Mass deportations, $900 billion in defense spending, and “One Big, Beautiful Bill.”
Trump made no shortage of movements in 2025, but did he deliver on the vows he assertively made to his 77,284,118 voters on the campaign trail? What exactly did he accomplish during his first year back in office, and how do those accomplishments compare to the promises?
AllSides analysts spent the last year Tracking Trump’s Campaign Promises to answer the above questions and determine which promises Trump kept in 2025, and which remain unfulfilled.
Note: This piece is not an opinion on Trump’s performance in 2025. It’s an analysis – reviewed by AllSides team members across the political spectrum – on whether the president did what he promised voters during his campaign. Results are no indication of approval or a lack thereof.
Health: Mostly Fulfilled
Trump made good on his promises to reduce many prescription drug costs, not impose vaccine mandates, expand in vitro fertilization (IVF) access, and end non-emergency Medicaid coverage for unauthorized immigrants.
He signed the HALT Fentanyl Act into law, which established a 10-year mandatory minimum for fentanyl traffickers. He launched strikes on alleged drug-smuggling operations in the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean oceans, and authorized billions of dollars in federal funding for overdose prevention and addiction recovery. The Trump administration also seized nearly 232,000 pounds of illicit drugs and extradited 29 Mexican drug cartel members during its first 100 days, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
However, Trump controversially agreed to reduce tariffs from 20% to 10% on fentanyl-related Chinese imports, despite deeming illicit fentanyl a “weapon of mass destruction” two months later. He also pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was convicted of conspiring to import “more than 400 tons of U.S.-bound cocaine through Honduras between 2004 and 2022.” Trump said Hernández was treated “unfairly.”
Quietly, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released tens of millions in previously withheld funds to Planned Parenthood, amid a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), in stark opposition to Trump’s large pro-life voter base.
Furthermore, he did not reform or replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as “Obamacare,” which was a major point of contention for lawmakers during the 43-day government shutdown that ended in November. ACA premiums are set to rise by about 20% in 2026, and subsidies are set to expire, affecting about 24.3 million Americans.
Firearms: Partially Fulfilled
Trump did fulfill a main promise of his campaign by moving to reverse all Biden-era gun control measures via an executive order. However, one of those measures included the expansion of background checks, contrasting previous support.
He told NRA supporters on the campaign trail, “No one will lay a finger on your firearms if I win the election,” and later established a “Second Amendment Enforcement Task Force” within the Department of Justice (DOJ). However, the DOJ is reportedly considering barring gun ownership from transgender individuals due to gender dysphoria.
Amid persistent shootings in the US, Trump outlined plans to expand school security, but he took no legislative action on the measure in 2025.
He said he would call on local law enforcement to “strictly enforc[e] existing gun laws against convicted felons,” during his campaign. As president, he reportedly proposed a pathway to gun ownership for some individuals with criminal histories who are not deemed threats to public safety.
RELATED: Fact Check: How Many School Shootings Have Happened in 2025? | AllSides
Trump also vowed to fire the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). However, then-Director Steven Dettelbach resigned less than a week before Trump’s inauguration and was replaced with Acting Director Daniel Driscoll. Many gun rights activists approved Trump’s pick for deputy director, Robert Cekada, as the “first ever truly pro-Second Amendment” nominee.
Foreign Policy: Partially Fulfilled
Trump, the self-proclaimed “America First” president, engaged in many foreign affairs in 2025.
The Russia-Ukraine War persisted into 2026, despite Trump’s assurance that he could end it quickly once elected. However, he did propose a 28-point peace plan that the countries reportedly began to negotiate.
Israel and Hamas began enacting Trump’s “21-point plan for peace in the Middle East,” despite the president previously distancing himself from the conflict. Violence between the groups continued throughout ceasefire agreements and orders during the year, but Trump did help orchestrate the return of all living and deceased Israeli hostages from Hamas – he largely supported Israel in line with his campaign pledge. Trump also promised to block Gazan refugees from entering the US, and the State Department later began to block all visitor visas for Gazans amid a “full and thorough” review.
Trump promised voters that he would impose at least 60% tariffs on Chinese goods. After multiple shifts and negotiations with the Chinese President Xi Jinping and adding over 50 Chinese companies to an export blacklist, Trump agreed to reduce tariffs on Chinese imports (including a reduction from 20% to 10% on fentanyl-related products), in an effort to “eliminate China’s current and proposed export controls on rare earth elements and other critical minerals.” Trump even announced that he and Xi Jinping would “work together on Ukraine.” However, the US also deepened its ties with Taiwan, an adversary of China, and announced an $11.1 billion arms sale to the country.
Trump opposed a ban on the Chinese app “TikTok” during his campaign. The Trump administration and China reportedly reached an unspecified agreement to both instill US access to the app and assure US national security.
The president did not fulfill his promise to impose a universal baseline tariff of 10% on all imports to the US, and he even announced a US-EU trade deal that imposed a 15% tariff on the US for most European goods. The tariffs would, however, be in exchange for a $600 billion EU investment into the US economy, increased EU purchasing of US military equipment, and a $750 billion EU purchase of US energy.
Trump launched various other tariffs on many countries, reportedly earning the US about $106 billion in the first half of 2025. Trump later announced that “a dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone” from tariff revenue in 2026.
Overall, Trump supported defense budgets upwards of $700 billion during his campaign. As president, he approved a $900 billion defense spending package, announced plans for a “golden fleet” of naval battleships, and said the Defense Department would begin testing nuclear weapons. His “Big, Beautiful Bill” allotted $50 billion for southern border security; meanwhile, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth cut $5.1 billion in “wasteful Defense Department contracts.”
Affordability: Partially Fulfilled
By extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), Trump fulfilled his promises to expand the low-income housing tax credit and increase tax breaks through the raised State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction. His “big, beautiful bill” reduces the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% – just one percentage point above what he promised. The bill proposes a total of about $3.7 trillion in tax cuts. Trump didn’t eliminate federal taxes on tips or overtime, but Congress did pass legislation to grant a federal tax deduction of up to $25,000 a year on cash tips.
On the other hand, ACA premium spikes and subsidy expirations are set to increase healthcare costs for millions without reform. Meanwhile, small business closures and mass federal layoffs brought high unemployment rates in 2025, with November’s rate rising to 4.6% – the highest since 2021. Overall inflation cooled throughout the year, but many grocery prices increased, and gas prices on average were the same as in 2024. US Gross Domestic Product (GDP), however, grew at a rate that Associated Press (Left bias) called “surprisingly strong” in its third quarter.
Trump promised to keep Social Security intact and untaxed. Since Inauguration Day, Trump made no legislative changes to Social Security, and the White House marked improvements in customer service, technology, backlog reduction, and accountability on the program’s 90th anniversary.
However, Trump fell short on the pledge he made voters to lower housing costs and increase supply. He signed an executive order on his first day in office that ordered “emergency price relief” to lower housing costs and increase availability, but few follow-up actions have been taken. US home sales depreciated as prices rose in 2025. The president has since promised “some of the most aggressive housing reform plans in American history” in 2026, and his administration is reportedly considering a national housing emergency declaration.
One of Trump’s biggest promise fulfillments in 2025 was reducing federal expenditures. His administration largely dismantled the Department of Education, imposed deregulatory measures in various agencies, and cut funding to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and other programs.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cut billions in federal spending deemed unnecessary, but the Justice Department (DOJ) cut nearly $90 million in funding for over 100 anti-trafficking organizations (according to The Guardian [Left bias]). Trump signed a $900 billion defense spending package, and he announced a $12 billion aid package for US farmers. Year-over-year federal spending growth did reportedly decline in 2025.
RELATED: Tracking DOGE-led Government Cuts and Firings | AllSides
The White House’s fiscal 2026 budget proposal includes $163 billion in cuts to most federal programs, including the Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services departments, as well as increased funding to the Defense, Homeland Security, and Transportation departments. The president also said he plans to use some tariff revenue to “substantially pay down” the nation’s $38 trillion debt.
Education: Mostly Fulfilled
Trump fulfilled most of the promises he made on education during his campaign; however, some remain at a standstill or even seemingly forgotten. For instance, no legislative action was taken in 2025 to end teacher tenure or the election of school principals.
The president did, however, crack down substantially on affirmative action and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in schools across the country. As promised, he investigated multiple education establishments suspected of engaging in discriminatory practices, cut funding to schools and programs using DEI against his direction, and signed an executive order to ban transgender women from women’s sports.
Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” aims to expand school choice through a donation incentive, and the administration redirected an additional $495 million in federal funding to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), and $60 million to charter schools.
Though the Education Department was not completely eliminated as Trump claimed it would be, widespread cuts were imposed throughout 2025. The Trump administration laid off hundreds of Education Department employees and transferred six offices to separate departments. The layoffs reduced the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) to three workers. Note: Fully eliminating the Education Department would require an act of Congress.
Environment: Fulfilled
“Drill, baby, drill,” was the slogan Trump emphatically used throughout his campaign, and that’s what his administration did. Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” included directives to enhance public land leasing for drilling, logging and mining.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approved about 475 drilling permits for public lands, and the Interior Department later announced plans to expand offshore oil and gas drilling across roughly 1.3 billion acres. In Alaska, Trump ordered the construction of a 211-mile road for mineral mining, and the US Interior Department revoked three Biden-era limitations to oil drilling in a state reserve.
Trump promised to end the “war on American energy” and impose deregulatory measures on US energy production. In 2025, he signed multiple executive orders to dismantle Biden-era climate regulations, ended the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, and announced plans to repeal Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards.
The Energy Department canceled $7.56 billion in clean energy funding, eliminating over 200 clean-energy projects deemed not economically viable or necessary. It is also reportedly urging the European Union (EU) to end the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive that regulates corporate greenhouse gas emissions. And the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began efforts to loosen restrictions on soot pollution limits.
Trump also rolled back the Biden-era push for electric vehicles to be a federal directive instead of a personal choice. The “Big, Beautiful Bill” predominantly ended tax credits for electric vehicles, and an executive order eliminated the Biden administration’s non-binding target that 50% of new vehicles sold by 2030 be electric.
Criminal Justice: Partially Fulfilled
On the campaign trail, Trump pledged to make “record” hiring, retention and training investments for law enforcement and crack down on crime across the country. In 2025, Trump signed multiple executive orders aimed to do so. Trump’s executive order, Strengthening and Unleashing America’s Law Enforcement to Pursue Criminals and Protect Innocent Citizens, directed agencies to do the following:
- “Provide new best practices to State and local law enforcement to aggressively police communities against all crimes;
- expand access and improve the quality of training available to State and local law enforcement;
- increase pay and benefits for law enforcement officers;
- strengthen and expand legal protections for law enforcement officers;
- seek enhanced sentences for crimes against law enforcement officers;
- promote investment in the security and capacity of prisons; and
- increase the investment in and collection, distribution, and uniformity of crime data across jurisdictions.”
The president launched widespread federalization efforts to combat crime and further immigration enforcement and deportations, particularly in Democrat-run cities. The controversial efforts and tactics resulted in nationwide protests and civic unrest.
Trump outlined specific plans to combat human trafficking as president, including “enhanced training” for frontline workers, “expanding/improving federal assistance to victims of human trafficking,” and capital punishment for traffickers. He also said he’d use Title 42 to “end the child trafficking crisis by returning all trafficked children to their families in their home countries, without delay.”
Alternately, the Justice Department (DOJ) cut nearly $90 million in funding for over 100 anti-trafficking organizations (according to The Guardian [Left bias]) and cut federal grants for police training on how to investigate disabled human trafficking victims. Additionally, the State Department cut 50% of full-time employees from the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP). However, the Trump administration did succeed in locating 62,000 undocumented children in the US in 2025, some of whom had been sex trafficked or in forced labor.
The president supported the death penalty on a federal level while campaigning, and signed an executive order shortly after his inauguration to materially aid states in carrying out capital punishments. He later signed a presidential memorandum to “fully enforce Federal capital punishment laws to deter and punish the most heinous crimes in our Nation’s capital.” Death row reached its highest rate in decades in 2025.
Trump reclassified marijuana “from a Schedule I to a Schedule III controlled substance with legitimate medical uses,” as promised. And he went a step further by directing various health departments to help Americans “benefit from access to appropriate full-spectrum CBD products while preserving the Congress’s intent to restrict the sale of products that pose serious health risks.”
Immigration: Mostly Fulfilled
When it came to immigration enforcement in 2025, the president was anything but subtle. The Trump administration reportedly enforced 605,000 deportations and 1.9 million self-deportations, imposed tighter citizenship and visa restrictions and made major strides in constructing the US-Mexico Border Wall. The Trump administration did not cut federal funding to “sanctuary jurisdictions,” but it sued multiple cities over their sanctuary policies.
The administration imposed a travel ban on over 30 countries, detained over 60,000 migrants in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities, and brought unauthorized border crossings to a 50-year low in 2025. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released an app for unauthorized immigrants to self-deport and remain eligible to legally apply for status, and it later announced a $3,000 exit incentive. Trump signed an executive order that would've required proof of citizenship for federal voter registration, though it was blocked by a federal judge.
However, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revoked some student visas for unspecified reasons and controversially launched federalization efforts for immigration enforcement in multiple US cities, even inviting civilian volunteers to temporarily support the operations.
RELATED: Tracking Controversial Deportations and Detainments Under the Trump Administration | AllSides
The US-Mexico border wall is actively under construction with a projected completion date of 2029. Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” is set to allot $50 billion to increase southern border security measures, and the DHS reportedly bypassed environmental laws to further initiatives. Additionally, DHS announced plans for a $4.5 billion and 230-mile-long “Smart Wall” “to bolster defense at the southern border.” At the northern border, surveillance and other technology are reportedly being amplified.
The White House’s fiscal 2026 budget proposal would increase DHS’s federal funding by 64.9%.
Despite these numerous promises kept, Trump’s executive order to restrict birthright citizenship did not fulfill his promise to abolish it. And despite opposing the H-1B visa program along the campaign trail, he later changed his stance, arguing the US “[doesn’t] have certain talents” to fill some jobs domestically. Furthermore, his plan to provide a pathway to citizenship for unauthorized youth immigrants was not clarified, and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program remains in limbo.
Conclusion
For better or worse, Trump’s actions as president in 2025 were historic through measures of both united common ground and inflammatory contention. Often substantial, but seldom subtle.
Staying up to date on such a large assemblage of actions is no easy feat for the average hardworking American, but a little attention still goes a long way.
The next three years will soon dissipate into Election Day 2028. By then, a new batch of potential presidents will boisterously emerge to build up or break down the final product of Trump’s America.
Only Americans get to decide what they want that new product to be.
Americans must pay close attention.
Track Trump’s Campaign Promises in 2026 and beyond at the link here.
Malayna J. Bizier is a News Analyst & Social Media Editor at AllSides. She has a Right bias.
This piece was reviewed and edited by News Editor & Bias Analyst Emily Allen (Left), Bridging Coordinator & Media Analyst Clare Ashcraft (Center), and Editor-in-chief Henry A. Brechter (Center).
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