Haeeah deWeever, staff writer

If you haven’t heard by now, Donald Trump will be the 47th President of the United States of America. Trump won 312 electoral votes from the Electoral College, a win in the bottom half of previous U.S. presidential elections, according to CNN. According to The New York Times, Vice Pres. Kamala Harris failed to have voters show up for her at the levels that they did for Joe Biden in 2020, especially in liberal strongholds across the country. This contributed significantly to her defeat.

In an interview with Time Magazine, Trump stated that he wouldn’t be a dictator “except for day one.” Time Magazine also reported that Trump plans to, on his very first day in office, roll back Biden administration policies on education, pardon those arrested for their role in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot and begin mass deportations of immigrants, among other plans.

“I want to close the border. I want to drill, drill, drill,” Trump said of his first day plans. He announced that “within two seconds” of taking office he will fire Jack Smith, the special 

counsel that has been prosecuting two federal cases against him. Trump has stated that he wants to dismantle the “deep state” by doing two things: drastically reducing the federal workforce and increasing tariffs on imported goods, especially goods from China. Trump allegedly believes that his enemies are hiding in plain sight through federal jobs and he has argued that such import taxes like tariffs would keep manufacturing jobs in the United States. 

“Tariffs are the greatest thing ever invented,” Trump vocalized in an interview with Time Magazine. He is also looking to reverse climate change policies aimed at reducing planet-warming greenhouse emissions, as well as promising to increase production of U.S. fossil fuels. Claiming that it would lower energy costs, he is seeking to open the Arctic wilderness to oil drilling.

Trump has stated that he wants to roll back protections for Transgender students. The Biden administration announced new Title IX protections in April that made clear that treating Transgender students differently from their classmates is discrimination. Trump has responded saying that he would roll back those changes, pledging to do some on the first day of his administration. “We’re going to end it Day 1,” stated Trump in an interview with Time Magazine. Opposition to Transgender rights was central to Trump’s campaign closing argument. In the final days of the election, his team ran an ad that included the phrase, “Kamala is for they/them, Trump is for you,” as stated by the narrator of the ad. 

With his inauguration slated for Jan. 20, 2025, it will be interesting to see if Trump makes good on his promises and what effects they have on U.S. citizens across the country over the next four years of his presidency.