After a presidential election that results in a change in party leadership, it is often difficult to distinguish between unrealistic campaign promises and those policies that are actually achievable within the Beltway. With the recent election of Donald Trump, clarity is more elusive than usual because many of the campaign's promises weren't specific policies, but rather broad statements regarding renegotiating trade pacts, reducing taxes, increasing infrastructure spending, and eliminating the offshoring of production of goods sold in the United States. Many of these statements of policy intent left the related policy details to be worked out later.

Time can be a great clarifier of the areas in which what was promised overlaps with what is possible. Therefore, leaders in business sectors throughout the United States—as well as executives around the world who hope to sustain ties with the U.S. economy—are looking forward to transparency on the new government's direction. They're hoping to understand that direction as soon as the first 100 days of President-Elect Trump's term.

It's worth noting that although Washington will have an all-Republican government, the dynamics between the president-elect and Congressional Republicans may make implementation of a common policy agenda challenging. The Washington establishment is very likely to present stiff headwinds on certain issues. There is pent-up demand for major legislative action on a range of issues, but the president-elect will have to effectively harness the power of the Oval Office in order to deliver on his campaign promises.