Public Comment
Trump's First Week
On January 20, Donald Trump became the 47th President of the United States. He gave a rambling acceptance speech in which he claimed: “I was saved from death by God to bring back the golden age of America.” Trump then signed more than 100 executive orders.
Immigration: Trump declared a state of emergency at the border and shut down immigration from Mexico. Trump is sending at least 1500 troops to the southern border. The most controversial of his immigration-related orders regarded birthright citizenship: Trump’s order asserts that children of noncitizens are not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, and orders federal agencies to not recognize citizenship for children who don’t have at least one parent who is a citizen. To most of us this appears to subvert the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1868) which guarantees citizenship for people born and naturalized in the U.S. At the end of the week, there were scattered ICE raids; while some targeted criminals, the majority came to the US legally and are not today undocumented or out of status.
Pardons: Trump pardoned, or commuted the sentences, of everyone convicted of participation in the January 6, 2021, insurrection. This group included folks convicted of assaulting police officers. The country’s largest police union, the Fraternal Order of Police, decried the pardons, as did the International Association of Chiefs of Police. (Trump also pardoned the former creator and owner of an underground e-commerce website, “Silk Road,” known for drug trafficking. Late in the week, Trump pardoned four anti-abortion activists who had blocked a reproductive health clinic.)
War on Woke: Trump signed executive orders stating the government would only recognize two sexes, male and female. The Trump government will eschew the term “gender” in favor of “sex.”
Trump also ended diversity, equity, and inclusion Programs (DEI) inside federal agencies. Trump put all federal employees working in DEI programs on leave, telling agencies to plan for layoffs. Trump revoked a series of executive orders from former presidents designed to address inequities among American populations. The New York Times reported Trump’s staff has threatened federal employees with “adverse consequences” if they refuse to turn in colleagues who “defy orders to purge diversity, equity and inclusion efforts from their agencies.”
Trump ordered the Justice Department to cease work on all civil-rights cases.
Climate Change: Trump declared “an energy emergency.” He pledged to expand fossil fuel production and signed an executive order “to encourage energy exploration and production on federal lands and waters.” Trump pulled the US out of the Paris climate accords and indicated hostility towards all efforts to deal with climate change.
Paul Krugman notes that while a major pillar of Trump’s plan to tackle inflation is to decrease energy prices: “The ratio of gas prices to wages is as low as it has been for 20 years, except during severe economic downturns.” Trump’s “drill, baby, drill Initiative will harm the environment but not lower the cost of energy.
Public Health: Heather Cox Richardson reports. “Trump’s team has told the staff at Department of Health and Human Services—including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH)—to stop issuing health advisories, scientific reports, and updates to their websites and social media posts. Lena H. Sun, Dan Diamond, and Rachel Roubein of the Washington Post report that the CDC was expected this week to publish reports on the avian influenza virus, which has shut down Georgia’s poultry industry.” (At NIH Trump’s order stopped major cancer projects.)
Trump ordered the US to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO).
Disasters: On Friday, Trump visited disaster zones in North Carolina and California. He criticized FEMA and suggested it should be shut down. He indicated that he would condition aid to California on the state changing voting rules and “turning on the water.”
The State Department froze all foreign aid except funds for Israel and Egypt.
Congressional Action: Friday night, Pete Hegseth was confirmed as Secretary of Defense. The vote was 50-50 with Vice President Vance breaking the tie. The fact that three Republican Senators voted against Hegseth is encouraging; it suggests that Trump may have problems moving his agenda through Congress. (At the moment, Republicans have a one vote margin in the House.)
Inspector Generals: On Friday night, Trump fired at least fifteen independent inspector generals including those from the departments of Defense, State, Transportation, Labor, Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Energy, Commerce, and Agriculture, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency, Small Business Administration and the Social Security Administration. This was an act called for by “Project 2025.” Nonetheless, it was illegal. In 2022, Congress amended the Inspector General law to require any president who sought to dismiss an inspector general to “communicate in writing the reasons for any such removal or transfer to both Houses of Congress, not later than 30 days before the removal or transfer.”
Inflation: Although Trump touted his “energy emergency” as an important part of reducing inflation, most observers think this is not the case.
In the flurry of executive orders, Trump did nothing positive related to the economy, which was the primary reason for his victory in the presidential election. He directed all federal agencies to investigate ways of lowering costs. In a news briefing, Trump promised to levy 25 percent tariffs on goods coming from Canada and Mexico and ten percent on imports from China. “Probably February 1st. Trump also rescinded Biden orders lowering the costs of prescription drugs for seniors and expanding the Affordable Care Act.
Summary: In week one, Donald Trump was busy but not effective. While he created media moments, Trump did nothing to help struggling Americans. In fact, his health orders hurt seniors and poor Families.
Trump’s strategy to deal with inflation centers on use of tariffs and energy production. His “drill, baby, drill” initiative is unlikely to work. He has yet to invoke tariffs, but has invoked them in threats to Canada, China, Colombia, Denmark, Mexico, and Russia.
On Wednesday, Trump cajoled banks and the Federal Reserve Board to lower interest rates. The Fed is unlikely to lower interest rates until they see signs that inflation is easing. Trump’s actions have increased the likelihood that food and health care costs will rise.
Trump promised to “fix” the economy but doesn’t appear to know what to do.
