What Trump Plans for the Economy in His First 100 Days

After the fanfare of President Donald Trump’s swearing-in ends, he’ll get to work on enacting his agenda, including several economic priorities like tariffs and tax cuts.

As Trump did in his first term, he is likely to rely on executive orders to enact some promises like his tariff plans. Strictly legislative plans, including tax cuts, will need to go through Congress, where Republicans hold a thin majority in both houses. And if the most recent government shutdown drama is any indicator, the GOP may not be in sync with each other, let alone with Trump.

On Jan. 5, Trump wrote on Truth Social that GOP members of Congress are creating one large piece of legislation to enact some of his biggest campaign promises. “One big, beautiful bill” — as Trump called it during an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt — would include several of his proposed measures related to border security, taxes and energy. Trump also told Hewitt that he’d be open to two bills.

Trump posted on Truth Social that the bill would be paid for by his proposed tariffs. But much is unclear about the potential legislation, including which of the many proposals Trump has floated would make the cut. Here are a few he made on the campaign trail:

• Begin mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, facilitated by local law enforcement and the military. 

• Create immigrant detention camps. 

• Hire Border Patrol agents and restricting entry of asylum-seekers.

• Restart border wall construction. 

• Roll back humanitarian programs that allow for legal migration and work permitting.

• Extend or make permanent the tax cuts included in his 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which are set to expire at the end of this year. That includes estate tax cuts and individual income tax cuts.

• Lower the corporate tax rate by one percentage point, which would bring it to 20%. 

• On Trump’s Truth Social post regarding the bill, he also said it would include his “no tax on tips” proposal. 

• Implement R&D tax credits for businesses, which allows businesses to write off 100% of expenses in their first year. 

• Increase oil production. Presidents have the ability to influence oil production, but cannot guarantee it. He says he wants to speed up permitting for drilling and fracking.

• Roll back Biden’s electric vehicle and charging station production.

• Roll back emissions policies for gas-powered vehicles. 

• Institute tariffs on EV supply chain-related imports. 

• End the “EV mandate” to ensure half of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. are electric. 

Republicans could pass one bill — or two — using the process of budget reconciliation, which requires only a simple majority for approval. On Jan. 5, House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News that he hopes to pass the package within Trump’s first 100 days.

A cornerstone of Trump’s campaign is to impose new tariffs on trade partners. Initially, while campaigning, he said he wanted to place a 10% to 20% tariff on all foreign imports; add an additional 60% tariff on Chinese imports; and add 100% to 200% imports on automobiles made in Mexico. In December, Trump then said he planned to enact 25% across-the-board tariffs on Canada and Mexico.

On Jan 7, during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago, Trump said he would “put very serious tariffs on Mexico and Canada.” He also threatened to place high tariffs on Denmark.

On Jan. 6, the Washington Post reported that Trump may enact tariffs on all countries, but only on specific types of imports. It’s not clear which imports could be targeted. Later that day, Trump refuted the Washington Post’s story on Truth Social.

Experts speculate that Trump could enact his tariffs by declaring a national economic emergency under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Many economists and other experts say tariffs are highly likely to increase prices in the U.S.

The debt ceiling is the total amount that the U.S. government is allowed to borrow in order to meet its existing legal obligations. The debt ceiling suspension was lifted on Jan. 1 and the U.S. is expected to hit the debt limit soon.

On Dec. 19, during government shutdown negotiations, Trump told NBC in a phone interview that he would be in favor of lifting or removing the debt ceiling altogether. He also indicated that he wanted Congress to address the debt ceiling in its continuing resolution to fund the government through mid-March. But there was no measure to address the debt ceiling in the bill that Congress approved.

Congress must act to suspend or increase the debt limit in order to prevent the U.S. from defaulting on its debt — an event that would result in devastating economic effects.

On Jan. 7, Johnson said in a press conference that the massive GOP-supported bill would include an increase to the debt limit.

Trump made executive orders frequently during his first term and has promised a bevy of “day one” promises including, but not limited to:

• Beginning mass deportations. 

• Enacting tariffs on trade partners. 

• Ending Biden’s humanitarian aid program and birthright citizenship. 

• Banning diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs from the federal government. 

• Banning trans women from women’s sports. 

• Pardoning those convicted for their involvement in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol in 2021.   

• Expediting permits for drilling and fracking. 

• Enacting climate policy plans including ending the EV mandate.

• Directing cabinet secretaries and agencies to defeat inflation. 

• Ending the war in Ukraine, although how he plans to do so is unclear.

(Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images News via Getty Images)