Trump Expected to Unleash Day One Executive Orders

Typically, when a new president takes office, the first few days are filled with administrative orders, with very few real EOs being signed. 

Donald Trump is reportedly planning to unleash a mountain of executive orders, apparently ready to fight for his agenda in court for what Congress cannot pass.  

Historical Day One EOs 

If you can believe it, when Donald Trump assumed office in 2017, he signed only a single executive order. By the end of January, he added a handful more, and a total of 16 more in February and March.  

Biden, on the other hand, signed nine orders on his first day in office, eight on day two, and another six by the end of the month.  

Barack Obama was more in line with Trump, only signing nine orders in January, and with George Bush only signing two executive orders in January. 

So, as you can see, Biden was the exception, but Trump appears to want to flip that narrative on his first day in office.  

Trump Day One Orders in 2025 

If Trump lives up to his words, this time, Day One orders will be substantial, with his insiders saying that he is likely to have close to if not more, than 100 true Executive Orders signed.  

Trump is expected to take on immigration on Day One, with Senator Lankford (R-OK) stating, “That’s the low-hanging fruit. People that recently crossed, people that were legally present and committed other crimes, people that the court has ordered them removed – that’s well over a million people. Start working through that process.” 

Of course, it will not all be immigration, as Trump will likely touch on taxes and other priorities he has and wants to address during this presidency. 

I would warn everyone, however, to expect most of these orders to be challenged in court.  

Taking Trump to Court 

Contrary to what most people believe, Executive Orders can be challenged, and often are, and that will be something that Trump will face during this presidency on just about every order he issues regarding immigration.  

Robert Weissman and Lisa Gilbert, co-presidents of Public Citizen, a progressive advocacy group, have led this fight before, and they plan on leading it again. They stated, “We will use all the tools at our disposal -- including aggressive litigation -- to ensure that key consumer and other regulatory protections remain intact.” 

During Trump’s first term in office, Trump went to court nearly 250 times, winning only 54 of the cases, or a paltry 22%. I have warned in the past of overpromising, especially in regard to immigration because in most cases, these laws must be initiated through Congress, although there are some exceptions, especially when an emergency declaration has been made. 

Point being, when you see this flurry of executive actions taking place in the first few days of the administration, wait to see if it is challenged and how it fares in the courts. Otherwise, you are going to be in for heartbreak. I am hoping that Trump learned a lesson from round one and that his White House legal counsel will word these orders so they will have a far better chance of holding up under legal challenges.