Here are the Trump administration’s most significant economic actions in its first 100 days. You will see why Trump was not a typical Republican. January 20: Trump signed an executive order to “ease the burden” of Obamacare. It directed federal agencies to do what they can within the existing law to lift the ACA’s mandates. It was the first move to implement Trump’s health care agenda. The same day, he signed an order to remove a discount on Federal Housing Administration mortgages for low-income homebuyers. The FHA said it planned lower mortgage costs to offset higher interest rates. January 23: Trump signed an order to withdraw from further negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership. He said he would replace it with a series of bilateral agreements. The same day, Trump ordered a five-year ban on administration officials becoming lobbyists. Obama proposed this ban during his 2008 campaign but never fulfilled it. Trump also promised a lifetime ban for any executive lobbying on behalf of another country. January 24: Trump signed an order allowing construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines. They’d ship high-grade Canadian crude oil to refineries in the Gulf region. Oil companies plan to ship that oil to Latin America. This reduction of domestic supply will raise U.S. oil and gas prices. January 25: Trump signed an order to build a physical wall along the entire U.S. border with Mexico. On the campaign trail, Trump said that Mexico would pay for the wall. However, Trump’s order redirected current funds from other U.S. government operations to cover the cost. Congress did not approve that funding in the Fiscal Year 2017 budget. Immigration became a major theme of the Trump administration. Another order signed on this day aimed to add 10,000 immigration officers. January 27: President Trump signed an executive order banning certain foreign travelers. It also banned all refugees for four months and Syrian refugees indefinitely. January 30: Trump signed an order reducing regulations. The order required any federal agency that proposed a new regulation to identify two existing ones to eliminate. January 31: Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. He was confirmed on April 7, 2017. Gorsuch filled the seat that was vacated when Justice Antonin Scalia died in February 2016. Febuary 3: Trump signed an executive order asking the Treasury Department to revise financial regulations such as those imposed by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act. March 6: Trump issued a new travel ban to replace the one he issued on January 27. It blocked travel from Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. The new ban didn’t apply to lawful permanent residents and existing visa holders. The order went into effect at 12:01 a.m. on March 16. It was in effect for 90 days. Refugees not already scheduled for travel were banned for 120 days. It lowered the cap of refugees to 50,000 from 110,000. March 28: Trump fulfilled a campaign pledge to cancel restrictions on shale oil, clean coal, and other sources of energy production. He signed an order that suspended, rescinded, or flagged for review several Obama-era measures that addressed climate change. He rescinded orders to address the link between climate change and defense. He initiated a review of Obama’s Clean Power Plan. That restricts carbon emissions at coal-fueled power plants. April 18: Trump fulfilled a campaign pledge to review the U.S. visa program for abuse. He signed an executive order to replace the current lottery for H-1B visas. Instead, the order says, the Department of Labor should only award H-1B visas to highly skilled workers. April 24: Trump’s Department of Commerce accused Canada of dumping lumber on the U.S. market. It threatened to impose a roughly 20% tariff on Canada’s roughly $5.66 billion in lumber imports to the U.S. April 26: Trump released his tax plan. By the end of the year, this proposal worked its way through Congress and became the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Congress made significant changes, but many priorities outlined in the proposal were reflected in the final bill—many of them tax reductions—like lower personal tax rates, a reduced estate tax, and a steep cut to corporate tax rates.
