He came, he saw, he spoke and then took out his big black pen to send everyone— from panicky politicos to buckling bureaucrats to fearful foreigners — scurrying for cover.
“The Donald,” as the first of his lovely wives endearingly called POTUS 47, long before Trump launched his first wild bid for the White House and won against all odds in 2016 — was back with a vengeance.
But Trump 2.0 was different. Gone were the chaotic first days of ‘nasty’ 45 trying to be nice with a smug entrenched bureaucracy bent on derailing the outsider, who had come to Washington with a promise to ‘drain the swamp,’ with resistance at every step.
READ: Trump 2.0 highlights growing influence of Indian Americans (January 20, 2025)
47 was a man in a hurry. He had already conquered Washington much before he set foot in the capital to have tea with Joe Biden —the man who in his mind had “stolen” the 2020 election from him — and reclaim the reins of power with a well oiled political machine of his own.
“Saved by God” himself from two assassination attempts for a purpose, he set out to make America great again — in his own image — and usher in “the golden age of America” moments after waving goodbye to Biden — and throwing caution to the winds.
In between inauguration ceremonies, the “dictator only on day one” picked up his big black pen 42 times to unleash an avalanche of executive orders — to undo Biden’s work on immigration, environment and diversity — to make good on his signature campaign issues, topped by immigration.
Proclaiming that “America’s sovereignty is under attack,” he ordered the military to seal the Southern border with Mexico and “repel, repatriate and remove… aliens engaged in an invasion of the United States.”
Within the first hundred hours with “hundreds of executive actions” in place, as the White House boasted, a deportation blitz kicked off across US, jolting immigrant communities including those from India, which sends more undocumented migrants to the United States than any other country outside Latin America.
With another stroke of the pen, he ended birthright citizenship — a right enshrined in the U.S. Constitution by the 14th Amendment since 1868 — to deny citizenship to children born to parents who are in the country illegally or on temporary visas.
Even as a federal judge in Seattle temporarily blocked the order calling it “blatantly unconstitutional,” many a mother to be, including a few Indian, rushed to have caesarean deliveries to beat the 30-day deadline.
On another issue close to the heart of desis – H-1B visa coveted by Indian professionals, who corner almost three-fourths of such visas granted annually, Trump played on both sides of the street siding with “first buddy” Elon Musk, who backs it, while humoring MAGA supporters opposing it.
“We have to have quality people coming in. Now by doing that, we’re expanding businesses and that takes care of everybody,” he told reporters at the White House.
“So I’m sort of on both sides of the argument, but what I really do feel is that we have to let really competent people, great people, come into our country. And we do that through the H-1B program,” he added keeping his plans close to the chest.
Trump also pardoned with another stroke of the pen 1,500 people who had stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021 to ‘stop the steal’ as the Congress met to certify Biden’s election. But he didn’t pardon himself because “We didn’t do anything wrong” as he told Fox News.
He thought it was a “sad thing” that Biden did not pardon himself even as he went about pardoning members of his own family in the final minutes of his presidency.
“This guy went around giving everybody pardons, and, you know, the funny thing — maybe the sad thing — is he didn’t give himself a pardon. And, if you look at it, it all had to do with him,” Trump said leaving open the possibility of going after his predecessor.
Another order sent diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives across the federal government flying out of the window as he set out to forge a “society that is color blind and merit-based.” Yet another barred transgender women from participating in female sports.
He also ordered renaming of North America’s tallest peak, known as Denali in Alaska, after 25th president William McKinley and Gulf of Mexico as ‘Gulf of America.’ But keeping in check his designs for an “Akhand America” — as an Indian writer joked, for now, he held back on his threat to make Canada America’s 51st state.
READ: After H-1B, Trump’s MAGA supporters target OPT (January 7, 2025)
Trump capped the week of dramatic shake-ups of the federal bureaucracy by firing at least 15 Inspectors General, internal watchdogs who monitor government agencies, in a late night purge — the law requiring a 30-day notice to Congress be damned!
He scored another victory with the Senate confirming Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News host and combat veteran who has vowed to bring a “warrior culture,” as defense secretary late Friday in a dramatic tie-breaking vote by Vice President JD Vance, amid allegations of heavy drinking and aggressive behavior toward women.
With Hegseth’s confirmation despite opposition from three Republicans, including former Senate leader Mitch McConnell, underscoring Trump’s hold over the Republican Party, his other key nominees are expected to have a smooth sail.
They include his controversial choices of Kash Patel, an Indian American Trump loyalist who has published an enemies list, as the FBI director and Hindu American Tulsi Gabbard as director of the office of national intelligence, who have their confirmation hearings slated for this week.
But don’t count on Trump taking a day off after a first-week bonanza of executive orders without a cabinet to guide or restrain him, and a subdued bureaucracy all too willing to please him. For he has piles (of orders) to sign before he sleeps!