The first month of the Trump Administration/ The results are advancing an America First policy

2025-02-21 16:53:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The first month of the Trump Administration/ The results are advancing an

President Donald J. Trump took office just a month ago, but he has already accomplished more than most presidents in their entire term as he fulfills his promise to usher in America's New Gilded Age.

Here is a non-comprehensive list of President Trump's victories after just one month:

HOMELAND SECURITY:

President Trump declared a national emergency at the border and deployed the military, including the 10th Mountain Division, to secure our country.

Illegal border crossings have reached low levels not seen in decades as the US Border Patrol has been re-empowered to once again enforce the law.

ABC News: “From January 21 to January 31, the number of U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions along the southwest border fell 85% from the same period in 2024, according to data obtained by ABC News. In the 11 days after January 20, immigrants apprehended at ports of entry fell by 93%.

Illegal aliens have started to turn up in droves amid the crackdown.

The Department of Homeland Security announced that arrests of criminal illegal immigrants have doubled under President Trump.

President Trump signed into law the Laken Riley Act, which requires illegal immigrants arrested or charged with theft or violence to be detained — honoring the legacy of Laken Riley, a Georgia college student brutally murdered by an illegal alien released into the country.

President Trump ended “catch-and-release,” overturning the dangerous Biden-era policy that released dangerous illegal aliens back into our communities.

President Trump shut down the "CBP One" app, which "paroled" more than a million illegal immigrants in the country.

A San Diego immigrant shelter announced it will close after not accepting new residents since President Trump took office.

President Trump cut off all taxpayer-funded public benefits for illegal aliens.

President Trump increased deportation flights of criminal illegal aliens.

After President Trump announced “urgent and decisive retaliatory measures” against Colombia for its refusal to accept deportation flights from the US, the country’s president quickly backed down — even offering the use of his personal plane for deportations.

El Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele offered to accept deportees of any nationality, including violent American criminals currently imprisoned in the US.

President Trump began transferring criminal illegal aliens to Guantanamo Bay before repatriating them to their home countries.

President Trump reinstated the successful "Remain in Mexico" policy.

President Trump resumed construction of the border wall.

The Trump administration officially declared Tren de Aragua, MS-13, the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the United Cartels, the Gulf Cartel, the Northeast Cartel, and the Michoacán Family as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) agreed to allow federal immigration officials to operate on Rikers Island and deport illegal alien criminals after his meeting with Border Czar Tom Homan.

Mexico announced a deployment of 10,000 troops to the border to combat illegal immigration and fentanyl trafficking, while Canada announced a host of measures to combat fentanyl production and trafficking following President Trump's imposition of tariffs on both countries.

President Trump implemented an additional 10% tariff on imports from China to stem the flow of illegal aliens and fentanyl.

President Trump ordered an end to birthright citizenship.

President Trump suspended the US refugee admission program.

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against New York State and some of its elected officials for their willful failure to follow federal immigration law and announced that it will take action against so-called "sanctuary cities" for their obstruction of U.S. law.

The Department of Homeland Security "seized" tens of millions of dollars in funds paid by fraudulent FEMA officials to house illegal aliens in luxury New York hotels.

President Trump reinstated the death penalty for federal capital crimes.

PROTECTING AMERICAN WORKERS AND PROMOTING ECONOMIC GROWTH:

President Trump reinstated a 25% tariff on steel imports and raised the tariff to 25% on aluminum imports to protect these critical American industries from unfair foreign competition – a move praised by the Steel Manufacturers Association, the Aluminum Association, and businesses across the country.

Robert Simon, CEO of JSW Steel USA, praised President Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum, celebrating them "as a project that will flood the U.S. with jobs as trading partners move their industries to American soil to avoid tariffs."

Makoto Uchida, CEO of global automaker Nissan, said President Trump's tariffs could push the automaker to move its production from Mexico to the US.

President Trump unveiled a plan for fair and reciprocal trade, making it clear to the world that the United States will no longer tolerate plunder.

President Trump secured hundreds of billions of dollars in new investments.

President Trump announced the largest artificial intelligence infrastructure project in history, securing $500 billion in planned private sector investment – ??with top CEOs agreeing it wouldn’t be possible without President Trump’s leadership.

Saudi Arabia declared its intention to invest $600 billion in the United States over the next four years.

President Trump secured a $20 billion investment from DAMAC Properties to build new US-based data centers.

Taiwan pledged to increase its investment in the United States.

Electronics giants Samsung and LG are "considering moving their factories in Mexico to the US" now that President Trump is back in office.

In February, forecasters from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia revised their economic growth forecasts for the first quarter of 2025 from 1.9% to 2.5%, and their unemployment rate forecasts for the quarter from 4.2% to 4.1%.

After a meeting with President Trump, Stellantis announced it would reopen its assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois — bringing 1,500 employees back to work — and build its next-generation Dodge Durango in Detroit, Michigan. The company also announced new investments in its facilities in Toledo, Ohio, and Kokomo, Indiana.

President Trump presented a visionary plan to create a Sovereign Wealth Fund to maximize the stewardship of the $5+ trillion in assets held by the United States.

Following President Trump's victory, the S&P 500 set a new record as the stock market surged to record levels – while major Wall Street firms like JP Morgan Chase posted their highest annual profits ever.

Reducing the cost of living:

President Trump directed the heads of all executive departments and agencies to “provide urgent price relief … to the American people and increase the prosperity of the American worker.”
President Trump created the National Energy Efficiency Council to maximize the use of the vast U.S. energy resources, thereby enabling lower energy prices.
Crude oil prices have fallen more than 5% since President Trump took office.
The Department of Energy pushed back the onerous Biden-era efficiency standards for the following appliances, saving American consumers significant amounts of money:
Central air conditioners: Biden’s rules were slated to make air conditioners $1,100 more expensive, according to the Consumers Alliance.
Gas water heaters: Biden’s rules were slated to make water heaters $2,800 more expensive.
Washers and dryers: Biden’s rules were designed to make washing machines $200 more expensive.
Light bulbs: Biden’s rules were designed to make light bulbs $140 more expensive.
Refrigerators and freezers, commercial refrigeration equipment and air compressors.
The total cost of federal regulations in 2023 was a record $2.1 trillion, or $15,788 per American household, according to the Competitive Enterprise Institute. By requiring agencies to identify at least ten existing rules, regulations or guidance documents that should be repealed for every rule they promulgate, President Trump has put the U.S. on track to significantly reduce regulatory costs for everyday Americans.
The National Association of Manufacturers found that the cost of federal regulations was even greater — at $3.079 trillion in 2022.

Secretary Sean Duffy’s first action at the Department of Transportation was to initiate rules to reinstate the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards — effectively eliminating the Biden-era electric vehicle mandate.
NBER economist Mark R. Jacobsen “estimates that a one-mpg increase in CAFE standards costs consumers of all income levels approximately 0.5% of their income in the first year of the increase. However, in the 10th year after the increase, this cost becomes regressive, as the increase increases the price of used cars. A one-mpg increase in CAFE standards costs consumers earning less than $25,000 per year 1.12% of their income, but only costs consumers earning more than $75,000 per year 0.41% of their income.

REINFORCEMENT OF AMERICAN POWER:

President Trump secured the release of six American hostages in Venezuela, two Americans in Afghanistan, an American-Israeli citizen held by Hamas, a Pennsylvania teacher held in Russian captivity, and an American citizen in Belarus – bringing the total number of American hostages released under President Trump to 11.
President Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy seeking to secure a lasting peace while negotiations are underway.
President Trump reinstated maximum pressure on Iran, “sanctioning an international network for facilitating the shipment of millions of barrels of Iranian crude oil worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the People’s Republic of China.”
President Trump redesignated the Iran-backed Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization.
President Trump hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a visit where he proposed a bold vision for securing lasting peace in Gaza.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman described the proposal as "brilliant, historic, and the only idea I've heard in 50 years that has a chance of bringing security, peace, and prosperity to this troubled region."
President Trump hosted Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who announced his intention to "increase Japan's investment in the United States to an unprecedented $1 trillion," import "historic" amounts of LNG from Alaska, and open new U.S. auto plants.
President Trump hosted King Abdullah II of Jordan, who announced that the Kingdom would take in 2,000 sick children from Gaza "as soon as possible."
President Trump hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a visit where they announced new agreements between the two countries on immigration, trade, energy, and artificial intelligence.
President Trump halted funding for UNRWA, a United Nations agency that employed hundreds of Hamas and jihadist operatives.

President Trump imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court, which has illegally asserted jurisdiction over U.S. domestic affairs and has baselessly targeted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
President Trump reinstated Mexico City’s policy to ensure that no taxpayer dollars support foreign organizations that actively perform or promote abortions in other countries.
The State Department ordered embassies around the world to fly only the American flag—not activist flags.
President Trump declared that all foreign policy must be conducted under the direction of the President, ensuring that career diplomats reflect United States foreign policy at all times.
The State Department declared that U.S. foreign policy will be America First moving forward.

Following a visit by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino agreed to withdraw from China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a debt-trap diplomacy scheme that the Chinese Communist Party uses to gain influence over developing countries.
The U.S. rejoined the Geneva Consensus Declaration, which promotes and strengthens opportunities for women and girls worldwide and protects the family as the fundamental unit of society.
President Trump cracked down on anti-Semitism by canceling visas for foreign students who are Hamas sympathizers.
President Trump ordered the immediate dismissal of the Board of Visitors for the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard after years of clever ideologies seeping into U.S. service academies.

The U.S. military banned transgender people from enlisting and stopped using taxpayer funds for sex reassignment surgeries.
President Trump reinstated, with back pay, U.S. service members who were discharged under the military’s meaningless COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth renamed Fort Liberty, North Carolina, “Fort Bragg,” in honor of a World War II hero.
President Trump withdrew the United States from the World Health Organization.
President Trump halted the imposition of overregulation of U.S. businesses abroad, which negatively impacted national security.

President Trump declared “America’s Gulf Day” after the Department of the Interior officially placed it on its mapping databases.
President Trump initiated a process to build a next-generation missile defense shield over the United States.

AMERICAN ENERGY CONNECTION:

President Trump declared a national energy emergency to unlock America’s full energy potential and lower costs for American families.
President Trump repealed every Biden administration’s job-killing, pro-China, anti-American energy regulation.

President Trump empowered Americans with choices in vehicles, showerheads, toilets, washing machines, light bulbs, and dishwashers, and killed Biden-era regulations that restricted water flow and mandated inadequate light bulb standards.
President Trump ended the job-killing Green New Deal.
President Trump withdrew from the disastrous Paris Climate Agreement, which unjustly destroyed our country.

President Trump cut off federal permits for massive wind farms that degrade our natural landscapes and do not serve American consumers.
President Trump changed bureaucratic regulations that hindered Alaska’s ability to develop its vast natural resources.
President Trump reopened 625 million acres to offshore drilling that Biden banned in his waning days so that he could “drill, baby, drill.”
President Trump repealed an Obama-era greenhouse gas rule.
President Trump ended the liquefied natural gas moratorium and approved the first LNG project since the Biden administration banned them last year.

RESTORING ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNMENT

President Trump created the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to maximize government productivity and ensure the best use of taxpayer funds—which has already resulted in billions of dollars in savings for taxpayers.
President Trump launched his plan to reduce federal bureaucracy and eliminate waste, bloat, and inefficiency.
President Trump ordered federal employees to return to the office five days a week.
President Trump ordered federal agencies to hire no more than one employee for every four employees they leave.
President Trump ended the wasteful Federal Executive Institute, which had become a training ground for bureaucrats.

President Trump ordered the termination of all federal contracts for Fake News media outlets.
President Trump ordered the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau—the brainchild of Elizabeth Warren, which funneled money to left-wing advocacy groups—to cease operations.
President Trump ordered an end to anti-Christian bias in the Federal Government.
President Trump ordered a review of all regulations to assess any violations of Americans’ Second Amendment rights.
The Environmental Protection Agency canceled tens of millions of dollars in contracts with left-wing advocacy groups, announced an investigation into a scheme by Biden EPA staff to shield billions of dollars from oversight and accountability, and laid off 168 “environmental justice” employees.
President Trump stopped waste, fraud, and abuse within USAID – ensuring that taxpayers were no longer willing to fund the pet projects of entrenched bureaucrats, such as sex change in Guatemala.
President Trump ordered an end to the federal government’s weaponization of American citizens.
The Justice Department immediately began dismantling the politically motivated law that had been in place under the Biden administration.

President Trump rolled back the massive overexpansion of the IRS that occurred during the Biden administration.
President Trump eliminated DEI offices, employees, and discriminatory practices throughout the bureaucracy along with a return to merit-based hiring — including at the Federal Aviation Administration, where the Biden administration specifically recruited individuals with intellectual disabilities and psychiatric issues.
As a result, taxpayer-funded PBS closed its DEI office, Disney dropped two of its DEI programs, Goldman Sachs ended its DEI policy, and Institutional Shareholder Services announced that it would no longer consider the diversity of company boards when making its voting recommendations. The
Federal Communications Commission opened an investigation into DEI’s discriminatory policies at Comcast, an entity it regulates.

President Trump ordered an end to all censorship of Americans by the federal government.
President Trump ordered a review of funding for all non-governmental organizations so that taxpayers are no longer funding those that undermine America's interests.
The State Department issued a "pause" on existing foreign aid grants to ensure accountability and efficiency.

President Trump scrapped last-minute collective bargaining agreements issued by the Biden Administration that were intended to block reforms.
President Trump has broken through red tape that limited water availability in California after the state’s water system failed during devastating wildfires.
President Trump ended the Biden-era electric vehicle mandate.
President Trump suspended the Biden-era electric vehicle charging program, which had resulted in only eight charging stations despite $7.5 billion earmarked for the program.
President Trump shut down the Biden-era “Climate Corps” program.
The Federal Communications Commission took action against a Soros-backed radio station that leaked sensitive information about ICE operations.
President Trump ordered the declassification of documents related to the assassinations of Presidents John F. Kennedy, Jr., Robert F. Kennedy, and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
President Trump opened the White House Press Conference Room to non-legacy media as the White House sets a new standard for transparency in the digital age.
President Trump restored press privileges to about 440 journalists the Biden administration had tried to silence.
President Trump fired members of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees for their obsession with perpetuating radical left-wing ideology at taxpayer expense.
President Trump revoked the security clearances of 51 “lying spies.”

EMPOWERING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

President Trump created the Make America Healthy Again Commission, which redirects the national focus to promoting health rather than simply managing disease.
President Trump took executive action to expand access to in vitro fertilization (IVF).
President Trump created the White House Office of Faith to protect the religious freedom of Americans.
President Trump ordered an end to the radical indoctrination of children in federally funded K-12 schools.

President Trump took executive action to support parents in choosing the best education for their children.
President Trump created the Presidential Task Force on Digital Asset Markets to strengthen U.S. leadership in digital finance.
President Trump granted full and unconditional pardons to 23 pro-life Americans who were unjustly persecuted by the Biden administration.

President Trump pardoned two Washington, D.C., police officers who were imprisoned simply for doing their jobs to catch criminals.
President Trump has had his cabinet confirmed by the Senate at a much faster pace than his predecessors, with a majority of his cabinet winning confirmation in his first month. /CNA