1. How many of former President Biden’s executive orders has President Trump reversed?
Mr. Trump has revoked 104 of the 162 executive orders Mr. Biden issued during his presidency, representing 62% of his predecessor’s executive actions. Just hours after taking office, Mr. Trump issued more than 80 executive orders dismantling Mr. Biden’s policies on immigration, climate, and diversity, equity and inclusion, and he has continued at this pace throughout his second term.
2. What major Biden policies has Mr. Trump left untouched?
Mr. Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the CHIPS and Science Act, which allocated $52.7 billion to boost U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, remain intact. Mr. Trump’s push to increase domestic manufacturing through steep tariffs on U.S. trading partners may actually bolster some of these Biden-era initiatives.
3. Is Mr. Trump’s reversal of Mr. Biden’s agenda personal or political?
While political strategist John Feehery says Mr. Trump is simply fulfilling campaign promises and isn’t making it personal, historian Craig Shirley argues the two men’s mutual dislike plays a role. Shirley notes that Mr. Trump didn’t reverse former President Barack Obama’s achievements as aggressively during his first term, pointing to the bad blood from the contested 2020 election, Mr. Biden’s “semi-fascists” speech, and the Justice Department’s four federal indictments against Mr. Trump.
SEE ALSO: Joe who? In one year, Trump wipes out much of Biden’s legacy; 62% of executive orders reversed
4. How does Mr. Trump’s erasure of Biden’s legacy compare historically?
Historian Craig Shirley says the last time a president went after his predecessor’s legacy with such intensity was Thomas Jefferson, who reversed nearly everything John Adams did and even released and paid reparations to newspaper editors Adams had imprisoned. Mr. Trump took a wrecking ball to Mr. Biden’s policies at a pace not seen by any other modern U.S. president.
5. How will Mr. Biden likely be remembered?
Presidential rhetoric expert Robert Rowland predicts Mr. Biden could be remembered like Herbert Hoover, decried by both parties for decades — Republicans because his presidency led to Mr. Trump’s election, and Democrats who view him as a failure for not dropping out sooner and avoiding his disastrous debate performance. Unlike other one-term presidents such as Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush, Mr. Biden’s advanced age and health issues likely won’t give him decades to reshape his post-presidency legacy.
Read more: Trump’s mission to erase all traces of the Biden presidency
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