kabibe game Trade wars, culture wars, and anti-immigration: Trump’s big promises

Melania Trump watches her husband, US President-elect Donald Trump, speak at a candlelight dinner at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC, on January 19, 2025, a day before his inauguration ceremony. Agence France-Presse

WASHINGTON — A sweeping deportation program, “drill, baby, drill,” and peace for Ukraine: President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to move big and fast when he returns to the White House on Monday.

fruit party

Here is a look at his sensational but frequently vague promises for a second term — much of them likely to be enacted through executive orders.

Article continues after this advertisement Immigration

Trump has promised a hardline stance against an estimated 11 million undocumented migrants in the United States.

FEATURED STORIES GLOBALNATION TikTok restores service in US, thanking Trump GLOBALNATION COA flags OFW Hospital’s services, unutilized funds GLOBALNATION Boholano lawyer to attend Trump inauguration as legal counsel

According to The Wall Street Journal, the Republican billionaire will declare a state of emergency on the border with Mexico, which would unlock additional Department of Defense funding and assets.

READ: Inauguration Day, Trump-style: What will happen?

Article continues after this advertisement

He also vowed on the campaign trail to end birthright citizenship, calling it “ridiculous.”

Article continues after this advertisement

Analysts also expect him to issue executive orders on other aspects of immigration policy, including possibly to terminate an app used by migrants hoping to petition for asylum.

Article continues after this advertisement

However, birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the US Constitution, and any deportation program will face legal challenges as well as potential refusals by some countries to accept deportees.

Trade wars

Trump has vowed to slap a 25 percent tariff on goods imported from Mexico and Canada — top US trading partners — as punishment for what he says is their failure to stem the flow of drugs and undocumented migrants into the United States.

Article continues after this advertisement

But is Trump really ready to unleash a trade war with US neighbors, rupturing a North American free trade agreement? Some see this — and an even more provocative suggestion that Canada should be absorbed into the United States — as pre-negotiation bluster.

READ: Trump vows to end ‘American decline’ at inauguration eve rally

Beijing should also buckle up.

The country’s balance of payments (BOP) position recorded a $3.5-billion surplus in September, a reversal from the $414-million deficit posted a year ago, the BSP said in a report.

Trump has threatened to impose a 10 percent tariff on Chinese products, adding to existing tariffs that date back to his first term. Trump accuses China of failing to crack down on the production of chemical components used to make fentanyl.

January 6 pardons

The president-elect has suggested he might pardon some or all of the people involved in the January 6, 2021 riot at the US Capitol, when his supporters tried to overthrow the 2020 election in which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump has described them as “hostages” and “political prisoners.”

He told a pre-inauguration rally that his supporters would be “very happy” with the decision he plans to make on the matter on his first day in office.

More than 1,500 people have been charged with federal crimes in the deadly assault, and more than 1,100 of them have been sentenced.

Wars and diplomacy

Trump warned that “all hell will break out in the Middle East” if Hamas does not release Israeli hostages before his inauguration — and promptly took credit when a ceasefire and hostage release deal negotiated by the Biden Administration was announced Wednesday.

Trump also says he intends to quickly end Russia’s war against Ukraine, though it is unclear when or how he plans to do that.

After promising over the summer to end the nearly three-year conflict “in 24 hours,” Trump more recently suggested a timeline of several months.

Climate

Climate skeptic Trump has promised to “drill, baby, drill” for oil and gas.

He plans to repeal some of Biden’s key climate policies, such as tax credits for electric vehicles, which are meant to encourage a transition to a green economy.

Trump also wants to boost offshore drilling, though he might need to secure congressional support to do that. Biden has selected swaths of ocean as protected no-drill areas.

Transgender rights and race

“With the stroke of my pen on day one, we’re going to stop the transgender lunacy,” Trump said in December, vowing to “end child sexual mutilation, get transgender out of the military and out of our elementary schools and middle schools and high schools.”

He added the US government would recognize only two genders, male and female.

Also among his plans is cutting federal funding to schools that have adopted “critical race theory,” an approach that looks at US history through the lens of racism.

TikTok lifeline

Trump has vowed to save the popular video-sharing app TikTok from a law banning it on national security grounds.

TikTok briefly shut down in the United States as a deadline loomed for its Chinese owners ByteDance to sell its US subsidiary to non-Chinese buyers.

However, it went back online after Trump, who has credited the app with connecting him to younger voters, promised to issue an executive order delaying the ban to allow time to “make a deal.”

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again. Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our daily newsletter

SIGN ME UP

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.

He said on his Truth Social platform that he “would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture.”kabibe game

READ NEXT Mug shot, solitary cell for South Korea’s President Yoon Vietnam doctor accused of murdering pregnant lover to hide affair EDITORS' PICK Pacquiao Int’l Hall of Fame awaits, supports Senate, 1-Pacman return to Congress Israeli hostages, Palestinian detainees freed in Gaza truce exchange How to curate a special Chinese New Year menu Fuel price hike: Diesel up P2.70/L, gasoline P1.65/L starting Jan 21 Chavit Singson retires after withdrawing Senate bid for health reasons TikTok restores service in US, thanking Trump MOST READ Sandigan finds former Quezon City mayor Herbert Bautista guilty of graft Chavit Singson retires after withdrawing Senate bid for health reasons Darryl Yap bares Pepsi Paloma's close bond with Charito Solis Chinese engineer, 2 Filipinos nabbed for espionage targeting PH security Follow @FMangosingINQ on Twitter --> View comments