Second presidency of Donald Trump
Updated: Wikipedia source
Donald Trump's second and current tenure as the president of the United States began upon his inauguration as the 47th president on January 20, 2025. Trump, a member of the Republican Party, had previously served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021 and lost re-election to the Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, took office after defeating the Democratic incumbent vice president Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. Trump is the second former U.S. president to return to office. Alongside Trump's second presidency, the Republican Party also currently holds majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate during the 119th U.S. Congress following the 2024 elections, thereby attaining an overall federal government trifecta. During 2025, Trump signed 225 executive orders, the most of any president in a single year since Franklin D. Roosevelt. Many of these have been or are being challenged in court. His attempts to expand presidential power and conflict with the courts have been described as a defining characteristic of his second presidency. The Trump administration has taken action against law firms for challenging its policies. On immigration, Trump signed the Laken Riley Act into law, revived numerous immigration laws from his first presidency, attempted to restrict birthright citizenship, and initiated procedures for mass deportations, including nationwide raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In January 2025, Trump launched the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), with Elon Musk briefly overseeing it. DOGE was tasked with reducing federal spending and limiting bureaucracy, and it oversaw mass layoffs of civil servants along with efforts to dismantle government agencies such as the Agency for International Development. Trump has overseen a series of tariff increases and pauses, which has led to retaliatory tariffs from other countries. These tariff moves, particularly the "Liberation Day" tariffs, caused a brief stock market crash and subsequent market volatility. In international affairs, Trump has further strengthened U.S. relations with Israel. His administration increased support for Israel in the Gaza war and aided Israel in the June 2025 Iran–Israel war and carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. In early October, Trump's plan for a Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal between Israel and Hamas was signed. Amid the Russo-Ukrainian war that began in 2022, the Trump administration undertook multiple attempts at peace negotiations described as favoring Russia over Ukraine. Trump has authorized a series of lethal strikes on suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean Sea, whose legality is widely disputed under both U.S. and international law, and subsequently ordered a military operation to capture Venezuela's President, Nicolás Maduro. As in his first presidency, Trump initiated the withdrawal of the U.S. from the World Health Organization, the Paris Climate Accords, and UNESCO. In December 2025, the Trump administration achieved deals with 14 of the largest 17 pharmaceutical companies. The companies will provide Medicare recipients (senior citizens) the same prices on many prescription drugs as those in European countries (“Most Favored Nation” status). In return, these companies will receive tariff exemptions for three years. His second administration has been criticized for its targeting of political opponents and civil society. Many of his administration's actions have been found by judges to be illegal and unconstitutional, and have been criticized as authoritarian and contributing to democratic backsliding. Trump is the first president with a felony conviction. At 78 years old and seven months, he is the oldest person to become U.S. president. Following his electoral victories in 2016 and 2024, he is constitutionally ineligible from seeking further terms due to the Twenty-second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, although many of his associates have discussed the possibility of him running for a third term.