President Trump 2.0: One Month in Office

Madison Shanfeld
Feb 23
8 min read

By: Madison Shanfeld

INAUGRATION

A new term has officially started. The oval office in Washington DC is no longer occupied by Joe Biden, but by President Donald J. Trump. The Inauguration and what follows in the first days of office is a national event that fills the news channels and papers for weeks to come.

What is the Inauguration

By Oxford’s dictionary, the noun inauguration is, “the beginning or introduction of a system, policy, or period. But what is the Inauguration in the United States? In America, the Inauguration is the exchange of power from the former president to the new president in a hopefully peaceful manner. While there have been a couple occurrences of more violent transfers of power around the Inauguration, such as on January 6th, 2021, the transitions are traditionally peaceful and time periods of hope and moving forward in the United States.

Notable Events

After a polarized and oscillating election season, the country remains split on how to feel during the Inauguration on January 20th. Opinions are split over the events leading up to, during, and following the ceremony.

TikTok

All 170 million TikTok users in the United States sat in defeat as the error message appeared on their screens the night of January 18th before the law which shut the app down was set to go into effect on the 19th. However, much to their surprise, a little over 12

hours later, TikTok was running as if nothing had ever happened. The app was “saved” by president elect Donald Trump through an executive order that postponed the ban for 75 days. Within this brief pause, Trump claims he wants “ the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to stay up,” on Truth Social. Since the app was banned for its affiliation with China, 50% American ownership could sway the court to alter their decision on the ban, since the citizens of America would be less vulnerable. When questioned about the likelihood of this possible ownership, Trump says, “"We may have to get approval from China. I'm not sure. I'm sure they'll approve." The 170 million users hold their breath as time continues in hopes that the President’s confidence translates into action.

Elon Musk

One of the least accepted parts of both the inauguration and the incoming president in general was the inclusion of Elon Musk in the government. Musk has been appointed by Trump to be head of a department entitled Department of Government Efficiency. He was supposed to share his position with Vivek Ramaswamy, who had previously challenged Trump in the Republican primary, then endorsed him later in January. However, before Trump took office, Vivek Ramaswamy left the department and is now attempting to run for governor of Ohio. The goal of this new department is to cut “unnecessary” points of government spending. The challenge is different citizens and members of the government will find different points of spending unnecessary.

At the Inauguration, Elon Musk chose to greet the crowd of rowdy Americans with, what he called, a “roman salute.” Unfortunately, the “roman salute” goes by another name, “Heil

Hitler.” Not only was Elon Musk born in South Africa, not Italy, but the “roman salute” has actually been banned in parts of Europe since it carries such a heavy connection to one of history’s cruelest dictators. The Anti-Defamation League, which works against antisemitism, defines the Nazi Salute as “raising an outstretched right arm with the palm down” however the league says that Elon Musk’s gesture looks more like an awkward spasm during a moment of enthusiasm, than an intended salute. However, at the sight of Musk, Germany, an ally of the United States, was appalled. Along with any other Nazi propaganda, symbols, and actions, the Nazi salute is illegal. In German Weekly, they write, “A Hitler salute is a Hitler salute is a Hitler salute,” and “Anyone on a political stage giving a political speech in front of a partly right-wing extremist audience...who raises their right arm in a swinging manner and at an angle several times is doing the Hitler salute.” For Germany, and parts of America, the problem is not just the history behind the salute, but also where he presented it and who in which it was presented.

The controversy of the new department, his lack of being born in the United States, and his chosen way of greeting the public during the Inauguration is keeping citizens’ guard up against the world’s first predicted trillionaire’s presence within the government.

Pardons

The aforementioned event on January 6th, 2021, has loomed over the United States the past four years. In short, this was a large group of armed Trump supporters storming and

attacking the capitol building in belief that the 2020 election was rigged against Trump. On January 20th 2025, the day that Trump stepped into office, he pardoned roughly 1,500 criminal defendants who were charged for their participation in the attacks on January 6th. He issued a “a full, complete and unconditional pardon to all other individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021," including citizens who assaulted law enforcement officers. This included the release of members and leaders of organizations like Proud Boys, a far-right, neo-fascist, militant organization that supports political based violence. Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud boys who was supposed to serve 22 years, was released late Monday night and was set to arrive back to his home in Miami, Florida by Tuesday.

WITHIN THE MONTH

Public Opinion

Within the first month , public opinion polls capture how Americans are feeling about the new presidency. Over the course of the presidency, presidential approval ratings tend to

drop, with the exclusion of democratic president Bill Clinton, who actually became more favorable at the end of his term. Both during his first and second presidency, Donald Trump has had the worst introductory approval rating. In his second term, about 47% of people approve of his actions within office, not necessarily all members of his office, and 48% of people disapprove. 4% of citizens claim to have no opinion, the small percentage makes sense because modern politics does tend to be more polarized, with little room for medians.

Donald Trump has been issuing executive orders with great speed at the beginning of his second term: signing at least 65 within his first month in office. As demonstrated by the graph to the left, over a third of total adults in the United States feel that he is going too fast, and 40% feel that he is on pace. Why might so many citizens feel like this is too fast when it is traditional for presidents to push a lot of policies within their first 100 days? One possibility could be from the content of the executive orders, such as the pardons. This is an order that carries a large amount of weight, the pardons being one of the president's core checks over the judicial branch, and they could feel the decision was made too quickly, possibly as if there were no thought behind it. However, Trump made it known he was planning to pardon those on January 6th.

Mass Federal Firings

Trump promised to change Washington when he stepped into office, his changes could result in extreme job losses for those working for the federal government around the country.

The Trump administration has fired over a thousand federal government workers who were still in their probationary period: this probationary period is very common among newer employees. Some workers were given less than one hour to vacate their offices. There is a variety of workers at risk of losing their jobs, notably, medical scientists, foreign policy employees, specialists in energy infrastructure, prosecutors, FBI agents, and educational and farming data specialists. In addition to individual lay-offs, entire entities are at risk of downsizing. For example, while the administration agreed to pause the further dismantling of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, created to protect the American public after the financial crisis of 2008, the employees claim that Trump's administration wants to eradicate most of the workforce and erase all data dating back to 2012. The pause is said to last until March 3rd 2025. All together, if there are large quantities of unemployed federal workers at once, Trump's actions could drive up unemployment rates in the United states.

Court Pushback Against Executive Orders

Through the intense number of executive orders signed by Trump, he is attempting to expand the federal power of the United States executive branch. Since the beginning of the constitutional era of America, it has been the job of the other two branches, judicial and legislative, to check its power and restore balance in the federal government. So what have the courts done to push back against Trump's attempt to expand his power?

Within the first month of the presidency there has been a consistent pattern: Trump makes a brash proposal, opposition files a lawsuit, and the courts put the proposal on hold. This pattern has occurred for things such as the attempt to freeze federal funding, the government worker lay-offs, and the undermining of birthright citizenship.

Democrats from Boston, Seattle, and Washington DC, are starting lawsuits that could make their way up to the United States Supreme Court and enact policy changes. A conservative majority have already admitted to wanting to overturn precedent. Around three dozen lawsuits have already been filed, and more are in the works.

The judiciary has become an even more highlighted branch as both the House of Representatives and the Senate have Republican majorities that are forfeiting their jobs as checking the executive branch. Without the help of the legislative branch, the judiciary is the only guard checking the Trump administration.

The first judicial check for Trump came from U.S. District Judge John Coughenour in

Seattle. He blocked the birthright citizenship executive order, which prevented the automatic citizenship for children of illegal immigrants who were born on American soil. He claimed that through the fourteenth Amendment, the citizenship clause was a fundamental American right. He claims that the rule of law is something that Trump is attempting to get around or ignore, instead of follow and that the law has become incredibly vulnerable. Judge Coughenour even went as far as calling the birthright citizenship order as, "blatantly unconstitutional" and that he has never seen a decision as clear as this one since he had been nominated by Ronald Reagan.

In addition, George O'Toole, a U.S. District Judge stationed in Boston, put a pause on Trump's plan to incentivize federal workers to resign with monetary bribes. In Washington DC, it has been confirmed that a minimum of 40,000 federal workers have taken the bribe of being paid until September 30th.

Endnotes

The first month of this presidency has been a whirlwind, and the news will continue to evolve and change as time moves forward. This should provide a basic understanding that allows you to comprehend what may come in the future.

Work Cited

Allyn, Bobby. “Trump signs executive order to pause TikTok ban, provide immunity to tech firms.” NPR, 21 January 2025, https://www.npr.org/2025/01/20/nx-s1-5268701/trump-executive-order-tiktok-ban. Accessed 27 January 2025.

Bennhold, Katrin. “What Elon Musk's Salute Was All About.” The New York Times, 25 January 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/24/world/europe/elon-musk-roman-salute-nazi.html. Accessed 28 January 2025.

“Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead new ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ in Trump administration.” CNN, 12 November 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/12/politics/elon-musk-vivek-ramaswamy-department-of-government-efficiency-trump/index.html. Accessed 28 January 2025.

“How the courts have (so far) pushed back on Trump's attempts to expand presidential power.” PBS, 7 February 2025, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/how-the-courts-have-so-far-pushed-back-on-trumps-attempts-to-expand-presidential-power. Accessed 23 February 2025.

NBC New York Staff. “How many executive orders has Trump signed in 2025?: A look at the president's first month back in office.” NBC New York, https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/politics/how-many-executive-orders-has-trump-signed-2025-first-month/6157457/.

Reilly, Ryan J. “Trump pardons roughly 1500 criminal defendants charged in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.” NBC News, 21 January 2025, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/trump-set-pardon-defendants-stormed-capitol-jan-6-2021-rcna187735. Accessed 29 January 2025.

“Trump says he will revive TikTok, but wants 50% U.S. ownership.” CNBC, 19 January 2025, https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/19/trump-says-he-will-revive-tiktok-but-wants-50percent-us-ownership.html. Accessed 27 January 2025.

“2025 Donald J. Trump Executive Orders.” Federal Register :: Executive Orders, https://www.federalregister.gov/presidential-documents/executive-orders/donald-trump/2025. Accessed 16 February 2025.