 "Trump@100: Has the US president delivered on his promises?")
US President Donald Trump says a lot of things.
Trump during his campaign for president vowed to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours. Trump said he would begin the largest deportation of undocumented migrants in history.
He vowed to cut taxes, reduce the size of the government and take care of the national deficit.
Trump in his inaugural address declared the start of “the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense.”
He claimed that the government faces “a crisis of trust.”
He said he had “a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal,” promising to “give the people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy and indeed their freedom.”
“From this moment on, America’s decline is over,” Trump said.
But has that really happened? Has Trump delivered on his promises?
Let’s take a closer look:
Ending Ukraine war – No
Trump during the campaign repeatedly said he would end the Ukraine war within 24 hours.
“They’re dying, Russians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying. And I’ll have that done - I’ll have that done in 24 hours,” Trump said in May 2023, as per BBC.
“Before I even arrive at the Oval Office, shortly after I win the presidency, I will have the horrible war between Russia and Ukraine settled,” Trump told a National Guard Association conference in Detroit in August.
That very much has not happened.
Though Trump has opened talks with Russia, Ukrainian diplomats have rejected the possibility that the two nations could come to any agreement without Kyiv’s involvement.
In fact it looks like Trump is not going to be able to solve the war at all.
“The war has been raging for three years. I just got here, and you say, ‘What’s taken so long?’” Trump responded when asked about the Ukraine war in a Time magazine interview about his first 100 days.
In fact, US secretary of state Margot Rubio is already making noises about the US ‘stepping away’ from the entire matter if Russia and Ukraine do not accept Trump’s terms.
Imposing tariffs on trading partners – Yes, but…
Trump before taking office vowed to stop other countries ‘ripping off’ the United States.
Trump said he would do so by imposing tariffs on trading partners.
“On January 20, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25 per cent tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders,” Trump said as per BBC.
Trump on April 2, during his ‘Liberation Day’ speech, announced tariffs on hundreds of US trading partners including China, Mexico, Canada and the European Union.
He imposed country-specific imports as well as a blanket 10 per cent tariff on all other US imports and higher duties on steel, aluminium and autos.
His move sent shockwaves through financial markets , wiped out trillions of dollars in stock market value, and shook investors’ confidence in US assets, including the dollar, as a safe haven.
The developments, particularly the nervousness in the bond market and the meltdown in the global financial markets, caused Trump to back off most of his tariffs.
Trump in early April announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for trading partners barring China – on whom he initially raised the tariffs to 125 per cent.
The US currently has 245 per cent tariff on China.
Beijing, however, does not seem to be overly worried – saying it would no longer even respond to Trump’s ‘meaningless’ numbers game.
Trump has said he is planning to use the 90-day pause to negotiate more favourable trade deals.
However, this too hasn’t happened despite Trump’s repeated claims that the deals are close.
Ending birthright citizenship – No
Donald Trump in December 2024 vowed to end birthright citizenship – under which anyone born in the United States automatically becomes an American citizen.
Trump on Meet The Press said he “absolutely” planned to halt birthright citizenship once in office.
“If somebody sets a foot of just a foot… on our land, congratulations. You are now a citizen of the United States of America. Yes, we’re going to end that,” Trump, misstating his case, told NBC in December 2024.
Trump on January 20, 2025 – the day he was sworn into office – issued an Executive Order ending birthright citizenship.
Unfortunately for Trump, birthright citizenship is enshrined in the US Constitution under the 14th Amendment which assured citizenship for all, including Black people.
“All persons born or naturalised in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside,” the 14th Amendment states. “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.”
Which means that under the law, Trump’s order isn’t worth the paper it is written on.
The US Supreme Court has already placed Trump’s executive order on hold – though it has agreed to hear arguments in May.
The bad news for Trump is that the US supreme Court has consistently interpreted the 14th Amendment as giving birthright citizenship to anyone born on US soil.
Even a Supreme Court stacked with Trump appointees would likely not overturn such a foundational pillar of the United States.
Deportation of undocumented migrants – Yes
During Trump’s first bid for US president, he vowed to build a wall.
During his third bid for president, Trump was laser focused on undocumented migrants.
“On day one, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history to get the criminals out,” Trump had repeatedly said.
While Trump has launched a massive deportation campaign, it does not even come close to being the biggest such program in history.
In fact, the data shows Trump is deporting fewer people than Joe Biden was as president.
Data showed that the US in January deported 37,660 people.
That compares unfavourably to the last year of Biden’s regime, when the US was deporting, on average, 57,000 people.
Curbing inflation – Yes but…
Trump came to power on the back of inflation.
“When I win, I will immediately bring prices down,” Trump was quoted as saying on the campaign trail, as per USA Today.
Many voters, fed up with escalating prices under the presidency of Joe Biden, pulled the lever in the favour of the challenger.
While inflation has come down from nearly three per cent in February to 2.4 per cent in March, experts are sceptical that Trump has had anything to do with it.
In fact, they chalk up the reduction in inflation to the performance of US Federal Reserve Chief Jerome Powell – whom Trump has ironically mused about sacking.
Trump has been demanding that Powell cut interest rates, which the central bank is in no rush to do because inflation remains above its two per cent target.
In fact, economists are warning that Trump’s tariff strategy could in fact send inflation skyrocketing and that US consumers could experience sticker shock sooner rather than later.
Cutting taxes and reducing size of govt – Partially at best
Trump, like many other Republicans campaigning for office, vowed to cut taxes and reduce the size of government.
Trump vowed to “cut the corporate tax rate to 15 per cent from 21 per cent “solely for companies that make their product in America.”
He also vowed to make the Trump tax cuts “permanent” and to do away with tax on tips and social security for seniors.
But when it comes to the above it is Congress that is in charge and not Trump.
The US president can at most sign any bill that has been passed into law or veto it.
When it comes to reducing the size of the government, Trump has announced the end of the Department of Education and seemingly handed things over cutting things to the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).
Though Doge has claimed huge savings as a result of cancelling contracts, experts say these are overblown and that they don’t hold up under scrutiny.
Declassifying JFK and Epstein records – Yes
Trump prior to taking office had vowed to declassify records about both the John F Kennedy assassination and the Epstein files.
Interview with podcaster Joe Rogan in October 2024 had vowed to release the records about the assassination of Kennedy in 1963 “almost immediately” after taking office.
The Trump government in March released over 1,100 files spanning 31,000 pages of documents about JFK’s assassination – which has spawned thousands of conspiracy theories.
Trump, who was in office when Epstein was arrested in 2019, had suggested while campaigning in 2024 that he’d seek to open up the government’s files.
In February, Trump’s Attorney General Pam Bondi released government documents related to the deceased financier.
The documents, however, revealed nothing new about Epstein, his clients or his inner circle – nor did it shed any light on possible accomplices.
Much of the material, including transcripts of victim interviews and old police reports, had already been publicly known.
They included mentions of Trump, former President Bill Clinton, Britain’s Prince Andrew and magician David Copperfield, as well as testimony from one victim who said she met Michael Jackson at Epstein’s Florida home but nothing untoward happened with him.
Pardoning Jan6ers - Yes
Trump on the campaign trail had vowed to pardon all those involved in the January 6, 2021, insurrection on the US Capitol.
Trump had referred to the people – many of whom had pleaded guilty to criminal acts against the police – as ‘patriots’ and ‘hostages’.
“I’ll be looking at J6 early on, maybe the first nine minutes,” Trump was quoted as saying in December 2024.
Trump, hours after returning to the Oval Office, issued a sweeping pardon of his supporters involved in the attack on the US Capitol – a symbol of democracy.
Trump had claimed the pardons will end “a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years” and begin “a process of national reconciliation.”
An officer who was there that day and was punched by a Trump supporter told the BBC the pardons felt like a ‘slap in the face.’
With inputs from agencies
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