Trump 2.0: The First 48 Hours
The Trump administration has been working at light speed. The amount of activity since inauguration has been insane- I’m having trouble keeping up. I’d summarize it for you, but a few others have beat me to it. Here’s some reporting and analysis from my favorite sources:
My 5 BIG takeaways from Donald Trump’s inauguration speech (Chris Cillizza)
The most dangerous thing Donald Trump did in his 1st day as President (Chris Cillizza)
Tracking Trump’s executive orders: What he’s signed so far (Axios)
Police union that endorsed Trump blasts Jan. 6 pardons (Axios)
Trump’s inauguration word choices give insight into Trump 2.0 (Axios)
Trump’s Inaugural Address (Bill O’Reilly)
Bill O’Reilly Addresses ‘Nasty’ Comments From Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (Bill O’Reilly)
My goodness gracious’: Enten on Biden’s approval ratings (Harry Enten)
No, Trump can’t cancel the 2028 election. But he could still weaken democracy. (538)
To his credit, Trump immediately delivered on campaign promises. The man doesn’t mess around, at least when it comes to signing things. In a move that I’m not sure is serious or a troll, he renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. Let’s see how many other countries go along.
Trump withdrew the U.S. from the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Accords. Not surprising considering his heated criticism of the former because of the Coronavirus pandemic and his pledge to ‘drill baby drill’ because of a ‘national energy emergency,’ contrary to the goals of the latter.
In regards to immigration, Trump signed executive orders to end birthright citizenship and declaring a national emergency at the southern border. 22 states have sued (including Wisconsin) to block the first, the dispute likely spending years in court. Time will tell how controversial the national emergency will become, especially with Trump giving the ok for illegals/undocumented to be seized in churches and schools. These locations were considered safe havens and (relatively) off-limits in the Biden administration.
Today, Trump announced a partnership worth billions of dollars with OpenAI, Softbank and Oracle for AI infrastructure. Exciting, though I’m unsure how it will help his manufacturing base. Where there’s Trump, there’s spin.
I find the slew of pardons from both Biden and Trump to be among the most concerning developments. Less than an hour before he left the office of the presidency, Biden pardoned the January 6th committee, Dr. Fauci, General Milley and members of his immediate family. You could make an argument for the committee, maybe, based on Trump’s threats and rhetoric, but the family pardons raise eyebrows. I wasn’t even aware Biden had a brother named Francis.
Per his nature, Trump escalated the pardoning situation. Almost all of the January 6th rioters, including those who attacked police officers, were given blanket pardons. Not exactly consistent for the party of “law and order.” The GOP has been mostly silent, albeit with some weak criticism. Trump was questioned on the pardons today and had a characteristic, rambling response.
Trump continues to needle allies. He claimed that Denmark would ‘come along’ about Greenland and ‘we’re taking back’ the Panama Canal. On February 1st, he said 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican products will take effect.
Greenland’s Prime Minister said that ‘we do not want to be Danes and we do not want to be Americans.’ Panama vowed to keep the canal and alerted the United Nations to Trump’s comments. Canada is preparing counter-tariffs while Mexico will protect ‘its sovereignty’ without mentioning counter-tariffs.
Even if you agree with Trump, he’s fighting a ton of battles at the same time.
Buckle up. It’s going to be a fun four years.