President-elect Donald J. Trump returns to the White House as a seasoned executive intent on ending a decades-long approach to governance in ways that could reshape the presidency and the country well into the future.
Trump plans an about-face from the expansion of domestic programs and regulations and globalist foreign policy of the post-Cold War era. Instead, he’ll govern by an “America First” doctrine focused on border security, deregulation, energy production, and strategic engagement with other nations.
To achieve that, he proposes a further expansion of presidential power and a reduction of the size and authority of the federal bureaucracy.
Trump’s sweep of all six battleground states and 86-vote margin in the Electoral College provides support for significant change, and initial signs indicate that he has governing momentum.
Yet there will be obstacles. Republicans hold a slim majority in both houses of Congress, which complicates Trump’s legislative agenda. And the ratio of Trump’s favorable-to-unfavorable ratings is an almost even split in an average of recent polls.
Even so, Trump’s dramatic and improbable comeback sets the stage for reshaping the executive branch of the federal government.
And it began with a campaign marked by a series of unprecedented events.
By Lawrence Wilson and Ivan Pentchoukov
