Donald Trump's 'Day 1' promises set the stage for deportations, a tax cut, and 'drill, baby, drill'

Photo: Joe Raedle (Getty Images)
Photo: Joe Raedle (Getty Images)

President-elect Donald Trump is set to make his White House return in just 75 days. When he does, he’s set to start breaking ground on at least some of the dozens of campaign promises he has made to voters over the past two years.

According to The Washington Post, Trump has made at least 41 separate promises to voters related to his first day in office, including many that fall outside the scope of his authority or face logistical challenges.

However, Trump has tried to get past such constraints before. He has promised not to be a dictator “except for Day One,” telling Fox News that “after that, I’m not a dictator.”

Here are some of his Day One biggest promises.

Roll back clean energy plans and “drill, baby, drill”

Trump has promised to expand oil drilling on his first day in office, continuing a yearslong trend that has been maintained under both his first term and President Joe Biden’s administration. The U.S. is producing more oil and natural gas than any other country in the world.

Trump has routinely embraced the oil and gas lobby, reportedly offering a quid pro quo to oil executives in April to reverse restrictions on drilling in the Alaskan Arctic and do away with rules freezing permits for liquified natural gas and restricting tailpipe emissions.

But even oil executives don’t want Trump to entirely scrap his predecessor’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). That legislation provides $369 billion in tax breaks and subsidies for clean energy and has pushed companies — including those in the oil industry — to invest $128 billion in projects working on renewable fuel, carbon capture, and other technology.

“We’re going to drill, baby, drill. And I will terminate the Green New Scam and will cut your energy prices in half, 50%, within one year from January 20th,” Trump said last month in New York.

Ending the IRA would be a major blow to companies working on clean energy projects, including electric vehicles. The IRA provides up to $7,500 in tax credits for American-made EVs, which has helped companies sell their already qualifying models and move production to the U.S.

Begin mass deportations

One of Trump’s most common promises on the campaign trail was to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, mentioning that idea dozens of times on the campaign trail.

Trump has said he will order the “largest deportation operation in American history” on his first day in office, targeting between 15 million and 20 million people, according to CNN. The latest government estimates put that figure at 11 million as of 2022.

According to the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE), some 8.3 million undocumented immigrants participate in the economy. Many of them work in a variety of industries, such as the construction and restaurant industries, according to the Center for Migration Studies. Trump’s plans could destabilize the U.S. food supply chain, which relies heavily on migrant labor.

End taxes on tips

Trump has also floated eliminating the federal income tax on tips, a core proposal made by both him and Democratic rival Vice President Kamala Harris on the campaign trail.

“Hotel workers and people that get tips, you’re going to be very happy because when I get to office, we are going to not charge taxes on tips,” Trump said in June at a Las Vegas rally. “We’re going to do that right away, first thing in office.”

The effects of eliminating that tax are likely to be scattered because many workers receive tips in cash, much of which is never reported to the Internal Revenue Service, and because many of the roughly four million workers in tipped occupations already pay zero federal income tax. Thirty-seven percent of tipped workers paid no federal income tax in 2022 — before accounting for tax credits — compared with 16% of workers in non-tipping jobs.

The median weekly wage for tipped workers was $538 in 2023, almost half the $1,000 median weekly wage for people who worked jobs without tips. The workers more likely to benefit would be those working at high-end restaurants or other establishments who interact with wealthier clients more likely to spend more and — sometimes — tip more.

It’s unlikely that Trump will actually relay an executive order ending those taxes when he takes office in January. Instead, he’ll probably throw his support behind the “No Tax On Tips Act,” which was introduced by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Florida Rep. Byron Donalds just days after Trump made his initial promise.

Repeal a Biden order on AI

Trump has promised to roll back his predecessor’s 2023 executive order on artificial intelligence, which set goals to establish the U.S. as a leader in the safe and ethical use of AI.

According to the Biden administration, that order has resulted in requirements for major AI developers to share their safety test results with the federal government and directed federal agencies to establish guardrails for the use of AI systems. The U.S. AI Safety Institute has also started testing Anthropic and OpenAI’s models, and the Department of Defense has conducted a pilot study to use AI as a defense for government software.

NetChoice, a trade association representing companies such as Amazon (AMZN), Google (GOOGL), and X, criticized Biden’s order, saying it could stifle innovation. The group has been joined by several think tanks and tech leaders, including venture capitalist Ben Horowitz, according to Time magazine.

Trump, citing claims that AI has been used to censor political speech, rallied against the order last year, The Washington Examiner reported.

“When I’m reelected, I will cancel Biden’s artificial intelligence executive order and ban the use of AI to censor the speech of American citizens on day one,” he said last December.

According to the 2024 Republican platform, the party will seek to repeal the “dangerous” executive order that it claims hinders AI innovation and “imposes Radical Leftwing ideas” on AI development.

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