President Donald Trump and his aides may have promised “shock and awe” during his first 100 days, but just one month back in the Oval Office, Trump has delivered an avalanche of executive actions at a pace that has gobsmacked Washington and the world.
Trump has expanded the presidency during his first 30 days through his use of executive action and policy priorities, from reducing the size of the federal workforce to proposing that the United States “own” Gaza. But even if his executive orders and the actions taken by his administration, particularly Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, are challenged in court, Trump has still created shock and achieved awe, the White House and Republican strategists say.
Since his inauguration on Jan. 20, Trump, among other domestic policy actions, has declared a national emergency at the southern border over illegal immigration and signed the Laken Riley Act into law. The president has granted clemency to more than 1,500 people either convicted or charged over Jan. 6.
He has reversed federal government diversity and gender ideology policies, including holding diversity, equity, and inclusion programs responsible for the midair collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport last month. He has also conducted mass firings of federal employees, including at agencies such as the United States Agency for International Development, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, before undertaking major reforms at departments, such as the Department of Education and the Justice Department.
Regarding foreign policy, Trump has simultaneously sought to end the Russia–Ukraine and Israel–Hamas wars as he imposes tariffs and recommends that the U.S. control Gaza, Greenland, the Panama Canal, and even TikTok. The president has withdrawn the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement and World Health Organization as well.
“He who saves his Country does not violate any Law,” Trump wrote on social media last weekend, echoing unitary executive theory, which stipulates the president has sole authority over the executive branch, which has become popular with many conservatives.
For Ronald Reagan biographer Craig Shirley, Trump recognizes that “politics is about motion” and “pushing the envelope” is “part of a strategy.”
The best example is Trump establishing a presidential record by signing 26 executive orders on his first day, some of which he put his name on at Capital One Arena.
“As long as he’s in motion, he’s advancing his agenda, A, and, B, he’s got the Democrats on the defensive,” Shirley told the Washington Examiner. “He understands that being in motion, he’s a harder target to hit than being stationary. His worst enemy is not doing anything. His worst enemy is stopping. His best friend is keeping going.”
Another Republican strategist, Cesar Conda, agreed, contending “the daily blizzard” of executive orders, foreign policy deals, and other actions coming out of the Trump administration have kept “Democrats, the media, and liberal interest groups in total disarray.”
“Polls show that the American people overwhelmingly approve because the president is doing exactly what he promised, including securing the border, cutting government spending, using tariffs as leverage, and stopping men from competing in women’s sports,” Conda told the Washington Examiner.
At the same time, Conda conceded there have been a “few instances where the need for speed has resulted in clarifications.”
The most memorable was prompted by DOGE, Musk’s temporary cost-cutting federal agency, and an Office of Management and Budget memorandum that was aimed at operationalizing Trump’s federal funding freeze but instead created confusion, including with Medicaid reimbursement portals across the country, before it was rescinded under pressure from a federal judge.
“In another example, the administration had to reinstate the de minimus trade exemption because the [U.S.] Customs and Border Protection lacked the manpower to inspect millions of small imported packages clogging ports,” Conda said.
But as Musk is repeatedly called on to defend DOGE and encourages the public to correct any of his “mistakes,” Shirley, the biographer, dismissed criticism of him and Trump, specifically concerning the federal workforce.
“For insiders in Washington, it’s a problem, but for outsiders and outside in the rest of the country, it’s not a problem,” he said. “The American people really don’t give a whit about federal employees.”
Regardless of the court challenges and negative press coverage, Republican strategist John Feehery argued one of the “great things” about Trump is that “he is a strong believer in keeping his promises.”
“Totally refreshing difference from the typical politician,” Feehery told the Washington Examiner.
To that end, despite the missteps, Democrats are grappling with Trump’s second, more confident administration months after the party was decimated by former Vice President Kamala Harris‘s Electoral College and popular vote defeat last November.
Democratic strategist Mike Nellis confessed he was “shocked by how awful” Trump’s first month has been before amplifying Democrats’ message that Trump is missing “the moment” to mitigate inflation and improve the economy. Consumer prices increased by 3% in the year ending in January, the last index report of former President Joe Biden‘s administration. It was 2.9% in the year ending December.
“He was elected on the promise to bring grocery prices down on Day One — that’s a quote,” Nellis told the Washington Examiner. “Instead, he’s flooding the zone with incoherent right-wing policies that most Americans don’t care about. His polling numbers are dropping like a rock, especially with Gen Z voters, because he’s broken every promise he made to the American people in just his first month.”
Trump’s average approval rating is 49% approve-46% disapprove, according to Real Clear Politics. But to Nellis’s point, the Economist has published three tracking polls with YouGov since the start of Trump’s presidency, and those surveys have captured a decline in the president’s popularity, from 50% approve-46% disapprove last month to 48% approve-47% disapprove earlier this month and 47% approve-49% disapprove last week.
But Shirley, the historian, remained adamant that Trump has Democrats “totally boxed in and confused, which is a nice place to have them.”
“He’s in command of so many issues right now, whether it’s the border, whether it’s crime, whether it’s taxes, whether it’s budget spending,” he said. “They’re reduced to defending corrupt government and abortion. That’s all they’re about now.”
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Trump does face a federal government funding deadline on March 14 as House Republicans continue to disagree over top-line numbers for the country’s budget, the president’s first test of whether he can hold the conference together after there was internal fighting over whether to retain House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) in his leadership position last month.
A federal judge on Tuesday denied a request from 14 states for a restraining order against Musk and DOGE that would have prevented the entrepreneur and his allies from accessing data and firing federal workers at seven agencies but said she is considering whether Musk’s “unchecked authority” is constitutional.
