8 ways Trump's (second) first year changed America
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President Trump boards Air Force One. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
To mark the one-year anniversary of President Trump taking office, we asked Axios subject matter experts a simple question: What's the biggest disruption or change you've seen on your beat over the past year?
1. White House, Marc Caputo: A year in the planning, Trump's ouster of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro was a defining moment that crystallized the administration's "Trump Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine.
- With no loss of military personnel, the operation emboldened Trump to aggressively pursue the acquisition of Greenland — an idea that many believed was just a passing fancy until the Jan. 3 capture of Maduro.
2. Congress, Hans Nichols: Fidelity to Trump has largely defined the 119th Congress, with Republicans in both chambers reluctant to break with the president on major Article 1 issues, ranging from tariffs to military strikes.
- Trump has effectively served as a shadow speaker in the House, determining legislative strategy, whipping votes and showing Republicans they can pass MAGA mega-bills with the thinnest of majorities — as long as they stay together.
3. Economy, Neil Irwin and Courtenay Brown: From interest rates to trade, industrial policy and AI, Trump has made clear he will use the full weight of government to try to shape economic outcomes to his liking — norms and precedent be damned.
- The second Trump administration favors deregulation and lower taxes, but has pivoted sharply from unbridled capitalism by taking ownership stakes in private enterprises and seeking to micromanage corporate decisions from the Oval Office.
4. Business, Nathan Bomey: Trump's second term has pushed corporate America into full "America First" mode — and away from DEI, ESG and other boardroom initiatives targeted by MAGA.
- Global companies ranging from Intel to Nvidia to Pfizer have had to carefully navigate Trump's embrace of command capitalism by offering concessions in exchange for favorable treatment — unthinkable in past Republican administrations.
5. Tech, Ashley Gold: Trump's biggest disruption to AI policy has been the wholesale abandonment of Biden-era caution in favor of near-permissionless growth.
- The shift has emboldened tech companies, raised the stakes of the AI race against China, and sidelined a weakened Congress as Trump drives AI policy himself.
6. Media, Sara Fischer: Trump's first year has brought a sharp retreat in U.S. soft power and press protections.
- Cuts to Voice of America, USAID, and internet freedom programs — alongside Trump's assertion of control over regulators like the FCC — have reshaped the global and domestic media landscape.
7. Health care, Adriel Bettelheim and Maya Goldman: Trump has unleashed the biggest changes to U.S. health care since the Affordable Care Act.
- Deep cuts to federal health agencies and the embrace of RFK Jr.'s sweeping vaccine and regulatory overhauls have upended public health preparedness and weakened long-standing ties between government and the medical establishment.
8. Energy, Ben Geman: Trump has slammed the brakes on U.S. climate and clean energy policy, reshaping markets for EVs, wind and other low-carbon technologies.
- Far beyond undoing Biden-era subsidies and rules, the White House is aggressively wielding federal power to choke off disfavored technologies and rip out climate policy at the roots — going well beyond Trump 1.0.
Go deeper: How Trump erased the Biden presidency
