If Trump is Re-elected

 

Here's what Donald Trump plans to do if he returns to the White House.

1. Crack down on illegal immigration to an extreme degree

Trump has reiterated his pledge to deport millions of undocumented immigrants and implement stricter immigration policies, including mass deportation operations.

Trump has explicitly stated he wants to model his deportation efforts after the controversial "Operation Wetback" program from the Eisenhower era in the 1950s, which aimed to deport hundreds of thousands of Mexican immigrants.

Trump aims to vastly expand the use of "expedited removal", which allows for rapid deportations without court hearings. His previous administration expanded it beyond just those caught within 100 miles of the border.

Trump's team has said there will be renewed attempts to conduct broad raids targeting workplaces, public areas, and communities to detain undocumented immigrants indiscriminately, not focusing on specific individuals.

Trump's campaign has proposed "deputizing the National Guard and local law enforcement" to assist with carrying out these mass deportation operations, especially in jurisdictions willing to cooperate.

In an interview with Time magazine, Trump stated his goal is to deport between 15-20 million undocumented immigrants, though estimates suggest the actual undocumented population is likely lower. 

Forcibly removing millions of people from their homes and communities carries major risks of provoking civil disobedience, protests, and unrest, especially if heavy-handed tactics like workplace raids and detention camps are employed.

2. Use the Justice Department to prosecute his adversaries

Wielding Executive Power
Trump plans to assert more White House control over the Justice Department, potentially using it to pursue political enemies and critics. He also aims to reclassify tens of thousands of career civil service positions as political appointments, replacing them with loyalists.

Trump's allies are devising plans to fill the Justice Department with staunch conservatives who will adhere to controversial orders from the White House. This could involve firing current officials and appointing loyalists to key positions like Attorney General.

They aim to restructure the department to concentrate decision-making power in the hands of Trump loyalists rather than career officials and bureaucrats. This could limit the independence of offices like the FBI's general counsel and force the FBI and others to rely on Trump's political appointees for guidance.

3. Increase presidential power

Transforming the Federal Workforce
Trump intends to conduct a purge of the federal workforce, removing individuals perceived as disloyal and replacing them with his supporters. This includes plans to revive and expand his previous "Schedule F" executive order that sought to reclassify tens of thousands of federal employees in policy roles as "at-will" workers who can be fired without cause.

A new rule proposed by the Biden administration aims to block Schedule F by clarifying that civil service protections cannot be stripped from career employees regardless of their roles or titles. However, a future Trump administration could try to draft new personnel rules making it easier to fire perceived "disloyal" civil servants by reclassifying their positions as political appointments.

Groups like the Heritage Foundation's "Project 2025" have plans to vet and potentially remove many career federal workers, replacing them with conservative hires aligned with Trump's agenda.

So in essence, Trump's team is preparing to reshape the Justice Department through aggressive personnel changes, restructuring its chain-of-command, and curtailing internal oversight - while also making it easier to remove and replace perceived "deep state" civil servants with political loyalists across the federal workforce.

Weakening Institutional Guardrails
Trump's agenda includes weakening or co-opting rival power centers like Congress, the courts, and state/local governments that could constrain his authority.

Trumps team suggests they will issue an executive order extending the president's authority under Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to the Secretary of Homeland Security. This would allow expelling migrants without following normal rule-making procedures like public notice and comment periods, bypassing Congressional oversight.

Trump aims to continue remaking the federal judiciary by nominating conservative judges aligned with his agenda, continuing his efforts from his first term to shift the ideological balance of the courts.

Trump has repeatedly attacked judges who rule against his policies as "activist" and threatened to remove them, potentially seeking to intimidate the judiciary

Trump plans to "deputize the National Guard and local law enforcement" to assist with deportation operations, even in jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with such efforts

4. Aggressively expand his first-term efforts to upend America’s trade policies

Trump plans to sharply expand his use of tariffs in an effort to steer the country away from integration with the global economy and to increase American manufacturing jobs and wages

5.  Retreat from military engagement with Europe

Trump has long made clear that he sees NATO, the country’s most important military alliance, not as a force multiplier with allies but as a drain on American resources by freeloaders

Trump could revive previous plans to withdraw thousands of U.S. troops from Germany and relocate some forces out of Europe

6. Use military force in Mexico and on American soil

Public Safety and Law Enforcement
Trump intends to send the National Guard to cities struggling with violence, empower local police to use controversial measures like stop-and-frisk, and potentially allow police to shoot suspected shoplifters. He also plans to pursue the death penalty for drug smugglers and human traffickers.