Trump’s Day One: A look at his opening moves in the White House

President-elect Donald Trump made a multitude of “day one” promises throughout the campaign to begin work on an array of issues, setting himself up for an extremely busy first day back in office.

Many of his promises involve reinstating past Executive Orders that the Biden administration rescinded, and some entail advancing initiatives such as energy production. Others involve planning for a year-long anniversary celebration for the nation’s 250th anniversary.

Trump made headlines late last year during a Fox News forum with moderator Sean Hannity during which he promised that he would not abuse power or act as a dictator “except for day one.”

"We're closing the border and we're drilling, drilling, drilling. Other than that I'm not gonna be a dictator," he quipped. His opponents took his quip literally, but in either event Trump’s day one promises extend beyond those two key issues. Here’s a look at what his first day in office may look like.

‘Salute to America 250’

One of Trump’s first planned moves is a relatively lighthearted and apolitical effort to celebrate a key milestone in American history.

"On day one, I will convene a White House task force called 'Salute to America 250,'" Trump declared this week. The task force will be responsible for organizing a year-long celebration to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence.”

The celebration will run from Memorial Day 2025 to July 4, 2026 and include what he called the “Great American State Fair,” which will feature pavilions from each state in the Union. Trump also vowed to issue an Executive Order to build his planned garden of noteworthy Americans, which President Joe Biden canceled.

Mass deportations

A signature issue for Trump, the removal of illegal immigrants from the U.S. is expected to take priority. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has reported more than 10 million immigrant encounters under the Biden administration. Media outlets regularly cited an 11 million illegal immigrant figure prior to Trump’s first term and that the current number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. may exceed 20 million.

"On day one, I will launch the largest deportation program of criminals in American history," Trump declared during a recent rally in Reading, Pa. "We're going to get them out.”

He further cited Operation Wetback, a mass deportation effort during the Presidency of Dwight Eisenhower that removed millions of undocumented workers during the 1950s. That effort had the cooperation of the Mexican government, though it remains unclear whether Trump will be able to secure that nation's help this time.

Mexican tariffs

To that end, he has planned a trade-based approach. During a recent rally, Trump promised he would demand that the President of Mexico work to shut down illegal border crossings or face a 25% tariff on all goods exported to the United States.

“I'm going to inform her one 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% tariff on everything they send in to the United States of America,” he said at a rally in North Carolina earlier this month.

Throughout his campaign, Trump has often repeated his conversations with former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador during which he secured Mexico’s deployment of troops to secure the border through a similar trade-related threat.

Birthright citizenship

In May of last year, Trump promised to issue an Executive Order directing federal agencies to interpret federal law in a manner that would not grant birthright citizenship to the children of illegal aliens.

"As part of my plan to secure the border on day one... I will sign an Executive Order making clear to federal agencies that under the correct interpretation of the law, going forward the future children of illegal aliens will not receive automatic U.S. citizenship," he vowed.

So-called “anchor babies” have been a longstanding issue in U.S. immigration policy and have complicated efforts to remove illegal immigrants whose children are considered U.S. citizens.

Migrant flights

Under the Biden administration, the Department of Homeland Security has admitted illegal immigrants through the CBP One App and organized flights for migrants from their home countries into the U.S. interior. 

“On day one of my new administration, I will stop all migrant flights immediately. They should stop them tonight,” Trump said in late September.

Deregulation to lower costs

Inflation and economic issues stood at the forefront of voter concerns this election. Trump’s approach to lower prices is a mix of energy production, which he expects to result in lower costs across the board, and deregulation.

“On day one, I will sign an Executive Order directing every federal agency to immediately remove every single burdensome regulation driving up the cost of goods,” he promised at a late October rally.

Natural gas and electric vehicles

A proponent of both natural gas and traditional oil, Trump campaigned extensively on opening up American natural resources for cultivation, development, and sale. “On day one. I will end Kamala’s devastating natural gas export ban,” he promised in October. “Do you believe we have a ban? A lot of people don't know that. I will immediately terminate the green new scam – the greatest scam in the history of any country.”

‘I will cancel her insane electric vehicle mandate. It'll be ended on day one,” he added.

“On day one of my new administration, I will end Kamala’s war on Pennsylvania energy, and we will frack, frack and drill, baby drill, we're going to drill,” he said at a Pennsylvania rally that same month.

Transgender issues/Critical Race Theory

On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly tackled transgender issues and Critical Race Theory, promising to end biological men from competing in women’s sports and to eliminate divisive social justice practices in schools and other institutions.

“On day one, I will sign an Executive Order banning schools from promoting critical race theory or transgender insanity,” he promised in October at a North Carolina event. “I will take historic action to defeat the toxic poison of gender ideology and reaffirm that God created two genders, male and female. I will keep men out of women's sports. I will sign a law banning child sexual mutilation in all 50 states.”

“On day one, I will get critical race theory and transgender insanity the hell out of our US armed forces, we're taking it out. Our warriors should be focused on defeating America's enemies, not figuring out their genders,” he said in August.

The Deep State

Trump repeatedly clashed with executive branch personnel and has long insisted that unelected federal bureaucrats worked to subvert his initiatives from within the administration.

“I will immediately reissue my 2020 Executive Order restoring the president’s authority to remove rogue bureaucrats and I will wield that power very aggressively,” Trump promised in a policy video. “Second, we will clean out all of the corrupt actors in our national security and intelligence apparatus.”

He further vowed to end the weaponization of federal agencies for political purposes to prevent them from targeting conservative-leaning groups. “The departments and agencies that have been weaponized will be completely overhauled so that faceless bureaucrats will never again be able to target and persecute conservatives, Christians, and the left’s political enemies,” he said.