President-elect Donald Trump has promised to totally overhaul the US government and wield new powers as president.
If the grandiose promises are fulfilled, society will be transformed. Some of his most-repeated promises on the campaign trail include:
The mass deportation of 11 million undocumented immigrants
Closing the southern border and eliminating birthright citizenship.
Unprecedented levies on international goods from all countries, particularly China.
Extensive tax cuts benefit corporations, tipped workers, retirees on Social Security, property owners in the Northeast, and many more.
Elon Musk helps eliminate trillions of dollars in government spending.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic, is helping to reform the country’s health and food systems.
Reversing regulations designed to combat climate change
Herschel Walker, a former NFL player, is helping build a new missile defense barrier.
And so much more.
Americans will now discover what was exaggeration and what was true – what is achievable and what he can drive through on his own, with the support of Congress and without interference from the courts.
His commitment to stop Russia’s war on Ukraine “in 24 hours,” for example, appears overly dramatic.
His threat to conduct mass deportations, on the other hand, is really serious. It appears to be supported by some clear planning, although there is a lack of public information. 
Is there a grand plan?
Throughout the campaign, Trump attempted to separate himself from Project 2025, a contentious and detailed vision for a radically remade federal government issued by conservatives at the Heritage Foundation in anticipation of a second
Trump term. While Trump may not want to associate with that plan, it was formulated by his allies – at least 140 people associated with Project 2025 worked in Trump’s administration, according to a review by CNN’s Steve Contorno. Certainly there is some overlap between much of what the 900-page Project 2025 proposes and what Trump has said he will do in a series of very simple “Agenda47” videos on his website laying out his plans for a second term.
In one Agenda47 video, for instance, Trump promises to have an executive order prepared to end birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants. The 14th Amendment guarantees birthright citizenship, so expect court fights if this happens.
One of the policy maestros of Protect 2025, Russell Vought – who served as the director of the Office of Management and Budget during Trump’s first term – was captured on hidden camera by undercover journalists over the summer talking about an aggressive agenda he was writing to get Trump’s new administration off to an active start in its first 180 days.
On mass deportations
Trump’s most aggressive promise is the rounding up and deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants. Expect Trump to come into office with a series of executive orders already written to reinstate border policies unwound by the Biden administration.
Such is the yo-yoing of US immigration policy given that Congress has been unable to pass meaningful reform for decades. What’s not clear is how exactly Trump will go about closing the US border and whether it will include the US military, the National Guard or local law enforcement agencies.
Trump’s adviser Stephen Miller said on Fox News to expect deportations to begin the moment Trump is again president on January 20, 2025.
“They begin on Inauguration Day, as soon as he takes the oath of office,” he said.
But it’s still not clear exactly how deportations will work. Rep. Carlos Gimenez, a Florida Republican, told CNN’s Pamela Brown on Thursday that he expects every undocumented immigrant will continue to get a hearing before he or she is deported, something that will require the hiring of a large number of additional government workers if deportations are amplified to a massive scale. The current process is lengthy.
“I agree; it’s going to be a very, very big task,” Gimenez said. “And my hope is, and I expect, that we’ll just simply follow the law.”
CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez reported there have already been discussions among Trump allies and some in the private sector to detain and deport migrants at a large scale – though any operation would come with a big price tag.
She noted that Tom Homan, who was acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement during Trump’s first term, has said a deportation effort would start with anyone accused of a crime. It’s not clear what would happen to so-called Dreamers, people brought to the US as children who have lived most of their lives here. Some of them are protected by an Obama-era program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, that Trump tried unsuccessfully to end during his first term.
Plans to ‘aggressively’ fire government employees and relocate agencies out of DC
At the end of his first term, Trump intended to reclassify a major chunk of the federal civilian workforce, making it simpler to fire government employees. Trump’s plan, known as “Schedule F,” aimed to eliminate long-standing protections for neutral public personnel.
The Biden administration has placed some barriers in place to prevent such reclassification, but Trump vows in an Agenda47 video that he will immediately start working to reestablish it so that he can “remove rogue bureaucrats.” He also promises to “clean out all of the corrupt actors” in the national security and intelligence system, as well as “immediately” relocate government departments outside of the nation’s capital.
John McEntee, head of the White House Presidential Personnel Office during Trump’s first term, worked on Project 2025, compiling a list of Trump supporters qualified for administrative positions. He is still close to Trump, according to CNN’s story on Trump’s transition.
McEntee recently stated that he was not involved in Project 2025’s policy suggestions, despite the fact that he claimed, “I agree with probably most of it.” Instead, he wants to “staff the president with good people … I think he deserves it.”
What about Trump’s cabinet?
Trump prefers to connect himself and his policies with boldface titles. Musk will play a role in government efficiency, but he is unlikely to be appointed to the Cabinet. Kennedy claims he wants to allow people the freedom to refuse vaccines for their children, but this does not necessarily imply that he will be appointed to the Cabinet. Does Trump’s vow at a Georgia rally to put Walker in head of a missile defense program imply an official government position for the unsuccessful Senate candidate?
President Joe Biden’s Cabinet consists of 26 individuals. Some positions, such as CIA director or US ambassador to the United Nations, can be appointed or removed based on the administration. Only two of the 26 prospective slots in a Trump Cabinet are filled. Expect Trump to continue naming key officials in the coming days.
In addition to Vice President-elect JD Vance, Trump announced Thursday night that his campaign manager, Susie Wiles, will become his chief of staff. She will be the first woman to hold this role. During his prior administration, Trump passed through four of these senior aides. The longest-serving of those, retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, had cautioned against Trump’s election.
Trump can simply choose a chief of staff, but most Cabinet positions, such as the Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security, will require Senate approval. Trump will have a Republican majority in the Senate, which should make it easier to confirm crucial positions, but each of his ultimate Cabinet choices will have a confirmation hearing before being voted on.
Frustrated by the difficulty of confirming Cabinet officials during his first administration, Trump routinely named people as “acting” secretary, even though those appointments are only temporary.
Trump’s oldest son, Donald Jr., stated on Fox News that Trump will value loyalty and seek “people who don’t think they know better than the duly elected president of the United States.”
Taking power from Congress
Without bipartisan support in the Senate, Trump will not have the 60 votes required to quickly pass significant legislation through Congress. It’s unclear whether Republicans will maintain control of the House, but any majority would be narrow.
One of his major promises to alter conventional governance conventions that has received less notice is his commitment to take some control of government spending from Congress. In one Agenda47 video, Trump claims he will strive to reestablish the notion of “impoundment,” which allows a president to reject spending orders from Congress and utilize taxpayer funds in other ways.
After the Nixon administration, Congress enacted legislation to limit presidents’ powers, but Trump claims he will fight it and gain more power The President.
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