President Donald Trump has returned to the White House and is moving at a breakneck pace to implement his agenda, observers noted as he nears the end of his first week in office.
He has already issued dozens of executive orders, surveyed disaster-stricken areas in North Carolina and California, and supported his Cabinet nominees during contentious Senate confirmation battles.
In his inauguration address on Monday, the 45th and 47th president vowed that things across the country would “change starting today, and it will change very quickly.”
And moments later, White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich took to social media to tease, “Now, comes SHOCK AND AWE.”
They weren’t exaggerating, noted Fox News. Within his first eight hours in office, Trump signed a flurry of executive orders and actions, delivering on several key campaign promises while showcasing his executive authority and addressing some long-standing grievances.
Trump immediately cracked down on immigration, moving toward a trade war with key allies and adversaries and rolling back many of former President Joe Biden’s policies. These included dismantling much of Biden’s federal diversity initiatives and energy and climate provisions.
The president also stirred significant controversy by pardoning or commuting the sentences of approximately 1,500 individuals involved in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Among those granted clemency were individuals who had assaulted police officers, leading to critiques from some GOP lawmakers.
In addition, Trump dismissed several top government officials, announced a high-profile half-trillion-dollar tech investment, and held unscripted, wide-ranging news conferences during his first two days back in the White House.
He even made headlines by renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.”
Amid the whirlwind pace of Trump’s first week, Senate Republicans and the president’s allies rallied to advance his Cabinet nominees toward confirmation. Former senator and now Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe were swiftly approved by the Senate earlier this week, with former South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem being confirmed following a rare Saturday vote.
On Friday, Trump traveled to hurricane-devastated western North Carolina before heading to Los Angeles, where catastrophic wildfires this month have caused widespread destruction.
During his visits, Trump floated the idea of overhauling or even eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) altogether.
“I’ll also be signing an executive order to begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA, or maybe getting rid of FEMA. I think, frankly, FEMA is not good,” the president said on Friday.
Long-time Republican strategist Kristin Davison told Fox News: “I think it’s brilliant how they’ve been handling it, to immediately meet the moment with action. It’s exactly what he needs to do, and it’s exactly what the people voted for.”
“Americans vote for decisive, fast action, and true leadership. And Trump understands that more than anyone. I think he and his team knew how important it was out of the gate to show that they heard what the people wanted and are answering with leadership,” she argued.
Fox News host Greg Gutfeld also praised Trump on Friday, stating he was “flooding the zone” with action and hailed Republicans in general as being the most effective he’s seen them in his lifetime.
“Just stepping back, I just feel like, are there any politicians or political parties left? Like I feel as though Trump has flooded the zone. He’s disappeared Democrats from the game board, but also any kind of like, never Trumpy Republicans, are they — do they still exist?” Gutfeld said during a segment on “The Five.”
“I don’t think there’s been any Republican president that’s had a week like this. I don’t remember it. The party has never been this effective or successful in my — in my lifetime,” he said, adding: “You can’t have a better week than this.”
