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On January 20th, Donald Trump will be sworn in as President, ending the unmitigated disaster that was the Biden Presidency. Unfortunately, the damage done by the Biden Administration will remain.

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The task of ‘Un-Biden-ing’ America will be Herculean. From fixing the porous southern border to achieving energy independence and undoing horrible foreign policy, Trump will inherit a quagmire of entangled missteps and political landmines left behind by the unelected bureaucracy of a puppet president who has spent the last four years being more content at the beach than behind the desk in the Oval Office.

The American people have demanded change, and Donald Trump has promised to deliver, but he must tread lightly. The Biden Administration has been spending its last days in power trying to make it as difficult as possible for Trump to implement his policies after he takes office.

It was recently announced that Biden may sign an Executive Order banning any new offshore drilling, thus hampering Trump’s plan to ‘Drill Baby Drill’ and increase domestic oil production.

Trump will almost certainly sign an EO to reverse it, but lawsuits will be filed, and Trump’s plan will, at the very least, be delayed for months.

The Deep State will resist Trump and the mandate given to him by the American people at every step. He is better prepared, having experienced this type of resistance in his last Presidency, and he will have at least two years of a Republican-controlled Congress to help. He will need leadership in both the House and Senate to keep the caucus focused if he hopes to implement his policies successfully.

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This will be his first challenge, as history suggests keeping Congress on task is about as easy as herding cats.

Once in office and after members of his administration are confirmed and in place, the real work will begin.

Trump has promised to bring big changes to Washington, and he will have to solve some incredibly complex problems if he hopes to keep that promise.

Twitchy favorite Carol Roth has a unique gift in that she can explain the complexities of economic policies in a way that some of us (like this writer) who are not well-versed in the subject can understand. 

In a recent article for Fox News, Carol breaks down three particularly challenging problems that await the incoming administration.

The government loves nothing more than spending other people’s money. Unfortunately for the American people, the money they are spending is ours. Do they stop when the well runs dry and there’s no money left to spend? Of course not. They just print more money.

Printing, borrowing, and deficit spending have not only driven inflation but also left America in tremendous debt. The current national debt is over 36 trillion dollars and climbing.

With a $36 trillion debt load that is above 120% of the GDP and growing at a pace of around $1 trillion every 100 days and a deficit that is double the historic average in terms of a percentage of GDP, any spending cuts will require careful choreography.

Tools and tactics that may have been able to be used in the past now must be wielded much more carefully.

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The Department of Government Efficiency has promised to end out-of-control government spending. Doge’s initial goal is to find $2 trillion of wasteful spending to cut from the federal budget. It sounds like a good start, but as Carol reminds us, care must be taken.

With disruptors Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy heading the Department of Government Efficiency (fondly known as DOGE), they will easily be able to identify ample spending and regulatory cuts. However, the execution must be to prioritize those efforts that increase GDP before they cut spending.

Massive government deficits have been propping up US GDP. Taking some of that away will immediately do the opposite, lowering GDP. So, private sector growth needs to be turbocharged first. Otherwise, if the GDP comes down and we enter a recession, the US will see lower tax revenue and then we may end up with bigger deficits. This could impact the global economy and markets as well.

The focus and plan are important, they just need ultra-careful implementation so the economy doesn’t go haywire in the process.

 Reducing spending while simultaneously stimulating GDP growth will be tricky. Trump will have to pull off this trick if he is to fix the economy that his predecessor damaged so badly.

Energy independence is the cornerstone of Trump’s economic plan, which includes deregulation and increased oil production. In addition to removing roadblocks imposed by the outgoing administration, Trump may have to address a few economic realities to bring his plan to fruition.

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One of Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent’s three stool legs for his “3-3-3” economic plan (along with deficit cutting) is unleashing growth by growing our oil production by an incremental 3 million barrels or more per day.

More production, the theory goes, will increase our energy independence and lower costs on just about everything. The challenge is that the oil industry needs a certain price to operate profitably and even higher prices to make the investments and fill the pipeline (no pun intended) for future drilling and refining. A recent Wall Street Journal article noted that, “U.S. energy companies on average say they need WTI crude prices to be at least $65 a barrel for drilling to be profitable and $89 a barrel for them to increase drilling substantially, according to the latest survey by the Kansas City Federal Reserve.”

Experts believe that even with deregulation in the industry, there may not be enough cost savings to shift this dynamic.

Trying to spur growth with oil production when there is a hard floor on oil prices from a practical standpoint is a conundrum.

Solving this conundrum will be imperative to the success of trump’s energy policy.

Tariffs have become a controversial topic, especially since the tongue-in-cheek ’51st State’ exchange with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Tariffs are an economic tool that Trump intends to use to his advantage. In negotiating better trade deals with Canada and Mexico or as a deterrent to BRICS countries (China) from attempting to replace the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, tariffs are on the table.

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It’s a plan that comes with risks.

 The Trump administration has been focused on both tariffs and a weaker dollar, a dynamic that again creates a paradoxical challenge. 

On the tariffs side, while some of the proposals may be Trump’s “art of the deal” to put new trade and economic agreements in place globally, other tariffs could have chilling effects on small businesses and overall economic growth.

Moreover, tariffs would be expected to strengthen the US dollar. Yet, a critical focus of the administration is to weaken the dollar in order to make it more competitive globally and effect many of the administration’s policies and objectives.

I believe that Trump, Bessent and team will have a difficult time with widespread tariff hikes in the context of what they are trying to achieve overall. Perhaps more targeted tariffs where there are real national security issues is where the policy wish will become reality.

Trump has lined up many strong individuals on his team and has an entrepreneurial vision, but his task economically and financially remains a daunting one. Americans will need to have patience as good policy objectives are faced with the US’s stark fiscal realities.

Patience will be key; there is no magic wand. Trump has ‘Yuge’ goals for the next four years, and achieving those goals will take focus, cooperation, hard work, and time.

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Carol Roth can explain incredibly complex economic issues in a way that even this writer can understand. She is sort of like a Gen X version of Milton Friedman but with much, much better hair.

Donald Trump will have his work cut out for him when he takes office on January 20th. Biden and his puppet masters have left behind a mess that needs cleaning up. The American people have given him a mandate and expect big changes. 

We need to give him time and be patient.