The swift & broad approach being undertaken by Donald Trump and his Administration was by design
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Texas Insider Report) — From sealing the nation's Southern Border almost overnight, to rooting out theft, fraud and wasteful spending in the federal bureaucracy via his Dept. of Government Efficiency (DOGE), to his latest actions on international trade, “we’re going to do what’s in our purview, what we think we can do – and if Congress thinks it’s their purview, well, that’s on Congress,” said one White House official. “But we’re not going to restrain ourselves.”
At the 100-day mark of his 2nd term, President Trump is barreling full steam ahead in his administration’s widespread efforts to set the United States on a new course, and he's motivated by a sense of urgency ahead of the 2026 Mid-Term Elections.
Just as importantly to the president is the belief that voters elected him to deliver on his campaign promises as quickly as possible.After signing 220 Executive Orders during his first term, Donald Trump has already signed 142 Executive Orders in just three months of his second go-round as president.
Many involve immigration, and legal pushback in the courts.
Despite the ongoing legal battles attempting to upend his moves to crack down on Sanctuary Cities, designate violent drug and human smuggling cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, and deport certain illegal immigrants to El Salvador, the White House sees the administration’s actions involving immigration as Trump’s greatest success thus far.
“It was a lie that you needed Congress” to secure the U.S.-Mexico Border, a White House official said in a recent interview. “We need Congress for resources, right? But the laws are all on the books already.”
The Trump White House also has the benefit of being able to compare the Biden Administration’s handling of illegal immigration to the still ongoing, left-leaning prosecutorial discretions of George Soros–funded District Attorneys who are still wreaking havoc in neighborhoods across America.
“They didn’t follow the law,” said one.
The Trump White House also has the benefit of being able to compare the Biden Administration’s handling of illegal immigration to the still ongoing, left-leaning prosecutorial discretions of George Soros–funded District Attorneys who are still wreaking havoc in neighborhoods across America.
“They didn’t follow the law,” said one.
Beyond immigration, many of Trump’s orders mirror those he signed during his first term – which Biden later reversed. These include numerous deregulatory or economic-growth driving moves such as withdrawing from the unpopular World Health Organization, the Paris Climate Agreement, and its "Green Climate Fund."
But others go beyond.“There’s no doubt that the president and his team have been effective in changing the debate in conservative circles so that more and more people are comfortable with expanded executive power,” said Marc Short, who served as Director of Legislative Affairs during Trump’s first term.
“Some of that is because one of the things that President Trump is so good at, is isolating a common opponent like Harvard.”
He believes that ability, in many ways, prompts frustrated, independent voters and conservatives to form in coalition.
It's, “Yeah, let’s take them on,” Short said.
“Some of that is because one of the things that President Trump is so good at, is isolating a common opponent like Harvard.”
He believes that ability, in many ways, prompts frustrated, independent voters and conservatives to form in coalition.
It's, “Yeah, let’s take them on,” Short said.
Enforcing and expanding border security and cracking down on Ivy League schools are prime examples of areas where a broad interpretation of executive authority can be politically popular across much of the Republican Party – and those coming around to a new view of the "Democrat Elite" – for the foreseeable future.
Signing executive orders can also be an effective vehicle to stage a press conference and drive a message.
But this time the stunning scope of his administration’s approach to presidential power did not emerge out of thin air.
This time around, the president’s closest advisers invested much more time and energy into how he would govern by executive fiat – and to avoid the difficulties of Trump White House 1.0, his transition team implemented an intense vetting process to sniff out administration hires who weren’t sufficiently allied with the president’s campaign promises.
This is a drastic change from his first term, “when the White House was so factionalized that different factions would often try to push through executive actions without other factions inside the White House knowing about it,” a Trump world operative said in an interview.
In other words, this administration is letting Trump be Trump.
The president decides what he wants to do, and the team goes and does it.
And after four years of the Joe Biden and Kamala Harris administration setting the standard, it’s not uncommon for Capitol Hill lawmakers to today show flexibility in their philosophical interpretations of executive authority.While Democrat lawmakers have railed against the President Trump’s executive actions to trim the federal workforce, dismantle the Department of Education, and slash foreign aid, the same Democrats who accuse Trump of executive overreach were unbothered by Joe Biden’s decision to unilaterally forgive student loans without an act of Congress, or years earlier by former President Obama’s decision to circumvent the legislative branch with his implementation of the "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals" (DACA) Program to protect young illegal immigrants from deportation in 2012.
Since returning to the White House on January 20th, President Trump's first 100 days have included signing five bills into law:
- The Laken Riley Act
- Government-funding legislation, and
- 3 measures overturning detrimental Biden-Harris era regulations under the Congressional Review Act
Among other items, Mr. Trump has signed Executive Orders to:
- Declare English the Official Language of the United States
- Eliminate DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) initiatives from the U.S. Military and all Federal Government Agencies
- Dismantle large swaths of the federal bureaucracy by creating the DOGE Dept. of Government Efficiency, and
- Rescinded federal funding from U.S. Education Programs that allow biological men to compete in women’s sports.
Certainly the most disruptive – and politically threatening Executive Orders – are Mr. Trump's recent moves to reset the worlds tariffs and trade policies, which have evolved over the past few weeks on an almost daily basis, rattling investors and foreign leaders alike.“As long as the trade agenda is tanking the economy, I feel like that’s the biggest Achilles’ heel,” said Marc Short, who now serves as chair of the Mike Pence-founded "Advancing American Freedom" organization.
Given that Mr. Trump ran in 2024 on the promises of securing the border and bringing down prices – and given the brevity of "The First 100 Days" marking only the beginning of his presidency – his actions and words show the nation (and his opponents) he plans to continue on path back to hard work, citizenship, decency, and good common sense.
