President Trump’s First Week in Office Is a Massive Victory for Liberty

President Trump’s inauguration this week was a great victory for lovers of liberty across America and heralded greater triumphs to come.  To appreciate the significance of this moment, Americans should understand the slate of Executive orders (EOs) President Trump signed this week upon assuming office.  Whether it was addressing the mess on our southern border, getting American energy back on track, or putting America First in our foreign policy, President Trump’s first actions of his second term signaled a purposeful and coherent policy agenda that promises to make America safe and prosperous for years to come.

President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency on our southern border is warranted. Well over 10 million aliens illegally came into our country over the past four years, carrying massive and even deadly costs for the American people.  Our open borders facilitated the transit of deadly fentanyl into our towns and communities, which is why more than a quarter million Americans died from fentanyl overdoses on Biden’s watch.

Far more immigrants entered our country illegally in the last four years than under any administration in U.S. history, an unsustainable reality that placed a crippling economic burden on the American people.  This influx also resulted in tragedies: Stories like that of Laken Riley highlighted the terrible consequences of allowing dangerous, malicious individuals into our nation with no ability to keep track of them.  By declaring a national emergency on our southern border, President Trump can quickly and effectively distribute much-needed resources to our border patrol teams while carrying out long-overdue deportations of illegal immigrants who have committed crimes while on U.S. soil.  This will help staunch the flow of both illegal aliens and deadly fentanyl – as will President Trump’s designation of drug cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, something for which I have argued in the past.  These orders will now have to be executed – but they are a necessary and excellent start to bringing law and order back to our own borders.

President Trump’s Executive actions on energy also promise to enhance American prosperity.  The Biden Administration squandered America’s wealth of natural resources, choosing instead to waste the American people’s wealth on green energy initiatives and electric vehicle mandates.  These measures resulted in higher energy prices and steeper inflation.  By making America’s own domestic energy industry less reliable, these measures also “diminished (America’s) capacity to insulate itself from hostile foreign actors,” as President Trump’s national emergency declaration rightly stated.

The Trump Administration also rightly withdrew America from global commitments that do not serve the interests of the American people – specifically, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Paris Climate Accords.  As the President’s Executive order noted, the WHO mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic born in Wuhan, China, has failed to adopt urgently needed reforms, and has time and again betrayed its function by succumbing to inappropriate political influence by WHO member states – namely, China – all while it has demanded far more money and aid from the American people than it does from the Chinese Communist Party.  The corrupt WHO does not serve the American people, and President Trump made the right call by withdrawing the United States from it.

The Paris Climate Accords tell a similar story.  As President Trump’s EO removing the United States from the Accords points out, the Paris Climate agreements have “steered American tax dollars to countries that do not require, or merit, financial assistance in the interests of the American people.”  We came to this exact conclusion in the first Trump Administration and withdrew accordingly – only to have President Biden foolishly recommit our country to them during his tenure, winning applause across European capitals but wasting the wealth of the American people on frivolous green climate initiatives that have not, do not, and will not improve the lives of American families.  President Trump was right to put America First and withdraw the United States from these agreements.

Crucially, President Trump’s inaugural vision was one of optimism and American exceptionalism.  Four years of Biden’s tenure have resulted in the federal government expanding in size and corruption, the economy straining under the weight of overregulation and inflation, and families struggling to make ends meet.  The American people gave a clear mandate to President Trump to bring back American strength and optimism, and he is already delivering on these promises.  Now, it falls to Executive branch agencies to carry out these orders and to Congress to pass legislation that will capitalize on them, giving the American people the wins they deserve.  President Biden infamously and absurdly embraced the idea that his presidency meant “the adults were back in charge.”  Following President Trump’s inauguration, the American people should be confident that true leaders are back in charge.