Trump Signs 12 Executive Orders In His First Week In Washington
WASHINGTON (CBSNewYork) -- In his first week in the White House, President Donald Trump has signed twice as many executive actions as President Barack Obama did in 2009.
He arrived in Washington as a man who had never held a goverment job.
"Donald Trump is perhaps the most far-outside outsider of anyone ever elected president in the history of the country," Allan Lichtman, of American University, said.
After taking the oath of office, Trump quickly transitioned to actions that only the president can make. In one of 12 executive orders, he withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific trade deal. Another directed the constriction of a wall along the border with Mexico.
Trump signed yet another executive action Friday night, suspending the nation's refugee program and temporarily banning those coming from countries tied to terrorism.
By comparison, Obama signed five executive orders in his first week and George W. Bush signed two.
"With Trump's executive orders, I think we see a strategy that has already proven very effective for him. That is -- he's going to act so quickly on so many fronts that his opposition is going to be in disarray, cant decide what to focus on," Aaron Renn, of the Manhattan Institute, said.
On Friday, Trump met with his first foreign leader, British Prime Minister Theresa May.
"We pledge our lasting support to this most special relationship," he said.
Also in week one, Trump met with union leaders, including Sean McGarvey, who endorsed Hillary Clinton.
"We probably just had the most incredible meeting of our careers," McGarvey said. "He's going to level the playing for construction workers and Americans across this country."
The first week drive to make good on campaign promises was not without a few bumps. Coverage of the inauguration crowd prompted the president to send out his spokesman to make a widely-ridiculed statement.
"This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said.
Trump also refused to move on from his belief that major voter fraud cost him the popular vote.
"You have people registered in two states -- New York, New Jersey. They vote twice," the president said.
His view has been rejected by Democrats and Republicans as bogus.
"That actually has a lot of impact. It's important for our goverment and our democracy that we have a White House that's saying things that are true," Oren Cass, a former adviser to Mitt Romney, said.
So how do his first seven days stack up?
"I don't really remember much about week one of either of those guys (Obama or Bush). Something tells me week one of Trump is going to be a very memorable week," Renn said.
I will be making my Supreme Court pick on Thursday of next week. Thank you! -DJT
— President Trump 45 Archived (@POTUS45) January 26, 2017
In true Trump fashion, he's already teasing week two with a tweet about his Supreme Court pick.