President Donald Trump imposed less than one percent of the regulatory burdens that former President Barack Obama did during his first 100 days, according to a new study from the American Action Forum.
The conservative think tank tracked regulatory costs created by each administration during their first 100 days. AAF found that Obama imposed $4 billion in regulatory costs while Trump imposed less than one percent of that at $28 million.
Trump, whose deregulatory actions AAF suggested were a "success," didn't approve any major new regulations during his first 100 days but was able to slash regulatory costs.
The Market Stabilization Rule, enacted under Trump to regulate health care markets, did not impose any new burdens. Trump's other regulatory change, a delay in the Fiduciary Rule, resulted in a $78 billion drop in regulatory costs.
Obama, on the other hand, approved nine major new rules in the beginning of his presidency. Those alone amounted to $3.1 billion.
AAF, accounting for deregulatory actions under the Congressional Review Act, found that Trump actually oversaw billions in slashed regulatory costs.
Those actions reduced burdens by $3.6 billion, a $7.6 billion difference from Obama's increase in costs. But even those calculations didn't account for some of Trump's executive actions and regulatory delays.
For example, Trump signed an executive order in January that required the government eliminate two regulations every time it created a new regulation.
AAF projected that if Trump's first four years turned out like his first 100 days, he could reduce regulatory costs by $52.5 billion. That would constitute a nearly $550 billion difference from the $501 billion increase in regulatory costs from 2009 to 2012.