President Donald Trump has returned to the White House and is moving at a breakneck pace to implement his agenda, observers noted as he nears the end of his first week in office.
He has already issued dozens of executive orders, surveyed disaster-stricken areas in North Carolina and California, and supported his Cabinet nominees during contentious Senate confirmation battles.
In his inauguration address on Monday, the 45th and 47th president vowed that things across the country would “change starting today, and it will change very quickly.”
And moments later, White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich took to social media to tease, “Now, comes SHOCK AND AWE.”
They weren’t exaggerating, noted Fox News. Within his first eight hours in office, Trump signed a flurry of executive orders and actions, delivering on several key campaign promises while showcasing his executive authority and addressing some long-standing grievances.
Trump immediately cracked down on immigration, moving toward a trade war with key allies and adversaries and rolling back many of former President Joe Biden’s policies. These included dismantling much of Biden’s federal diversity initiatives and energy and climate provisions.
The president also stirred significant controversy by pardoning or commuting the sentences of approximately 1,500 individuals involved in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Among those granted clemency were individuals who had assaulted police officers, leading to critiques from some GOP lawmakers.
In addition, Trump dismissed several top government officials, announced a high-profile half-trillion-dollar tech investment, and held unscripted, wide-ranging news conferences during his first two days back in the White House.
He even made headlines by renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.”
