Since January 20, President Donald Trump has overstepped the boundaries of the executive office, from deploying the National Guard to states without authorization or directing his cabinet to illegally fire thousands of employees, and this is just in his first nine months in office. These actions unquestionably violate the U.S. Constitution, threatening the very foundations of American democracy.
According to the Federal Register, President Trump has issued an average of 23 executive orders per month, totaling 205 since he became president. This includes a record 25 executive orders issued on his first day in office, a significant increase from the mere eight that President Joe Biden issued on his first day and the minuscule 85 he issued in his first nine months.
President Trump uses executive orders to bypass the checks and balances in place to protect the government from actions that could cause harm. These executive orders range from the termination of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) protocols in the government to the discontinuation of paper straws. According to John T. Woolley & Gerhard Peters from UC Santa Barbara’s American Presidency Project, some of Trump’s most used categories of executive orders in his first 100 days include 40 Immigration and Border control executive orders, 37 Foreign and Defense executive orders, and 79 DOGE-based decision executive orders.
Trump’s decisions concerning trade, specifically tariffs, are damaging not just to the global economy. Still, the national economy is affected, creating uncertainty in the markets and deterring countries and businesses from working with the U.S. According to taxfoundation.org, “the tariffs affect approximately $2.2 trillion of US goods imports… or 69[%] of US goods imports.” Some of Trump’s most significant targets for country-specific tariffs include China, Mexico, and Canada, with some proposed tariffs reaching as high as 125% on all trade with China.
Reuters stated that “U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff decisions since he took office in January have shocked financial markets and sent a wave of uncertainty through the global economy.”
Immigration lawyers and informed U.S. citizens describe Trump’s immigration policies as unconstitutional and in violation of human rights. Several of these policies have led to the separation of families, and there have been questions of safety for both birthright and naturalized citizens. On his first day in office, President Trump signed an executive order limiting birthright citizenship, a right enumerated in the 14th Amendment.
“The Trump administration’s vision of America is a radical departure from traditional views that the country is a nation of immigrants, that anyone can become an American, and that America has a role to play in making the whole world freer… The Trump administration has used immigration policy as a way to pick fights and friends on the international stage,” according to American Immigration Council’s Dara Lind.
Most worrisome, however, is the Trump Administration’s attacks on the First Amendment. The administration has executed a wide-ranging crackdown on freedom of speech, targeting student protesters, lawyers and the press. Since taking office, President Trump has taken aim at news organizations that it dislikes. The Federal Communications Commission has opened investigations into ABC, CBS and NBC news. In September, late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s show was temporarily canceled for his comments on reactions to the murder of Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk. Just an hour before Kimmel was set to return to the air, President Trump put out a “Truth” on the social media site Truth Social. “I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back,” President Trump wrote in a blustery threat to the network. “…I think we’re going to test ABC out on this. Let’s see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million.”
Dr. Laura Smith, a specialist in American presidential history from Oxford University, commented on President Trump’s actions: “The first time around, Trump’s victory could have been dismissed as a fluke… But this time, he has returned to power with renewed confidence and… Ultimately, Trump is now more politically powerful than ever. That reality will shape how other nations engage with the U.S. over the next four years,” which could damage the U.S.’s reputation with the world as one of the most reputable and powerful countries in the world.
