Japan Today

Here
and
Now

opinions

Trump faces stiff challenges delivering on his promised 'Golden Age'

14 Comments
By Gram Slattery and Luc Cohen
Inauguration ceremony for Trump's second presidential term
President-elect Donald J. Trump entering the stage of his inauguration as the 47th president of the United States inside the Capitol Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., Monday, January 20, 2025. Kenny Holston/Pool via REUTERS Image: Reuters/Kenny Holston

President Donald Trump faces an arduous task delivering on his Inauguration Day promise of a "Golden Age of America" in the face of a closely split Congress, inevitable lawsuits and recalcitrant world leaders.

After taking the oath of office, Trump outlined a series of sweeping executive orders, the first steps in enacting a far-reaching agenda to expand America's territory, curb immigration, boost fossil fuel production and roll back environmental regulations.

Trump's allies and advisers have been drafting executive orders and agency regulations for months. They argue privately and publicly they are better prepared to enact their vision than they were during Trump's 2017-2021 term, when Republican infighting and a lack of foresight led to setbacks in the courts and in Congress.

Trump will benefit this time from a deeply conservative Supreme Court, which handed him some major legal victories on the campaign trail. A third of its nine members are his appointees.

But having already served one term, he will leave office in four years, and many of his proposals are so norm-shattering they are certain to result in extensive litigation that tests the boundaries of constitutional law.

Advocacy groups - from the environmental activist group the Sierra Club to the American Civil Liberties Union - are putting together plans to push back.

Representatives for Trump did not respond to a request for comment.

IMMIGRATION

No policy area will be subject to more aggressive pushback from Democrats and civil rights organizations than immigration.

Trump's team confirmed on Monday it plans to try to end birthright citizenship, a long-held constitutional principle that holds the vast majority of people born in the United States are automatically citizens.

Individuals denied citizenship benefits will sue, legal experts say, leading to a protracted legal dispute. Most scholars believe birthright citizenship is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment, and they say the Constitution gives Congress the power to regulate citizenship.

No president before Trump has attempted to redefine citizenship rules through executive action.

Another element of Trump's promised immigration plan - invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 - would also face legal pushback. The seldom-used act generally allows for the deportation of certain foreigners during times of conflict. It has only been used three times.

George Fishman, a former Homeland Security official under Trump, told Reuters last year that the Trump administration would need to prove the immigrants were sent by a foreign government.

"I worry a little about overpromising," Fishman said.

Trump also said in his inaugural address that his administration would deport "millions and millions of criminal aliens" but a deportation effort of that scale could cost tens of billions of dollars and would likely last years.

TIKTOK ON THE CLOCK

One of Trump's most tenuous promises could be keeping TikTok online in the United States.

While Trump did not bring up the social media app during his inaugural address on Monday, he has recently signaled he would keep the app functioning. It was essentially banned starting on Sunday, but apart from a brief interruption for U.S. users, it remained online after Trump said he would try to save it.

All the same, Trump's long-term options may be limited.

Biden could have granted TikTok's owner, Bytedance, an additional 90 days to find a U.S. buyer if certain terms were met, said Colin Costello, an attorney with Freshfields and a former intelligence official. But Biden did not grant that extension and, now that the deadline has expired, the extension option may be off the table.

Halting the ban on a longer-term basis, Costello said, could require Trump to direct the Justice Department to "deprioritize" or not enforce the law, probably for a specified period of time. That would result in legal uncertainty, however, that tech companies might not be willing to assume.

Trump's legislative options may be limited, too. Some allies in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have publicly bucked Trump, saying TikTok needs to be sold to a U.S. company or cease operating immediately.

UKRAINE, PANAMA, MARS

Trump pledged frequently during the 2024 election campaign to solve the Ukraine war before even taking office. But he missed that deadline, and his advisers now concede it will take months to reach a peace deal.

During his inaugural address, Trump also repeated his aspiration to take back the Panama Canal, though it is the sovereign territory of an ally, and it is unclear how he would do so.

The president said he would rename the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of America." While he can direct the U.S. Geological Survey to make such a change, it would be unlikely to be recognized internationally.

He also vowed that the United States would send a man to Mars during his term, which will end in January 2029. He has his work cut out for him. The moon, for reference, is about 239,000 miles from Earth while Mars is, on average, about 140 million miles away.

The U.S. space agency NASA in December announced new delays in sending U.S. astronauts back to the moon.

'DRILL, BABY, DRILL'

Trump said on Monday he would declare a national energy emergency to unleash domestic fossil fuel production. While legal experts say presidents have broad authority to declare national emergencies, Biden has put up some roadblocks to specific measures that Trump may want to take.

For instance, Biden earlier this month used the Outer Continental Shelf Land Act to ban oil and gas drilling in all federal waters off the East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and portions of the Bering Sea in Alaska. Trump has said he would revoke that ban, but legal experts say it is unclear that presidents have that authority.

During Trump's first term, he tried to undo a federal ban on drilling near Alaska via an executive order, but a federal judge determined his order was unlawful.

Federal law gives Trump the ability to declare an energy emergency, which may allow him to temporarily suspend emissions rules for power plants and skirt environmental review for energy projects.

© Thomson Reuters 2025.

©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.


14 Comments
Login to comment

Trump should start with pardoning the future offspring of any of his family members for any future crimes they may commit.....

I mean, hey, if Biden can pardon anyone and everyone for any future crimes they may be prosecuted for, why not....

Good way to kick things off for the golden age....

And to point out the sheer hypocrisy of the departed Administration and their supporters.

-8 ( +1 / -9 )

I mean, hey, if Biden can pardon anyone and everyone for any future crimes they may be prosecuted for, why not....

Trump and his Maga spawn came after Biden's son because there was no dirt on Biden. There is no point in going after Trumps family when he himself is more than enough problematic on his own

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Trump and his Maga spawn came after Biden's son because there was no dirt on Biden.

There was dirt, the FBI lied, said that the laptop was Russian disinformation, and then they admitted that they had it the entire time, Hunter defied a Congressional order from Congress, the entire family is corrupt to the core, and now Trump could have pardoned himself and his family (for what I don't know, but he didn't) Biden did, if he is allegedly so innocent as he claims, why would there be a need to pardon yourself? No one does that, no one has done that unless you thought that there could be a possibility that they know something you don't want known to the nation.

There is no point in going after Trumps family when he himself is more than enough problematic on his own

Well, no, the left tried for 8 long years and lost every single time, and the reason is the guy didn't commit any crimes. And again, another reason as to why the left lost this election.

-6 ( +2 / -8 )

bass4funkToday 02:16 pm JST

There was dirt, the FBI lied, said that the laptop was Russian disinformation, and then they admitted that they had it the entire time, Hunter defied a Congressional order from Congress, the entire family is corrupt to the core, and now Trump could have pardoned himself and his family (for what I don't know, but he didn't) Biden did, if he is allegedly so innocent as he claims, why would there be a need to pardon yourself? No one does that, no one has done that unless you thought that there could be a possibility that they know something you don't want known to the nation.

Remember when Trump pardoned 1500 actual criminals who assaulted police officers? I do.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

he committed plenty of crimes that didn’t go to trial because of judicial interference and running out the clock.

if he lost the election, he’d be convicted in the jan 6 and classified documents cases.

juries have found him guilty in every trial, civil and criminal.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

His entire legacy could be ruined within a year if botches Ukraine and gives Putin the excuse to make a new national holiday. Nothing else he does will mean anything.

Remember Neville Chamberlain? He did a lot of great public service. Laid the foundations for the National Health Service, built 4 million homes, made paid holidays mandatory, improved pensions, limited working hours and much more.

But the only lasting image is of him getting off a plane with a worthless piece of paper after being played by Hitler, followed by Panzers smashing into Europe, millions of people fleeing, concentration camps etc.

Trump could have a similar reel to haunt him if he betrays Ukraine, has Muscovites dancing in the streets and Soviet era tanks rolling into Kyiv.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

President Donald Trump must will be held accountable, as all US presidents, at the ballot box.

Most important critically, the checks and balances of  Congress, Senate and the House of Representatives. 

The two chambers work together to pass or defeat federal laws

Most importantly the US people

Signing executive orders/ directives by any president of the United States, are not a political equivalent or to be confused with papal bulls, an 11th commandment, or "acts of god".

There will be inevitably, rightly so, the test of legality.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Hey, at least he ended the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Day One, like he promised. What's that you say?

3 ( +3 / -0 )

@ClippetyClop

His entire legacy could be ruined within a year if botches Ukraine and gives Putin the excuse to make a new national holiday. Nothing else he does will mean anything.

etc... It's pointless to talk about ruined legacies as if there were some other potential outcome. There is no other future than disaster for the US and the world with this individual in the White House. To what extent the damage will be repairable/survivable after he's finally ejected is the only question.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Remember when Trump pardoned 1500 actual criminals who assaulted police officers? I do.

Remember when Joe pardoned a child molester and an FBI murderer?

he committed plenty of crimes that didn’t go to trial because of judicial interference and running out the clock.

if he lost the election,

But he didn't, if the Dems would have been honest and not destroyed the country the way they did, Trump would have lost.

he’d be convicted in the jan 6 and classified documents cases.

juries have found him guilty in every trial, civil and criminal.

Now that the left lost, all of the corrupt liberal officials who tried and failed to get Trump are out of a job...forever.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

bass4funkToday 01:17 am JST

Remember when Trump pardoned 1500 actual criminals who assaulted police officers? I do.

Remember when Joe pardoned a child molester and an FBI murderer?

Sorry, pardoning 1500 assaulters is worse. Police died on that day. And sex offenders are in many of the top offices including the presidency right now.

he committed plenty of crimes that didn’t go to trial because of judicial interference and running out the clock.

Crimes such as? Remember your Supreme Court said the president can't commit crimes.

if the Dems would have been honest and not destroyed the country the way they did,

Last time I checked, stock market was at least near all time highs at the end of Biden's term. We should all hope for such destruction.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Sorry, pardoning 1500 assaulters is worse. Police died on that day.

Pardoning rioters is worse than letting a man out for killing two Feds? Please tell me you’re joking.

And sex offenders are in many of the top offices including the presidency right now.

You talked to them personally or know them THAT intimately to know this? How? Based on..? Don’t speculate, show the proof.

Crimes such as? Remember your Supreme Court said the president can't commit crimes.

Don’t deflect, stay focused, it doesn’t bother you that the former president would release a murderer? Or even a child molester?

Last time I checked, stock market was at least near all time highs at the end of Biden's term.

So why does California have over 58k homeless, why does the West Coast have the highest homeless population? Releasing 10 million illegals into the nation helps whom? Why is it that not a single law enforcement agent supported Joe or Kamala? Why was it that 79% of Americans felt that the economy wasn’t working for them?

We should all hope for such destruction.

Why????

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

bass4funkToday 02:03 am JST

Sorry, pardoning 1500 assaulters is worse. Police died on that day.

Pardoning rioters is worse than letting a man out for killing two Feds? Please tell me you’re joking.

They are not just "rioters" when they are in the US Capitol assaulting police and killing some of them. I know you only care about the Capitol when it is approving Trump's "win".

And sex offenders are in many of the top offices including the presidency right now.

You talked to them personally or know them THAT intimately to know this? How? Based on..? Don’t speculate, show the proof.

Trump is an adjudicated sex abuser. Accusations against at least four of his cabinet nominees.

Last time I checked, stock market was at least near all time highs at the end of Biden's term.

So why does California have over 58k homeless, why does the West Coast have the highest homeless population?

Every city has homeless. Trump will not improve this.

Releasing 10 million illegals into the nation helps whom?

Released over what, a 40 year period? It helps keep grocery prices low. You like that, right?

Why is it that not a single law enforcement agent supported Joe or Kamala?

I'm sure across the 3/4 of a million police officers in the country, at least one voted for Kamala Harris.

Why was it that 79% of Americans felt that the economy wasn’t working for them?

The uneducated are unable to separate the effects of Covid from Trump's government spending.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Trump faces stiff challenges delivering on his promised 'Golden Age'

Of course he does. Did anybody claim the job is easy? He was and is against the entire entrenched swamp and mess it has created.

But he is going at it like the energy bunny, and so far I love every one of the flurry of executive order that I have seen. If his detractors can identify which ones precisely they disagree with and why, instead of just thinking up more colourful insults, I would be curious to see that.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites