Did Trump Keep ANY of His Campaign Promises?
Has Trump kept his campaign promises?
Let’s see how Trump did at keeping 10 of his biggest campaign promises during his first year in office.
Promise # 1 Trump said tariffs would unleash a “New Golden Age” and revive American jobs.
TRUMP MONTAGE: A new golden age.
Not so fast.
Tariffs were a cornerstone of his re-election campaign. He wouldn’t stop talking about them.
TRUMP: The most beautiful word in the dictionary to me is “tariff.”
You know what’s not so beautiful? How Trump’s tariffs hurt the job market.
The unemployment rate hit a four year high during Trump’s first year back in the White House. So did the number of job cuts announced by corporate America. That’s because Trump’s chaotic tariffs created uncertainty in the economy, which resulted in more layoffs and less hiring.
Trump said his tariffs would bring back manufacturing…
TRUMP: America will be a manufacturing nation once again.
But the U.S. actually lost thousands of manufacturing jobs while manufacturing activity slumped. That’s because Trump’s tariffs made it more expensive for U.S. manufacturers to source materials and machines from abroad needed to produce goods in America.
But Trump’s tariffs didn’t just raise prices for American manufacturers, they raised the price of…just about everything. Which leads me to…
Promise #2 Trump said he would lower grocery prices…
TRUMP: A vote for Trump means your groceries will be cheaper.
Actually, grocery prices have gone up almost every month that Trump’s been back in office. And Trump’s tariffs are a big reason why, simply because America imports a huge chunk of its food supply.
It’s not just tariffs on imported food that drove up grocery prices. Trump’s cruel mass deportations are causing a shortage of farm workers and meat packers, which has also contributed to soaring food prices.
But Trump’s promises to lower costs didn’t end there…
Promise #3 Trump said he would lower your energy bill.
TRUMP: I’m going to cut your energy prices in half.
Go ahead and check your electric bill. Electricity costs in 2025 rose by an average of 11% nationwide — three times the rate of inflation. One of the reasons is Trump’s vendetta against renewable energy.
TRUMP: We don't allow windmills, and we don't want the solar panels.
By reducing America’s supply of cheaper, clean energy, Trump is driving up energy prices — and doing a favor for his Big Oil backers.
Trump is worsening energy affordability by boosting the construction of power-hungry AI data centers — which are putting a strain on electric grids across the country and driving up household electricity costs.
While construction of AI data centers exploded, construction in other areas did not…
Promise #4 Trump said he would lower housing costs
Home prices are rising, and rent is growing faster than inflation. One big reason is that Trump has done nothing to increase the supply of affordable housing.
Instead, he’s pushing the idea of a 50-year mortgage, which will saddle homeowners with gargantuan interest payments. He’s creating a construction labor shortage with his cruel ICE abductions. And his tariffs are driving up the price of homebuilding materials. Meanwhile, his administration has cut billions of dollars from housing for the homeless.
Moving on…
Promise #5 Trump said he would…
TRUMP: MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN
Yes, Trump celebrated getting Coca-Cola and other food corporations to replace some artificial ingredients and food colorings…
But you know what else Trump is doing?
Making devastating cuts to health care — you know, the thing that actually helps us stay healthy!
Trump and Republicans' big ugly bill will kick millions of people off their health insurance. Trump also allowed Affordable Care Act subsidies to expire, sending insurance premiums soaring for millions of Americans by an average of more than $1000 per year — some by as much as $48,000!
It somehow gets worse. Trump’s EPA rolled back dozens of environmental regulations that protect our air and water, while also approving new “forever chemical” pesticides — which have been linked to cancer and birth defects.
And his fanatical HHS Secretary, RFK Jr., dismantled federal health agencies and cut their funding. He falsely linked autism to vaccinations — and made it more difficult to access vaccines. He gave America measles again.
He also fired civil servants who inspect our food, track infectious diseases, and research life-saving medications.
How will this make America healthy again?
Promise #6
Trump said he would bring…
TRUMP: …peace throughout the world.
In fact, Trump increased military spending to record levels, sold out Ukraine to Putin, bombed Iran without approval from Congress, and launched deadly air strikes on fishing boats in the Caribbean.
In fact, Trump increased military spending to record levels, sold out Ukraine to Putin, bombed Iran and kidnapped Venezuela's president without approval from Congress, and launched deadly air strikes on fishing boats in the Caribbean.
Of course Trump hasn’t presented evidence that the people he’s killing in the Caribbean have anything to do with drug smuggling. And even if they did, the technical term for imposing the death penalty without a trial or any due process is…“murder.”
And sure, the ceasefire Trump helped negotiate between Israel and Hamas made headlines. But he’s been silent in the months since, as hundreds of Palestinians, including many children, have been killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza.
Promise #7 Trump said he would only deport criminals…
TRUMP: We will remove all criminal aliens immediately. All of the criminals, we start with that.
But the vast majority of people abducted by ICE have no criminal records.
Besides, repeated studies show immigrants are more likely to be law-abiding than U.S.-born citizens.
And more than 170 of the people ICE arrested and imprisoned were U.S. citizens. At least three children who are U.S. citizens were deported. One of them was a four-year-old undergoing cancer treatment!
This will continue to worsen now that Trump has boosted ICE’s budget, making it the largest federal law enforcement agency in the country.
Promise #8 Trump said he would end the weaponization of the U.S. government…
TRUMP: The vicious, violent, and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end.
Far from it.
Trump weaponized the Department of Justice to a degree that would make even Richard Nixon shudder. Trump installed his personal lawyer as the Attorney General and pushed out prosecutors who refused to oversee sham prosecutions of his political enemies.
Meanwhile, he doled out pardons to January 6th rioters, political cronies, the drug trafficking ex-president of Honduras, and a crypto kingpin who helped enrich Trump’s own family crypto business. I made a whole video about this, which you can watch later.
[BOB: It’s a wonderful time to be a criminal, if you cozy up to Donald Trump that is]
Trump also attacked our First Amendment freedoms and the freedom of the press. He’s had protestors arrested and threatened with deportation for speaking out against him. He’s threatened to sic the Federal Communications Commission against late night comedians and anyone in the press who criticizes him.
[TRUMP: Maybe we should be taking away their licenses…]
If this isn’t weaponizing the government, I don’t know what is.
Promise #9
Trump said he would make government more efficient and pay down the debt
TRUMP: We’re gonna pay down our national debt.
Nope.
Even though Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency laid off thousands of federal workers and cut billions in funding for vital programs, the national debt exploded during Trump’s first year back. His Big Ugly Bill will add another $3.4 trillion to it.
But hey — give Trump some credit. There’s ONE promise he kept!
Promise #10
TRUMP: You’re rich as hell! // We’re going to give you tax cuts.
Aha! Under the Big Ugly Bill, each of the richest 1% of Americans is getting a tax cut of more than $66,000 a year — for the next ten years!
And cuts to the Estate Tax mean that America’s richest nepo-babies will pocket an extra $212 billion of inherited wealth over the next decade.
Once you factor in some of the other giveaways to the rich in the bill, America’s wealthiest will end up with an extra $2 trillion in tax cuts over the next decade — money that otherwise could be invested in health care, education, cancer research, making child care affordable, or feeding hungry kids.
Of course there were lots of other promises. He even claims…
TRUMP: I’m the only politician in history that I’ve actually kept more promises than I’ve made.
I couldn’t even begin to tell you what that means.
But I can tell you he also promised to close tax loopholes for private equity investors, expand in vitro fertilization, root out corruption and — release ALL the Epstein files. Will he follow through?
I won’t hold my breath.
Are there promises I missed that you think should have been in the top 10? Let us all know in the comments.
