Day Two: And the business goes on
Day Two and Donald J. Trump shows no sign of slowing down.
The man who promised to shake things up when he got to Washington, who pledged at the start of his inaugural address that “we will get the job done,” has hit the ground running with a whirlwind of activity, executive orders and meetings.
And if there have also been elements of circus and farce, there can be no denying that matters have been shaken and stirred in Washington, if not globally.
Monday saw the shredding of the Trans- Pacific Partnership accord and a major signal that NAFTA will be renegotiated. There was a hiring f reeze and movement on immigration, a border tax and a phone call to the Egyptian president.
Tuesday morning saw Trump meeting with auto executives for breakfast at the White House where he told them he was personally “to a large extent an environmentalist” but that regulations were hampering the economy.
“Our friends that want to build in the United States, they go many, many years and then they can’t get the environmental permit over something that nobody ever heard of before,” he said. “And it’s absolutely crazy.
“I believe in it,” Trump said of protecting the environment, “but it’s out of control”.
Later he signed executive actions to push ahead with two controversial oil pipelines. The announcement that the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipeline projects would move forward was met with horror from environmental activists, who counted the stalling of construction on both projects under the Obama administration as a victory.
Protesters had gathered for months at the Standing Rock Indian reservation in North Dakota to protest against the Dakota pipeline, with environmental activists joining Native Americans who said the pipeline would desecrate sacred lands. Federal officials denied the permits needed to complete the project in December.
Trump said that the projects would bring “a lot of jobs,” particularly because he would insist that the pipelines be built with U. S.-made steel.
Trump also signed another order to expedite environmental reviews to allow for prompt approvals on construction projects. “We can’t be in an environmental process for 15 years if a bridge is going to be falling down or a highway is crumbling,” he said.
Trump criticized environmental regulations during the presidential campaign. He has more recently emphasized the importance of keeping America’s water and air clean, but wants to ramp up oil production.
Trump also plans to scrap Barack Obama’s landmark move in 2015 to cap greenhouse gas emissions.
He also reportedly banned all employees of the Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA) from discussing their work on social media or with the press as he seeks to unwind steps taken by Obama on the environment.
The apparent gag order on the EPA was perhaps the most surprising step taken Tuesday, and came after Trump nominated Scott Pruitt, a prominent opponent of environmental regulations, to run the agency.
Meanwhile, Sean Spicer, the White House Press secretary, expanded on Trump’s statements that he believed three to five million illegal immigrants had cast fraudulent votes during the election, denying him the popular vote. “The president does believe there was voter fraud,” he said. “He continues to maintain that belief based on studies and evidence presented to him.”
Election officials have not reported any cases of widespread fraud.