Former President Donald Trump will focus his efforts on immigration, Iran, the Russia-Ukraine war and the oil and gas industry in his first days in office, his advisers said Wednesday, hours after he decisively beat Vice President Kamala Harris to win a second term in office.
Former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump makes a speech during an ... [+]
Immigration: Trump senior adviser Jason Miller told NBC on Wednesday that Trump would reinstate border policies from his first term that President Joe Biden got rid of, such as his Remain in Mexico program that required asylum seekers to to wait in Mexico as their cases were pending; Trump has also promised to enact even stricter immigration measures than those he deployed during his first term, including mass deportations of undocumented migrants, an operation he has suggested could be deployed via the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a wartime law that allows the president to order the removal of individuals associated with the opposing country.
Oil and gas: Trump, who referred to U.S. oil reserves as “liquid gold” in his election night victory speech and has promised to “drill baby drill” repeatedly on the campaign trail, will “get back to drilling” as one of his first priorities in the White House, Miller said—Trump has vowed to expedite the approval of federal drilling permits and pending pipeline projects, increase sales of offshore drilling rights, and re-exit the Paris Climate Accord.
Ukraine: Trump’s “Day 1” agenda includes “bringing Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating table to end this war,” campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told Fox News—Trump has claimed the war would not have happened if he or another president who was “respected by Putin” was in the Oval Office, and has said he could end the war within 24 hours, suggesting he could do so before taking office, though he hasn’t said how and has refused to say whether he wants Ukraine to win.
Iran: Leavitt said Trump would reimpose “the very tough sanctions on the Iranian regime so we can stop the chaos in the Middle East,” presumably referring to the “maximum pressure policy” Trump deployed during his initial White House tenure on Iran’s economy, namely its oil supply, in an effort to curb its nuclear program—measures that drastically reduced Iranian oil exports during his first term.
Historically high inflation rates during Biden’s tenure that peaked in the summer of 2022 were a major attack line for Trump on the campaign trail. He has promised to impose a broad range of tariffs on imported goods, proposing raising all foreign tariffs by 10% and tariffs on Chinese goods by 60%. Most experts have estimated the plan could raise prices for consumer goods, potentially leading to a dip in consumer spending and increased unemployment rates. Trump has also said he would eliminate taxes on tips, overtime pay and Social Security income—which would require congressional approval to modify the tax code, something that would become easier if Republicans retain control of the House after regaining Senate control late Wednesday (several key House races are still pending).
Trump handily won the White House for a second time, declaring victory by 3 a.m. Wednesday morning, shortly after the Associated Press determined he won Pennsylvania. The AP called the presidency for Trump around 5:30 a.m., when a win in Wisconsin put him over the 270 electoral vote threshold to win the election. Trump also won the battlegrounds of North Carolina, Georgia and Michigan, and is on track to also take Arizona and Nevada, though results in the latter two states have yet to be finalized. Trump outperformed his 2020 margins with nearly every demographic group, according to exit polls, with particularly significant gains among young men and Latino voters, while more than 90% of counties where at least 90% of votes had been counted as of Wednesday afternoon shifted right, according to a New York Times analysis. Harris called Trump to concede Wednesday afternoon, before her concession speech slated for after 4 p.m. EST at Howard University.
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