‘Your head will spin’: What to expect from Donald Trump’s first days in office
January is going to suck.
As we near the end of 2024, it’s hard to ignore the sense of impending dread that 2025 will bring. On January 20, Donald Trump will be sworn in to start his second term as President, and based on his campaign promises, the anxiety that many of us are feeling is well founded.
At an Arizona campaign event in November, Trump claimed that his first day in office will be busy. “Many things will be done on day one,” Trump promised, ominously adding, “Your head will spin when you see what’s going to happen.”
Throughout his campaign, Trump often spoke about his many worrying plans for his second term, several of which he claimed would be implemented immediately upon taking office. January will be a dark month if he follows through on even half of his promises during the first days of his second term.
Here are the specific initiatives Trump has said he will prioritize from day one.
Close the border with Mexico
Trump has always campaigned heavily on an anti-immigration platform, spouting promises to close the Mexican border. He made the same promises in 2016, which he failed to execute during his first term. However, Trump has assured his followers that this time, he’ll really do it. In fact, Trump claimed the border issue will be a top priority immediately after being sworn in.
In an interview with Sean Hannity, Trump made his plans very clear (while expressing a concerning laissez-faire attitude towards fascism). Hannity asked Trump to confirm that if elected president, he would “never abuse power as retribution against anybody.”
Trump agreed, but with some provisions. “Except for day one,” Trump said. “I want to close the border …After that, I’m not a dictator.”
“Drill, drill, drill”
In that same interview with Hannity, Trump also claimed that his day one dictatorship would also be the start of his efforts to “drill, drill, drill.” Throughout his campaign, Trump constantly spoke about his pro-fracking stance and desire to “drill baby drill.” Even if it creates jobs, an increase in drilling will have disastrous impacts on the environment.
But Trump doesn’t give a damn about the environment, and neither do his supporters—not if it means short-term gains, anyway. As part of his plan to “fix the economy,” Trump has no problem gutting programs aimed at curbing the progression of climate change.
“I will terminate the Green New Deal scam,” Trump said at his Madison Square Garden rally in October. “We’ll cut your energy prices in half. Fifty percent within one year from January 20th,” he claimed.
Threaten Mexico with tariffs
Trump has boasted a lot about his plan to enact trade tariffs that will turn around the U.S. economy (though this strategy is probably going to make consumer goods more expensive). So it only makes sense that Trump’s tariff plan is one he intends to weaponize.
Trump claimed he would use the threat of tariffs to put pressure on Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo to close the border, and he plans to make that threat immediately after taking office.
“I’m going to inform [President Pardo] on day one or sooner that if they don’t stop this onslaught of criminals and drugs coming into our country, I’m going to immediately impose a 25 percent tariff on everything they send into the United States of America,” Trump claimed at a North Carolina rally just before the election.
He assured his followers that this plan has a “100% chance of working,” and threatened to raise tariffs to 75 percent if Pardo doesn’t comply.
Fire Special Counsel Jack Smith
Let’s not forget, Trump is a convicted felon. In May of this year, the jury in Trump’s hush money trial found him guilty of all 34 charges. So it’s no surprise that Trump feels especially salty towards special counsel Jack Smith, who led the case against him.
After Trump won the election, questions swirled about how he would handle his conviction and delayed sentencing after starting his second term. In an interview with Hugh Hewitt, Trump was asked whether he planned to pardon himself or fire Smith and the president-elect didn’t hesitate.
“Oh, it’s so easy,” Trump replied. “It’s so easy. In fact, he’s a crooked person … I would fire him within two seconds. He’ll be one of the first things addressed.”
Though achieving retribution against Smith may be at the top of Trump’s day one list, Smith dropped a UNO reverse card, with news leaking that he and his office plan to resign before Trump takes office.
Reinstate his Schedule F initiative
There were several executive orders Trump signed in his first term that Joe Biden reversed after taking office in 2021. According to his incoming chief of staff, Susie Wiles, we can expect Trump to quickly reverse Biden’s reversals once he’s sworn in on January 20.
Though Wiles didn’t specify which orders Trump will go after first, the Schedule F initiative is most likely at the top of the list. Trump signed this executive order late in his first term, which would strip employment protections from up to 50,000 civilian federal employees. Removing those protections would enable Trump to purge federal employees he considers liberal and disloyal. It’s a strategy that comes straight from the pages of Project 2025, and it’s likely a top priority for Trump.
End the “electric mandate on cars”
Trump has been very clear about some of his day-one plans, including his efforts to erode climate change initiatives. At his Arizona rally earlier this month, Trump promised to “end the electric mandate on cars day one.” Presumably meaning ‘mandate on electric cars,’ Trump complained that electric cars “don’t go far, they cost too much, and they’re going to be made in China.”
“If we go electric, we’re playing right into [China’s] hands,” Trump claimed.
Trump has shown that he intends to pay Elon Musk back for his “loyalty” and help in manipulating the 2024 election, and is looking out for the Tesla CEO’s business interests in multiple ways.
Revoke birthright citizenship
Throughout the election, Trump declared war on immigrants (primarily Mexican), and one of the avenues he’s using to further his racist and xenophobic agenda is redefining citizenship.
The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees that all children born “within the jurisdiction of the United States” receive automatic citizenship regardless of their parents’ immigration status. However, Trump is looking to end birthright citizenship by establishing a convoluted interpretation of the Constitution.
In a press release last year, Trump promised that “on day one … I will sign an executive order making clear … the future children of illegal aliens will not receive automatic U.S. citizenship.”
This executive order will stipulate that U.S. citizenship will only be given if at least one of a child’s parents is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.
Declare national emergency to initiate mass deportations
One of Trump’s most troubling promises for the first days of his second term is his intention to carry out mass deportations of immigrants.
At his Madison Square Garden rally, Trump swore “On day one, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history to get the criminals out.” He promised to “rescue” the country from “bloodthirsty criminals,” and it was one of the most chilling moments of the entire rally—which is saying something.
Even after the election, Trump doubled down, replying, “TRUE!!!” to a post on Truth Social about his office using “military assets” to carry out the mass deportation.
End the war between Ukraine and Russia
In a Fox News interview following the election, Trump’s new National Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, spoke about another one of the incoming president’s first-day plans.
“On day one,” Leavitt said, Trump plans to “[bring] Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating table to end this war.”
She offered no further details regarding how Trump plans to achieve this. However, any negotiations are likely to favor Russia’s interests, and Ukraine can expect a less supportive partner in Trump than it had with Biden.
Issue pardons for January 6 rioters
For many of us, the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol was a terrifying and shameful stain upon this country’s history. But for Trump, the violent rioters are patriots who deserve freedom. As such, Trump has pledged to spend his first days in office reinforcing the rioters’ dangerous sense of entitlement with a flurry of pardons.
On Truth Social, Trump said his “first acts” upon taking office “will be to … Free the January 6 Hostages being wrongfully imprisoned!”
So far, 1,548 individuals have been charged with crimes relating to the January 6 riots, 1,042 have been sentenced, and 64 have received prison time.
Aside from his Truth Social post, Trump has promised on multiple occasions that he “absolutely” plans to issue “full pardons with an apology to many.”
The promises Trump has made for his first days in office paint a bleak picture, and 2025 will likely have a very rough start.
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