As he prepares for his second term as President, Donald Trump’s approach on some issues is poised to mirror that of his first term. He’s set to once again increase tariffs on imported goods and beef up border enforcement.
But in some areas, Trump 2.0 is likely to look very different from Trump 1.0.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]After taking credit for spearheading the development of COVID-19 vaccines in 2020, Trump now plans to bring an anti-vaxxer into his cabinet. He’s gotten over his early skepticism of Bitcoin, and now wants to strip away regulations and guardrails on cryptocurrency. And after trying to ban TikTok four years ago, Trump now promises to “save” the app.
As Trump prepares to take office in late January, here’s a look at key policies where Trump’s changed his tune.
Cryptocurrency
It’s no secret that Trump was skeptical of cryptocurrency during his first term. He repeatedly criticized Bitcoin and other digital assets, dismissing volatile, speculative assets as “not money” and “a scam.” Trump instead championed the U.S. dollar as the nation’s only legitimate currency. It’s a position he maintained even after leaving office, saying in 2021 that cryptocurrencies seemed like a “disaster waiting to happen.”
But as Trump prepares for his return to the White House, he now stands as one of crypto’s most vocal proponents. He has pledged to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the planet” and to establish a national cryptocurrency reserve. Bitcoin prices spiked after Trump’s victory.
Trump’s pivot was fueled by several factors, including the growing clout of the cryptocurrency industry in Washington. Once seen as a fringe element, the crypto sector now boasts substantial financial influence. The industry’s top players poured millions into political campaigns, and in particular those supporting Trump. Super PACs aligned with the industry spent $131 million in the 2024 election cycle, helping to elect pro-crypto lawmakers across the country. The efforts were motivated by a single, unifying goal: to push for a more crypto-friendly regulatory environment.
In return, Trump has promised that under his leadership, cryptocurrency would not just survive but thrive. He has vowed to remove Gary Gensler, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), whose aggressive stance against the crypto industry has made him unpopular among crypto advocates. (Gensler announced on Thursday he would step down on Jan. 20, allowing Trump to immediately appoint a successor.) Trump has proposed restructuring the SEC to take a softer approach toward digital assets. For some crypto companies currently being sued or investigated by the agency, that could mean their cases get dropped.
Trump’s shift coincided with significant backing from prominent figures in the crypto world, including Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO who has crypto investments. Industry leaders have been lobbying Trump for a regulatory framework that would establish clearer rules for crypto and prevent its migration overseas, as some foreign markets have proven more accommodating to digital assets. In September, Trump and his family launched World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency venture that will likely further entangle his business interests with the burgeoning digital currency sector.
While his newfound enthusiasm for cryptocurrency has earned him praise from crypto advocates, it remains to be seen whether his promises will translate into concrete policy changes in his second term. The crypto industry, once rocked by the implosion of companies like FTX, now faces a complex regulatory future, with ongoing debates over how much oversight is necessary without stifling innovation.
TikTok
In his first term, Trump was a staunch opponent of TikTok, the Chinese-owned social media giant. He sought to ban the app from the U.S. on national security grounds. Now, as he prepares for a second term, Trump has reversed himself, vowing to protect TikTok from a looming U.S. ban.
Trump’s initial attack on TikTok began in 2020, as his Administration accused the app of enabling the Chinese government to collect sensitive data on U.S. users. In an executive order, Trump declared TikTok a national emergency, citing concerns about espionage and the app’s potential use to “track the locations of Federal employees and contractors, build dossiers of personal information for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage.” His administration pushed for a forced sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations, with the hopes of forcing Chinese conglomerate ByteDance to divest its ownership.
Despite intense legal battles, including a failed attempt to orchestrate a sale, Trump’s efforts to ban the app failed. But bipartisan concerns about TikTok lingered, and in April Congress passed a law, which President Biden signed, mandating that ByteDance sell TikTok by January 2025, or face a nationwide ban. During his campaign, Trump promised to intervene on the app’s behalf, saying he would allow it to continue operating freely. “For all of those who want to save TikTok in America, vote for Trump. The other side is closing it up, but I’m now a big star on TikTok,” Trump said in a Sept. 4 video posted on Truth Social.The Washington Post reported this month that he is expected to intervene next year to block a ban on TikTok if necessary.
Trump’s pivot on TikTok may be his most dramatic. But his position also stands in contrast to many Republicans who still view the app with suspicion, with some lawmakers warning that the app remains a potential security threat. Despite this, Trump’s policy shift does not guarantee that TikTok will be safe from government action. Lawmakers, particularly national security hawks, may push for the ban to go ahead. Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, Trump’s pick for Secretary of State, previously called for a complete ban on TikTok, calling it a “spyware” tool for China. Trump’s pick to run the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, told TIME in Nov. 2022 that he does “not see a path forward that’s short of a ban” and that TikTok poses a “huge national security concern.”
Vaccines
The final year of Trump’s first term was dominated by the pandemic. Trump oversaw Operation Warp Speed, a historic initiative that expedited the development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, saving millions of lives. But as vaccine skepticism grew among many of his supporters, his rhetoric shifted.
The extent of that shift became clear this month, when he announced that his Health and Human Services Secretary would be Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has a history of spreading misinformation on vaccines, including promoting the debunked claim that they are linked to autism. The pick has some experts worried that Trump will allow Kennedy to discourage people from receiving the same vaccines that Trump once championed.
After leaving office in 2021, Trump distanced himself from promoting the vaccines his administration helped develop. He has also previously pledged to cut funding to schools with vaccine mandates, including those for childhood diseases like polio and measles. He has suggested that people should not be forced to take vaccines, framing his approach as a defense of individual freedom, which stands in stark contrast to his Administration’s early push for widespread vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kennedy has said that the Trump Administration does not plan to take vaccines off the market, despite widespread speculation that he might. Yet public hearth experts fear even installing Kennedy in such a high-profile role could give his vaccines view more legitimacy and erode immunization rates.
Department of Education
Days after winning the election, Trump released a video announcing the Department of Education’s days were numbered. “One other thing I’ll be doing very early in the administration is closing up the Department of Education in Washington, D.C. and sending all education and education work and needs back in the states.”
The video marked an escalation of Trump’s long-standing efforts to shrink the federal government’s role in education. In his first term, Trump proposed merging the Department of Education with the Labor Department, but couldn’t get Congress on board. Now his goal is to shutter the department entirely over the next four years.
The Department of Education was set up in 1980 during the final year of the Carter Administration. Its main function is to direct funds that Congress allocates to local schools and universities. It does not have a role in setting curriculum or deciding issues of enrollment, which lies with states and local school boards.
For his Education Secretary, Trump has picked Linda McMahon, the co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment, who served as head of the U.S. Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term. She is an advocate for making it easier for states to use education funding for private schools and homeschooling.
Even as he prepares to take office with Republicans in control of the House and Senate, closing the department outright remains unlikely. Doing so would require 60 votes in the Senate—which would require support from some Democrats—or a suspension of the filibuster rules to allow a simple majority vote, which the incoming Republican leaders have ruled out.
Affordable Care Act
During the 2024 election, Trump appeared to step away from his multi-year effort to eliminate the Affordable Care Act. In 2016, he had campaigned on ending the law, which is also known as Obamacare, calling it a “disaster.” When he was President, Trump supported repeated efforts by Republicans in Congress to kill the ACA. And his Administration asked the Supreme Court to block the law, but the court dismissed it.
Trump also worked to undermine Obamacare, scaling back outreach efforts to enroll people in the subsidized health plans. In the four years Trump was President, the number of uninsured Americans rose by 2.3 million.
But during his 2024 campaign, Trump said he no longer supported a direct repeal of the ACA. In March, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he is “not running to terminate” the ACA, and that he wants to make it “better.” Other times, his stance on the law was difficult to parse. During his debate with Harris in September, he said he has the “concepts of a plan” to replace the ACA, but didn’t give more detail.
The law remains popular. A KFF tracking poll in April found that 62% of Americans have a favorable view of the ACA. More than 45 million Americans are enrolled in medical insurance plans made cheaper and more accessible by the law. The law also forbids insurers from rejecting customers who have existing medical conditions.
Trump’s true position will be tested next year when low-income subsidies on health plans in the ACA expire and need to be reupped. House Speaker Mike Johnson said in October that the ACA needs “massive reform.”
