Trump's calendar: When tariffs, RTO, buyouts, and a TikTok cut-off are set to go into effect

Shortly after the November general election, Trump vowed to impose 25% tariffs on imported goods from Canada and Mexico, two of the United States' leading trading partners.

Trump said both countries have allowed drugs and migrants to pour into the US, which ties squarely into the president's hard-line stance on immigration issues.

Trump also floated a 10% across-the-board tariff on Chinese goods.

On February 1, the president followed through on his pledge, enacting the tariffs for all three countries.

As part of his executive orders, Canadian energy products will have a 10% tariff rate.

A federal judge on Jan. 28 temporarily put on hold the Trump administration's freeze on federal grants from taking effect that year. This decision means that funding for affected programs will continue until Monday, Feb. 3.

The decision came after a group of nonprofit, healthcare, and small business advocacy groups sued the Office of Personnel Management over the move, which caused widespread confusion across Washington.

The Office of Personnel Management on Jan. 28 issued a letter offering all federal employees payouts and giving them a Feb. 6 deadline to accept the offer.

Federal employees who accept the administration's offer by the deadline "will retain all pay and benefits regardless of your daily workload and will be exempted from all applicable in-person work requirements until September 30, 2025 (or earlier if you choose to accelerate your resignation for any reason)," the letter on the OPM's website read.

Workers who resign by Feb. 6 will have their severance paid through Sept. 30.

The offer comes as Trump ramps ups his efforts to not only reduce the size of the federal workforce but also install loyalists in key positions within the government.

The first employment situation report under Trump's second term will be released on Feb. 7. January's jobs numbers will be included in the report, which means that the bulk of the report will feature employment data from former President Joe Biden's last month in office.

As of December 2024, the unemployment rate in the US sits at 4.1%.

The Trump administration has set the date of Feb. 7 for federal agencies to have plans for how they'll adhere to the president's return-to-work order for employees.

The implementation plans are set to be vetted and approved by the Office of Personnel Management and Office of Management and Budget.

The February jobs report, which will include Trump's first full month in office, will be released on March 7.

Trump ran on tamping down inflation and lowering food costs, as well as making the broader economy more prosperous for a wide swath of Americans. It'll still be incredibly early in Trump's term when the report is released, but the report could set the tone for how he messages his economic policies throughout the rest of the year.

On Inauguration Day, Trump signed an executive order to end "illegal and immoral discrimination" Biden-era programs implemented to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Trump and many of his Republican allies have rallied against DEI initiatives. Their pressure campaign has begun to spill over into corporate America, with top companies like Target rolling back some diversity-focused efforts.

Some agencies have already put employees on paid leave. Officials are also submitting lists of names to the White House, Government Executive reported.

By late March, Trump's EO calls for each agency head to the maximum extent allowed by the law to carry out the terminations of covered positions and programs.

Trump on Jan. 20 signed an executive order to pause the TikTok ban for 75 days, which would allow further efforts to find a US buyer for the highly popular social media platform.

The end of the 75-day period would be April 5, 2025.

Trump is pushing for Republicans to pass a massive reconciliation bill that would lower taxes, dramatically roll back green energy measures, and make cuts to safety net spending.

While cuts to Social Security or Medicare are very likely off limits in the plans, Democrats could find their political footing in critiquing whatever plan emerges from the GOP congressional leaders.

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has grand plans for the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, as it aims to cut at least $1 trillion in spending from the federal budget.

While the DOGE is still in the earliest stages of its work, the commission isn't designed to be a permanent fixture of Washington.

When Musk and onetime co-lead Vivek Ramaswamy wrote about the DOGE in a Wall Street Journal op-ed last year, they said the commission would be phased out next year — on July 4, 2026.

"There is no better birthday gift to our nation on its 250th anniversary than to deliver a federal government that would make our Founders proud," the two men wrote at the time.