Incoming press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Sunday that President-elect Donald Trump is going to get to work on Day 1 — and indeed, already is.
“President Trump is already acting as the president. He’s already taking steps to make real change for the American people,” Ms. Leavitt said on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”
“He will use the power of his pen to deliver on many of the promises he made to the American people on the campaign trail to secure our southern border, to fast-track permits for fracking, for drilling and to also take executive action to stop some of the transgender insanity that we have seen take over this country,” she said.
Ms. Leavitt predicted that “the American people are going to be pleased with what they see from President Trump within mere minutes of his return to the Oval Office.”
When asked about specific Day 1 executive orders regarding the border, Ms. Leavitt said “perhaps looking at Title 42.”
Title 42 allowed officials to turn migrants away from the United States due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was put in place during Mr. Trump’s first administration in 2020. President Biden tried to end its use in 2022, but it didn’t officially end until May 2023.
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The new administration will look at “legal executive action to immediately stop the surge of migrants that we have seen over our southern border. And on day one, President Trump is also going to launch the largest mass deportation of illegal criminals in American history,” Ms. Leavitt said.
“He can do that immediately by empowering federal and local law enforcement to work together to identify, to detain and to deport these illegal criminals that we know are roaming freely in our country,” she added.
Mr. Trump has often said that he will take care of the southern border quickly after taking over the White House. He has appointed people he knows who will help carry out his plans. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is his pick to run the Department of Homeland Security, though the position needs to be confirmed by the Senate.
He announced that Tom Homan will serve as his “border czar” to carry out the mass deportation plan. Mr. Homan was the acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during Mr. Trump’s first term.
In a Truth Social post announcing the appointment, he said Mr. Homan “will be in charge of all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin.”
He also tapped Stephen Miller, who advised Mr. Trump on some of his immigration policies during his first administration, as his deputy chief of staff for policy.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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