In 2008, President Obama signed 19 executive orders in his first 100 days as president.
At the start of his second term, Donald Trump beat that number within 12 hours. At the rate he's going, he will pass 42 executive orders in Joe Biden's first 100 days in less than a week.
You've seen the headlines and tweets by now – and in fact, you've probably already forgotten some of them. DEI sectors have been shut down across the federal government, and workers have been abandoned indefinitely. The executive order ended birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants. America pulled out of the Paris Climate Accord and the World Health Organization. The new administration revived a push to beautify America's civic architecture. The Pride flag was pulled from the flagpole of the American embassy. JFK, RFK, and MLK assassination files are being released after being hidden for half a century. Troops went to the border and ice was unleashed to eliminate illegal immigrants from within.
And, of course, there is the January 6th pardon of politically persecuted patriots and pro-life activists imprisoned by the Biden administration.
I skipped a bunch. I had to because there's a lot going on. The new administration is preparing the most aggressive, ambitious, conservative administration in my lifetime or yours.
And Washington was completely unprepared.
Eight years ago, the opening days of President Trump's first term were a little shaky. The president himself says that even the most confident people in the world admit that things weren't perfect. Hundreds of key staffing positions had no candidates, many of whom were not aligned with MAGA's agenda. New arrivals struggled to understand how the government worked and what they needed to do to overcome a hostile bureaucracy. By the time the new government found its footing, the so-called “resistance” spun Russia disinformation as a way to paralyze it and steal momentum.
WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 22: President Donald J. Trump shakes hands with Charlie Kirk, Founder and Executive Director of Turning Point USA. House Complex Thursday, March 22, 2018, Washington, DC. (Photo by Javin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
But President Trump is a great politician and businessman for a reason. He saw what happened in the first trimester and when he completed his triumphant return this fall, he was ready.
President Trump's intense burst of activity doesn't just indicate more preparation and ambition than in his first term. That's a really great strategy and “shock and awe” applied to politics. By moving so quickly and quickly, President Trump effectively overwhelmed the media's ability to shape and direct the news cycle.
Consider this: On the night of January 21st, President Trump announced that he was repealing Executive Order 11246. That order dates back to the LBJ administration and mandated the use of affirmative action within companies receiving federal contracts with the federal government. . In reality, as Chris Caldwell records era of qualifications, jeremy carles unprotected class, And other books, that instruction became legal bedrock driving Required Racism in countless areas of American life. President Trump's order, which is wrong, abolishes federal affirmative action and invites America to the historic principle that all people should be judged on their individual merits.
It was bold and incredibly important – and the night it fell, It wasn't even the lead story on CNN's website. Instead, CNN stuck with Trump's J6 pardons. Meanwhile, papers like the New York Times and the Washington Post paid attention to Trump's immigration agenda. None of them were ready to react immediately if this order fell a few months from now.
The next day, the regime media had caught up enough to pay some attention to the order. . . Except by then, Trump was already attacking them with even bolder moves to change the American government. His affirmative action order was drowned out by troops deployed to the border, closure of DEI offices, ordering the release of the JFK files, and more.
Even with a 24-hour cable news station, there are still only 24 hours in a day. Legacy media still has some of the old power to set up stories, but there are limits to how many you can set up at once. They can tell you they're mad about the J6 amnesty. They can say they are angry about losing their birthright citizenship. They can try to manipulate you with sob stories about illegal aliens facing deportation. And yes, they can try to argue that banning racial discrimination in federal employment is “racist.” But as it turns out, it is very difficult for them to do all of them at once. And if they try, they are quickly blindsided by the next order, policy, or declaration from a regime that has learned the value of speed, energy, and being constantly under attack.
'Shock and awe' regime is here to stay.
Charlie Kirk is the founder and CEO of Turning Point Action and host of the top-ranked podcast and nationally syndicated radio show “”charlie kirk show.“
