President Donald Trump revealed on Saturday that he’s mulling a plan to redeploy nearly 90,000 newly hired Internal Revenue Service agents to secure the southern border.
This announcement comes just days after he issued an indefinite hiring freeze on the IRS, the New York Post reports.
Speaking to an enthusiastic crowd at a rally held at the Circa Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Trump floated the idea of either firing the IRS employees or assigning them to border security duties.
These positions were funded by $72 billion allocated to the IRS under the Inflation Reduction Act.
“They hired, or tried to hire, 88,000 workers to go after you and we’re in the process of developing a plan to either terminate all of them, or maybe we’ll move them to the border,” Trump told the crowd.
“I think we’re going to move them to the border where they are allowed to carry guns,” the new POTUS continued. “You know, they’re so strong on guns. But these people are allowed to carry guns. So we will probably move them to the border.”
Sweeping Changes Mark Start of Trump’s Second Term
The president, now 78, kicked off the first day of his second term with a flurry of executive orders, including a federal hiring freeze.
This freeze exempts posts related to national security, public safety, and military roles. However, the freeze will affect all federal agencies for the next 90 days, except the IRS.
Trump announced that new IRS hiring will remain halted until his administration and the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) determine when additional staffing is necessary for the national interest.
The new POTUS also declared a national emergency at the US-Mexico border and announced plans for a new external revenue office to collect foreign-sourced revenue, such as tariffs.
Tariffs to Fund Trump’s “Golden Age”
During the rally, Trump reiterated his long-standing threats to impose steep tariffs on countries that fail to align with his immigration policies. He singled out Mexico and Canada, warning of a 25% tariff starting February 1.
He also proposed a 10%-20% tariff on all foreign goods and up to a 60% tariff on imports from China.
In his inaugural address on Monday, Trump heralded the dawn of what he called a “golden age” for America, promising trade reforms aimed at replacing tax revenue with tariffs.
“I will immediately begin the overhaul of our trade system to protect American workers and families,” he said. “Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens.
“It will be massive amounts of money pouring into our Treasury – coming from foreign sources. The American dream will soon be back and thriving like never before.”
Immediate Changes Under Trump’s New Administration
Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States on Monday (20 January), marking a historic return to the White House.
Within hours of being sworn in, Trump took action by signing several executive orders and memorandums. Among the most notable was the mass pardon of 1,500 individuals either convicted or facing charges related to the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riots.
In a controversial move, Trump also issued a directive defining gender as strictly binary—male and female—claiming it was necessary to “defend women from gender ideology extremism and restore biological truth.”
Within the White House itself, Trump has stated that he is in the process of “identifying and removing over a thousand Presidential Appointees from the previous Administration, who are not aligned with our vision to Make America Great Again”.
Trump also temporarily reversed the TikTok ban, which had taken effect just days before his inauguration. His administration plans to conduct further reviews of the app’s national security implications.
The White House released a statement explaining the decision: “To fulfil those responsibilities, I intend to consult with my advisors, including the heads of relevant departments and agencies on the national security concerns posed by TikTok, and to pursue a resolution that protects national security while saving a platform used by 170 million Americans.
“My Administration must also review sensitive intelligence related to those concerns and evaluate the sufficiency of mitigation measures TikTok has taken to date.”
It’s been less than a week since Inauguration Day, and whether you support Trump or not, nobody can say that he isn’t working to turn his vision into a reality.
