Donald Trump kept up the breakneck pace Tuesday, the first full day of his presidency. His vim and vigor are precisely what the nation needs.
The president didn’t slow down in the executive order department, signing a number of edicts on issues including immigration, the culture wars, energy production and electric vehicle mandates.
On Monday, Trump issued 26 executive orders, the most of any president during his first day in office. Joe Biden issued nine such orders on his first day.
Executive orders have their place and allow the president to unilaterally exert his authority both practically and symbolically. But it’s important that the new administration use discretion to ensure the orders can survive legal scrutiny. The White House must also strive to limit orders to areas within executive branch authority.
But Trump did more Tuesday than wear out his pen. After attending an interfaith prayer service in the morning, he returned to the White House for meetings with GOP congressional leaders. House Speaker Mike Johnson characterized the gathering as a highly productive discussion of “where we are and where we are headed — a great spirit of unity.” Majority Leader Steve Scalise added that the president has “resolve, you could just see it. He came here to really solve the problems that our country’s facing, and do it quickly.”
Later in the day, the president announced an initiative on artificial intelligence, spearheaded by $500 billion in private contributions from tech titans, including Sam Altman of OpenAI and Larry Ellison of Oracle. The investments will produce the infrastructure “necessary to power the next generation of AI” and keep the United States ahead of China, Trump said.
Trump also outlined an ambitious travel schedule going forward. On Friday, he will be in western North Carolina, visiting areas still struggling to recover from Hurricane Helene. The president will then head to Los Angeles to announce aid for fire victims before coming to Nevada to “thank them for the big vote,” The Associated Press reported.
Trump will certainly face challenges ahead, particularly if Senate Democrats try to slow play confirmation votes. The president no doubt learned from his first four years in the White House that honeymoon periods can come to an abrupt end and it’s best to move aggressively in the early days — hence the alacrity with which he has tackled the start of his second term.
Trump’s political resurrection is a story for the ages. And his first days in office highlight that he’s intent on making the most of it and delivering for the American people.
— From Tribune News Service
