With the experience of governing and a better knowledge of the levers of power, Trump has drafted expansive plans for tariffs and border restrictions, the centerpieces of his 2024 campaign. He has already prepared roughly 100 executive orders, Trump told lawmakers in the meeting, and said he would press the limits of his presidential authority at times to go it alone on those issues, according to people who attended.
Trump’s emphasis on immigration and trade reforms—the North Stars of his “America First” worldview—catapulted him to the presidency in 2016 and drove his historic return to the White House in the latest election. It sustained his fervent base of supporters over the past four years after he was defeated by President Biden in 2020 and admonished by many in his party over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Now, as he returns to power, Trump is betting he can turbocharge his nationalist trade and immigration agenda into a legacy-cementing policy record, powered by a more decisive electoral mandate than he had the last time. In his first administration, Trump, who was new to politics and governing, faced resistance from the establishment wing of the Republican Party inside and outside the White House. His own advisers were able to block some of his proposals, and the president was more tentative about legal risks.
Trump has pitched tariffs—and the revenue he expects them to raise—as the solution for a host of issues, including creating more manufacturing jobs, reducing the national debt, subsidizing child care and even ending wars. Trump posted Tuesday on Truth Social he’ll be creating an “external revenue service,” which will collect “tariffs, duties and all revenue that come from foreign sources.” Those tasks are currently handled by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Trump hasn’t explained how an external revenue service would do things differently.
At the same time, he blames, not always accurately, an often porous southern border as the cause for the country’s most intractable problems, from high housing prices to terrorist attacks. Most recently, Trump pinned the New Orleans attack on President Biden’s immigration policies, even though the attacker was a U.S. citizen born in Texas.
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