President Trump’s first 100 days in office
The 2016 presidential election has finally come to a close, and it is now time to welcome our new president, Donald Trump. Winning after a concession from Secretary Hillary Clinton around 3 a.m. on Wednesday morning, Trump will become our 45th president on Jan. 20, 2017.
Both Trump and Clinton put up a hard fight, but now that Trump has claimed victory, it’s time to turn our attention to what he will do during his first 100 days in office.
Many of Trump’s promises will require congressional approval, and reality will step in to hinder the speed and/or likelihood of the implementation of some of his ideas. However, there are quite a few promises he has made that will be well within the reach of his power after his inauguration.
Judging by what he said on the campaign trail, Trump’s first 100 days will be a time of drastic changes to the American political system. We can expect to see many of President Barack Obama’s policies radically altered and many trade deals renegotiated, including NAFTA.
Executive orders – Trump can easily reverse any of the executive orders Obama has made in the past eight years with the scribble of a pen. It is quite possible that we will see many of these reversed as early as day one.
Affordable Care Act –Both Trump and Mike Pence have promised a new, better replacement to the “Obamacare” program. Based on what Trump said throughout his campaign, an attempted a complete repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act. He’ll need congressional approval, though.
“On day one of the Trump Administration, we will ask Congress to immediately deliver a full repeal of Obamacare,” states Trump’s health care reform paper.
Reforms to Congress – Trump also plans to “drain the swamp,” essentially meaning that he wants to root out and destroy all of the corruption he sees in Congress. Under Trump, we may now see an official amendment limiting the number of terms members of Congress may hold.
Trade negotiations – Trump has said he will withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and renegotiate NAFTA, calling them both “disasters.”
Withdrawing from a treaty is well within the rights of the president and won’t require congressional approval. Therefore, it’s very likely that we will see both of these changes in Trump’s first 100 days.
Immigration – Immediately upon entering office, Trump will have the power to deport two million criminal illegal immigrants currently living in the U.S. Throughout his campaign, Trump said this is exactly what he will do to protect American jobs.
However, some of Trump’s fellow Republicans have pointed out that deportation will come at a very high price to the government. The American Action Forum revealed that deporting the 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. would cost an estimated $400 billion to $600 billion.
Syrian immigration – Also within Trump’s power regarding immigration will be the ability to halt immigration from certain parts of the world. As Trump has repeatedly said that we must put the safety of the American people first, it is likely that we will see him put a temporary ban on immigration of Syrian refugees.
Tax cuts – Trump has proposed a multimillion-dollar tax cut, which will require support from Congress to be implemented. If it goes through, it will be the biggest tax cut since Ronald Reagan was president.
It is highly unlikely that the proposal would make it through Congress in its current form, and Trump will most likely be forced to compromise.
Supreme Court – Lastly, we can expect to see Trump name a nominee to fill the late Associate Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat on the Supreme Court.
This would likely be Trump’s first act once he is inaugurated. One of the potential nominees he named while campaigning is Michigan’s own Robert Young, chief justice of the Michigan Supreme Court.
It is unlikely that Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, will have a chance to sit on the Supreme Court now that Trump has won. Trump has promised to nominate someone who shares his pro-life stance and will work to uphold conservative values, and Garland simply would not fit these criteria.
Miscellaneous business – Additional things Trump has promised for his first 100 days in office include a holding NATO summit to rebalance members’ financial commitments, elimination of Common Core State Standards and the renegotiation of the Iran nuclear deal. All of these would require support from Congress.