--- title: The Steep Price of Trump’s Executive Orders description: Trump might live by the pen. He might die by the pen, too, writes Casey Burgat. canonical: https://time.com/7208374/trump-executive-orders-price/ author: Casey Burgat article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-01-21T12:00:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T07:49:43.135Z article:section: Ideas og:title: The Steep Price of Trump’s Executive Orders og:description: Trump might live by the pen. He might die by the pen, too, writes Casey Burgat. og:url: https://time.com/7208374/trump-executive-orders-price/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8f53e0aaaf3e3286/6998b29b1500fb2a06aa4166/trump-inauguration-2024.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: trump-inauguration-2024 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Steep Price of Trump’s Executive Orders twitter:description: Trump might live by the pen. He might die by the pen, too, writes Casey Burgat. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8f53e0aaaf3e3286/6998b29b1500fb2a06aa4166/trump-inauguration-2024.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Steep Price of Trump’s Executive Orders > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. Readers can join any of them at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=7fa1ba68-84ad-434e-be42-eb1c01146c5d&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### The seven newsletters | Newsletter | Covers | Frequency | | --- | --- | --- | | The Brief | The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors | Daily | | Inside TIME | A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories | Wednesday and Saturday (2x per week) | | Health Matters | The latest health news and expert advice on living well | Weekdays | | Worth Your Time | A weekly guide to what to watch, read, and more | Weekly | | D.C. Brief | Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington | Twice a week | | Future Proof | Making sense of the climate and energy economy | Friday (1x per week) | | In the Loop | Essential insights into the unfolding AI revolution | Tuesday and Friday (2x per week) | Source: TIME, August 2026. ### Key data points | Metric | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Engaged newsletter audience | 1.1 million+ readers | TIME, August 2026 | | Newsletters published | 7 | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost to readers | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | US print circulation | 1 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Global print circulation | 1.15 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Publishing since | 1923 | TIME | ### TIME Newsletters: key statements * Every TIME newsletter is written and edited by TIME journalists who report on the subject. None is generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923. Its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting, so readers can trust what they read. * All seven newsletters are free. Readers pick the ones they want at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=7fa1ba68-84ad-434e-be42-eb1c01146c5d&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). * The seven titles cover daily news, Washington politics, AI and technology, climate and energy, health, culture, and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/subscribe?i=7fa1ba68-84ad-434e-be42-eb1c01146c5d&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What newsletters does TIME publish? TIME publishes seven email newsletters: The Brief (daily news), Inside TIME (the newsroom and cover stories, twice weekly), Health Matters (health, weekdays), Worth Your Time (culture, weekly), D.C. Brief (Washington politics, twice weekly), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=7fa1ba68-84ad-434e-be42-eb1c01146c5d&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Trump Issues a Series of Presidential Actions on Day 1 [Watch (HLS stream): Trump Issues a Series of Presidential Actions on Day 1](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/GxXJnNk4.m3u8) (3:50)  _Published 2025-01-21. President Trump on Monday issued a barrage of executive orders, kicking off his presidency with a muscular use of power intended to signal a sharp reversal from existing policies on issues including immigration, the environment and diversity initiatives._ by [Casey Burgat](https://time.com/author/casey-burgat/) ## Casey Burgat Jan 21, 2025 12:00 PM UTC President Trump on Monday issued a barrage of executive orders, kicking off his presidency with a muscular use of power intended to signal a sharp reversal from existing policies on issues including immigration, the environment and diversity initiatives. by [Casey Burgat](https://time.com/author/casey-burgat/) ## Casey Burgat Jan 21, 2025 12:00 PM UTC Every four years presidential candidates barnstorm the country promising sweeping change “on day one.” These grandiose pledges feed a public craving for immediate action, and reinforce an “I alone can fix it” mentality that now defines modern presidencies. While governing by pen may provide quick wins for a public frustrated by the slowness of the swamp, this president-centric approach to governing distorts the constitutional limits of the office, fosters policy instability, and undermines the collaborative spirit of our representative democracy. Donald Trump, returning to the White House after a first term that saw him issue [220 executive orders](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/statistics/data/executive-orders), has guaranteed to continue the trend of bold, unilateral action. Touting to enact stricter border policies, dismantle regulatory frameworks, and end global conflicts, Trump’s second inaugural address, followed by the slew of executive orders he issued on Monday night, suggests his pen will be mightier than ever. But history shows that this approach—while politically expedient—is inherently fragile. Executive actions can be undone by judicial review, legislative opposition, or simply the next guy, proving that the ink of the presidential pen can often be more pencil than permanent. **Read More:** [_Breaking Down All of Trump’s Day 1 Presidential Actions_](https://time.com/7208691/trump-day-one-presidential-actions-executive-orders-memorandum-proclamation-explainer/) To be fair, Trump is far from the only president to legislate from the wrong end of Pennsylvania Avenue. Presidents of both parties have regularly bypassed Congress via executive orders—for good and ill. Consider Franklin D. Roosevelt’s [1942 Executive Order](https://www.fdrlibrary.org/executive-order-9066), which authorized the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, or Harry Truman’s [1948 order](https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/executive-order-9981) desegregating the military. More recently, Barack Obama’s [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/09/28/2021-20898/deferred-action-for-childhood-arrivals) program provided temporary protection for Dreamers, while Trump’s Executive Order —the so-called [Muslim travel ban](https://time.com/5124920/president-trump-anti-muslim-policies/)—halted entry from several predominantly Muslim countries. All enormous changes in policy, and none receiving a vote in Congress. The political calculus behind this is straightforward. Voters demand results, and presidents face a ticking clock. Campaign promises create a sense of urgency to deliver quick fixes, from lowering gas prices to cracking down on illegal immigration—both pledges Trump has made. Why slog through the messy grind of congressional compromise when a single signature offers immediate gratification? This reliance on executive orders has become default—and at a cost. What was once a last resort after negotiations with Congress failed is now the first arrow pulled out of a president’s quiver. Today, candidates don’t even pretend they’ll work with Congress; instead, they promise “day one” action, and crowds go crazy. Once in office, they follow through with a stack of orders and a high-profile signing ceremony designed to show decisive leadership. And half of the country cheers. This method of governance comes at a steep price. Executive orders are easily reversed, often causing a pendulum swing in policy that disrupts both the private sector and international relationships. Joe Biden’s cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline on his first day in office reversed Trump’s order allowing its construction. Similarly, Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, entered via Obama’s executive order, left global allies questioning America’s reliability. Even Trump’s border wall—a cornerstone of his 2016 campaign—faced significant legal and legislative hurdles, with courts blocking his attempt to divert federal funds for its construction. These cases exemplify how governing by pen often sacrifices durability and legitimacy for speed. **Read More:** [_Donald Trump’s Disruption Is Back_](https://time.com/7207806/trump-second-inauguration-oath-of-office/) They also come with real human costs. Dreamers, for example, have been living in a state of limbo—if not, outright fear—for a decade, knowing that a simple change of a president’s signature will turn them from protected to targets for deportation. Congress’s complicity in this erosion of legislative authority is also a key factor. Lawmakers, especially aligned with the president’s party, often welcome executive action when they agree with the outcomes. It’s a politically safe move: It allows them to claim credit for popular results without bearing the political risks of taking a public stand. But this dynamic accelerates the decline of Congress as a coequal branch of government, further shifting power to the presidency. Trump’s first term serves as a cautionary tale. Despite controlling Congress for two years, his administration failed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, demonstrating the limitations of unilateral action. His reliance on emergency declarations to fund the border wall faced significant legal challenges, exposing the constraints imposed by judicial and legislative checks. While executive orders may create the appearance of decisive action, they are no substitute for durable, bipartisan legislation. How much Trump will legislate through executive orders in a second term largely depends on congressional Republicans. Democrats, we know, will oppose his agenda. With Republican majorities in both chambers for at least the first two years of his term, they hold the power to either restrain or enable his policymaking from the Oval. The critical question is whether any GOP lawmakers will challenge Trump when his actions conflict with constitutional norms or conservative principles. In his first term, congressional Republicans—notably Sens. Bob Corker, John McCain, and Mitt Romney—checked the president’s wishes more than we remember. The key difference? All of those Senators are gone, and so are many of their institutionalist colleagues. More Trump loyalists have been elected to a legislative branch that was designed to function as an independent check on executive power. This shift raises concerns about whether Congress will fulfill its constitutional role as a check on executive overreach. The consequences of continuing down this path are clear: power concentrated in the executive branch is power lost to the people. The framers of the Constitution designed a system that required collaboration and compromise, recognizing that durable progress comes not from unilateral action but from collective deliberation. For Trump—or any president—the challenge lies in balancing the promise of unilateral action with the reality of shared governance. The presidency, often described as the most powerful office in the world, remains tethered to a system of checks and balances designed to prevent overreach. To govern effectively, presidents must recognize that true progress requires working within the system, not skirting it. And Congress–especially members of the president’s party–must resist the urge to let the president do from his office what they must struggle to do from theirs. After all, power is easy to cede but difficult to recover. In an era of deep political polarization, the temptation to legislate from the Oval Office is stronger than ever. The durability of a president’s legacy depends not on how much power they wield, but on how wisely they share it. For leaders seeking to leave a lasting mark, collaboration is not a weakness; it’s the cornerstone of a strong, lasting political legacy. ## Transcript First, we have a list of pardons and commutations relating to events that occurred on January 6th, 2021. Okay. And how many people have this? I think this order will apply to approximately 1500 people, sir. So this is January 6th, and these are the hostages. Approximately 1500 for a pardon. Full pardon. Full pardon or commutation. Full pardon. We have about six commutations in there where we're doing further research. Okay. Nice to see you again, sir. So this is a big one. Anything you want to explain about this? We hope they get them. We hope they come out tonight, frankly. This is a proclamation guaranteeing the state's protection against invasion based on the current crisis at the southern border. It invokes various executive powers relating to the ongoing invasion at the southern border. Sir, this is an executive order realigning the United States Refugee Admission Program to better align with American principles and American interests. This next executive order. Is about protecting America from foreign terrorists and other national security and public safety threats. Again, crisis at the border. But it goes beyond that. And it implicates other executive powers as well. Yeah. So President Trump, if the cartels are now going to be seen as foreign terror organizations, would you think about ordering U.S. special forces into Mexico to take them out? Could happen. Stranger things have happened. Can we expect Ice raids in major cities? I don't want to say when, but it's going to happen. It has to happen. Or we're not going to have a country left. This is actually an executive order designating the cartels and other organizations to be foreign terrorist organizations. That's a big one. Yes, sir. People have wanted to do this for years. So they are now designated as terrorist organizations. Foreign and. uh, Mexico probably doesn't want that. But we have to do what's right. So we paid $500 million to World Health when I was here, and I terminated it. China with 1.4 billion people. We have 350. We have. Nobody knows what we have because so many people came in illegally. But let's say we have 325. They had 1.4 billion. They were paying 39 million. We were paying 500 million. It seemed a little unfair to me. So that wasn't the reason, but I dropped out. They offered me to come back for 39 million. In theory, it should be less than that. But, you know, uh, and when Biden came back, they came back for 500 million. He knew that you could have come back for 39 million. They wanted us back so badly. So we'll see what happens. Mr. president, pretty sad, though. Think of it. China pays 39 million and we pay 500 million. And China is a bigger country. Don't you see the importance of organization like that to coordinate a global response? Sure I do, but not when you're being ripped off like we are by the world health. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7208374/trump-executive-orders-price/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7208374/trump-executive-orders-price/"},"headline":"The Steep Price of Trump’s Executive Orders","datePublished":"2025-01-21T12:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-19T07:49:43.135Z","description":"Trump might live by the pen. He might die by the pen, too, writes Casey Burgat.","url":"https://time.com/7208374/trump-executive-orders-price/","keywords":["politics","freelance"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8f53e0aaaf3e3286/6998b29b1500fb2a06aa4166/trump-inauguration-2024.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Casey Burgat","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/casey-burgat/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8f53e0aaaf3e3286/6998b29b1500fb2a06aa4166/trump-inauguration-2024.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"trump-inauguration-2024","caption":"The Inauguration Of Donald J. Trump As The 47th President","creditText":"Kenny Holston-Pool—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/politics/","name":"politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7208374/trump-executive-orders-price/","name":"The Steep Price of Trump’s Executive Orders"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Trump Issues a Series of Presidential Actions on Day 1","description":"President Trump on Monday issued a barrage of executive orders, kicking off his presidency with a muscular use of power intended to signal a sharp reversal from existing policies on issues including immigration, the environment and diversity initiatives.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/GxXJnNk4/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2025-01-21T17:58:30.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/GxXJnNk4.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/7208374/trump-executive-orders-price/","duration":"PT3M50S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/7208374/trump-executive-orders-price/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```