First day, first show: What to expect from President Trump on day one

Donald J Trump says he will be a "dictator" – but only for his first day in office.

“We’re closing the border, and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator,” he declared.

The 45th – and now 47th – president has promised that his actions during his first day in the Oval Office will leave observers dizzy.

“Your head will spin when you see what’s going to happen,” he said.

That should give you some idea of what the returning US president’s first day will be like – a flurry of executive orders. Reports suggest there could be as many as 100, ranging from topics like immigration to school gender policies.

Here’s what to expect:

Immigration and birthright citizenship

Trump wants to undo much of outgoing President Joe Biden’s immigration record, under which deportation priorities were reduced to cover public safety threats and recent border crossers. On his first day, Trump plans to kickstart the country’s largest deportation to remove all illegal residents on US soil.

As of 2022, there were an estimated 11 million undocumented migrants in the United States, according to federal data. However, a letter Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sent to Congress indicated that fewer than half a million of them had criminal backgrounds.

Experts believe Trump will focus on the “low hanging fruit” – the most recent arrivals, some one million people who are in the country illegally or have a criminal record.

Additionally, Trump has pledged to close the southern border with Mexico to halt the flow of irregular migrants.

He plans to reallocate federal law enforcement resources to assist immigration agents, a move potentially prompted by the limited number of ICE officers to carry out deportations.

For instance, final orders of removal have been issued for around 1.4 million people and 660,000 are under immigration supervision due to criminal charges or convictions. However, the 6,000 ICE officers who monitor non-US citizens are hardly sufficient to enforce Trump’s sweeping promises.

Another major policy target is the end of birthright citizenship, a cornerstone of US citizenship, enshrined in the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution since 1868.

Trump wants to end automatic citizenship for individuals born on US soil, a controversial move likely to spark significant legal challenges.

January 6

Three years after the assault on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, Trump is expected to sign pardons for some of those people convicted or charged in the attack, specifically on his first day in office.

Trump, who has referred to the rioters as “unbelievable patriots”, pledged to address their cases “the first day we get into office.”

“I’ll be looking at J6 early on, maybe the first nine minutes,” Trump said in an interview with Time magazine.

To date, more than 1,580 defendants tied to the riot have been charged, including at least 170 accused of using dangerous weapons, but the majority of the crimes were nonviolent misdemeanours.

Over 1,000 defendants have pleaded guilty, and around 220 have been convicted.

Climate

Trump is also expected to roll back many of the country’s national policies related to climate crisis, including the Inflation Reduction Act, which aims to slash US emissions by around 40 percent by 2030.

This legislation incentivises clean energy development, promotes electric vehicles, and encourages the safe disposal of carbon dioxide byproducts.

In stark contrast, Trump has pledged to expand fossil fuel production, rallying his supporters with the slogan “drill, baby, drill”. Scientists have repeatedly identified fossil fuels as the primary driver of climate change. Trump also intends to eliminate subsidies for wind power.

At stake could also be an Environmental Protection Agency rule that mandates several coal-fired plants to capture 90 percent of carbon emissions or shutter in eight years.

This rule, estimated to slash around 1.38 billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide during 2047, is unpopular with Republicans, who have legally challenged it in red states. Trump has also railed against the federal tax credit for electric vehicles, branding it part of a “green new scam”.

Remember, Trump has stated that he is all for deregulating industries to boost production and growth.

Tariffs

Trump has said he would levy a 25 percent tax on goods from Mexico and Canada and an additional 10 percent tariff on items from China as one of his first executive orders.

He wants to do this as a punitive measure against Canada and Mexico, whom he blames for the influx of illegal aliens and drugs into the country.

In November 2024, he posted on Truth Social: “Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem. We hereby demand that they use this power and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!”

He also blames China for allowing drugs, including Fentanyl, into the United States.

Whether Trump’s threats will lead to tangible action or serve merely as a negotiating tactic remains unclear. Only time will tell whether these policies will push the nations towards another trade war.