Everything Donald Trump has promised to do on his first day in the White House
Most US presidents come to office with promises of change and new directions on their lips – but Donald Trump in particular is set to have a busy first day in office.
The 45th and 47th president of the US, only the second in history to serve non-consecutive terms, will be sworn in on January 20, 2025.
And hot on his heels into the White House are the pack of “Day One” promises Trump made on the campaign trail.
Trump has promised a lot of change on his first day in office. (AP)
It all adds up to a very busy day in the office.
Dictatorship?
In an interview with Fox last year, Trump said he would not use his presidential powers to pursue retribution against anybody – “Except for day one”.
“I want to close the border and I want to drill, drill, drill,” he said.
“After that, I’m not a dictator.”
Trump’s team said the then-candidate had simply meant the comment to provoke the media and his political rivals.
Trump has said he will pardon the January 6 rioters. (Photo by Samuel Corum / Getty Images)
Pardons for rioters
In one of his most recent updates about his first-day priorities in the White House, Trump said he would pardon the January 6 rioters.
Speaking to NBC’s Meet The Press, Trump said the rioters who had been convicted were “living in hell”.
Hundreds of people who joined the march on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an attempt to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 election as US president, have already been tried and convicted, but hundreds more await their day in court.
Trump said the pardons would be thorough, and that some who acted like “crazies” may not receive one.
Trump announces flood of new appointments to Pentagon and DOGE
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Tariff time
Trump has pledged a Day One imposition of tariffs on goods coming from Mexico, Canada, and China, in a bid to induce them to crack down on illegal immigration and drug smuggling.
Although a key part of his campaign, the declaration has sparked fears of a trade war, as well as worries the decision will actually raise prices for US citizens.
“I can’t guarantee anything,” Trump said when asked about that possibility on Meet The Press.
“I can’t guarantee tomorrow.”
READ MORE: High inflation helped Trump win the White House. He could be about to make it even worse
Trump has pledged to enforce tariffs on imports into the US. (Bloomberg)
Mass deportations
At an October rally, Trump pledged that on his first day in office he would launch the “largest deportation program in American history to get the criminals out”.
“I will rescue every city and town that has been invaded and conquered, and we will put these vicious and bloodthirsty criminals in jail, then kick them the hell out of our country as fast as possible,” he said.
Trump has suggested local law enforcement and the National Guard could be used in the process.
He echoed his plan to go after migrant “criminals” in the US on Meet The Press, though he suggested not all undocumented immigrants would necessarily be deported, particularly those who arrived in the US as children.
Trump has pledged to deport foreign “criminals” from the country. (AP)
Challenging the Constitution
Another Day One priority, as announced on Trump’s own campaign site, will be an executive order to stop awarding automatic US citizenship to children born on US soil.
“Birthright citizenship”, as it’s known, is enshrined in the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, though it has been challenged several times since it was ratified following the Civil War.
Any attempt to circumvent the Constitution is likely to face a legal battle, though Trump has suggested going “to the people” to end birthright citizenship.
Unlike Australia, alterations to the US Constitution don’t require a national referendum, but heavy legislative majorities are necessary.
Donald Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. (AP)
Ending the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Trump has in fact tried to get a leg up in advance here, claiming he is trying to end the war even before taking office.
In early December, he called for Russian President Vladimir Putin to make a “deal” on the issue.
Trump and many other Republicans have been critical of US military aid to Ukraine, which has escalated in the dying days of the Biden administration.
During the campaign, Trump repeatedly said he could end the war in a day, though he did not specify how.
Energy backflips
Above, Trump was quoted as saying he wanted to “drill, drill, drill” on Day One.
His plan to bring down inflation in the US is to revive federal oil drilling, and at various rallies he said he would use his first day in office to ban offshore wind farms and “end the green new scam”.
