From his Mar-a-Lago estate, between rounds of golf and lavish banquets, Donald Trump has been firing off announcement after announcement to fill top positions in his second administration.
Behind the scenes, top aides and future White House officials are planning their first policy moves to fulfill his campaign promises to bring sweeping changes to the US. Within his camp, there is a fierce determination to see the president-elect’s vision come true faster and more effectively than during his first term.
Top Trump allies — including Elon Musk, the tech billionaire — have held talks with key lawmakers on Capitol Hill, and a number of the president-elect’s political czars and emissaries are entering discussions with key counterparts around the world. These are expected to be Trump’s top priorities:
About taxes and the budget
We will pay off the debt. We will reduce taxes. . . No one else will be able to do that. China doesn’t have what we have. No one has what we have have.
As soon as he steps into the Oval Office, Trump will have to start negotiations on a multi-trillion dollar fiscal policy package to extend the sweeping tax cuts he enacted in 2017, which expire next year.
With Republicans controlling both houses of Congress, Trump will be in a good position to get what he wants, but the debates could be tense.
Along with expanding individual tax cuts, Trump has called for eliminating income taxes on tips, overtime and state pensions — and for additional corporate tax cuts for companies that manufacture in the US.
He also promised to roll back President Joe Biden’s clean energy tax breaks — a move some Republicans have warned against.
Questions are swirling about whether Trump will pair his tax cuts with government spending cuts proposed by Musk and his agency, the Department of Government Efficiency, which would reduce the impact on the deficit but also cut many major federal programs.
To the store
This tariff will remain in effect until drugs, especially fentanyl, and all illegal aliens stop this invasion of our country.
Trump fired the opening salvos of the trade wars likely to dominate 2025, pointing to a very aggressive use of tariffs against US allies and adversaries that could shake up the global economy.
Citing lax border enforcement policies, he threatened neighbors Canada and Mexico with 25 percent taxes on their imports and warned of additional 10 percent tariffs on Chinese goods.
Although Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have hurriedly held talks with Trump in an attempt to defuse the looming crisis, it is not clear whether he will back down.
Meanwhile, Trump has also threatened Brics countries with 100 percent tariffs if they move away from the dollar – another big threat he could act on early next year.
Trump and his aides have not said whether or how soon they will implement his planned sweeping tariffs of up to 20 percent on all imports, but they believe they could implement them through executive action or legislation — likely as a way to raise revenue and offset the fiscal impact of the tax cuts.
On the border and immigration
It was going bad and fast. We will have to close those borders.
A centerpiece of Trump’s 2024 campaign for the White House was his promise to launch a sweeping crackdown on undocumented immigrants through mass deportations, the establishment of detention facilities and possibly the use of the military.
According to Center for Migration Studies, 11.7 million undocumented immigrants were in the US in 2023, and undertaking such a large operation would create widespread disorder many communities and hit the US workforce.
Top Trump aides and officials, including Vice President-elect JD Vance, have indicated they do not intend to round up every undocumented immigrant immediately, but would start by removing a million people initially, prioritizing the deportation of violent criminals.
Tom Homan, Trump’s pick for border czar, is asking state and local law enforcement officials to allow federal immigration officials into jails to take people into custody before deportation and has warned Democratic city officials that they could be prosecuted if they resist.
While Trump and his allies have said they will prioritize deporting undocumented criminals, they have not ruled out broader arrests early in the new administration.
About revenge and the deep state
Russ (Vought) knows exactly how to dismantle the deep state and end the government with guns and he will help us bring self-government back to the people.
Trump has vowed to retaliate against his political opponents, as well as crack down on federal civil service employees, whom he generally refers to as the “deep state,” who disagree with his policies.
Several controversial appointments, such as Russell Vought as budget director, Kash Patel for the FBI and Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence, are fully aligned with those goals — a sign that Trump is serious about making good on his promise. But how quickly that is implemented will depend on whether — or how quickly — the nominees are confirmed by the Senate.
Musk will also push Trump to continue what the president-elect’s inner circle sees as a cleanup of the federal bureaucracy. Once in office, he will have to weigh how aggressively to root out civil servants, while Pam Bondi, his nominee for attorney general, will have to decide whether she wants to continue prosecuting former Biden officials who have clashed with Trump in recent years.
About foreign policy
If the hostages are not released before January 20, 2025, the date I proudly take office as President of the United States, there will be a great inferno in the Middle East.
Trump campaigned as a peacemaker who could resolve the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East that have dogged much of Biden’s presidency — and he will be under pressure from voters to deliver on that promise quickly.
Trump gave his blessing ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, and sent Steve Witkoff, a real estate developer who is his envoy for the region, to try to achieve the elusive agreement on a cease-fire in Gaza.
He also tried to tighten the screws on the militant group Hamas, warning that there would be “hell to pay” if he did not release the remaining Israeli hostages taken during their October 7, 2023 attack by Trump’s January 20 inauguration.
Trump also appointed Keith Kellogg, a retired general and former official in his last administration, to try to broker a settlement between Russia and Ukraine – something he promised on the campaign trail to do within 24 hours of taking office.
