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- President Trump is steering the federal government in a distinctly conservative direction.
- Upon entering office for his second term, he signed a slew of executive orders to achieve this goal.
- There are many key dates to look out for as the administration rolls out its agenda.
Roughly a month into his second term, President Donald Trump's sweeping agenda has started to take shape, with the president signing executive orders on everything from return-to-office mandates to tough immigration measures.
For weeks, the threat of tariffs loomed, and while Trump announced on February 1 that he'd enact them for imports from Canada and Mexico, the tariffs for both countries were paused on February 3 for at least 30 days.
Here's a look at some of the key dates for initiatives and plans put into place by the Trump administration:
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Shortly after the November general election, Trump vowed to impose 25% tariffs on imported goods from Canada and Mexico, two of the United States' leading trading partners.
Trump said both countries have allowed drugs and migrants to pour into the US, which ties squarely into the president's hard-line stance on immigration issues.
Trump also floated a 10% across-the-board tariff on Chinese goods.
On Feb. 1, the president followed through on his pledge, enacting the tariffs for all three countries.
As part of his executive orders, Canadian energy products would have a 10% tariff rate.
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Trump on Feb. 3 agreed to a 30-day pause on his administration's tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said they'd enact security plans at their respective borders with the US. Sheinbaum said she'd send 10,000 of her country's national guard troops to the border in an effort to stop the flow of fentanyl into the US. And Trudeau said that Canada would appoint a fentanyl czar and bolster intelligence-gathering efforts regarding the flow of illicit drugs, among other directives.
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Beijing on Feb. 4 responded to Trump's tariffs on China by imposing a 10 percent tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery, pickup trucks, and some large cars.
China is also targeting the US by imposing an additional 15 percent tariff on coal and natural gas.
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The Office of Personnel Management on Jan. 28 issued a letter offering all federal employees payouts and giving them a Feb. 6 deadline to accept the offer.
Federal employees who accepted the administration's offer by the deadline "will retain all pay and benefits regardless of your daily workload and will be exempted from all applicable in-person work requirements until September 30, 2025 (or earlier if you choose to accelerate your resignation for any reason)," the letter on the OPM's website read.
The buyout offer came as Trump has quickly sought to not only reduce the size of the federal workforce but also install loyalists in key positions within the government.
The Trump administration in February announced that roughly 77,000 federal workers accepted the offer.
On Feb. 12, a federal judge in Massachusetts ruled that the administration could proceed with its buyout offer after three federal employee unions filed a lawsuit on behalf of their members to halt the buyout program.
The administration then promptly closed the window for any additional federal employees to accept the offer.
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The first employment situation report under Trump's second term was released on Feb. 7, with the the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting that 143,000 jobs were created in January.
Since Trump's second term began on Jan. 20, the bulk of the report featured employment data from former President Joe Biden's last month in office.
In January 2025, the unemployment rate in the US sat at 4%, a slight decrease from the 4.1% unemployment rate recorded in December 2024.
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The Trump administration set the date of Feb. 7 for federal agencies to have plans for how they'll adhere to the president's return-to-work order for employees.
The implementation plans are expected to be vetted and approved by the Office of Personnel Management and Office of Management and Budget.
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The February jobs report, which will include Trump's first full month in office, will be released on March 7.
Trump ran on tamping down inflation and lowering food costs, as well as making the broader economy more prosperous for a wide swath of Americans. It'll still be incredibly early in Trump's term when the report is released, but the report could set the tone for how he messages his economic policies throughout the rest of the year.
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On Inauguration Day, Trump signed an executive order to end "illegal and immoral discrimination" Biden-era programs implemented to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Trump and many of his Republican allies have rallied against DEI initiatives. Their pressure campaign has begun to spill over into corporate America, with top companies like Target rolling back some diversity-focused efforts.
Some agencies have already put employees on paid leave. Officials are also submitting lists of names to the White House, Government Executive reported.
By late March, Trump's EO calls for each agency head to the maximum extent allowed by the law to carry out the terminations of covered positions and programs.
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Trump on Jan. 20 signed an executive order to pause the TikTok ban for 75 days, which would allow further efforts to find a US buyer for the highly popular social media platform.
The end of the 75-day period would be April 5, 2025.
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Trump fulfilled another campaign promise by taking the first step on February 3rd toward creating a US sovereign wealth fund.
His executive order gives the Treasury and Commerce secretaries 90 days to develop a plan for such a fund.
Billionaire investor Scott Bessent was confirmed to lead the Treasury Department in January. And Howard Lutnick, a billionaire businessman, was confirmed as Trump's commerce secretary in February.
Trump said such a fund could be used to buy TikTok.
There has been bipartisan agreement for a state-owned investment fund in the past. Biden's advisors previously explored the idea.
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Trump is pushing for Republicans to pass a massive reconciliation bill that would lower taxes, dramatically roll back green energy measures, and make cuts to safety net spending.
While cuts to Social Security or Medicare are very likely off limits in the plans, Democrats could find their political footing in critiquing whatever plan emerges from the GOP congressional leaders.
Republicans are divided in their approach to tackling Trump's legislative priorities.
House GOP leaders want to pass one big reconciliation bill that would allow for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and include roughly $300 billion in additional border and defense spending. However, Senate Republican leaders are aiming to pass a border security, military, and energy package first, with a second budget resolution focused on tax cuts to come later in 2025.
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Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has grand plans for the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, as it aims to cut at least $1 trillion in spending from the federal budget.
While DOGE is still in the earliest stages of its work, the commission isn't designed to be a permanent fixture of Washington.
When Musk and onetime co-lead Vivek Ramaswamy wrote about DOGE in a Wall Street Journal op-ed last year, they said the commission would be phased out next year — on July 4, 2026.
"There is no better birthday gift to our nation on its 250th anniversary than to deliver a federal government that would make our Founders proud," the two men wrote at the time.
