Photo: Getty Images Europe
The challenges are many for President-elect Donald Trump heading into his second term.
There's a lot to be fixed or undone from the Biden administration and Trump is expected to address a multitude of things within the first week and maybe even the first day with dozens of executive orders.
Making cuts to federal spending, increasing oil production and securing the southern border are perhaps the most notable things Trump wants to address quickly. A lot of the challenges were mentioned countless times by Trump in statements made on social media or during speeches at his campaign rallies.
Some things he can do without needing much or anything from others, but, there are things that he will need Congress in on. Democrats will almost always go against Trump agenda items and unfortunately, Republicans may add to the difficulty of getting certain things done sometimes too.
Matt Locke, political commentator and host of the Voice of the Working Man Podcast, said Trump's biggest challenge heading into his term may actually be the GOP.
"Trump's biggest challenge is his own party," Locke said of Republicans. "They're all a bunch of Trump haters and they're going to do everything they can to figure how to screw it up."
The House re-elected Speaker Mike Johnson in a thin vote on Friday. Johnson needed 218 votes from Republicans to retain the gavel, which he got after two members ended up switching their votes to Johnson after voting for someone else.
Locke said the party messed up with choosing Johnson to remain as Speaker, even with Trump offering his endorsement to him.
"Mike Johnson is an absolute disaster as a Speaker of the House," said Locke. "I don't know why we keep getting these middle-of-the-road speakers who really don't have the agenda of America first at heart."
Nonetheless, Johnson is speaker still and now many eyes are on him to make sure Trump's agenda gets through. And again, Trump can make a lot of noise with executive orders in the early days of his administration, especially with illegal immigration and the southern border, which has become a disaster under Biden and needs fixed fast.
"The American people are for Trump because they want change and I think you are going to see executive order on top of executive order that Trump can do," Locke added.