Eight o’clock on Monday morning President Donald Trump will walk into the Oval Office to take his seat behind the historic ‘resolute desk’ for the first time.
But despite his age the former reality TV star has said he will “work all hours” determined to fulfil his central campaign promise of radical change within his “first hour in office”.
While most leaders look to their first 100 days as a measure of their progress, egotistical Trump has boasted that by the time he falls asleep on Monday night already his policies will have begun.
Here are the keys issues he promised to tackle by April 29…
1 Immigration
The new President has said, among other pledges, border security is “the single first thing I’ll do” demanding work on a 40ft wall along America’s southern border with Mexico start immediately.
“My country, we will get from my first day in office on very secure borders,” he bragged.
“
One of my first decrees, which I will sign on the first day - so on Monday, not Friday or Saturday, since I do not want to make it between the whole festivities, this decree will turn around safeguarding our borders.”
But before any wall can go up, the reality is it will have to go through Congress for approval, which will slow the process.
Trump has also said he will “end illegal immigration and suspend immigration from terror problem regions.”
He added he would “stop illegal immigration and deport all criminal aliens,” while “investigating all abuses of visa programs that undercut the American worker.”
As recent as December he appeared to stand by his plans to establish a registry for Muslims and temporarily ban Islamic immigrants from the States.
When asked if he was rethinking his plans in the wave of fresh terrorist attacks in Berlin before Christmas he snapped: “You know my plans all along.”
2 Foreign Policy
Trump has said that as president he may not guarantee protection to fellow Nato countries who come under attack unless they had fulfilled its “obligations” within the alliance.
His threat marked the first time in post-World War Two era that an incoming US leader suggested putting conditions on America’s defensive might with its key allies.
Promising to deliver an “America first” view he also threatened to withdraw troops from Europe and Asia if allies fail to pay more for US protection.
While on the campaign trail he could not have been clearer on his desire to crush ISIS, labelling President Obama’s war against the extremists “a disaster.”
He has vowed to “bomb the hell” out of the terror group while offering to build “safe zones” to try to help civilians trapped in Syria’s bloody conflict.
Trump has also suggested he may lift sanctions against Russia despite conceding they hacked the recent election. “If Russia is really helping us, why would anybody have sanctions?” he said.
3 Trade
The new President has promised to abandon the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal as soon as he takes office.
The TPP, signed by 12 countries last February, covers 40 percent of the world’s economy and has a collective population of about 800 million - almost double that of the European Union’s single market.
All nations need to ratify it but Trumps comments suggest it simply won’t happen shattering Obama’s aim of strengthening US influence in Asia.
President Trump instead wants to replace it with “fair bilateral trade deals.”
Crucially for Britain, which he says he “loves”, the billionaire has promised to offer a quick and “fair” trade deal within weeks of moving into the White House to help make Brexit a “great thing”.
He said:
“We’re gonna work very hard to get it done quickly and done properly. Good for both sides. I will be ¬meeting with [Mrs May].
"She’s requesting a meeting, and we’ll have a meeting right after I get into the White House, and it’ll be, I think we’re gonna get something done very quickly.”
4 Energy and the environment
One of the most troubling issues of Trump on the campaign trail was his views on the environment.
At times rubbishing claims about global warming at one paint labelling it a “hoax” led by the Chinese he has been consistent in his promise to reduce environmental restrictions.
He has said he will “cancel job-killing restrictions on the production of American energy, including shale energy and clean coal” and create “many millions of high-paying jobs.”
Although not mentioning it by name, Trump is shaping up to target Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which many critics see as a “war on coal.”
He has also promised to “cancel” the historic Paris Agreement struck last year.
5 Obamacare
An outspoken critic of the Affordable Care Act, Trump has repeatedly stated his desire to repeal the act.
In the plan for his first 100 days he laid out in October, he proposed fully repealing the law and replacing it with health savings accounts, which are tax-exempt and used to pay for medical expenses.
Last week the Senate passed a measure allowing laws to go through with a 51-vote majority, rather than the 60-vote majority usually required.
The Republicans conveniently have 53 making it easier legislatively to repeal Obamacare.
If Trump tore up the act, commonly known as Obamacare, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said it would see 32 million people becoming uninsured.
If a replacement plan isn’t implemented following the dismantling of the act, the CBO estimates that 18million people would become uninsured in the first year, and premiums would rise by 20 to 25 percent for individual policies purchased through marketplaces or directly from insurers.
By 2026, the Office estimates 32million people would be uninsured and premiums will have doubled.
6 Intelligence agencies.
One national security priority Trump has vowed to tackle in his first 100 days is to reform the heavily bureaucratised and, often politicised US intelligence community such as the CIA and FBI.
There is little doubt the new President’s relationship with his own intelligence communities are strained following alleged Russia interference in the election and leaks claimed Moscow had lurid material they could use to blackmail the new president.
The CIA looks set to be in his crosshairs facing widespread restructuring under his plans.
It includes staff at its Virginia headquarters being reduced while more agents would be pushed out into field posts around the world.
His plans would also see cutbacks to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, believing he said, it had become “bloated and politicised”.
In the wake of the hacking claims, Trump has said he will form a cyber-review team made up of members of the military, law enforcement and private sector promising a report in 90 days.
Sources close to Trump claims he has plans to do away with the director of national intelligence.
7 Washington reform
Trump famously promised to “drain the swamp” of Washington’s political establishment focusing his anger on lobbyists. He has said he wants to ban former government officials from becoming a lobbyists for five years after leaving the Capitol.
“Why that is crucial is that it goes back to Mr Trump’s goal of making sure that people aren’t using the government to enrich themselves and using their service in government to do that,” his press secretary Sean Spicer said.
Trump admitted that his own team was littered with Washington insiders.
“Everybody’s a lobbyist down there,” he said.
“That’s the problem with the system . . . is the system. We’re doing a lot of things to clean up the system.
"But everybody that works for government, they then leave government and they become a lobbyist, essentially. I mean, the whole place is one big lobbyist.”
Transition team spokesman Jason Miller said: “President-elect Trump’s ethics reform policies are full speed ahead.
"We’re going to change the way business is done in Washington and start putting the American people first.”
Post a Comment