Former House speaker Newt Gingrich predicted Sunday that President-elect Donald Trump will devastate President Obama’s legacy by immediately rescinding up to 70 percent of the Democrat’s executive orders.

“I think in the opening couple days, he’s going to repeal 60 to 70 percent of Obama’s legacy by simply vetoing out all of the various executive orders that Obama used because he couldn’t get anything through Congress,” Mr. Gingrich said on the Fox Business’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”

Shortly after the election, Mr. Obama advised Mr. Trump to enact his agenda via Congress, saying that “going through the legislative process is always better because in part it’s harder to undo.”

That’s a lesson Mr. Obama may learn the hard way, Mr. Gingrich said.

“I think President Obama is beginning to figure out that his legacy is like one of those dolls that as the air comes out of it, it shrinks and shrinks and shrinks,” Mr. Gingrich said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Since the election, the Obama administration has undertaken an aggressive push to approve new regulations, particularly on issues related to the environment and climate change.

Even if those regulations are rescinded, however, the Obama administration will likely score political points with its allies.

“He [President Obama] is in this desperate frenzy. What he’s actually doing is he’s setting up a series of things to distract Trump, which will make his liberal allies feel good about Democrats and hate Republicans when Trump rolls them back,” Mr. Gingrich said.

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