As Donald Trump returns to office, what he has promised to do on Day 1
President-elect Donald Trump is on the cusp of returning to the White House, with his inauguration ceremony on Monday.
During his third campaign for the presidency, he laid out what he would do on his first day back in office, even referring to himself as a "dictator" but only on "Day 1."
"We're closing the border and we're drilling, drilling, drilling," he said during a 2023 town hall in Iowa with Fox News host Sean Hannity. "After that, I'm not a dictator."
One task on his apparent to-do list has already become irrelevant. Trump vowed to fire Jack Smith, the special counsel who brought two federal cases against him, "within two seconds" of returning to the White House. Though Smith resigned as special counsel on Jan. 10 after submitting his final report on the probes into allegations of interfering with the 2020 election and unlawfully retaining classified documents after leaving the White House.
MORE: A look at the tradition of presidents leaving letters for their successors
Here's what else Trump has said he would do on Day 1:
Mass deportations and closing the border
With immigration a top issue for voters, Trump has said he's determined to round up and deport millions of migrants living in the U.S. without legal permission.
"On Day 1, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history to get the criminals out," he said during a rally at Madison Square Garden in the closing days of the presidential race. "I will rescue every city and town that has been invaded and conquered, and we will put these vicious and bloodthirsty criminals in jail, then kick them the hell out of our country as fast as possible."
Incoming "border czar" Tom Homan has promised to execute "the biggest deportation operation this country has ever seen."
To do so, Trump has indicated he will seek help from the U.S. military by declaring a national emergency.
Take a look at the latest stories and videos about Inauguration Day for President-elect Donald Trump here.
Trump has also vowed to close the southern border on his first day in office.
"We're going to close the border. Day 1, the border gets closed," he said during the 2023 town hall with Hannity.
Stephen Miller, Trump's deputy chief of staff of policy, told Fox News following the election that the president-elect would immediately sign executive orders regarding mass deportations and a border closure.
"It is going to be at light speed," Miller said. "The moment that President Trump puts his hand on that Bible and takes the oath of office, as he has said, the occupation ends, liberation day begins. He will immediately sign executive orders sealing the border shut, beginning the largest deportation operation in American history."
Trump has railed against the Biden administration's immigration policies, in part claiming they have made America less safe, though statistics show that U.S.-born citizens are more than twice as likely to be arrested for violent crimes than undocumented immigrants, according to a 2020 Justice Department study cited in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
There are an estimated 11 million unauthorized migrants living in the U.S. without legal immigration status. Removing them could cost billions of dollars per year, according to estimates from the American Immigration Council.
End birthright citizenship
Among other immigration policies, Trump has pledged to sign an executive order on the first day of his new term to end birthright citizenship.
In a 2023 campaign video, Trump said that under the new executive order, at least one parent will have to be a "citizen or a legal resident" for their children to qualify for birthright citizenship.
Such a move, though, is expected to face significant legal hurdles. Under the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, any person born within the territory of the U.S. is a U.S. citizen.
Free some convicted Jan. 6 rioters
Trump has said one of his first acts if elected to a second term would be to "free" some people convicted for their roles in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, whom he continues to claim are "wrongfully imprisoned."
"I am inclined to pardon many of them. I can't say for every single one, because a couple of them, probably they got out of control," he said on his social media platform last March when announcing the promise.
Trump has repeatedly downplayed the violence that ensued that day, referring to the defendants as "J6 hostages," calling for their release.
As of early January, more than 1,580 individuals have been charged criminally in federal court in connection with Jan. 6, with over 1,000 pleading guilty, according to the Department of Justice.
Tariffs on Canada and Mexico
Trump posted on his Truth Social platform following the election that one of the first executive orders he will sign when he takes office will be to charge Mexico and Canada with a 25% tariff on all products coming into the United States.
"This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!" he posted. "Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem. We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!"
In response, Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, warned that any tariff will be met with another and disputed his claims about migration and drugs while blaming the U.S. for Mexico's drug war -- pointing to U.S. consumption and American guns.
Canadian officials said the country "places the highest priority on border security and the integrity of our shared border."
End the Russia-Ukraine war 'within 24 hours'
Trump claimed during a 2023 CNN town hall that if he were president, he could end the war between Russia and Ukraine in 24 hours. Though he did not detail what he wanted an end to look like, dodging on whether he wanted Ukraine or Russia to win.
Asked during an ABC News debate in September if he wants Ukraine to win against Russia, Trump did not directly answer but said that he wants the war to stop.
"I'll get the war with Ukraine and Russia ended. If I'm president-elect, I'll get it done before even becoming president," he said.
Though more recently, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump's pick to serve as the special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, said on Fox News this month that he'd personally like to see the war end within 100 days.
End 'Green New Deal atrocities'
Trump said in a campaign video last year he would end the "Green New Deal atrocities on Day 1" if reelected.
The Green New Deal -- a public policy initiative to address climate change pitched by Democrats Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey -- was never signed into law, though Trump has used the term to generally refer to the Biden administration's climate and energy policies, like the landmark Inflation Reduction Act.
"To further defeat inflation, my plan will terminate the Green New Deal, which I call the Green New Scam. Greatest scam in history, probably," Trump said during remarks at the Economic Club of New York in September. "[We will] rescind all unspent funds under the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act."
Trump also said during his Republican National Convention address that he will "end the electric vehicle mandate on Day 1." There is no such federal mandate, though recent Environmental Protection Agency regulations are aimed to accelerate the adoption of cleaner vehicle technologies.
Green cards for college graduates
Trump deviated from his usual anti-immigrant rhetoric when he advocated for "automatically" giving noncitizens in the U.S. green cards when they graduate from college -- not just people who go through the vetting process -- during an episode of the "All In" podcast released in June.
"[What] I want to do, and what I will do, is you graduate from a college, I think you should get, automatically as part of your diploma, a green card to be able to stay in this country. That includes junior colleges, too," Trump said in the episode.
"Anybody graduates from a college, you go in there for two years or four years, if you graduate, or you get a doctorate degree from a college, you should be able to stay in this country," he continued.
Asked on the podcast if he would expand H-1B work visas for tech workers after fixing the border, Trump said "yes."
"Somebody graduates at the top of the class, they can't even make a deal with the company because they don't think they're going to be able to stay in the country. That is going to end on Day 1," Trump said.
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the leaders of Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency, have also voiced their support for H-1B visas, which allow foreign skilled professionals to work in America, saying they are essential because American culture doesn't prioritize success in science and engineering careers compared to other countries.
Some of Trump's far-right supporters have pushed back against support for the visas, arguing they are a way for business leaders to have cheap labor rather than provide job opportunities for Americans.
Reinstate ban on transgender military service
Trump has vowed to reinstate a ban on transgender military service enacted during his first term in 2017, which President Joe Biden repealed in 2021, among other measures that would impact trans people.
"With the stroke of my pen, on day one, we're going to stop the transgender lunacy," Trump said at a Turning Point USA rally in December. "And I will sign executive orders to end child sexual mutilation, get transgender out of the military and out of our elementary schools and middle schools and high school. And we will keep men out of women's sports."
"And that will likewise be done on Day 1," he continued.
Estimates on the number of active transgender service members vary. In 2021, the Department of Defense said there were approximately 2,200 people in the military services who were diagnosed with gender dysphoria and seeking medical care, while noting that was a subset of the transgender population.
If a ban on transgender service members were to be reinstated, the Human Rights Campaign said it "will take swift action to push back against this dangerous and discriminatory ban."
