The first day of second Trump era passed relatively quietly at the gates of Mar-a-Lago, the seaside resort where the president-elect has his residence. There were numerous police patrols in Palm Beach, but they were outnumbered by television crews looking for the best shot of this extravagant property. Only a few Donald Trump supporters gathered in the parking lot early in the afternoon.

There was Greg, bearded and red, on a trials bike, who said it was Trump’s “unique personality” that won him over. Bridget, a woman in a MAGA hat pushing her baby’s stroller, said she was confident Trump would win but was nervous “in case the others cheated.” Cindy Falco DiCorrado has been coming here “since 2016” with friends, holding up Republican signs to honk at passing cars and other signs of support.

She was asked what she imagined on the first day of Trump’s return to the Oval Office will be like, Falco DiCorrado responded as if reading from a Hollywood script: “Giving power back to “we the people,” because we see and know that we have been deceived.

During his long and eventful campaign, in which he survived two assassination attemptsTrump has talked obsessively about what he plans to do on his first day in the White House. Two days after the election, he sent a message to his supporters asking them to help him set his priorities. Which, he asked, was more urgent: “Build the wall (with Mexico),” “End rampant crime,” “Save the economy” or “Protect the second amendment”, which guarantees the right to bear arms?

Aside from being a backdoor way of asking for more donations, Trump’s obsession with these inaugural hours has a lot to do with the promise to be “dictator for a day” he made last year during from an interview with Fox News host and family friend Sean Hannity. in Iowa. When asked by Hannity if he planned to abuse his power or retaliate against people who wronged him after the 2020 election loss, Trump replied: “No, except for the first day,” the day he planned to “close the border”. and “drill, drill, drill… After this, I will stop being a dictator,” he added.

During his rallies, Trump always promised that, in addition to block immigration from Mexico and by “closing the border,” he plans to detain and deport millions of immigrants living in the United States without documentation – about 11 million people. What’s more, he promised that he would start doing so on day one, by tackling what he calls “migrant crime.” “I will launch a rescue for all the cities and towns that have been invaded and conquered, and we will put these cruel and bloodthirsty criminals in prison, then we will expel them from our country as quickly as possible,” he said the day before. of the election in Reading, Pennsylvania.

Trump’s obsession with the border has proven to be a magnet, even among Latino voters. The question now is how he plans to seal it and how much it will cost: Deporting a million undocumented immigrants a year would cost $88 billion, according to a report by the American Immigration Council. On Thursday, October 8, Trump told NBC News by telephone that the cost of such an operation would not pose a problem on the American side; How the countries receiving migrants will cope obviously does not concern him.

The climate agenda

When it comes to the environment, the word “drilling” was one of Trump’s favorites during the campaign. He summarizes his plans to reverse some of the gains of the Biden administration – one of the most environmentally conscious presidencies in history, with steps including Inflation Reduction Acta somewhat innocuous name for Biden’s ambitious climate change action plan.

“I will withdraw all unspent funds (provided for in the law),” declared the president-elect. He also promised to boost oil exploration — an energy source he considers a vital part of American identity — and encourage fracking. Finally, he will end offshore wind energy projects “on day one,” because he claims, without any scientific evidence, that “they kill whales.”

Trump also has immediate plans for U.S. foreign policy, although he has been less specific about that than about the “two-second” shot of special counsel Jack Smithappointed by the Justice Department to manage two of its ongoing trials; or his plans to pardon the hundreds of people “unjustly” imprisoned for the assault on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, whom he describes as “hostages” and “incredible patriots”. It is unclear, for example, how he intends to deliver on his promise to achieve peace between Ukraine and Russia, although no one doubts that this will be very different from Biden’s approach, which Trump says leads to the United States in a “Third World War”. .”

Trump expressed admiration for Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who said two days after the election: “I am ready to contact him, I do not consider it shameful to call him myself.” During his campaign and at every rally, Trump repeated that this personal relationship with Putin would be enough to bring him to the negotiating table with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky. How such a thing could actually happen is a matter of debate among Republicans, although there is no doubt that the final decision will be made by Trump and by Trump alone on his side of the Atlantic.

As The Wall Street Journal According to some reports, there are several schools of thought among those running as candidates to influence his foreign policy. The most old-fashioned conservative hawks, like Mike Pompeo, who was his secretary of state and now aspires to lead the Pentagon, hope to reach a deal that Moscow cannot sell as a diplomatic victory. Then there are those who prioritize ending the war as quickly as possible, even if that means forcing kyiv to make heavy concessions.

The vice president-elect, J.D. Vancefor his part, is categorical: the United States should no longer be expected to control the world. In an interview in September, he suggested the creation of a demilitarized zone between Ukraine and Russia: a no-man’s land “heavily fortified so the Russians don’t invade again.” In this agreement, Russia would retain what it has conquered, which would mean a loss of up to 20% of its territory for Ukraine, and it would also mean that kyiv would guarantee its neutrality.

New York Daily News reports another of the ideas discussed in Trump’s entourage. This would condition the continuation of military aid to Ukraine on Kyiv will not join NATO for at least 20 years – a scenario that would mean the front line would stay where it is and both sides would agree to an 800-mile demilitarized zone.

Given Trump’s desire to adopt a foreign policy that “puts the interests of the United States first” and his impatience with NATO members failing to pay the stipulated amount for the NATO budget, defense of the alliance, Washington analysts fear that Trump will resurrect his aspiration to undermine power. multilateral organizations and, more particularly, to withdraw the United States from NATO. Last year, Congress passed a law prohibiting any president from making such a decision without approval from the Senate and House of Representatives, but it appears Trump can control both.

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