Donald Trump promise tracker: Where his pledges stand at the 100-day mark
Evaluating the president's campaign promises.
— -- Throughout the long presidential campaign and after the election, Donald Trump made many promises to the American people.
As his administration reaches the 100-day mark, here is a review of where some of the promises stand. This "promise tracker" takes a look at some of the pledges he made to the American people before his inauguration and how those statements have changed. We are following his progress on 13 of his best-known and widest-reaching promises as he occupies the Oval Office.
As President Trump and his administration take action on the 13 promises we have selected, we will continue to update each one's status as broken, untouched, changed, discussed, unclear, in progress or kept.
1. Muslim Ban
One of the most controversial of Trump's propositions was to, in some way, bar some Muslims from entering the United States, in what he claimed was an effort to combat radical Islamic terrorism. His position has evolved over time:
Dec. 7, 2015: A TOTAL SHUTDOWN OF MUSLIMS ENTERING THE U.S. Trump calls "for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on."
Dec. 8. 2015: DOESN'T APPLY TO AMERICANS OR SPORTS STARS Trump told "Good Morning America" that U.S. citizens who are Muslim would be allowed back in the country. The same day, he told The Washington Post that foreign leaders who are Muslim and athletes headed to the U.S. for sports competitions would also be exempt, though he did not specify what level of government officials or what level of athlete he meant.
March 30, 2016: SOME EXEMPTIONS In the days and months that followed, he listed various groups — from foreign leaders to sports stars to his friends who are "very rich Muslims" — who would be exempt from the hypothetical ban.
May 11, 2016: THE BAN WOULD BE TEMPORARY Trump said it would be a "temporary ban ... hasn't been called for yet. Nobody's done it. This is just a suggestion until we find out what's going on."
June 12, 2016: THE BAN WOULD BE SPECIFIC After the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, Trump made another change to his proposed ban, saying that it would focus on individuals from "areas of the world where there is a proven history of terrorism against the United States, Europe or our allies" as opposed to all Muslims.
Jan. 27, 2017: TRAVEL BAN ENACTED Trump signed an executive order temporarily banning most immigration from seven countries -- Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen – including an indefinite ban on Syrian refugees. A federal judge in New York issued a stay against deportations stemming from the order and there have also been lawsuits challenging the measure’s constitutionality.
Trump and his press secretary repeatedly maintained that the policy was not a Muslim ban since there are 40 other majority-Muslim countries that were not impacted. The administration also disputed that the move was a “ban,” although the president has tweeted as much.
Feb. 16, 2017: COURT BATTLE A lawsuit from Washington and Minnesota led a Washington state federal judge to issue a nationwide temporary restraining against the travel ban, which was upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Trump team submitted a filing on Feb. 16 asking for the 9th Circuit Court to hold off on making any further moves on the case until the new executive order is issued.
"Rather than continuing this litigation, the President intends in the near future to rescind the Order and replace it with a new, substantially revised Executive Order to eliminate what the panel erroneously thought were constitutional concerns,” the filing from the administration to the appeals court states.
The original executive order has not yet been rescinded, and the other legal challenges filed by several additional states could continue in district courts around the country even after the administration withdraws it.
March 6, 2017: ROUND TWO Trump signed a new executive order that temporarily bars people from six majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States.
This executive order, which is slated to go into effect on March 16, revokes and replaces the controversial order that Trump signed in late January and was blocked by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The new order was crafted in an attempt to withstand legal challenges, exempting permanent legal residents and applying only to future visa applicants, not to those who already hold valid visas.
Another significant difference is that it removed Iraq from the original list of majority-Muslim countries that were banned, leaving Iran, Libya, Yemen, Syria, Somalia and Sudan on the list.
March 16, 2017: BAN BLOCKED AGAIN Two federal judges have ruled against Trump's revised travel ban, dealing another blow to one of the president's signature domestic security initiatives.
In Hawaii, U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson issued a nationwide temporary restraining order, arguing that there was “significant and unrebutted evidence of religious animus driving the promulgation" of the new executive order and its predecessor.
His ruling prevents core provisions of the executive order, affecting refugees and citizens of six predominantly Muslim countries, which were scheduled to go into effect on March 16.
In arguing for the restraining order, the state of Hawaii alleged that the new executive order "began life as a Muslim ban," and that the statements of Trump and his advisers "provide direct evidence of the Executive Order’s discriminatory motivations."
At a rally in Nashville that night, President Trump slammed the decision as "an unprecedented judicial overreach."
2. 'Obamacare'
Trump called for the Affordable Care Act, Barack Obama's landmark health care legislation, to be repealed and replaced throughout the campaign and carried that concept through his transition but began to suggest that the sweeping changes he proposed may not affect every part of the law.
Oct. 25, 2016: REITERATES PLAN TO REPEAL AND REPLACE "As soon as we take office, it's America first again. That begins with immediately repealing and replacing 'Obamacare' … We're gonna repeal it, we're gonna replace it, and we're gonna get you great, great health care at a fraction of the cost," Trump said at a rally in Tallahassee, Florida.
Nov. 11, 2016: SAYS HE MAY KEEP TWO PROVISIONS Trump said during a Wall Street Journal interview that he may be open to keeping at least two parts of the legislation — the portion of the law that stops insurers from charging more because of existing conditions and the portion that allows people to stay on their parents' insurance plans until they are 26 years old — after meeting and speaking with then-President Obama days after the election.
Jan. 11, 2017: TWEAKING TALKING POINTS Even as Congress has started to take steps to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, Republicans have not united behind a specific replacement plan, and Trump maintains that the switch from the Affordable Care Act to the replacement will take place "essentially simultaneously." In the subsequent days, he said that there will be "insurance for everybody."
Feb. 27, 2017: ‘IT’S COMPLICATED’ During a meeting with governors at the White House, Trump said that his team has “come up with a solution that’s really, really I think very good,” but has not released specifics.
“Now, I have to tell you, it’s an unbelievably complex subject. Nobody knew health care could be so complicated,” he said.
March 6, 2017: PROPOSING THEIR OWN PLAN The Republican replacement plan for Obamacare was made public on March 6. It was met with mixed reactions from members of their own party.
The bill, called The American Health Care Act, eliminates the individual healthcare mandate, repeals taxes and penalties implemented by Obamacare, creates age-based tax credits to help people buy insurance, freezes the Medicaid expansion, and gets rid of government funding for Planned Parenthood.
Critics of the proposal say that it shouldn’t be viewed as a full repeal of Obamacare since two popular provisions from Obamacare -- the stipulations that coverage cannot be denied based on pre-existing conditions and young people can stay on their parents’ plans until they are 26 years old -- remain intact.
The act now has to go through the legislative process, which likely includes review by committee and a vote on the House floor, among other steps.
March 24, 2017: DEFEAT At the president’s request, House Speaker Paul Ryan pulled the American Health Care Act (AHCA) off the floor moments before a scheduled vote.
Divisions within the Republican Party ultimately led to the bill being yanked and lawmakers couldn’t wrangle enough votes on their side of the aisle for passage in the House. Members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus -- along with a few moderate Republican lawmakers -- planned on opposing the bill if it went to a vote.
"Obamacare is the law of the land... and we're going to be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future," Ryan conceded a short time after the bill was dropped.
A spokesperson for Ryan released a statement on March 26 making it clear that the intention is to move on.
"The speaker and president talked for an hour yesterday about moving forward on the agenda and their relationship is stronger than ever right now," the spokesperson said.
May 4, 2017: UPDATED HEALTH CARE BILL PASSES THE HOUSE Republicans in the House of Representatives passed what they said was their plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, after several fits and starts, sending the measure to the Senate, where it is expected to be significantly revised.
The bill passed the House in a narrow 217-213 vote. All Democrats opposed the bill.
At a celebratory press conference in the White House's Rose Garden, Trump congratulated House Speaker Paul Ryan and praised House Republicans for coming together.
"What we have is something very, very incredibly well-crafted," Trump said of the bill.
"As much as we've come up with a really incredible health care plan, this has brought the Republican Party together. We're going to get this finished," Trump said.
3. Build the Wall
A hallmark of the Trump campaign from the beginning was a tough stance on immigration — suggesting some undocumented immigrants are criminals and a drain on resources. The main solution he proposed, which immediately garnered controversy, was "the wall," for which he later said Mexico would pay.
June 16, 2015: THE WALL IS INTRODUCED The promise to build the wall dates back to the day that Trump announced his presidential run. "I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I'll build them very inexpensively, I will build a great, great wall on our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall," he said in response to a question after his announcement speech.
April 5, 2016: MEXICO IS GOING TO PAY He introduced the idea that he would force Mexico to pay for the wall by blocking immigrants in the U.S. from sending money home and canceling visas unless Mexico makes a one-time payment of $5 billion to $10 billion to the U.S.
Aug. 31, 2016: TRUMP GOES TO MEXICO Trump, at the time the Republican nominee, made a trip to Mexico and met with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. During a joint press conference immediately afterward, Trump said, "We didn't discuss who pays for the wall."
Oct. 22, 2016: SUGGESTS MEXICO WILL REIMBURSE THE U.S. Trump appeared to alter his plan at a rally in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 22, when he said he's operating "with the full understanding that the country of Mexico will be reimbursing the United States for the full cost of such a wall."
Jan. 11, 2017: WAVES OFF QUESTIONS ABOUT PAYMENT PLAN At his first press conference in months, Trump remained committed to the wall but said, as at his October rally, that the plan was for Mexico to reimburse the United States. "What's the difference?" he asked. "I want to get the wall started."
Jan. 25, 2017: ISSUES AN ORDER President Trump told ABC News during his first sit-down interview since assuming the Oval Office that construction of the wall will start "in months" and "certainly planning is starting immediately." Hours later, he issued two executive orders, one of which is about the commission of the wall. The order calls for the secretary of homeland security to "take all appropriate steps to immediately plan, design, and construct a physical wall along the southern border." The order calls for agency and department heads to "identify and quantify all sources of direct and indirect Federal aid or assistance to the Government of Mexico." It does not specifically state how or if those payment sources will be connected to the payment of the wall.
Feb. 24, 2017: SETTING A TIMETABLE The U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced that they would start accepting bids in March from companies interested in building the wall and they will start awarding contracts in mid-April.
During his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on the same day, Trump said that construction on the wall would start “very soon” and is “way, way, way ahead of schedule.”
April 23, 2017: PUTTING OFF PAYMENTS Trump tweeted about how the timeline on Mexico's alleged payment for the wall is going to be pushed back so that it doesn't slow down the construction process.
"Eventually, but at a later date so we can get started early, Mexico will be paying, in some form, for the badly needed border wall," his tweet read.
4. Deport Undocumented Immigrants
Trump has made stopping and reversing undocumented immigration a hallmark of his campaign and national security strategy.
Sept. 27, 2015: PROPOSES 'HUMANE' DEPORTATION PLAN During an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes," Trump said that he would order the deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. "We're rounding 'em up in a very humane way, in a very nice way. And they're going to be happy because they want to be legalized. And, by the way, I know it doesn't sound nice. But not everything is nice," he said.
Aug. 31, 2016: SPECIAL DEPORTATION TASK FORCE Another aspect of the plan includes the creation of a special force dedicated to deportations. "Within [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], I am going to create a new special deportation task force focused on identifying and quickly removing the dangerous criminal illegal immigrants in America who have evaded justice," he said at a speech in Phoenix.
Oct. 24, 2016: FOCUS SHIFTS TO CRIMINALS He said that he plans to "begin swiftly to remove all criminal aliens from our country. So we have many illegal immigrants in our country who are criminals, convicted criminals, murderers, drugs lords, gang members." He repeated this promise, with a focus on immigrants who are criminals, throughout the remainder of the campaign.
Nov. 21, 2016: HOW HE'S GOING TO DO IT He offered a detail of his plan when he released a video on social media talking about what he hopes to achieve during his first 100 days in office, saying, "On immigration, I will direct the Department of Labor to investigate all abuses of visa programs that undercut the American worker."
Jan. 25, 2017: ISSUES AN ORDER President Trump signed an executive order that related to first steps in his fight to cut down on undocumented immigration. Among other proposed policies, the order brings an end to the current “catch and release” policy and will cut federal funding to “sanctuary cities.”
Feb. 21, 2017: MEMO HIGHLIGHTS PRIORITIES Two memos from the Department of Homeland Security were released giving insight into how the Trump administration plans to tackle the issue of undocumented immigration. One of the memos – which were signed by Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly – said that the agency will "no longer will exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement" with certain exceptions including children.
One of the memos says that the previous prioritization system for deporting immigrants under President Obama "failed" and says that "Department personnel may initiate enforcement actions against removable aliens encountered during the performance of their duties."
The memos called for more than 15,000 immigration, border patrol and customs agents to be hired, and it also asked for local law enforcement to help detain and remove unauthorized individuals. The construction of the promised border wall and expansion of detention facilities at the southern border were also mentioned.
5. Defeat ISIS
Trump has taken an aggressive stance toward ISIS and what he believes is the ideology behind it: "radical Islamic terrorism."
April 27, 2016: FOREIGN POLICY SPEECH One of Trump's formal policy speeches was focused on ISIS, and he said, "Their days are numbered. I won't tell them where, and I won't tell them how. We, as a nation, must be more unpredictable."
Sept. 6, 2016: CALLING ON HIS ADVISERS During a speech in North Carolina, Trump said his top generals "will have 30 days to submit to the Oval Office a plan for soundly and quickly defeating ISIS. We have no choice."
Sept. 7, 2016: SAYS HE HAS A PLAN Trump reiterated his emphasis on secrecy around his plan to defeat ISIS, during NBC's Commander in Chief forum. "I have a plan, but I don't want to ... If I win, I don't want to broadcast to the enemy exactly what my plan is," he said, adding that if he likes the plans submitted by his generals, it may lead to "a combination of my plan and the generals' plan."
Feb. 27, 2017: HE GETS THE PENTAGON PLAN The White House received the Pentagon's preliminary options for accelerating the fight against ISIS and is reviewing it before Trump makes any final decisions or announcements, an administration official told ABC News.
April 13, 2017: “MOTHER OF ALL BOMBS” The U.S. dropped the GBU-43, or massive ordnance air blast (MOAB) bomb, nicknamed the “mother of all bombs,” on a complex of ISIS-controlled caves in the Nangarhar province in Afghanistan.
According to The Associated Press, the Afghan Defense Ministry reports that 95 'militants' and no civilians were killed. These figures have not been independently verified by ABC News.
6. Get Rid of NAFTA and the TPP
He said he plans to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, initiated in 1994 by then-President Bill Clinton, and withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership on his first day in office. Trump regularly discussed the trade deals on the campaign trail, saying that changes would help American workers and businesses.
May 7, 2016: RALLYING CRY Trump slammed the deals at a rally in Spokane, Washington, calling NAFTA "a disaster" and warned that the TPP "is going to be worse, so we will stop it."
Early Dec., 2016: AIDE SUGGESTS IT WON'T BE SCRAPPED The Hill reported that in early December, transition team senior adviser Anthony Scaramucci said that the Trump administration does not intend to scrap NAFTA. "I don't think we're looking to rip up NAFTA as much as we are looking to right-size it and make it fairer," Scaramucci said.
Jan. 23, 2017: FIRST MOVE ON ONE On what he called his first full day of work following the inauguration, President Trump signed a presidential memorandum calling for the U.S.'s withdrawal from the TPP.
"Great thing for the American worker, what we just did," Trump said as he signed that presidential memorandum at the Resolute desk in the Oval Office.
April 21, 2017: STILL TALKING ABOUT TERMINATING NAFTA During an interview with The Associated Press, Trump noted that while he has not yet taken any action in regards to NAFTA, he's still thinking about it.
"I am going to either renegotiate it or I am going to terminate it," Trump said. He later noted that "if they don't treat fairly, I'm terminating NAFTA."
April 27, 2017: TWEETING OUT UPDATES Trump posted two tweets with his latest thoughts on NAFTA, suggesting that he may be more open to renegotiating the deal now as opposed to scrapping it entirely.
"I received calls from the President of Mexico and the Prime Minister of Canada asking to renegotiate NAFTA rather than terminate. I agreed... subject to the fact that if we do not reach a fair deal for all, we will then terminate NAFTA. Relationships are good-deal very possible!" he tweeted.
7. Scrap Iran Deal
Trump frequently assailed the Obama administration as being filled with bad negotiators and cited his own prowess in making deals, including his vow to renegotiate the Iran nuclear deal, which Obama and then–Secretary of State John Kerry negotiated in 2015.
July 16, 2015: NOT A FAN Trump tweeted that the Iran deal "poses a direct national security threat. It must be stopped in Congress. Stand up Republicans!"
Jan. 15, 2017: TRUMP TEAM SUGGESTS POSSIBLE CHANGE AFTER PUSHBACK FROM IRAN After Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in December 2016 that he plans to resist any U.S. changes to the agreement, Trump's chief of staff, Reince Priebus indicated that the deal may not be abandoned after all, during an interview with ABC News, saying, "I'm not here to declare one way or the other ultimately where this is going to go."
April 18, 2017: REVIEW STARTS 89 days after President Trump took office, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson sent a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan’s office to officially certify Iran’s compliance with the terms of the agreement as it was set during the Obama administration.
It also states that the Trump administration is reviewing the Iran deal to determine whether the administration will stop the deal’s suspension of sanctions.
The letter notes the National Security Council will lead an interagency review of "whether suspension of sanctions related to Iran pursuant to the [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] is vital to the national security interests of the United States."
After the review is complete, the letter states, the administration will "work with Congress on the issue."
8. Tax Cuts and 25 Million New Jobs
One of Trump's key campaign promises was improving the tax environment for middle class citizens. The plan includes cutting the number of tax brackets from seven to four (including one that pays nothing), lowering the business tax to 15 percent and increasing the standard deduction, among other changes.
Oct. 22, 2016: CONTRACT WITH THE VOTERS During a rally in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Trump touted his Middle Class Tax Relief and Simplification Act, which he said would be "designed to grow the economy 4 percent per year and create at least 25 million new jobs through massive tax reduction and simplification in combination with trade reform, regulatory relief and lifting the restrictions on American energy."
9. Pro–Second Amendment Supreme Court
One of the most pressing matters facing Trump is to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court left by the February 2016 death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
May 18, 2016: PUTS FORTH HIS LIST Trump released a list of 11 possible judicial nominees, and he added 10 others to that list in September.
Oct. 9, 2016: TALKS SECOND AMENDMENT AT SECOND DEBATE Both Trump and Hillary Clinton were asked about their priorities in picking a Supreme Court justice during the second presidential debate. In his answer, Trump said “I am looking for judges and have actually picked 20 of them…. They’ll respect the Second Amendment and what it stands for and what it represents.”
Nov. 4. 2016: HINTS THERE MAY BE MORE THAN ONE Trump has speculated that there could be more vacancies to fill, depending on how long the current justices remain on the bench. "Justice Scalia died very unexpectedly. We have one," he said at an event in Wilmington. "The next president could appoint as many as three, four. I mean, there's even a scenario it could be five. If we don't get this right, we will not have a country."
Jan. 25, 2017: SETS ANNOUNCEMENT DATE President Trump tweeted that he will be announcing his pick for the Supreme Court on Thursday, Feb. 2.
Jan. 31, 2017: NOMINATES HIS PICK Trump named Judge Neil Gorsuch as his nominee to the Supreme Court.
"The qualifications of Judge Gorsuch are beyond dispute," Trump said in his introduction of Gorsuch in the East Room of the White House on Jan. 31.
Trump described Gorsuch as someone "who loves our Constitution and someone who will interpret them as written."
March 20-23, 2017: GORSUCH HAS HEARING Judge Neil Gorsuch faced the Senate Judiciary Committee, including two days of questions.
He stressed his judicial independence, saying that he "would have walked out the door" if Trump had asked him to overturn the ruling on the landmark Roe v. Wade case, allowing abortions.
Gorsuch testified that while he is acutely aware of his imperfections as a federal judge, he has spent his career presiding over cases with open-mindedness and tolerance for different opinions with respect to the rule of law.
"If judges were just secret legislators, declaring not what the law is but what they would like it to be, the very idea of a government by the people and for the people would be at risk,” he said. “And those who came to court would live in fear, never sure exactly what governs them except the judges' will."
Gorsuch was asked about the decision in the Heller case about the rights of individuals to own firearms in federal enclaves, which in this case related to Washington D.C.
He declined to talk to the specifics of the case and his feelings on the case, saying that “it's not a matter of agreeing or disagreeing [with the decision], Senator, respectfully it's a matter of it being the law. And my job is to apply and enforce the law.”
April 17, 2017: ON THE BENCH Gorsuch started his first day on the bench, marking the first time in over 14 months that the Supreme Court had nine judges on the bench since Justice Antonin Scalia's death.
He was confirmed by the Senate on Friday, April 7, after Republicans turned to the so-called nuclear option to get rid of the required 60-vote threshold to confirm him after many Democrats refused to vote.
10. Bring Back Blue Collar Jobs
Trump stressed the importance of creating jobs and keeping existing jobs in the U.S. as part of his plan to "Make America great again." He named the coal, steel and manufacturing industries as ones that will be vital for employees to hold on to their jobs.
May 26. 2016: ENERGY PLAYS KEY ROLE In his America First Energy Plan, Trump connected U.S. energy independence with job creation. "The oil and natural gas industry supports 10 million high-paying Americans jobs and can create another 400,000 new jobs per year," he said.
Oct. 30, 2016: KEY INDUSTRIES "The miners are going back to work in Wyoming and in West Virginia and in Ohio. And, by the way, the steelworkers too," Trump said at a rally in Greeley, Colorado.
April 18, 2017: BUY AMERICAN, HIRE AMERICAN Trump turned a campaign maxim into an executive order.
'The Presidential Executive Order on Buy American and Hire American' gives agency heads 150 days to assess the implementation of "Buy American" laws already in existence and to come up with new ways to further that goal.
The order also called on the secretary of state, attorney general, secretary of labor and secretary of homeland security to scrutinize existing policies and the H-1B visa program to "protect the interests of United States workers."
"The policy of our government is to promote the use of American-made goods and to help ensure that American labor is hired to do the job," Trump said at a speech in Wisconsin ahead of his signing of the order.
April 20, 2017: LAUNCHING AN INVESTIGATION Trump announced that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and his team are launching an investigation into the imports of foreign steel to the U.S. Trump has previously said that much of his infrastructure improvements would be done using American steel.
"Today, I'm directing the Department of Commerce to immediately prioritize the investigation that began yesterday ... into foreign steel arriving into our markets, and to submit a report on the effects of these foreign steel products on the national security of the United States," Trump said, noting that Ross' formal recommendations would come in the "very, very near future."
"It's not just the pricing, it’s not just employment, it also has to do with the national security of our country, which people never talk about," he said.
11. Rebuild the Country's Aging Infrastructure
Trump has repeatedly called for nationwide improvements to infrastructure, saying such projects not only are necessary but also help provide jobs and an economic boost.
Nov. 9, 2016: VICTORY SPEECH He reiterated his dedication to the issue, saying during his victory speech on election night that the country's infrastructure "will become, by the way, second to none, and we will put millions of our people back to work as we rebuild it."
Nov. 21, 2016: TRANSITION PLANS ANNOUNCED Trump's transition team revealed plans to "invest $550 billion to ensure we can export our goods and move our people faster and safer," the transition website says.
Jan. 24, 2017: ACTION FROM THE OFFICE President Trump signed two presidential memorandums and one executive order, all of which will have implications for the country's infrastructure changes. The first memorandum mandated that all new pipelines built in the U.S. would use material and equipment produced within the U.S., while the second ordered the secretary of commerce to identify ways to streamline the federal permitting process and reduce regulatory burdens put on domestic manufacturers. The executive order called for environmental reviews and approvals for high-priority infrastructure projects to be expedited.
February 28, 2017: TEASES THE PLAN During his joint address to Congress, Trump reiterated his plan for improved infrastructure and bringing back jobs.
"To launch our national rebuilding, I will be asking Congress to approve legislation that produces a $1 trillion investment in infrastructure of the United States -- financed through both public and private capital -- creating millions of new jobs," he said.
No further details about the plan have been publicly disclosed since.
12. School Choice and Ending Common Core
Trump repeatedly called in his campaign speeches to "get rid of Common Core" in an effort to "[bring] education local." His campaign website stated that he wants to "immediately add an additional federal investment of $20 billion towards school choice" and "give states the option to allow those funds to follow students to public or private schools they attend."
Nov. 23, 2016: SECRETARY PICK Trump's apparent dedication to pushing for school choice goes beyond campaign talk: He selected Betsy DeVos, a Michigan education activist and major GOP donor, to lead the Department of Education. She is currently the chairwoman of the American Federation for Children, a school choice advocacy group.
April 26, 2017: ISSUES AN ORDER On the 97th day of his presidency, Trump took his first public action in regard to addressing education reform.
He signed an executive order that launched a 300-day review of federal regulations of schools and recommends Education Secretary DeVos modify or make recommendations to measures deemed an overreach by the federal government.
13. Paying for NATO
Trump has repeatedly said America is footing too much of the bill for the international military alliance's actions, and his language on the issue has varied throughout the campaign.
July 21, 2016: SAYS U.S. MAY NOT DEFEND NATO COUNTRIES Trump immediately raised eyebrows and drew bipartisan condemnation during the campaign when he threatened not to honor the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's mutual defense pact if countries did not pay what he considers their fair share.
Jan. 15, 2017: CALLS IT 'OBSOLETE' In a joint interview with two European newspapers, Trump reiterated his belief that he was correct in saying that the alliance is obsolete.
Feb. 18 2017: THE VP SPEAKS OUT Mike Pence affirmed U.S. support for NATO while speaking Saturday at the Munich Security Conference in Germany. It was Pence's first overseas trip as vice president.
"Today, on behalf of President Trump, I bring you this assurance: The United States of America strongly supports NATO and will be unwavering in its commitment to our trans-Atlantic alliance," Pence said at the international security meeting.
"This is President Trump's promise: We will stand with Europe, today and every day, because we are bound together by the same noble ideals -- freedom, democracy, justice, and the rule of law," he said.
When Defense Secretary James Mattis – who had praised NATO during his Senate confirmation hearings -- addressed a group in Brussels earlier that week, he warned that "no longer can the American taxpayer carry a disproportionate share of the defense of western values."
"Americans cannot care more for your children's security than you do. Disregard for military readiness demonstrates a lack of respect for ourselves, for the Alliance, and for the freedoms we inherited, which are now clearly threatened," Mattis said on Feb. 13.
Related Topics