Where the Nation Stands After the First Year of Trump’s Second Term
President Donald Trump signs the funding package which would end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history on Nov. 12, 2025. The short-term spending bill funded the government through Jan. 30, 2026. (Win McNamee/Getty Images/TNS)
Since Jan. 20, 2025, the United States has experienced intense economic fluctuations, judicial targeting of political and civil opponents, threats of international conquest, and widespread expansions in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations.
And Donald Trump’s second presidency is only getting started.
Although the events of Trump’s unprecedented return to office (thus far) are undoubtedly too extensive to cover in full, there is no shortage of highlights, lowlights, and everything in between to cover within just the first 12 months of Trump’s tumultuous second term.
January
On the final day of his presidency, Joe Biden issued several high-profile pardons, including to himself and his siblings, immunologist Anthony Fauci, and participants in the Jan. 6 Committee investigating the 2021 Capitol attack. Following his inauguration on Jan. 20, Trump countered with blanket clemency for every defendant convicted or charged in connection with the Capitol riot, including those who assaulted police.
Through a record-breaking 26 executive orders on his first day back in office, Trump reversed numerous Biden-era policies, withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization, scaling back climate initiatives, renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, and reverting Denali’s name to Mount McKinley. Moreover, Trump began musing on the acquisition of Canada and Greenland as U.S. territory.
January also saw the confirmations of Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense, Kristi Noem as Secretary of Homeland Security, and Sean Duffy as Secretary of Transportation.
Just one day after Duffy’s confirmation, a collision above the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., resulted in the fatalities of all 67 passengers and crew members, which the Trump administration blamed on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts under the Obama and Biden administrations.
February
February kicked off with escalating tariff threats between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, along with disputes between the Trump administration and journalists, which included the Associated Press being banned indefinitely from the Oval Office and Air Force One due to the agency’s refusal to use the term “Gulf of America” instead of “Gulf of Mexico.”
Meanwhile, the Senate confirmed multiple other Trump nominees, including Pam Bondi as attorney general, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK) as Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Kash Patel as FBI director.
March
March began with the swearing-in of Linda McMahon as Secretary of Education, despite ongoing mass layoffs across government agencies as part of fiscal conservation efforts by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). This quickly escalated on March 20 when Trump signed an executive order instructing the dismantling of the Department of Education altogether.
This month also saw the detainment of pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil and the illegal deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, both of which heightened concerns about the scale of deportation efforts under the Trump administration.
And as a cherry on top, a scandal occurred when Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, was erroneously added to a classified Signal group chat between top government officials, including Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, discussing plans for imminent attacks in Yemen.
April
The beginning of April was largely dominated by Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, which placed a 10% baseline tariff on nearly every good imported into the U.S. Although the Trump administration portrayed these tariffs as reciprocal, they rapidly led to global stock market crashes and major economic uncertainties unseen since the COVID-19 pandemic recession.
Growing resentment toward the Trump administration spurred nationwide “Hands Off” demonstrations on April 5, protesting actions by the administration viewed as authoritarian.
May
On the first day of May, Trump signed an executive order requiring the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to cease all direct and indirect federal funding for NPR and PBS, resulting in both broadcasters suing the Trump administration later that month.
May concluded with Elon Musk’s departure from his dual role as head of DOGE and senior advisor to Trump in favor of returning to managing his companies.
June
Within days after his departure from the Trump administration, Musk engaged in a fiery social media feud with the president, criticizing Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” and accusing the president of being included in the Epstein files, which Musk alleged was the real reason they had not been publicized.
Shortly after the Trump-Musk feud, riots and peaceful demonstrations broke out in Los Angeles in protest of immigration raids, leading to a standoff between Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom over Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to the city.
Trump celebrated his 79th birthday, attended a military parade in D.C. to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Army, and was the focus of nationwide “No Kings” protests, all on the same day.
July
On the first day of July, Trump’s favored Big Beautiful Bill passed the Senate with the help of Vance’s tie-breaking vote. Days later, an immigration detention facility known as “Alligator Alcatraz” was opened in Florida. Shortly thereafter, Trump signed a disaster declaration in response to massive floods in Central Texas, which caused more than 130 fatalities.
Notably, this month also saw Trump being forced to fend off backlash from even some of his most ardent supporters, who were dissatisfied with his handling of documents about the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
A report from The Wall Street Journal alleged that Trump had sent Epstein a letter containing a drawing of a naked woman for his birthday in 2003. Trump swiftly denied the report and sued the publication.
September
September saw the initiation of Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago, during which Silverio Villegas González was fatally shot by an ICE agent while attempting to flee a traffic stop after he had dropped his children off at school.
On Sept. 10, right-wing activist and Trump ally Charlie Kirk was fatally shot while speaking at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University. Trump attended Kirk’s memorial service later that month, and comments about Kirk’s assassination deemed to be mocking (or expressing a lack of sympathy for) his death resulted in widespread firings, including the brief suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show.
Miscellaneous events throughout this month include RFK’s claim that Tylenol during pregnancy can cause autism, the start of construction for Trump’s White House ballroom, and the indictment of Former FBI Director James Comey for allegedly making false statements as well as obstruction, though the case would later be dismissed in November.
October
On the first day of October, a government shutdown began after congressional failure to pass a spending bill for the 2026 fiscal year. The shutdown would not conclude until a record-breaking 43 days later on Nov. 12.
A ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was implemented (though quickly violated by both sides), New York Attorney General Letitia James and former U.S. national security advisor John Bolton were federally indicted (James’ charges were dismissed in November), Trump posthumously awarded Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the U.S. military carried out multiple airstrikes on vessels alleged to be trafficking drugs.
November
A nationwide “blue wave” election cycle on Nov. 4 allowed Democrats to pick up landslide victories in gubernatorial and state legislature elections, in addition to Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani’s win in the New York City mayoral race, all of which The Leader covered last year.
November also saw the shooting of two West Virginia National Guard members in D.C. — which led to the Trump administration pausing all asylum decisions — as well as the printing of the last penny by the U.S. Mint.
December
As the first year of Trump’s second presidency neared its end, Trump announced the “Patriot Games,” a sporting event featuring high school athletes from every U.S. state and territory, set to be held during the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Later in December, Trump received bipartisan criticism for mocking the homicides of filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife Michele, suggesting without evidence that Rob Reiner’s death was due to the anger he caused others through his “Trump derangement syndrome.”
Trump’s historic second term is set to conclude on Jan. 20, 2029, with midterm elections being held on Nov. 3 of this year. Although 2026 is barely getting started, with events such as the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis occurring in January alone, the second year of Trump’s presidency is rapidly shaping up to be no less eventful than the first.
