will quickly destroy the ‘deep state.’” — speech to Alabama GOP dinner in Montgomery, Aug. 4, 2023.
If Trump works to keep that promise, the likely first step is an executive order seeking to reclassify tens of thousands of job-protected and apolitical civil servants as political appointees, subject to being fired at will. He would do so by reviving his Schedule F order from 2020, which Biden reversed when he took office.
Here what else the Republican promised voters he would get done on his first day in office:
— Launch the largest deportation in U.S. history to remove all people in the country illegally.
— Close the border.
— End automatic citizenship for everyone born in the U.S., known as birthright citizenship.
— Sign pardons for some or many of those convicted or charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol.
— Impose a 25% tariff on everything imported from Mexico and Canada and add a 10% tariff to duties already imposed on goods from China.
— Even before Monday, end the Russia-Ukraine war.
— End what he calls the "electric vehicle mandate."
— Declare a national energy emergency to spur the approval of more drilling, pipelines, refineries, power plants and reactors.
— Cut federal money to schools that push “critical race theory, transgender insanity and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content onto the shoulders of our children.” Also cut money to any schools that have a vaccine or mask mandate.
Read more on Trump's previous Day 1 vows here.
