And here we go. The 47th presidency in American history, Donald Trump's MAGA 2.0, is officially off to the races. And what a tremendous, blistering start it has been! The maestro of Mar-a-Lago, perhaps energized a bit by Democrats' unprecedented years-long lawfare campaigns against him and his near-assassination last July in Butler, Pennsylvania, is wasting no time whatsoever getting to work for the American people.

Consider the all-important immigration issue. Last week in this newsletter, I wrote that President Trump "must deliver to his legions of voters" by "hitting the ground running hard on Day 1 on the all-important immigration issue—the very raison d'être of the MAGA movement itself." Furthermore, I wrote that Trump's supporters "need to see both flurries of targeted immigration-related executive orders and a thoughtful immigration-centric legislative agenda."

Suffice it to say, President Trump has already delivered on immigration—and then some.

The opening days of this second Trump term have been met by a dizzying, astonishing array of executive orders—especially on the very immigration issue that I and so many others have been calling for the president to prioritize. From declaring a formal emergency at the southern border, to ending all bogus asylee/refugee resettlements, to reinstating "Remain in Mexico" and ending "catch and release" in the U.S. interior, to terminating the Biden-era open-borders magnet that was the "CBP One" mobile app, to unilaterally interpreting the 14th Amendment's Citizenship Clause so as to not mandate birthright citizenship for children of illegal aliens, Trump has not disappointed the MAGA faithful on the "America First" movement's signature issue. The birthright citizenship executive order, which has predictably already been challenged in court by a blue-state coalition, is alone a massive, paradigm-shifting development in our legal culture.

Nor has Trump been passive on other pressing issues, either. In a bold effort to begin to unwind the unprecedented Joe Biden-Merrick Garland weaponization of the Department of Justice, Trump issued sweeping pardons and commutations for all those prosecuted as a result of their presence at the January 6, 2021 protest at the U.S. Capitol. (Democrats inclined to clutch their pearls over this can spare us all. Biden literally preemptively pardoned his whole family with 15 minutes to go in his term—give me a break!) Trump took the U.S. back out of the World Health Organization, a quintessential globalist boondoggle that often parrots the approved Chinese Communist Party line. He reapproved incandescent light bulbs and various household appliances—from washing machines to dishwashers—that don't necessarily meet the ever-changing dictates of greenie zealots. He quickly ended the Biden-era electrical vehicle mandate, and he immediately expanded oil and natural gas drilling on federal lands. All of this will help American consumers.

I continue to object to the president's current handling of TikTok, but overall I am very, very pleased with how things are going so far. An added bonus as well: White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf, a long-time close personal friend of mine and my one-time "Jews Against Soros" co-founder, is quickly becoming a household name! (See my quote in this RealClearPolitics article.)

This present manifestation of MAGA seems to have learned some crucial lessons from its four years spent wandering in the political wilderness. It is more sober, more mature, and more poised. The real question now: Can the Trump administration keep it up? Let's see.

To keep up with all my media hits and other writings, make sure to follow me on Twitter/X, Instagram, and Facebook. You can listen to all episodes of "The Josh Hammer Show" at the Newsweek website or on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts—as well as on select radio stations across the country. (In fact, we just welcomed our newest radio affiliate, 660 AM The Answer in North Texas, this past week!) I also have a second podcast, "America on Trial with Josh Hammer," with The First; you can subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Make sure to also check out my Subtext chat, which you can read all about and sign up for here.

On another very important note: Make sure to preorder my debut book, Israel and Civilization: The Fate of the Jewish Nation and the Destiny of the West, which will be released March 18 from Diversion Books/Radius Book Group! I worked very hard on this book and poured all my heart into it. It would mean the world to me if you would preorder a copy today. Related to that same topic, I am partaking in an upcoming Steamboat Institute-sponsored debate at Princeton University on February 11 on the following resolution: "Be it resolved, the U.S.-Israel alliance is a strategic asset for American foreign policy." You can register to attend the debate in-person here, and the online debate live-stream will be found here.

Our highlighted recent Newsweek op-eds include selections from Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Kristen Waggoner, Aviva Klompas, Kevin Sabet, and Paul du Quenoy.

Have a great rest of your week, everyone. We'll be right back in your inbox next week.