Day one to-do list What a promised flurry of executive orders could mean

In the grand theatre of US politics, presidential inaugurations typically follow a familiar script: the oath of office, the speech, a few carefully chosen executive orders to satisfy campaign promises.

- Joseph Gedeon

But as Donald Trump returns to the White House today, he is promising to tear up the traditional playbook. The more than 100 executive orders he has reportedly prepared represent an attempt to reshape American governance through sheer executive will. Here are some of his day one pledges and what they could mean.

Trump has vowed to launch "the largest deportation programme in American history" immediately upon taking office.

The scope is staggering: with an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers in the US, including roughly 500,000 with criminal records, this would dwarf the Obama administration's record of 430,000 deportations in 2013.

Trump plans to declare a national emergency at the border. He explained at a campaign event in October that he could look to do that by using Title 42, which would trigger public health emergency powers similar to ones used during the pandemic to ban people from entering or staying in the country.

This approach faces a significant hurdle: only the US Centers for Disease Control can declare such emergencies.

Perhaps Trump's most economically significant day one promise is the pledge to impose a 25% tariff on all Canadian and Mexican imports. This would affect America's two largest trading partners and could reshape North American commerce.

Canada has vowed to respond to the tariffs, and Mexico suggested it would do the same. The last time Washington imposed tariffs of this magnitude was 1930's Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, which economists widely credit with deepening the Great Depression.

Trump has not just promised pardons - he has specified a timeline, saying he will begin reviewing cases in "maybe the first nine minutes" of his presidency.

With more than 1,580 people charged and 1,270 convicted, this could represent one of the largest mass pardons in US history.