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100 Days: Did Trump Keep His Campaign Promises?

by | Apr 29, 2017 | 100 Days of Trump

It has been one-hundred days since President Donald Trump was inaugurated. On the campaign trail and soon after his surprising victory, the president outlined a series of pledges and promises that he said he would fulfill in his first one-hundred days in the Oval Office. How has he fared? President Trump believes he has done a stellar job, claiming that “no administration has accomplished more” in its first ninety days than his. Let’s take a look at how the president has coped using “Donald Trump’s Contract with the American Voter,” otherwise known as the one-hundred-day action plan to make America great again:

Executive Orders

In his first one-hundred days, President Trump vowed to implement six measures to clean up corruption and eradicate special interest collusion in Washington. This was also known as draining the swamp.

Here were the six measures from his one-hundred-day action plan:

FIRST, propose a Constitutional Amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress.

This did not happen since the president did not submit any proposal of the kind.

SECOND, a hiring freeze on all federal employees to reduce federal workforce through attrition (exempting military, public safety, and public health).

He did successfully impose this, but the president decided to lift the freeze earlier this month.

THIRD, a requirement that for every new federal regulation, two existing regulations must be eliminated.

Trump received praise from the business community when he signed this executive order on January 30.

FOURTH, a 5 year-ban on White House and Congressional officials becoming lobbyists after they leave government service.

The promise was fulfilled when he signed an executive order on January 29.

FIFTH, a lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government.

On January 29, the president signed an executive order banning lobbying for a foreign government.

SIXTH, a complete ban on foreign lobbyists raising money for American elections.

This did not happen.

In his contract with American voters, the president put together seven actions that would protect U.S. workers. Here are those seven measures:

FIRST, I will announce my intention to renegotiate NAFTA or withdraw from the deal under Article 2205.

President Trump did announce that he would renegotiate the trade agreement, but it remains unclear as to what he will exactly do. In his first week in office, he confirmed that negotiations would start soon.

SECOND, I will announce our withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The president successfully withdrew from the trade pact three days after being sworn into office.

THIRD, I will direct my Secretary of the Treasury to label China a currency manipulator.

The president reversed this position and told The Wall Street Journal earlier this month that China is not a currency manipulator. He noted that the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has not been devaluing the yuan in recent years. This could be a bit of playing Chinese Checkers on Trump’s part, but it goes directly against what he said he would do.

FOURTH, I will direct the Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Trade Representative to identify all foreign trading abuses that unfairly impact American workers and direct them to use every tool under American and international law to end those abuses immediately.

On Mar. 31, the president ordered the review of trade practices.

FIFTH, I will lift the restrictions on the production of $50 trillion dollars’ worth of job-producing American energy reserves, including shale, oil, natural gas and clean coal.

This appears to be in the works as he signed an executive order on March 29 that orders the review of energy regulations.

SIXTH, lift the Obama-Clinton roadblocks and allow vital energy infrastructure projects, like the Keystone Pipeline, to move forward.

Trump kept this promise and removed the roadblocks to the Keystone Pipeline.

SEVENTH, cancel billions in payments to U.N. climate change programs and use the money to fix America’s water and environmental infrastructure.

The “America First” budget would slash 20% funding for the United Nation’s climate change programs and roughly $2 billion to assist developing countries in combating global warming.

In his final series of executive orders, the president wanted to restore security and the constitutional rule of law. This is where he has experienced the biggest hurdles. Here are his five proposed measures:

FIRST, cancel every unconstitutional executive action, memorandum and order issued by President Obama.

This did not happen, and none of former President Barack Obama’s executive orders has been ruled as unconstitutional.

SECOND, begin the process of selecting a replacement for Justice Scalia from one of the 20 judges on my list, who will uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States.

The president’s Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch was confirmed by Congress on April 7.

THIRD, cancel all federal funding to Sanctuary Cities.

He has threatened to end funding. Trump has signed an executive order that tries to block funding to sanctuary cities, but as of this writing, the order does not achieve this feat.

FOURTH, begin removing the more than 2 million criminal illegal immigrants from the country and cancel visas to foreign countries that won’t take them back.

Several federal courts have choked the president’s controversial immigrant restriction. The administration is still pursuing this plan.

FIFTH, suspend immigration from terror-prone regions where vetting cannot safely occur. All vetting of people coming into our country will be considered extreme vetting.

Trump has signed two executive orders that would accomplish this promise, but lower courts have blocked this measure by suspending the temporary ban on immigrants from Muslim-majority nations. But he certainly could garner an “A” for effort here.

Legislation

During his first one-hundred days, President Trump guaranteed that he would work closely with Congress to introduce and pass broader legislative initiatives. Here are the ten main legislative objectives from his contract:

Middle Class Tax Relief and Simplification Act, with specific statements on tax rates.

The Trump administration announced on April 26 the “biggest tax cut” and “largest tax reform” in U.S. history. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Director of the National Economic Council Gary Cohn unveiled several details regarding the plan, including a corporate tax rate of 15%, across-the-board personal income tax cuts, the elimination of the estate tax and the removal of individual deductions on personal taxes, excluding charitable contributions and mortgage interest.

End The Offshoring Act, intended to create tariffs to stop people from relocating their companies.

This is essentially a measure to implement the president’s border tax, but it has not been presented.

American Energy & Infrastructure Act

During the campaign, Trump announced a $1 trillion infrastructure spending initiative over ten years. He has alluded to the endeavor on a couple of occasions – he told CEOs earlier this month that it may top $1 trillion. Nothing has been brought to Congress, but Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao told the Boston Globe that the proposal’s debut is being targeted for the summer.

School Choice And Education Opportunity Act

The White House has failed to establish a comprehensive education reform package.

Repeal and Replace Obamacare Act

In a word: No.

Affordable Childcare and Eldercare Act

The Trump administration still has not announced specific tax proposals.

End Illegal Immigration Act, including forcing Mexico to pay for the famed Trump wall.

The administration has been seeking bids for the border wall, but Congress has not authorized spending.

Restoring Community Safety Act

President Trump wants modest increases for federal and local law enforcement agencies. However, he has yet to issue a formal budget to Congress. A bill has not been introduced.

Restoring National Security Act, including destroying the sequester.

He has been open about providing additional military funds, including a $50 billion boost in defense spending. The White House has not submitted a bill to Congress.

Clean up Corruption in Washington Act, including new ethics reforms.

Trump was successful in signing an executive order that restricts lobbying, but new ethics legislation has not been given to Congress.

The results are a mixed bag. To his supporters, some of his moves have been terrific, and some of them have been horrible. To his opponents, it is fodder for prematurely deeming it to be a failed presidency. Overall, President Trump has kept about ten of his twenty-eight promises from his one-hundred-day action plan.

According to Gallup, the president maintains a 40% approval rating.

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