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Published : 30 Apr 2025, 09:36 PM
One of the mantras within President Donald Trump’s administration since he took office in Jan has been "promises made, promises kept" even as many of his campaign pledges remain unfulfilled.
In the first 100 days of Trump's second term in the White House, federal courts have slowed or halted some of his most aggressive moves. He has been unable to end wars in Ukraine and Gaza, land trade deals or bend the Federal Reserve to his will.
Here is where Trump stands on some of his main promises:
THE ECONOMY AND INFLATION
A Republican elected on a pledge to bring down consumer prices and boost the economy, Trump pointed to the first outright drop in monthly inflation in nearly five years in March as evidence that he was having an impact.
But prices are expected to rise on many goods. Trump’s worldwide tariffs have jolted the US stock market and stoked fears of a recession. Businesses that rely on imports are nervous, and consumer confidence is dropping.
The US economy shrank in the first quarter of the year, according to a Commerce Department report released on Wednesday, largely due to a rush of imports to beat the tariffs. The drag on the economy created by the net effects of trade was the largest on record dating back to the 1940s.
The White House has said it will strike trade deals with dozens of nations, including China, in the hope that brings some stability to the global marketplace. No deals have been secured so far, though Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Tuesday that one deal was awaiting approval by a foreign government.
Trump has demanded the Federal Reserve cut interest rates in order to keep the economy humming, but it has delayed such a cut due to inflation concerns.
Trump is pushing Congress for legislation to make his 2017 tax cuts permanent and enact other cuts, such as exemptions for tips and overtime wages for service-industry workers. Fiscal conservatives and budget experts voice concern the cuts will add to an already massive federal budget deficit.
IMMIGRATION
Nowhere has Trump been more aggressive than with immigration policy. He rushed troops to the US-Mexico border and expanded the universe of migrants who could be targeted for arrest.
He has seen quick results. The number of migrants caught illegally crossing the southern border dropped in February to the lowest monthly level since tracking began 25 years ago and fell further in March. Arrests of migrants in the US illegally through Trump's first three months have already surpassed last year's total.
But Trump's biggest priority - deportations - have lagged behind Biden administration numbers last year, when high levels of illegal immigration meant more people could be quickly deported.
Trump invoked a rarely used 1798 wartime statute known as the Alien Enemies Act to rapidly deport alleged Venezuelan gang members but faces legal challenges. The administration's hostile tone with the judiciary has challenged traditional checks and balances between the coequal branches of government.
The government has sought to deport students who protested over the US role in the Gaza war despite their not having been charged with a crime. It revoked the legal status of thousands of foreign students before reversing that move last week.
Trump tried to curtail birthright citizenship, a constitutional right that grants citizenship to everyone born in the US, but was blocked by federal judges. That issue may end up before the US Supreme Court.
ENDING WARS
Trump vowed to resolve conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine swiftly, saying he could forge a peace deal in the latter war on "Day One" in office. But both wars continue to claim lives, while Trump has launched a large-scale campaign of airstrikes against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Trump has tried to push Kyiv toward a pro-Russian position, such as ceding Crimea, while only in recent weeks increasing the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the fighting.
In Gaza, the administration was able to negotiate a ceasefire, but that has crumbled and the US remains a staunch supporter of Israel in its war with Palestinian Hamas militants.
In the meantime, Trump has entered into negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program to try to forestall a US military strike that could further destabilize the Middle East.
ENERGY
Trump came into office promising to lower US energy costs. Gas prices are almost 15 percent cheaper compared to a year ago when President Joe Biden was in the White House, though they have remained largely steady since Trump took office, according to the travel group AAA.
Trump’s pledge to boost US oil production is facing significant headwinds as his trade wars have sent global and domestic oil prices lower, causing producers to rethink their drilling strategy.
The US is producing unprecedented volumes of crude oil, hitting records around 13.4 million barrels per day last year before Trump took office. Trump allies predicted they could add another 3 million barrels per day, a figure most in the industry saw as impossible given lackluster growth in global demand.
Trump has taken several steps to boost production, mainly on the regulatory front by making it easier to drill on federal land. But the industry relies on price to spur production, and prices are going the wrong way for producers.
As promised, the president has rolled back the Biden mandates for electric vehicles and pulled the US out of the 2015 Paris climate accords for the second time.
On his first day in office, Trump resumed liquefied natural gas export approvals - something Biden had paused - and several companies have announced investments in US LNG in recent months.
GOVERNMENT REFORM
Trump’s efforts to downsize the federal bureaucracy in the name of cost-cutting have been chaotic. Appointed by Trump, billionaire Elon Musk conducted mass firings through a newly formed Department of Government Efficiency.
Musk's aides have gained access to huge troves of Americans' personal data, alarming privacy advocates. The cuts have triggered dozens of court cases.
Some experts in such areas as food safety and nuclear weaponry were brought back after being mistakenly fired. Other workers have had success challenging their terminations in court. Thousands of workers sidelined at home are still receiving government paychecks.
Agencies whose ranks have been diminished say they have seen efficiency decline, not improve, as they have dealt with a brain drain of key personnel resulting in internal bottlenecks, delayed decision-making and longer wait times for the public.
Musk has backed away from his savings target. Where he once pledged to slash $2 trillion from the federal budget, he has since suggested that DOGE will get nowhere near that mark. A DOGE website that gives regular updates on what it claims it has saved US taxpayers - $160 billion to date - has been riddled with errors and corrections.
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION PROGRAMS
Several of Trump’s early executive orders dealt with stripping diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives from the federal government. He has extended that push to the private sector, with companies such as Citigroup and PepsiCo agreeing to modify their approach to diverse hiring and training. He has also threatened colleges, universities and law firms with punitive action if they don’t rid themselves of DEI practices.
Trump has moved forward on efforts to shutter or severely diminish the Department of Education, blaming it for promoting a liberal agenda in the nation’s schools. Efforts to require public schools to abandon DEI programs or risk losing funding have been blocked by courts.
RETRIBUTION AGAINST POLITICAL ENEMIES
Trump has made good on his longstanding threat to get back at those he believes have wronged him. He has taken away security clearances for 50 former national security officials and all three Democrats who ran against him in presidential contests.
His Justice Department has fired or demoted dozens of officials, prosecutors and FBI agents, including rank-and-file employees who worked on investigations into Trump and the Jan 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters.
He has waged war against private law firms that played roles in the probe of alleged Russian ties to his 2016 election campaign or aided his Democratic opponents, pushing nine into settlement agreements in which they agreed to perform free legal work for the administration's priorities.
Last week, the president directed the Justice Department to investigate ActBlue, the leading fundraising site for Democratic candidates, a move the organisation called an attempt to stamp out opposition.
TAKING ON BIG TECH
During the campaign, Trump frequently pledged to rein in the power of large tech companies. There are signs his administration is doing just that.
His administration has furthered longstanding efforts to break up titans Google and Meta. Amazon and Apple could soon face their own antitrust trials. But it remains unclear whether Trump’s goal is ultimately to see those companies weakened, and he has been heavily lobbied by their CEOs.
JANUARY 6 PROTESTERS
Despite saying during the campaign that he may not free those convicted of violent offenses in the 2021 Capitol attack, Trump ended up granting clemency for all who were in jail or facing prosecution.
They included such figures as Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, a mastermind of the uprising, and others who attacked police officers. In all, Trump granted relief to about 1,500 people.
TRANSGENDER RIGHTS
Trump has largely made good on promises to roll back protections for transgender Americans, banning trans people from serving in the military, restricting access to gender-affirming medical care for transgender people under 19 and targeting trans athletes who compete in collegiate sports.
His administration has made it policy within the government that there are only two genders, while threatening to cut off federal funds to colleges and universities that promote "gender ideology."
