By Carol E. Lee and Damian Paletta 

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump started his first full workday at the White House focused on the U.S. economy, trade and jobs, the top themes of his campaign.

Amid a round of meetings with business leaders, labor union representatives and members of Congress, Mr. Trump signed a memorandum withdrawing the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation trade deal that he claims would have resulted in lost U.S. jobs.

He also pledged to cut taxes and regulations that he said were blunting job growth and promised to impose a "very major" border tax on companies that move some operations overseas, which would require legislation.

At the meeting with labor leaders, Mr. Trump said he would negotiate bilateral trade deals, which he and his team say are easier to enforce, and he promised his administration would set strict restrictions on abiding by the terms.

"If somebody misbehaves, we are going to send them a letter of termination," Mr. Trump said. "Thirty days and they'll either straighten it out or we're gone."

On Monday, Mr. Trump also enacted a hiring freeze across the federal government, except for the military, and reinstated previous Republican presidents' " global gag rule" that blocks U.S. foreign-aid dollars going to international family-planning programs that offer abortion or advocate for abortion rights.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) criticized the abortion move, saying it "confirms our worst fears about his administration's assault on women's health care."

Mr. Trump made job creation central to his presidential campaign, hitting the theme repeatedly at rallies. During the transition to the White House, he publicly pressured companies -- calling them out by name -- to maintain jobs in the U.S., with several subsequently announcing plans to maintain manufacturing plants in the country. It is unclear if those expansion and spending plans predated Election Day.

By making it the main message of his first full week in office, he is signaling the issue remains a top priority. He plans to meet Tuesday with the top executives of Ford Motor Co., Chrysler and General Motors Co.

Withdrawing the U.S. from TPP, a sweeping Pacific trade pact negotiated by President Barack Obama and backed by many Republicans in Congress, was largely symbolic, given that Congress wasn't expected to ratify it. Still, Mr. Trump said a formal withdrawal would be a "great thing for the American worker."

Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican who supports free trade, said on Monday the withdrawal from TPP would hurt rather than help job creation. "This decision will forfeit the opportunity to promote American exports, reduce trade barriers, open new markets and protect American invention and innovation," he said in a statement. "It will create an opening for China to rewrite the economic rules of the road at the expense of American workers."

At the start of his meeting with business leaders, Mr. Trump said he would work with Congress to cut taxes for the middle class and businesses, as well as reduce government regulations by at least 75%. Regulations, he said, have "gotten out of control." While he described himself as a friend of the environment, he said that "some of that stuff makes it impossible to get anything done."

"There will be no country that's going to be faster, better, more fair," he said.

Mr. Trump promised incentives for businesses that produce and hire in the U.S., but warned the leaders, "If you go to another country...we are going to be imposing a very major border tax."

"We don't have free trade because we're the only one that makes it easy to come into the country," he said.

Among the chief executives in attendance were the leaders of Ford, Lockheed Martin Corp., Under Armour Inc. and Whirlpool Corp., according to the companies, as well as Michael Dell and Tesla Motors Inc. CEO Elon Musk.

Dow Chemical Co. CEO Andrew Liveris said after the meeting that Mr. Trump asked them to come back to him within 30 days with specific ideas to boost U.S. manufacturing. He said Mr. Trump had to take a phone call halfway through the meeting but then invited the 12 CEOs to join him and continue their conversation in the Oval Office.

Mr. Liveris said the executives discussed at length with Mr. Trump his proposal to set up a tax on U.S. companies that manufacture goods in other countries and then import them back into the U.S. "We did talk about the border tax quite a bit, and we did talk about the sorts of industries that could be helped or hurt by that," Mr. Liveris said.

Ford CEO Mark Fields said he "came out with a lot of confidence that the president is very, very serious about making sure that the U.S. economy is going to be strong and have policies -- tax, regulatory or trade -- to help drive that."

Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky said the meeting was productive and that he was pleased to talk with the president about job creation, corporate taxes and regulatory overhauls. "I'm looking forward to working with him and the new Congress," he said.

Marillyn Hewson, CEO of Lockheed Martin, said her company supports the president's efforts to end the defense sequester so the military can invest in equipment. "Ending these budget restrictions will allow industry to plan, invest and hire for the long term," she said.

Whirlpool and U.S. Steel referred all questions to the White House.

Mr. Trump's sessions on Monday come ahead of his planned meetings with the leaders of Canada, Mexico and the U.K.

Renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada was one of Mr. Trump's campaign promises. He is also eyeing a new trade deal with the U.K. as the country follows through with its decision to exit from the European Union.

Mr. Trump has described his "border tax" in the past as a selective 35% tax on companies that outsource production to other countries and then import goods back to the U.S. That is different from the "border adjustment" that is a key feature of the House Republicans' tax plan. Mr. Trump has criticized that idea, which would tax all imports and exempt exports from U.S. business taxation.

After Mr. Trump's meeting with lawmakers late Monday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said that he "went over the reasons we needed discussion on nominations; a lot of debate and discussion." He added that meatballs were served.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said that "it was a good bipartisan leadership meeting. It was really kind of more like a reception. I enjoyed listening to the president and Sen. Schumer talk about the people they knew in New York, for example. It was pretty lighthearted and a good way to start off."

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said Democrats took the opportunity to pitch the importance of the Affordable Care Act, and to share their concerns about Mr. Trump's proposed infrastructure plan paid for with private financing through tax breaks.

"It has to be real infrastructure, not a tax break that allows somebody to be subsidized by the federal government to build something and then charge tolls to the taxpayer who's already subsidizing that purchase," she said.

--Doug Cameron and Siobhan Hughes contributed to this article.

Write to Carol E. Lee at carol.lee@wsj.com and Damian Paletta at damian.paletta@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 23, 2017 20:05 ET (01:05 GMT)

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