Trump busy even before ‘Day One’
He considers NAFTA, speaks with Netanyahu
President Trump, having declared post-inaugural Monday the true opening day of his new administration, spent Sunday pondering a string of executive orders on topics from immigration to Israel to the economy, including what he called a reworking of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Supervising the swearing-in of 30 new White House staff members, Trump said he will soon meet with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to discuss changes to NAFTA, the trade deal he claims has shipped U.S. jobs to those other countries.
Two days after his inauguration, Trump also spoke with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
One of the likely topics of the Trump-Netanyahu call: A possible plan to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Trump had pledged to do so during his campaign — bucking 20 years of precedent by Democratic and Republican presidents — although press secretary Sean Spicer said the White House was “at the very beginning stages of even discussing this subject.”
The Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1996 requires the president to move the embassy to Jerusalem unless he certifies every six months that it’s not in the national interest.
Every president since Bill Clinton has done so, including President Obama most recently last Dec. 1 — giving Trump until the end of May to make a formal decision.
Trump said his conversation with Netanyahu was “very nice,” but declined to elaborate.
Other executive actions will likely come Monday. Trump told Fox News last week that “Monday is really the day that we start signing and working and making great deals for the country.”
Expected executive orders in the coming days give Trump a chance to put his initial stamp on his administration, including plans to roll back chunks of President Obama’s agenda.
Trump and aides said orders are being designed to reverse Obama-backed restrictions on carbon emissions of energy production, as well as changes in immigration policy.
On Sunday, in his first public appearance in the East Room of the White House, Trump took on a more conventional tone.
“As I said in my inaugural address, this is not about party. It’s not about ideology. It’s about country, our country, and it’s about serving the American people,” he said. “We’re not here to help ourselves. We’re here to devote ourselves to the national good.”
“Monday is really the day that we start signing and working and making great deals for the country.” President Trump