Trump’s Second Term Begins With Lies, Lawbreaking, and Broken Promises—And It’s Only Day One

There are three things that even enemies of Donald Trump must admit: 1) he’s consistent; 2) He keeps his word, even if it means breaking the law; and 3) he lies.

Breaking The Law

Thus far, during his first day in office—actually less than a full day on January 20—the fabricator-in-chief signed an unlawful executive order to prohibit birthright citizenship, even though it is constitutionally protected (you can look it up; it’s the 14th Amendment to the Constitution). He also threw out jury verdicts against 1,600 lawbreakers, including individuals convicted by a jury of assaulting more than 100 police officers, despite previously stating during the presidential campaign that “we’ll take one case at a time,” and despite Vice President JD Vance declaring that “people responsible for the violence during the Capitol riot obviously should not be pardoned.”

As The Wall Street Journal noted in a January 22 editorial, Trump also “effectively suspended a law requiring TikTok to divest from its Chinese owner ByteDance by January 19,” even though he had sworn as president to uphold the laws passed by Congress—“a co-equal branch of government, not a subsidiary of the President.” The law requiring ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, to divest its interest in the app by January 19 or face a nationwide ban was unanimously upheld by the Supreme Court on January 17.

The Wall Street Journal editorial on TikTok was titled “Trump Gives TikTok an Illegal Amnesty” and concluded, “…Mr. Trump’s TikTok order shows a Biden-like disdain for limits on his power that doesn’t bode well for the next four years.”

The same day, another Wall Street Journal editorial, titled “Trump Pardons the January 6 Cop Beaters,” condemned his decision to vacate the jury verdicts of January 6 rioters. Its concluding lines stated, “…What happened on that day (January 6) is a stain on Mr. Trump’s legacy. By setting free the cop beaters, the President adds another.”

During his first term in office, Washington Post fact checkers detailed 30,573 lies that Mr. Trump said. They didn’t have to wait long to start a new count because his first lie of Trump 2.0 occurred at 12:02 p.m. on January 20, when he swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States, which he didn’t by signing the anti-birthrate executive order mentioned above.

As the great baseball philosopher Yogi Berra might have said, “It's déjà vu all over again!”

When President Trump was sworn in to begin his new term, he swore to the following: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

Obviously, he lied, because one of his first acts did not “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” His anti-birthright executive order ignored the Constitution.

Other lies and exaggerations detailed by the Associated Press at 6:20 PM, EST on January 21 regarding Mr. Trump’s first few hours in office included:

• Biden pardoning 33 murderers.

• Repeating his false claim about the 2020 election, and 

• Nancy Pelosi rejected National Guard troops on January 6.

A CNN story posted at 11:14 PM EST, Mon January 20, 2025 and titled “Facts First,” said: in part, “Fact check: Trump made more than 20 false claims in his Inauguration Day remarks.” 

President Donald Trump made only a smattering of false claims in his inaugural address on Monday, mostly sticking to vague rhetoric, subjective assertions and uncheckable promises of action. But then he embarked on a lying spree.

In an unscripted second speech on Monday, to supporters who had gathered in the US Capitol Visitor Center’s Emancipation Hall, Trump made false claims about elections, immigration and the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, among other subjects. He then made additional false claims in a freewheeling third speech at Washington’s Capital One Arena and again while speaking to reporters as he signed executive orders in the Oval Office. 

His remarks included lying about the economy, previous presidents, tariffs on China, tariffs in general, inflation rates, trade with the European Union, immigration and the border; also, Venezuela and migration, border wall construction, birthright citizenship, elections, January 6, 2021, the Capitol rioters, the January 6 committee, documents, the legitimacy of the 2020 election, Democrats, the 2024 election, California and the 2024 election, his margin of victory in Alabama, the youth vote, foreign affairs, China and the Panama Canal, China’s oil purchases from Iran, Iran and terror groups and  Spain and BRICS.

Mr. Trump’s less than a full day in office on January 20 can best be summed up by a New York Times January 21 headline, which read “First Order of Business: A Broken Promise.” 

“After they win elections and move into the White House, plenty of presidents at some point eventually break a campaign promise. Donald J. Trump will not even wait that long. He will break an important campaign promise the moment he takes the oath of office,” said the article by Peter Baker. The article said, in part: “While stumping for a return to power in the fall, Mr. Trump repeatedly made a sensational if implausible pledge with profound geopolitical consequences: He would broker an end to the war in Ukraine in 24 hours. And not just in 24 hours — he would do so before being sworn in as president.”

“Before I even arrive at the Oval Office, shortly after we win the presidency, I will have the horrible war between Russia and Ukraine settled,” Mr. Trump vowed in a June rally. “I will get it settled before I even become president,” he said during his televised debate with Vice President Kamala Harris in September. “I will settle Russia-Ukraine while I’m president-elect,” he said again during a podcast in October.”

CNN put the number of untruths at 20. President Trump averaged 21 lies a day in his first term, according to The Washington Post. We don’t know how successful Mr. Trump’s tenure in the Oval Office will be. Hopefully, because we have only one president at a time, it will be successful

But there is one thing that you can bet the farm on. That Trump's second term will herald a return to a fact-checking era and that Trump will claim fake news more often than when telling the truth.

Perhaps, Mr. Trump’s most outrageous lie is one that he repeats continuously: “I alone can fix it.” He’s said it so many times, often paraphrasing himself, that he might even believe it.

An Important Lesson for PR Pros

President Trump’s consistent lying has provided an important lesson for PR practitioners: Don’t lie. Once you’re caught fibbing to the media, what ever you tell them in the future will be suspect – even if you become President of the United States. 

And that’s not a lie.