As
a
result
of
my
little
perch
here
at
Above
the
Law
(and
The
Daily
Beast),
I’m
obligated
to
pay
some
attention
to
politics.
A
couple
of
months
ago,
I
considered
writing
a
post
about
how
the
first
day
of
a
Kamala
Harris
presidency
would
have
differed
from
the
first
day
of
a
Donald
Trump
presidency.
I
never
wrote
that
piece
because
it
would
have
been
all
about
Trump.
On
Day
1,
Trump
would
obviously
do
many
things.
On
Day
1,
I
have
no
clue
what
Harris
would
have
done
—
other
than
not
being
Trump.
Perhaps
that
explains
why
Harris
lost
the
election.
Think
about
it.
What
would
Kamala
Harris
have
done
on
Day
1
as
president?
I,
at
least,
have
no
idea.
Harris
surely
would
have
rolled
out
some
policies
over
time,
but
I
can’t
identify
anything
that
was
likely
to
happen
on
Day
1.
Maybe
that
says
a
mouthful
about
Harris,
who
tried
to
hold
herself
out
as
the
candidate
of
change.
Now
think
about
Trump’s
first
day
in
office.
It’s
an
avalanche
of
likely
changes.
Put
aside
Trump’s
cabinet
picks.
Trump
wants
to
do
so
many
things
on
Day
1
that
I
bet
he’ll
actually
roll
those
announcements
out
over
time.
As
you’re
surely
beginning
to
remember
again,
Trump
wants
to
be
the
center
of
attention
every
day.
He’ll
get
more
attention
by
rolling
out
one
important
initiative
every
day
than
by
announcing
the
initiatives
all
at
once.
For
example,
if
Jack
Smith
has
not
already
dismissed
the
pending
federal
criminal
cases
against
Trump
—
one
in
D.C.
about
the
actions
Trump
took
on
January
6,
and
one
in
Florida
about
mishandling
classified
documents
—
Trump
will
dismiss
those
cases
immediately
on
January
20.
The
mere
pendency
of
those
cases
causes
Trump
to
incur
defense
costs
with
every
passing
minute.
Trump
hates
spending
money.
The
instant
Trump
gets
his
attorney
general
in
office,
that
new
attorney
general
will
cause
the
charges
to
be
dropped
and
will
dismiss
Jack
Smith
as
special
prosecutor.
On
Day
1,
Trump
will
also
pardon
at
least
some
of
the
January
6
criminal
defendants.
If
you
believe,
as
Trump
apparently
does,
that
folks
are
unfairly
spending
time
in
jail
because
they
were
improperly
convicted
of
crimes
committed
on
January
6,
2021,
then
each
extra
night
spent
in
a
jail
cell
is
an
affront
to
justice.
A
prompt
pardon,
springing
folks
from
jail,
is
the
way
to
remedy
this.
Pardons
can
be
issued
by
unilateral
presidential
action.
Trump
might
well
begin
to
issue
pardons
on
Day
1.
Trump
will
again
withdraw
from
the
Paris
Climate
Accords.
This
is
tit
for
tat:
Obama
entered
the
Paris
agreement;
Trump
withdrew
from
it;
Biden
re-entered
it.
Now
it’s
Trump’s
serve.
He’ll
withdraw
again,
proving
that
he
can
undo
his
predecessors’
actions.
Trump
will
issue
executive
orders
to
start
massive
deportations
of
undocumented
workers
on
Day
1.
Trump
has
promised
that
for
months.
This
can
be
started
by
executive
action,
requiring
no
other
consent.
So
Trump
will
do
this,
and
he’ll
do
it
promptly.
Trump
will
start
reducing
the
employment
protections
given
to
federal
civil
servants
on
Day
1.
Again,
Trump
has
promised
to
do
this.
Getting
rid
of
people
who
oppose
Trump’s
policies
is
important
to
achieving
Trump’s
goals.
And
he
can
start
this
process
without
legislative
action.
It’s
a
Day
1
issue.
On
his
first
day
in
office,
Trump
will
start
the
process
of
selling
out
Ukraine.
Trump
is
isolationist.
Trump
hates
Ukraine
because,
among
other
things,
Ukraine
was
involved
in
triggering
his
first
impeachment.
So
Trump
will
quickly
stop
sending
weapons
to
Ukraine
and
start
talking
to
Putin
about
how
to
end
the
war.
The
war
may
linger
for
a
little
while
because
Biden
is
now
accelerating
arms
exports
to
Ukraine
to
help
Ukraine
under
a
Trump
presidency,
and
Europe
will
keep
equipping
the
country
for
a
while.
But
Ukraine
is
basically
toast,
and
the
process
of
browning
and
buttering
will
begin
early
in
the
Trump
administration.
Trump
will
abandon
our
NATO
allies
on
Day
1.
Trump
has
threatened
to
do
this,
and
John
Bolton
(Trump’s
former
national
security
advisor)
says
it’s
a
certainty.
The
only
question
is
timing.
Actually
pulling
out
of
NATO
might
require
some
legislative
action
and
take
time.
But
kneecapping
NATO
is
easy
and
unilateral:
Trump
just
has
to
announce
that
the
United
States
is
no
longer
willing
to
help
defend
countries
that
don’t
contribute
enough
money
to
their
own
defense.
That
kind
of
statement
is
perfect
for
Trump
—
perhaps
the
countries
will,
in
fact,
ante
up
for
their
own
defense,
and
Trump
will
be
a
hero.
Or
perhaps
the
countries
won’t,
and
NATO
will
be
destroyed.
(It’s
essentially
impossible
to
defend
Germany,
but
not
Poland,
from
a
Russian
attack,
or
vice
versa.
If
we’re
not
providing
collective
security
to
NATO,
we’re
providing
no
security
at
all.)
Trump’s
mere
statement
will
(1)
put
the
spotlight
on
Trump,
which
he
craves,
and
(2)
tell
Putin
everything
he
needs
to
know
about,
for
example,
the
vulnerability
of
the
Baltic
states.
Something
that
attracts
the
press,
achieves
one
of
Trump’s
stated
policy
goals,
and
can
be
accomplished
single-handedly
by
the
president
is
perfect
for
a
Day
1
event.
Trump
will
also
immediately
sign
executive
orders
to
let
companies
start
drilling
for
more
oil.
“Drill,
baby,
drill”
has
been
a
campaign
promise,
and
Trump
can
start
keeping
that
promise
(and
attract
attention)
by
announcing
an
initiative
that
starts
the
process.
He
will.
The
list
goes
on,
and
on,
and
on.
My
point
is
not
really
that
these
ideas
are
good
or
bad.
My
point
isn’t
that
these
things
reflect
well
or
poorly
on
Trump.
My
point
is
not
that
I
agree
or
disagree
with
this
stuff.
Rather,
my
point
is
that
it’s
easy
to
see
how
things
will
change
in
a
Trump
administration.
The
words
come
tripping
off
the
tongue
and
popping
off
the
keyboard.
On
the
other
hand,
despite
having
given
a
fair
amount
of
thought
to
what
Harris
would
have
done
on
Day
1,
I
can’t
come
up
with
anything.
In
an
election
about
choosing
the
“change
candidate,”
perhaps
that
helps
to
explain
her
loss.
Mark Herrmann
spent
17
years
as
a
partner
at
a
leading
international
law
firm
and
later
oversaw
litigation,
compliance
and
employment
matters
at
a
large
international
company.
He
is
the
author
of
The
Curmudgeon’s
Guide
to
Practicing
Law and Drug
and
Device
Product
Liability
Litigation
Strategy (affiliate
links).
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected].