Trump comes out swinging in rapid start to presidency

President Donald Trump has been in office for three days, and he has taken a hard-line stance from the start. In his 2024 campaign, he promised swift and sweeping changes to the US government and society if re-elected.

Some of his policies and reforms will take time and require congressional legislation to enact. Others could be blocked by the courts. However, in the first few days of his presidency, Trump has already made waves through dozens of unilateral orders and actions that represent a significant expansion of White House power.

So far, for many of his supporters, it seems he has delivered on his promises. “He’s signed every executive order he told us he was going to sign,” said Rick Frazier, 68, a loyal Trump supporter from Ohio who has attended more than 80 of his rallies. “I’m happy with all of it.”

But this has raised concerns for some. Bishop Mariann Budde of Washington publicly pleaded with Trump to “have mercy on those in our nation who are now afraid” at a prayer service at the National Cathedral on Tuesday.

The display of presidential authority has been particularly pronounced on the issue of immigration, which polls show was a top concern for many voters. Just hours into his term, Trump declared a state of emergency at the US-Mexico border, allowing him to deploy more US military personnel to the area. He effectively closed the country to all new asylum seekers and suspended already approved refugee resettlement flights.

Mr. Frazier’s daughter died of a heroin overdose last year. He told the BBC that the southern border was his top issue in the 2024 election. “In my mind, if the border was closed, my daughter wouldn’t have been exposed to the compounds that killed her,” he said.

Trump has also ordered authorities to stop automatically granting citizenship to children of undocumented immigrants born on US soil, setting up a lengthy legal battle over what courts have previously deemed a constitutional guarantee. One measure that Trump has repeatedly promised but has yet to show signs of implementing is the mass deportation of immigrants who crossed into the US illegally, which he said would begin on day one of his presidency.

While some Trump officials have said that deportation procedures have begun, there have been no signs of enforcement raids or other mass actions to detain and deport the millions of undocumented immigrants currently living in the US. Brian Lanza, a former senior advisor to Trump, told the BBC's Americast podcast that the total number of deportations is less important than the message it sends.

“It’s never been about the numbers,” he said, “it’s more about the public relations.” If a million undocumented immigrants are deported, then the rest will begin to wonder if they’re next and take steps to return to their home countries. “Illegal immigrants aren’t welcome here,” he said. “Every other country can say that. Why can’t we?”

Immigration was a major issue that propelled Trump into the White House, but it remains overshadowed by concerns about the economy and inflation in terms of voter worries. So far, the president has focused on energy policy, linking it directly to the high prices that millions of Americans have been struggling with. “When energy prices go down, food and everything else goes down,” Trump said on Tuesday night, “energy is key.”

To that end, Trump declared a “national energy emergency” and reversed Biden-era protections on fossil fuel extraction in Alaska and US coastal waters. He has also begun the process of withdrawing the US from the Paris Climate Accord, an agreement that commits countries to cutting emissions in an effort to avoid the most extreme impacts of climate change. Even optimistic estimates suggest these moves will take time to show any results, but Aziz Wehbe, a Syrian-American Republican voter in Allentown, Pennsylvania, said he is pleased with what he has seen so far.

“It’s a good sign for the economy, and it’s a good sign for those of us who own businesses,” he said. “The economy is starting to move instead of being stagnant. Everyone will notice that.”

One topic that Trump has mentioned but has yet to act on is tariffs. He has promised to impose tariffs on some of the US’s largest trading partners on day one to protect American industries and generate new revenue to fund his favored government programs. Economists, including some within the Trump administration, have warned that tariffs could drive up costs for consumers and hurt US businesses that rely on imports. This may be why Trump has been more cautious on trade issues as he keeps an eye on the stock market and economic growth.

Many of President Trump’s other early executive actions have focused on reshaping the vast federal workforce. He has reinstated rules that allow him to fire senior civil servants, paused new regulations and hiring, and ordered all federal employees involved in DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) programs to be placed on paid leave. He has also renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of the Americas and directed the US government to recognize only two genders, male and female, on all official documents and forms. These changes, while controversial, are also very popular among Trump's supporters, suggesting the president will continue to lean into divisive cultural issues.

Trump’s second term has only just begun. He has promised more significant presidential actions in the coming days that are almost certain to test the limits of presidential power. But former advisor Lanza said that big moves, noise and drama are not a problem for the president. It is his strength. “What people haven’t figured out in modern politics today is that controversy enhances the message from our point of view, to communicate with voters that support our issues,” he said.

How do you get your message heard in the noise of modern politics? “That’s controversy.” With that understanding, the strategy behind Trump’s frantic first few days in office begins to come into focus.