America First Policy: Executive Actions, AFPI, and Project 2025

The America First policy is a governing approach that prioritizes U.S. national interests in trade, immigration, defense, and diplomacy, and in President Donald Trump’s second term it has taken the form of sweeping tariffs, tighter screening of foreign investment, aggressive immigration enforcement, and a State Department directive reorienting foreign policy around “core American interests.” The framework is driven from the White House but developed in close coordination with the America First Policy Institute, a think tank founded between Trump’s two terms whose alumni now hold senior cabinet posts.¹

What the Doctrine Actually Means

As articulated during Trump’s first term, America First rests on what the administration called “principled realism”: acting in the national interest and in accordance with American values rather than abstract ideological commitments.² The administration framed it around several linked ideas: reducing U.S. trade deficits, rebalancing burden-sharing within alliances, defending national sovereignty against multilateral agreements, and protecting American workers from what it characterized as unfair foreign competition.³

Analysts generally distinguish this doctrine from old-style isolationism. Where the 1940s “America First” movement wanted the United States to stay out of the world, the contemporary version is better described as unilateralist: the country should engage globally, but on its own terms, unconstrained by multilateral institutions or alliances it views as unfavorable.⁴

Where the Phrase Comes From

Uses of “America First” have been traced back to the 1880s.⁵ Its most prominent early iteration was the America First Committee, an anti-interventionist organization founded in 1940 by Yale students, including future President Gerald Ford and future Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart. At its peak the committee had roughly 800,000 dues-paying members opposing U.S. entry into World War II. Charles Lindbergh became its best-known spokesperson, and a September 1941 Des Moines speech in which he identified “the Jewish race” as pushing the country toward war destroyed his political standing. The committee dissolved after Pearl Harbor.⁶

When Trump adopted the phrase, the Anti-Defamation League asked him to stop using it because of those historical associations. He declined and denied any connection to the wartime movement.⁶ He made the slogan the defining brand of his presidency, declaring in his 2017 inaugural address, “From this day forward, it’s going to be only America first, America first.”⁴

What the Second Term Has Done Under the Banner

Since Trump’s second inauguration on January 20, 2025, America First has moved from slogan to a rapid series of executive actions across trade, investment, immigration, and diplomacy.

Tariffs and Trade

On his first day back in office, Trump signed a memorandum establishing the “America First Trade Policy,” directing the Commerce Department to investigate persistent trade deficits and recommend corrective measures, including a “global supplemental tariff.” The memorandum also directed a review of the $800 duty-free de minimis import exemption and initiated preparations for the July 2026 USMCA review.⁷

Action followed quickly. On February 1, 2025, Trump invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China, citing illegal migration and drug trafficking. On February 11 he ended all product exclusions and country exemptions for existing steel and aluminum tariffs. By late March, he imposed a 25% tariff on foreign automobiles under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. The administration also recommended eliminating the de minimis exemption entirely, noting it had resulted in $10.8 billion in foregone revenue in 2024.⁸

Those tariff actions hit a wall in February 2026, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump (consolidated with Trump v. V.O.S. Selections, Inc.) that IEEPA does not authorize the president to impose tariffs. Applying the major questions doctrine, the Court held that in the statute’s 50-year history no president had ever used it for tariffs, and that the power to tax requires clear congressional authorization. Justices Thomas, Kavanaugh, and Alito dissented.⁹ The administration then pivoted to Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose across-the-board tariffs of 10%, later raised to 15%, which are set to expire after 150 days unless Congress acts.¹⁰

Foreign Investment Screening

On February 21, 2025, Trump issued a National Security Presidential Memorandum titled the “America First Investment Policy,” setting new priorities for screening both inbound and outbound investment. It designates China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela as “foreign adversaries” and restricts their access to strategic U.S. sectors including technology, critical infrastructure, agriculture, energy, and healthcare.¹

For inbound investment, the memorandum directs the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to create an expedited “fast-track” process for allies and partners whose investors can demonstrate independence from adversary nations. It also seeks to expand CFIUS authority over greenfield investments, particularly in artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, and to expedite environmental reviews for investments exceeding $1 billion. Restrictions cover U.S. farmland and real estate near sensitive facilities.¹¹

On outbound investment, the policy directs the Treasury Department to expand restrictions on U.S. money flowing to adversary nations in sectors including semiconductors, AI, quantum computing, biotechnology, hypersonics, aerospace, and advanced manufacturing. The scope extends to private equity, venture capital, and corporate expansions, and specifically targets pension funds and university endowments. Several provisions require congressional action for full implementation.¹¹

Immigration Enforcement

Immigration has been among the most aggressive applications of the framework. The White House reports that the United States experienced negative net migration in 2025, with more than 2.5 million individuals leaving the country, comprising over 605,000 deportations and 1.9 million described as “self-deportations.” Immigration and Customs Enforcement more than doubled its officer and agent workforce, from 10,000 to 22,000.¹²

Policy actions include terminating Temporary Protected Status for nationals of Somalia, Venezuela, and Haiti, and a State Department pause on immigrant visa processing for 75 countries identified as having high rates of migrant welfare usage. The administration also claims a 56% reduction in fentanyl trafficking at the southern border as of September 2025 compared with the prior year.¹²

Foreign Policy Directive

Also on January 20, 2025, Trump issued the “America First Policy Directive to the Secretary of State,” instructing the State Department to align all its policies, programs, personnel, and operations with an America First framework. The directive establishes that U.S. foreign policy shall “champion core American interests and always put America and American citizens first.” It does not create enforceable legal rights and is subject to the availability of appropriations.¹

The America First Policy Institute

The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) is a Washington-based think tank founded in 2021 to develop and advance the America First agenda between Trump’s two terms. It was established by Brooke Rollins, who had served as director of the Domestic Policy Council during the first Trump administration, and Larry Kudlow, former director of the National Economic Council.¹³

AFPI is structured as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, meaning it cannot officially support candidates and is not required to disclose individual donors. It also maintains affiliates: America First Works, a 501(c)(4) advocacy arm that can engage in partisan politics, and America First Action, a super PAC.¹⁴ IRS filings show revenue climbing from $14.2 million in 2021 to $51.1 million in 2024, with contributions accounting for more than 99% of that revenue.¹⁵ Some funding has flowed through DonorsTrust, a donor-advised fund that keeps contributors anonymous; in 2024 alone, AFPI received more than $4.4 million from DonorsTrust.¹⁶

During the 2024 campaign, AFPI functioned as what reporters called a “government in waiting.” The New York Times reported that the organization had “installed itself as the Trump campaign’s primary partner in making concrete plans to wield power.”¹⁷ The institute prepared nearly 300 draft executive orders for a potential second term.¹⁸ Its staff conducted over 1,000 interviews with former officials, analyzed every Biden administration executive order, and drafted more than 100 proposed executive actions organized for Day 1, the first 100 days, and the first 200 days.¹⁹

Several AFPI figures have moved into senior roles in the second administration. Brooke Rollins was confirmed as the 33rd U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.²⁰ Linda McMahon, AFPI’s former board chairwoman, was confirmed as Secretary of Education in March 2025 on a 51-45 party-line vote, with a mandate from the White House to oversee the effort to “dismantle” the Department of Education.²¹ Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, an AFPI advisor, was appointed Special Presidential Envoy for Ukraine in November 2024 and served in that role until December 2025.²²

How It Differs From Project 2025

Readers often conflate AFPI’s work with the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025. They are separate. Project 2025 became a political lightning rod during the 2024 campaign, was attacked repeatedly by Democrats, and was eventually disavowed by Trump himself. AFPI operated with far less public scrutiny while being positioned to wield greater practical influence. The two organizations share a “huge amount of overlap” in policy goals and some overlapping personnel, but they pursued distinct strategies, and NPR’s Ken Bensinger described them as “rivals rather than joining hands.” AFPI, he reported, was “poised to be far more influential in staffing and guiding” the second Trump administration.¹⁸

That pattern captures the shape of America First today. It is a governing doctrine, a set of executive actions, and an institutional ecosystem in which policy proposals, personnel, and funding cycle between AFPI and the White House. With the institute’s founder running USDA, its former board chair heading the Department of Education, and its proposals shaping trade and immigration actions, the policy is inseparable from the organization built to carry it.

1
The White House. America First Policy Directive to the Secretary of State
2
Trump White House Archives. President Donald J. Trump at the United Nations General Assembly Outlining America First Foreign Policy
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Council on Foreign Relations. Trumps Foreign Policy Moments
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NPR. America First, From Charles Lindbergh to President Trump
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Cambridge University Press. America First, Fascism in America
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The New Yorker. America First, for Charles Lindbergh and Donald Trump
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The White House. America First Trade Policy
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UC Santa Barbara American Presidency Project. Report to the President the America First Trade Policy Executive Summary
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Supreme Court of the United States. Learning Resources Inc. v. Trump
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PIIE. What Supreme Courts Tariff Ruling Changes and What It Doesnt
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Morgan Lewis. President Issues National Security Memorandum on America First Investment Policy
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The White House. Border and Immigration
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InfluenceWatch. America First Policy Institute
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DeSmog. America First Policy Institute
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ProPublica. America First Policy Institute Inc
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NOTUS. Trump Donors Trust America First Policy Institute Legal Foundation Donations
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The New York Times. Donald Trump Campaign America First Policy Institute
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NPR. How a Little Known Organization Is Poised to Shape a Second Trump Administration
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Politico. Trump Transition Plan AFPI
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U.S. Department of Agriculture. Our Secretary
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NPR. Trump Cabinet Linda McMahon Confirmed Education
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The Washington Institute. Ukraine Diplomacy and Middle East Conversation Former Special Envoy Keith Kellogg