Trump 'floods the zone' with barrage of orders, implementing tariffs, targeting paper straws

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Valley Democrats are doubling down, saying they will not be deterred amid a flurry of executive actions from the White House.

"What we've gotta do is focus our opposition on where we can matter. We have to keep affecting public opinion, like talking about the economy," Lonny Johnson from Fresno County Democratic Party said.

Johnson's message comes as the president flexed his power again Monday.

"We're doing a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum," President Trump said from the Oval Office.

Just three weeks in, President Trump has signed more orders than in the first hundred days of any president in more than 90 years. Only FDR signed more.

Fresno State Political Science Professor Tom Holyoke says the break-neck pace is part of a strategy called "flooding the zone."

"First off, you got to make sure you catch them all, and then it takes a lot of money and time to get the legal talent to, you know, go to court and block these things," he said.

The tactic also diverts attention. Between pardoning disgraced former Democratic governor Rod Blagojevich and imposing tariffs Monday, the president moved to ban paper straws.

The move elicited laughs from the president's pick for Commerce Secretary.

"Can you believe it?" Trump said. "A paper show is number one trending for three days or something."

Republican Congressman Vince Fong says he supports the president.

"President Trump is acting with a sense of urgency to tackle America's challenges head-on and reversing the damaging effects of the past 4 years under the Biden-Harris administration," he wrote in a statement to Action News.

But the courts are intervening as they rule on more than a dozen executive orders. They have already blocked the ban on birthright citizenship and just today ordered the White House to restore frozen federal funds.

"They're stopping him," Johnson said, "but you can appeal to a higher court. He wants to appeal to the Supreme Court. That's his whole goal."

The Supreme Court has a conservative majority, and President Trump appointed three of the nine justices during his first term.

The court could decide key issues about the president's power in the coming months.

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