Day 1 is here, and it promises to be ‘bigly’

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/01/2025 (231 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s going to be a very busy day.

It’s inauguration day in the United States, Day 1 of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term.

And today, based on his promises during the election campaign — as well as before and after that campaign — he’s going to (takes a deep breath) start mass deportations, restart construction of the border wall, bring in 25 per cent tariffs on all products imported from Canada and Mexico, pardon 1,580 Jan. 6 defendants, end constitutionally protected birthright American citizenship, ban diversity, equity and inclusion programs, terminate every open-border policy from the Joe Biden administration, restore the U.S. travel ban on countries with predominantly Muslim populations, suspend refugee admission to the U.S., end the Russia-Ukraine war within 24 hours, Americanize the automobile industry, expedite permits for oil and gas drilling and fracking “all over this country,” bring grocery prices down, lift offshore oil drilling bans, remove scores of federal regulations, end all electric vehicle mandates, roll back emission standards, end gender-affirming care, cut federal school funding for schools “pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity and other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content to our beautiful children,” get trans soldiers out of the U.S. military and a host of other, less clear Day 1 goals, like to “begin ending inflation and making life affordable” and “beginning reducing energy costs by 50 per cent.”

We got tired just writing this and we’ve probably missed some.

Don’t believe it? Well, it’s really just a sampling of Trump’s own commitments.

Like this one: “On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in November.

Or this: “On Day 1, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history to get the criminals out,” Trump said at a New York rally on Oct. 27.

And this: “When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on Day 1,” Trump said at an August news conference about grocery prices. “On Day 1, I will sign an executive order directing every federal agency to immediately remove every single burdensome regulation driving up the cost of goods,” he said at a campaign rally in October 2024.

Sometimes, the timeline for delivery was even tighter, measured in minutes, or even seconds, of Trump taking office.

Trump told Time: “I’ll be looking at J6 early on, maybe the first nine minutes.”

He also promised to fire special counsel Jack Smith, who had been prosecuting federal cases against Trump and has since quit, “within two seconds” of taking office.

Now, it may just be a figure of Trumpian speech, much like the biggest, wettest, most dangerous, greatest things and largest crises “we’ve ever seen.” Donald Trump does seem, at times, to fall into patterns of speech that are almost reflexive, rather than carefully chosen expressions of facts.

Or it may be the embodiment of his claim that he would act like a dictator if elected — but just for one day.

Any way you slice it, today is bound to be a day of momentous change and all of it by presidential executive order — effectively by presidential decree, put into place by one man’s signature, a power that, thankfully, doesn’t exist in Canadian politics.

The next few months will, if nothing else, deliver a sort of chaos that seems likely to surpass even Trump’s last presidential term.

What remains to be seen is how dangerous that chaos can be, both inside and outside the borders of our nearest neighbour. It’s fair to say — wherever you sit on the political spectrum — hold on to your seats, folks.