Trump’s 'Day One' in office promises to be a hectic 24 hours

To hear his 41 ‘Day One’ promises, you might be forgiven for thinking that Donald Trump wants to wrap up his presumptive presidency within a 24-hour time span.

As if he were the superhero in a no-time-to-lose scenario, the presidential candidate has used his campaign to insist that Day One is the day he will get an entire raft of policies implemented.

This makes you wonder what he thinks he is going to be doing on Day Ten, for example. Will it be the golf course with everything on the MAGA agenda done and dusted or at least in motion?

Observers are, however, skeptical of just how feasible Trump’s Day One claims are, due to inconveniences such as the Constitution and getting laws through Congress.

According to a Washington Post analysis of Trump’s speeches, the White House hopeful has mentioned these 41 promises more than 200 times since he embarked on the campaign trail.

Regarding education, Trump has repeatedly told his supporters, “On day one, I will sign a new executive order to cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity,” according to NPR news.

Transgender is one of Trump’s obsessions and he has also promised on Day One to ban transgender women from sports, or as he himself puts it, “keep men out of women’s sports.”

No fan of green policies or measures to mitigate climate change which he now grudgingly admits might not be a “hoax,” Trump has promised 31 times to “repeal Biden’s electric vehicle mandate” on Day One and “Drill, drill, drill.”

But the main thrust of his campaign has been immigration, a subject which is far more likely to win him votes than the environment, which is not a winning ticket, according to Republican strategist, Joseph Pinion.

“He's not going to win running on the environment. In America, climate is not an issue, so the reason it is not an issue for President Trump is because he cares about winning,” Pinion told the BBC.

The issue closest to Trump’s heart is immigration as he pushes the discourse ever further to the right, stirring up hate with phrases such as immigrants “are poisoning the blood of our country” and ratcheting up prejudice with unfounded conspiracy theories such as pet-eating in Springfield, Ohio.

Polls show independents and an increasing number of Latinos are clamoring for a border crackdown, indicating that Trump’s tactics are getting the desired results.

Emboldened, Trump has told rallies over 20 times on the campaign trail that he will start “the largest deportation operation in American history.” According to Politico, such a scheme would involve deporting as many as 20 million people, using the military if necessary.

Trump has also promised “On day one of the Trump presidency, I'm restoring the travel ban, suspending refugee admissions. And keeping terrorists the hell out of our country, like I had it before.”

In the event we see Trump re-installed in the White House, Day One will also loom large for his enemies – for example, those who nailed him for the various criminal offences which have landed him in the dock.

In December 2023, Trump said on Fox News that he would not abuse power as a tool of retribution against those he believes to have wronged him, “Except on Day One!”

The bizarre exchange with Fox News host Sean Hannity, saw Trump deflecting Hannity’s question regarding retribution until finally bursting out with: “We love this guy. He says: ‘You’re not gonna be a dictator, are ya?’ I say: ‘No, no, no — other than Day One.’”

Trump’s potential Day One in the White House is looking increasingly challenging, but not solely because it would have the former president rushed off his feet.

According to the Washington Post, legal experts warn that many of Trump’s Day One promises fall outside a president’s remit, as prescribed by the US Constitution.

“A lot but not all of what Trump says he wants to do on day one is going to be illegal or impractical,” Steve Vladeck, a constitutional law expert at Georgetown University Law Center tells The Washington Post.

Vladeck does add, however, that “the illegal stuff might go into effect for some time, and he might actually succeed in pushing the law in his direction.”

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