President Donald Trump’s second week in office included his first big legislative achievement and his first big setback.
In signing a bipartisan bill that expands immigration officials’ powers to deport undocumented people who are suspected but not convicted of minor crimes, such as shoplifting, Trump secured his first durable win after a string of executive orders that can be easily overturned by the next president.
But the failure of his attempt to freeze federal spending also showed the limits of his “shock and awe” approach to his first days in office.
Here’s a not-entirely exhaustive rundown of actions by the Trump administration in his second week in office:
• Signed the Laken Riley Act, which allows federal immigration officers to detain and deport undocumented people charged with crimes, instead of just those who have been convicted.
• Ordered a widespread freeze on trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans. Rescinded a memo about the freeze after a judge blocked it.
• Paused a U.S. foreign aid agency’s spending, placed top officials on leave, ordered workers to stay home and locked them out of their email.
• Purged multiple government websites of references to climate change and LGBTQ+ Americans, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Census.
• Signed an executive order that would make it possible to detain migrants at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay. Promised to send 30,000, although it held only 680 prisoners at its peak.
• Sent 2 million federal workers an email offering to keep paying them through September if they resign now, a move that appears to run afoul of federal employment rules.
• Revoked a security detail and clearance for former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley, who once called Trump “fascist.” Ordered a review to see if Milley, who is retired, should be demoted.
• Launched a review of federal prosecutors’ use of an obstruction of justice charge against some Jan. 6 defendants which the Supreme Court said was used too broadly.
• Ordered public K-12 schools to stop teaching “radical gender ideology and critical race theory,” although it’s unclear exactly how the federal government will pursue this. • Ordered a 10% tariff on all Chinese products, leading Beijing to announce tariffs on U.S. coal, gas and other goods, restrictions on exports of minerals and an investigation into Google. • Ordered 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada, leading fans at an NBA game in Toronto to boo the U.S. national anthem, then announced both would be paused for a month. • Blamed, without evidence, Federal Aviation Administration efforts to hire a more diverse staff for an air crash near Washington, D.C. • Suggested Jordan, Egypt and other Arab nations accept more Palestinian refugees in order to “just clean out” the war-torn Gaza Strip, wording criticized for sounding like “ethnic cleansing.” • Joked about serving a third term, which would be unconstitutional, while speaking with House Republicans holding a retreat at the Trump National Doral Golf Club, which he owns. Subscribe to Trump’s First 100 Days newsletter for weekly updates on and expert insight into the key issues and figures defining his second term.
Ryan Teague Beckwith is a newsletter editor for MS NOW.
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