Honestly, it feels like a lifetime ago, but when you look back at the trump first term years, it’s a total whirlwind of policy shifts that fundamentally changed how D.C. operates. Whether you loved the "America First" energy or found it exhausting to keep up with the 3 a.m. tweets, there’s no denying the sheer volume of stuff that got done—or at least got started. From 2017 to early 2021, the vibe was basically "disruption as a service."
Most people remember the noise, but the actual mechanics of the administration were surprisingly focused on a few core pillars: taxes, judges, and trade. It wasn't just about the rallies. It was about a very specific vision of deregulation that aimed to strip away what the administration called "the administrative state."
The Economic Engine and the Tax Cut of 2017
Basically, the centerpiece of the whole first term was the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Trump signed this in December, and it was a massive deal. It slashed the corporate tax rate from 35% down to 21%. If you ask a Republican economist, they’ll tell you it was the fuel for the sub-4% unemployment rates we saw in 2018 and 2019. If you ask a critic, they’ll point to the $1.9 trillion it added to the national debt over a decade.
The growth was real, though. For a while there, the economy was humming. We saw the lowest unemployment rates for African Americans and Hispanic Americans in decades. Small business optimism hit record highs in 2018.
But then, 2020 happened.
The COVID-19 pandemic essentially slammed the brakes on everything. It's wild to think that in February 2020, unemployment was at a 50-year low of 3.5%, and by April, it had spiked to nearly 15%. The administration had to pivot hard, signing the CARES Act, which pumped roughly $2 trillion into the economy to keep things from totally collapsing. It was a weird, bipartisan moment in a term otherwise defined by deep divisions.
Changing the Face of the Courts
If you want to talk about the "legacy" of the trump first term years, you have to talk about the federal bench. This is arguably where the most permanent impact happened. With the help of Mitch McConnell in the Senate, Trump moved at lightning speed to fill vacancies.
- Neil Gorsuch (2017): Filled the seat left by Antonin Scalia.
- Brett Kavanaugh (2018): A high-drama confirmation that replaced the "swing vote," Anthony Kennedy.
- Amy Coney Barrett (2020): Confirmed just weeks before the 2020 election following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Beyond the Supreme Court, he appointed over 200 federal judges. That’s a massive number. These are lifetime appointments. They’re currently deciding cases on everything from environmental regulations to reproductive rights. It’s the kind of change that lasts 30 or 40 years, not just four.
Trade Wars and Global Realignment
Trump’s foreign policy was... different. He basically walked away from the traditional "global leader" playbook. One of his first moves was pulling out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). He called it a disaster for American workers.
Then came the trade war with China.
It was a series of "tit-for-tat" tariffs that made everyone from farmers in Iowa to tech companies in Silicon Valley pretty nervous. The goal was to force China to stop intellectual property theft and buy more American goods. We eventually got the "Phase One" deal, but the tensions never really went away.
Closer to home, he scrapped NAFTA and replaced it with the USMCA. It wasn't a total ground-up rewrite, but it added new rules for auto manufacturing and digital trade. It was a "win" he could point to as proof that he was looking out for the "forgotten man."
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Immigration and the Border Shift
Immigration was the cornerstone of the 2016 campaign, and it stayed front and center during the trump first term years. It started with the "Travel Ban" executive orders, which faced immediate legal challenges but were eventually upheld in a modified form by the Supreme Court.
Then there was the wall.
The fight over border wall funding actually led to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history—35 days between late 2018 and early 2019. Eventually, the administration diverted funds from the Pentagon to keep construction moving. Policies like "Remain in Mexico" (officially the Migrant Protection Protocols) fundamentally changed how asylum seekers were handled, forcing them to wait outside the U.S. while their cases were processed.
Deregulation: The Quiet Revolution
While the headlines were about the wall or the tweets, the EPA and other agencies were busy cutting rules. The administration moved to repeal the Clean Power Plan and the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule. They argued these rules were "job killers" that made it too hard for farmers and energy companies to operate.
Basically, the philosophy was: if a regulation costs money and doesn't have a 100% proven immediate benefit, it should probably go. This led to the U.S. withdrawing from the Paris Agreement on climate change, a move that signaled a total departure from international environmental cooperation.
What People Often Get Wrong
There’s this idea that nothing happened because of the "chaos." Honestly, that's not true. Whether you liked the policies or not, the administration was incredibly effective at using executive power. They didn't need Congress for everything. By using the Congressional Review Act and executive orders, they dismantled hundreds of Obama-era rules in the first 100 days alone.
Another misconception is that the "America First" policy meant total isolation. It was more like "transactionalism." The Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and several Arab nations (UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, Morocco), were a huge diplomatic shift that didn't involve the old-school "peace process" mechanics. It was about business and shared security interests against Iran.
The Actionable Takeaway: Why This Still Matters
Understanding the trump first term years isn't just a history lesson. It's a blueprint for how modern populism interacts with the federal government.
If you’re looking to understand the current political landscape, here are three things to watch:
- The Judicial Ripple Effect: Look at current court rulings. Many of the most consequential decisions coming out of the circuit courts today are being written by Trump appointees.
- Trade Precedents: Notice how both parties have moved toward a more protectionist stance on China. The "free trade" era of the 90s is basically over, and that shift started in earnest during 2017-2021.
- Executive Authority: The use of executive orders to bypass a stalled Congress has become the new "normal" for both sides of the aisle.
The first term was a massive experiment in "un-governing" certain parts of the federal system while aggressively leaning into others. It changed the GOP, it changed the courts, and it definitely changed how the world looks at the United States.
Practical Next Steps for Researchers
- Review the Federal Register: If you want to see the actual impact of deregulation, look at the number of pages removed between 2017 and 2019 compared to previous administrations.
- Track Judicial Outcomes: Follow the "shadow docket" and major appellate rulings to see how the 200+ judicial appointments are currently shaping law.
- Analyze Trade Data: Compare U.S. manufacturing job growth in the "Rust Belt" from 2016 to 2019 against the 2012-2015 period to see the localized effects of the trade shifts.