Trump plans series of executive orders for day 1, Susie Wiles tells donors

LAS VEGAS — Susie Wiles, the next White House chief of staff, privately told a group of Republican donors Monday that President-elect Donald Trump would move on his first day in office to reinstate several executive orders from Trump’s first term that President Joe Biden had revoked, according to two people in the room who insisted on anonymity to describe the closed-door remarks.

The comments by Wiles, a Florida political strategist who oversaw Trump’s winning campaign, were some of her first since he chose her last week as his chief of staff. She was speaking and answering questions in Las Vegas at a private, biannual meeting of the Rockbridge Network, a group of conservative donors co-founded by Vice President-elect JD Vance and that has strong representation from the tech industry.

It is common for presidents to immediately issue a series of executive orders upon taking office, and Wiles did not specify which orders from Trump’s first term would be reinstated. Some of the actions that Biden revoked included Trump’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization; his ban on entry to the country from several predominantly Muslim nations; and his exit from the Paris climate accord.

Wiles emphasized to the group that the window for Trump to revolutionize government was more like two years, rather than four. So being prepared on day one, she said, was crucial. It appeared to be an acknowledgment that most presidents face a difficult midterm election cycle after two years in office.

Transitions are long and short at the same time, Wiles said, according to one of the people in the room.

Wiles was the headliner of the three-day Rockbridge conference. She appeared Monday before a few hundred donors on a panel alongside some other top Trump campaign aides, including Chris LaCivita, the campaign’s co-manager; Meredith O’Rourke, its fundraising director; and Tony Fabrizio, the campaign’s top pollster. Other speakers were expected to include Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, according to a copy of the agenda seen by The New York Times.

The Rockbridge Network is led by some partners at the venture capital firm 1789 Capital, which invests in the so-called parallel economy — products and companies popular with conservative audiences. Donald Trump Jr. on Sunday evening told the crowd at Rockbridge that he was joining 1789 Capital as a partner, according to two people with knowledge of his remarks.

The younger Trump was asked by Chris Buskirk, the leader of Rockbridge and a co-founder of 1789 Capital, if he had plans to join his father’s administration. He told the crowd that he would instead be joining the firm, whose investments include Tucker Carlson’s media company, the people said.

Wiles and fellow aides also regaled some donors with stories from the campaign trail. At one point, she was asked how the campaign had responded to the first assassination attempt against Trump. She told the crowd that the campaign had frequently been targeted by hackers and had encountered threats regarding Trump’s plane.

Wiles said Trump had been more willing to present a softer, relaxed public image than during his previous campaigns, sharing photos of him playing golf or with his grandchildren, according to the other person in the room.

The gathering of the Rockbridge Network in Las Vegas was brimming with top Trump aides and donors. The group is likely to emerge as a major power center in Republican politics now that Vance will occupy the vice presidency.

Representatives for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Wiles also addressed one open question about Trump, who will be term-limited: Will he continue to hold rallies, despite not running for office anymore? The answer seemed to be yes.

Wiles, according to the people in the room, said Trump’s final rally of this campaign, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, “wasn’t the last Donald Trump rally, but it was the last Donald Trump campaign rally.”

The use of executive orders by presidents has increased in recent years as the country’s polarization has led to a Congress frozen with division and inaction. Faced with little opportunity to change laws, presidents have sought to push the limits of the power of their office.

Blocked by Republicans in 2013, then-President Barack Obama tried to reshape immigration policy by issuing executive orders to protect so-called Dreamers, who were brought to the United States illegally when they were young children. When Democrats in Congress frustrated Trump’s agenda, he turned frequently to executive orders, as did Biden.

Exercising the power of the Oval Office can have immediate results for a president looking to quickly show voters he is taking action. And they can be effective in accelerating a government bureaucracy that otherwise moves slowly to carry out the nation’s laws.

But governing by executive power has its limits. By their nature, they are not permanent and can be undone by a successor almost as easily as they were put in place. Trump unraveled many of Obama’s executive actions, and Biden did the same to Trump’s.

Presidential proclamations and orders are also more easily subject to attack in the legal system. Many of Trump’s orders were quickly challenged in court, held up for months or even years by judges who deemed them unlawful efforts to get around the will of Congress.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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