海角大神

President Donald Trump鈥檚 second term has started with a bang. From the profoundly impactful to the merely performative, the newly reinstalled U.S. president鈥檚 executive actions have captured the attention of Washington, the nation, and the world.

Nobody should be surprised. During the 2024 campaign, he promised pardons to the legions who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021,聽protesting what they claimed was a stolen election after聽his 2020 loss. He promised to close the southern border, suspend refugee and asylum programs, and set in motion efforts to deport unauthorized immigrants. He promised to end federal diversity programs.

This week, President Trump signed orders aimed at implementing much of his agenda. He also directed 鈥渁ll executive departments and agencies to deliver emergency price relief鈥� to Americans, a Day 1 action that highlighted his goal of bringing down inflation 鈥� but is clearly something that can鈥檛 be accomplished by presidential fiat.

By week鈥檚 end, the fire hose of blockbuster executive actions seemed a blur, almost impossible to absorb amid the jarring shift from the mostly Washington-establishment ways of President Joe Biden to the norm-defying return of Mr. Trump.

In his opening days, Mr. Trump has taken a near-daily barrage of reporter questions 鈥� more, it seems, than President Biden took in the past year 鈥� holding impromptu press conferences in the Oval Office as he signed orders. On Friday, he embarked on a trip to North Carolina, California, and Nevada to focus on disaster relief and tax cuts.

In fact, this week鈥檚 furious pace is by design, presidential scholars say.

鈥淭he fire hose is the point,鈥� says Kenneth Lowande, a political scientist at the University of Michigan. 鈥淭he point of all of it is to say he鈥檚 checked the boxes and kept his promises.鈥�

Notably, one campaign pledge Mr. Trump has kept in reserve is his vow to institute tariffs of 10% or 20% on imports. This caution suggests an acknowledgment that tariffs are risky 鈥� potentially inflationary, and thus could be especially harmful to the blue-collar voters who helped Mr. Trump win last November.

In his confirmation hearing this week, Treasury Secretary-designate Scott Bessent touted the potential benefits of tariffs as a spur to domestic production, a revenue raiser, and a point of leverage in negotiations with other countries.

Ambitious actions 鈥� and divisive ones

But this week鈥檚 鈥淭rump-quake鈥� isn鈥檛 about the finer points of economic policy. It鈥檚 about the bold return to office of a man who has pledged to shake up business as usual and reestablish himself as a forceful presence on a global stage increasingly dominated by strongmen. As his supporters cheer, many other Americans are recoiling at the return of a deeply divisive figure.

The week has been marked by one remarkable image after another. Witness that of Stewart Rhodes, founder of the far-right Oath Keepers militia, who showed up in the U.S. Capitol Wednesday after his release from prison. He had been convicted of seditious conspiracy for helping direct the attack on the Capitol and was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

On Monday, Mr. Trump commuted Mr. Rhodes鈥� sentence to time served, part of the president鈥檚 order of clemency for the nearly 1,600 Jan. 6 rioters prosecuted. Most received full pardons.

Among the more than 130 law enforcement officers injured in the riot, as well as federal judges who presided over the trials of rioters, the pardons and commutations elicited cries of frustration.

鈥淚 feel betrayed by my country,鈥� said former D.C. police officer Michael Fanone, whose attackers were pardoned.

In his executive order aimed at Jan. 6 rioters released late Monday, Mr. Trump said he was ending a 鈥済rave national injustice鈥� to begin a 鈥減rocess of national reconciliation.鈥� Judge Beryl Howell, chief of the D.C. District Court at the time of the Jan. 6 attack, rejected the characterization.

鈥淭hat merely raises the dangerous specter of future lawless conduct by other poor losers and undermines the rule of law,鈥� Judge Howell wrote Wednesday.

Trump defenders raise Mr. Biden鈥檚 last-minute, preemptive pardons of prominent Trump critics as well as Biden family members as a counter to the current president鈥檚 pardon gambit. Ultimately, says Professor Lowande at the University of Michigan, the burst of pardons from both men reflected one of the few unchecked powers that presidents enjoy.

鈥淚t was a whiplash moment,鈥� says Mr. Lowande, author of the new book 鈥淔alse Front,鈥� which analyzes presidential power and its limits. But the pardon power, he says, 鈥渋llustrates that these people are human, and when you have power like that, it鈥檚 very difficult to refrain from using it.鈥�

How sweeping will the effects be?

In contrast, many of Mr. Trump鈥檚 other executive actions will face constraints, either via litigation, the need for congressional action, or bureaucratic hurdles. Mr. Trump鈥檚 order Monday ending birthright citizenship, a feature of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, was blocked temporarily by a federal judge. The order would deny automatic citizenship to children born to parents living in the United States illegally.

Other Trump orders aimed at unauthorized immigrants also face litigation and a motivated sanctuary movement. Still, the moves have already had a chilling effect 鈥� on everyone from would-be border-crossers and refugees to people already in the country without legal status. This week, Mr. Trump suspended migrants鈥� ability to seek asylum via the southern border, a move that will be fought in court.

In addition, Mr. Trump鈥檚 promised efforts to attack the 鈥渄eep state鈥� and 鈥渨okeness鈥� have taken shape quickly. He has reinstituted his Schedule F plan that would allow for the firing of thousands of federal civil servants. And he has ordered the closing of 鈥渄iversity, equity, and inclusion鈥� offices in the federal government 鈥� placing DEI employees on administrative leave as of Jan. 22. He has also ordered federal agencies to identify the most 鈥渄iscriminatory DEI practitioners鈥� in corporations and nonprofits in their jurisdiction.

By taking such bold action on Day 1 and beyond, using his Oval Office bully pulpit and an ever-present White House press corps to spread the word, Mr. Trump has established 鈥渉eroic expectations鈥� for his presidency, says Jennifer Mercieca, an expert on presidential communication at Texas A&M University.

In his inaugural address Monday, Mr. Trump claimed a mandate from God after surviving a would-be assassin鈥檚 bullet, and vowed nothing short of remaking the entire federal government, Professor Mercieca notes in an email. And he has declared a new 鈥渕anifest destiny鈥� for the nation, promising national expansion.

鈥淗e has promised his followers that he鈥檒l solve all of their problems and restore their hope for the nation,鈥� Ms. Mercieca writes. But, she adds, these are 鈥渦nrealistic expectations that will be difficult to satisfy.鈥�