Trump’s whirlwind first year back in the White House

Donald Trump returned to the White House with a markedly aggressive tempo, pushing a broad domestic agenda that his aides described as sprinting out of the gate. On his first day, the administration pulled the United States out of the Paris climate agreement, froze all foreign aid, suspended refugee admissions, and granted clemency to more than 1,500 people charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Within a month, the team fired 17 inspectors general, allowed immigration agents to arrest people inside courthouses, taunted Denmark about handing over Greenland, announced steep tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and said the U.S. should “own” the Gaza Strip. Within two months, he had deported Venezuelan men to a notorious prison in El Salvador, declared English the country’s official language, and publicly rebuked Ukraine’s president in the Oval Office as cameras rolled as witnesses to the drama. It was a pace few presidents match, and a sign of how hard his allies would push to keep momentum despite courtroom blocks and ongoing investigations.

As the administration pressed ahead, the fightlines widened. By the end of the second month, the White House said it was firing up a broader immigration offensive: deportations of Venezuelan migrants continued in earnest, and the administration began to move to end Biden-era programs that allowed migrants to request asylum and to revoke temporary protected status for more than 675,000 people living in the United States. Officials said they would mobilize Border Patrol and ICE agents, and they deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Memphis, arguing the measure was about public safety and border control. Daily life for migrants in communities across the country was upended, and border crossings at points of entry plummeted.

In parallel, the White House pursued a revised economic strategy. After a year of trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the administration shifted toward tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy wrapped with a laundry list of other agenda items, including ending wind and solar subsidies and massively expanding funding for border and immigration enforcement. In July, Trump signed what aides called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law, a package that included a substantial immigration component and a broad transformation of the fiscal landscape. The administration announced more than $170 billion in funding tied to the immigration agenda, a cornerstone of the broader effort to reshape domestic policy. The shift coincided with moves to shut down a Biden-era asylum program and revoke temporary protected status for hundreds of thousands of people already living in the United States. Supporters argued the policies were needed to restore order on the border and in the labor market, while critics warned of the social and economic costs.

Trump also aimed to broaden his leverage on the world stage. He pressed European allies to bolster defense spending and to finance weapons shipments used in support of Ukraine’s defense, and he waged a campaign against Iran and its nuclear program, while escalating actions against drug-smuggling operations abroad. He declared an end to an aerial war between Israel and Iran, and he persuaded Middle East states to back his cease-fire plan for Gaza, which demanded Hamas return the remaining hostages taken during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. In other foreign-policy moves, he claimed tariff threats helped avert conflicts when India and Pakistan clashed and argued that tariffs helped politicians and peacekeepers alike by creating economic pressure and leverage.

As the year wore on, Trump kept a steady drumbeat of controversial actions at home and abroad. He publicly signaled a determination to pursue rivals and critics, telling supporters on the campaign trail in 2024 that the second term would be used to “get revenge” on enemies and allies alike. He also targeted perceived opponents within the federal government and the political sphere, directing attention toward former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, as well as certain law firms that had worked with critics. The moves fed charges that his administration was beset by corruption and political retribution, even as some business and political allies argued that the sheer volume of actions represented a record pace of governance.

Analysts describe the year as a study in tempo over patience. Whit Ayres, a longtime Republican strategist, said Trump had taken more actions and generated more news than any other president in a single year, but cautioned that the headlines did not always translate into lasting policy wins. Polls reflected a mixed public reception: Trump began the year with a 47% approval rating in Gallup surveys, but his support slipped toward the low-to-mid 40s as the year progressed, even as some GOP voters credited the administration with reducing illegal border crossings and achieving foreign-policy wins by pressuring allies to lift defense spending. Other policies—such as European defense spending and the Gaza cease-fire outcome—found broad support among some voters, while the controversies surrounding the administration and its personal and legal entanglements dragged on.

The year also featured a broad public demonstration of political polarization. Millions took part in anti-Trump protests in major cities during the summer, and off-cycle elections in states such as New Jersey and Virginia were unfavorable for Republicans, with many voters who supported Trump in 2024 backing Democrats who promised more to address rising prices and to push back against what they described as chaotic leadership. With 2026 midterms looming, Republicans signaled they would prioritize addressing the economy and the cost of living to regain momentum, while Trump and his allies sought to reinvent their approach to public sentiment and policy in the face of persistent questions about governance and durability of his agenda.

Looking ahead, analysts say the coming year could hinge on whether the administration can translate the year’s aggressive push into tangible improvements for voters—particularly on prices and household costs—without conceding ground on the questions that defined much of the year: the controversy surrounding his leadership style, the political fights over immigration, and the ongoing legal and ethical debates surrounding his operations.