Press Releases
Trump’s Day 1 EOs: A Billionaire Donors’ Wish List, A Failure for Everyday Americans

WASHINGTON, DC – Trump’s flurry of Executive Orders (EOs) say the quiet part out loud of what the next four years will look like: he’s creating an administration to benefit him, his billionaire donors, and special interests while he turns his back again on everyday Americans.
Gone are the campaign talking points about lowering everyday costs, like prescription drugs or energy. The EOs Trump has put forward were designed in the very image of his donors and corporations – doing nothing to lower costs for Americans. Take a look at a few examples:
- Siding with Big Pharma to increase prescription drug costs for Americans: Trump’s campaign promise to lower costs for Americans was out the door yesterday when he rescinded an executive order specifically designed to lower drug costs for Medicare recipients. Instead, he’s making Big Pharma’s dreams come true. Takeda Pharmaceuticals, represented on the board of PhRMA which sued to block Medicare drug negotiations, spent $3.2 million in 2023 lobbying Congress to address this very EO and its “issues related to CMMI Modeling”.
- Giving private prison executives a helping hand: After private prison companies donated over $1 million to Trump’s reelection, Trump has rescinded an executive order that sought to eliminate the use of private prisons in our country. And don’t take it from us – the private prison companies are gleeful: The Geo Group CEO stated on an earnings call his company could make up to $400 million due to the “future needs for ICE and the federal government,” while CoreCivic executives said they were prepared to meet the increased demand for private prison needs.
- Big Tech is shielded from AI oversight and regulation: Despite very real and broad-based concern from Americans when it comes to AI, Trump has undone action that would examine safeguards and other needs for keeping Americans and their privacy secure as it relates to AI. Why? It may have to do with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman donating $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund, amid congressional scrutiny of his and other tech giants’ increasingly cozy relationship with the Trump administration.
- Oil Companies are given carte blanche to do as they please – thanks to their hearty campaign donations: Trump didn’t spend day one focusing on lowering your gas or electricity costs. He did what the oil and energy CEOs asked him to do: free them from any accountability. By undoing critical executive orders that barred future oil and gas leasing on public lands and federal requirements to disclose climate-related financial risks for private companies, Trump is giving Big Oil a hall pass – all to thank the millionaire and billionaires who’ve donated hundreds of millions to his campaign.
Trump spent day one in office shilling for the billionaires and special interests that funded his campaign, and doing nothing to lower costs or create jobs for hard working Americans. Rescinding executive orders that helped lower costs and increased transparency is exactly what we can expect from Trump’s Washington: handouts for their donor friends, and inaction when it comes to the issues Americans care most about.”