Fact checking Donald Trump’s 100 Day Contract with Americans

donald trump first 100 days fact check

All politicians make plenty of promises while campaigning that they never plan on keeping, and Donald Trump was no different. But, none have drawn up a contract with Americans instilling that their campaign promises will be kept.

Trump did just that, plus he went further in stating that all these would be done in the first 100 days of his taking office. Last Friday, he suddenly stated that the ‘first 100 days’ standard was ridiculous, but he set all this up for himself. He continually pushed on how much he would get done in this time period, so here’s a breakdown of what he’s done and not done.

You can find a full list of all the bills and Executive Orders he’s signed here.

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But where’s that wall? Or the promised trade punishment against China – will the Chinese get off scot-free from “the greatest theft in the history of the world”? What about that “easy” replacement for Obamacare? How about the trillion-dollar infrastructure plan and huge tax cut that were supposed to be in motion by now?

Trump’s road to the White House, paved in big, sometimes impossible pledges, has detoured onto a byway of promises deferred or left behind, an AP analysis found.

donald trump first 100 days fact check

Six measures to clean up the corruption and special interest collusion in Washington

FIRST: propose a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress.

STATUS: UNFULFILLED. Trump has not proposed such an amendment, though two Republicans in Congress — Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Ron DeSantis — proposed such a measure before Trump took office. Trump has not remarked at length about this amendment since taking office.

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

STATUS: FULFILLED, BUT LIFTED. Trump signed an executive action enforcing a hiring freeze in January, but it was lifted a few months later, in April.

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

STATUS: FULFILLED. Trump signed an executive order in January requiring two regulations be eliminated for every new regulation signed.

FOURTH: a five-year ban on White House and congressional officials becoming lobbyists after they leave government service.

STATUS: PARTIALLY FULFILLED. Trump signed an executive order placing the lobbying ban on administration officials but not on congressional officials.

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

STATUS: FULFILLED. The same executive order that placed the five-year ban also prohibited all lobbying on behalf of foreign governments.

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

STATUS: UNFULFILLED. Trump’s executive order on lobbying did not contain provisions for current foreign lobbyists.

7 actions to protect American workers

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

STATUS: UNFULFILLED. While Trump still vows to renegotiate NAFTA during public remarks, he has not yet formally begun the renegotiation process. His nominee for US trade representative has not yet been confirmed.

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

STATUS: FULFILLED. Trump signed a presidential memo in January withdrawing the US from the TPP.

THIRD: I will direct the secretary of the treasury to label China a currency manipulator.

STATUS: UNFULFILLED. Trump has reversed course on China’s currency status, telling The Wall Street Journal that China is not a currency manipulator. China was not labeled as such by the Treasury Department in a report this month.

FOURTH: I will direct the secretary of commerce and US 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.

STATUS: FULFILLED. Trump signed an executive order in late March initiating a large-scale review of foreign trade abuses.

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.

STATUS: UNFULFILLED. While Trump signed an executive order promoting American energy, it only ordered a review of current regulations.

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

STATUS: FULFILLED. Trump signed a presidential memo in January allowing construction of the Keystone XL pipeline and the Dakota Access pipeline to proceed.

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

STATUS: UNFULFILLED. While Trump’s budget proposal scrapped UN climate funding, it’s not yet clear which elements of that plan will make it into law.

5 actions to restore security and the constitutional rule of law

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

STATUS: depends on your view of ‘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 US Constitution.

STATUS: FULFILLED. Trump’s choice to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, Neil Gorsuch, was confirmed in April and now is the court’s junior associate justice.

THIRD: cancel all federal funding to sanctuary cities.

STATUS: UNFULFILLED. Trump and his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, have threatened to eliminate Justice Department grants to ‘sanctuary cities,’ but cutting off all federal funding to those municipalities would require action from Congress.

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

STATUS: PARTIALLY FULFILLED. Trump signed an executive order expanding authorities for individual ICE agents, but it’s too early to tell if deportations are quickening.

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.”

STATUS: UNFULFILLED. Trump has tried twice to bar entry to citizens from certain Muslim-majority nations, but his executive order remains stalled in court.

Legislative proposals

I will work with Congress to introduce the following broader legislative measures and fight for their passage within the first 100 days of my administration:

Middle Class Tax Relief and Simplification Act: An economic plan designed to grow the economy 4% 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. The largest tax reductions are for the middle class. A middle-class family with two children will get a 35% tax cut. The current number of brackets will be reduced from seven to three, and tax forms will likewise be greatly simplified. The business rate will be lowered from 35% to 15%, and the trillions of dollars of American corporate money overseas can now be brought back at a 10% rate.

STATUS: NOT INTRODUCED.

End the Offshoring Act: Establishes tariffs to discourage companies from laying off their workers in order to relocate in other countries and ship their products back to the U.S. tax-free. American Energy and Infrastructure Act Leverages public-private partnerships, and private investments through tax incentives, to spur $1 trillion in infrastructure investment over 10 years. It is revenue neutral.

STATUS: NOT INTRODUCED.

School Choice and Education Opportunity Act: Redirects education dollars to give parents the right to send their kid to the public, private, charter, magnet, religious or home school of their choice. Ends Common Core and brings education supervision to local communities. It expands vocational and technical education and makes two- and four-year college more affordable.

STATUS: NOT INTRODUCED.

Repeal and Replace Obamacare Act: Fully repeals Obamacare and replaces it with Health Savings Accounts, allows the ability to purchase health insurance across state lines and lets states manage Medicaid funds. Reforms will also include cutting the red tape at the FDA: There are more than 4,000 drugs awaiting approval, and we especially want to speed the approval of life-saving medications.

STATUS: INTRODUCED, but failed to garner sufficient support in the House

Affordable Childcare and Eldercare Act: Allows Americans to deduct childcare and eldercare from their taxes, incentivizes employers to provide on-site childcare services and creates tax-free dependent care savings accounts for both young and elderly dependents, with matching contributions for low-income families.

STATUS: NOT INTRODUCED, though Trump has proposed a childcare plan

End Illegal Immigration Act: Fully funds the construction of a wall on our southern border with the full understanding that the country of Mexico will be reimbursing the United States for the full cost of such wall; establishes a two-year mandatory minimum federal prison sentence for illegally re-entering the U.S. after a previous deportation and a five-year mandatory minimum federal prison sentence for illegally re-entering for those with felony convictions, multiple misdemeanor convictions or two or more prior deportations; also reforms visa rules to enhance penalties for overstaying and to ensure open jobs are offered to American workers first.

STATUS: NOT INTRODUCED

Restoring Community Safety Act: Reduces surging crime, drugs and violence by creating a task force on violent crime and increasing funding for programs that train and assist local police; increases resources for federal law enforcement agencies and federal prosecutors to dismantle criminal gangs and put violent offenders behind bars.

STATUS: NOT INTRODUCED, though Trump signed an executive order in February creating a task force on crime.

Restoring National Security Act: Rebuilds our military by eliminating the defense sequester and expanding military investment; provides veterans with the ability to receive public Department of Veterans Affairs treatment or attend the private doctor of their choice; protects our vital infrastructure from cyber-attack; establishes new screening procedures for immigration to ensure those who are admitted to our country support our people and our values.

STATUS: NOT INTRODUCED, though Trump’s proposed budget eliminates the defense sequester

Clean Up Corruption in Washington Act: Enacts new ethics reforms to drain the swamp and reduce the corrupting influence of special interests on our politics.

STATUS: NOT INTRODUCED

donald trump signing h1b visa program

Of 38 specific promises Trump made in his 100-day “contract” with voters – “This is my pledge to you” – he’s accomplished 10, mostly through executive orders that don’t require legislation, such as withdrawing the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.

He’s abandoned several and failed to deliver quickly on others, stymied at times by a divided Republican Party and resistant federal judges. Of 10 promises that require Congress to act, none has been achieved and most have not been introduced.

“I’ve done more than any other president in the first 100 days,” the president bragged in a recent interview with AP, even as he criticized the marker as an “artificial barrier.”

In truth, his 100-day plan remains mostly a to-do list that will spill over well beyond Saturday, his 100th day.

Some of Trump’s promises were obviously hyperbole to begin with. Don’t hold your breath waiting for alleged Army deserter Bowe Bergdahl to be dropped out of an airplane without a parachute, as Trump vowed he’d do at many of his campaign rallies. China’s leader got a fancy dinner, complete with “beautiful” chocolate cake at Mar-a-Lago this month, not the promised “McDonald’s hamburger” and humble pie.

But many promises were meant to be taken seriously. Trump clearly owes his supporters a Mexico border wall, even if it doesn’t end up being a foot taller than the Great Wall of China.

One page of his 100-day manifesto is devoted to legislation he would fight to pass in 100 days. None of it has been achieved.

The other page lists 18 executive actions and intentions he promised to pursue – many on Day One. He has followed through on fewer than a dozen, largely through the use of executive orders, and the White House is boasting that he will set a post-World War II record when he signs more this week.

That’s a change in tune.

“We need people in Washington that don’t go around signing executive orders because they can’t get people into a room and get some kind of a deal that’s negotiated,” he declared in New Hampshire in March 2015. “We need people that know how to lead, and we don’t have that. We have amateurs.”

Efforts to provide affordable child care and paid maternity leave, to make college more affordable and to invest in urban areas have been all but forgotten. That’s despite the advantage of a Republican-controlled Congress, which the White House failed to pull together behind Trump’s first attempt to repeal and replace “Obamacare.”

An AP reporter who followed Trump throughout the presidential campaign collected scores of promises he made along the way, from the consequential to the fanciful. Here are some of them, and his progress so far:

ENERGY and the ENVIRONMENT:

– Lift President Barack Obama‘s roadblocks on the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines.

Done. Keystone XL is revived and construction of the Dakota Access is completed.

– Lift restrictions on mining coal and drilling for oil and natural gas.

Done. Trump has unraveled a number of Obama-era restrictions and initiated a review of the Clean Power Plan, which aimed to restrict greenhouse gas emissions at coal-fired power plants.

– Cancel payments to U.N. climate change programs and pull out of the Paris climate accord

Nope. Trump has yet to make a decision on Paris. His aides are torn.

ECONOMY and TRADE:

– Pass a tax overhaul. “Just think about what can be accomplished in the first 100 days of a Trump administration,” he told his supporters again and again in the final weeks of the campaign. “We are going to have the biggest tax cut since Ronald Reagan.” He promised a plan that would reduce rates dramatically both for corporations and the middle class.

Nowhere close. Trump has scrapped the tax plan he campaigned on, and his administration’s new package is in its early stages, not only missing the first 100 days but likely to miss a new August deadline set by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. Some details may emerge this week.

-Designate China a currency manipulator, setting the stage for possible trade penalties because “we’re like the piggy bank that’s being robbed. We can’t continue to allow China to rape our country, and that’s what they’re doing.”

Abandoned. Trump says he doesn’t want to punish China when it is cooperating in a response to North Korean provocations. He also says China has stopped manipulating its currency for unfair trade advantage. But China was moving away from that behavior well before he took office. Also set aside: repeated vows to slap high tariffs on Chinese imports.

-Announce his intention to renegotiate or withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Backtracked, in essence. A draft of his administration’s plan for NAFTA proposes only a mild rewrite. But in his AP interview, he threatened anew to terminate the deal if his goals are not met in a renegotiation.

– Direct his commerce secretary and trade representative to identify all foreign trading abuses that unfairly hurt American workers.

Done. Trump has initiated plenty of studies over the past 100 days.

– Slap a 35 percent tariff on goods from companies that ship production abroad. Force companies like Apple and Nabisco to make their products in the U.S.

Nope.

-Embark on a massive $1 trillion effort to rebuild the country’s infrastructure, including airports, roads and bridges.

Not yet.

SECURITY, DEFENSE and IMMIGRATION:

– Immediately suspend the Syrian refugee program.

Trump tried, but the first version of his travel ban was blocked by the courts. A revised version dropped references to Syrian refugees entirely. That was blocked, too. And he has yet to mention another campaign pledge: to deport Syrian refugees already settled in the U.S.

– Inform his generals they have 30 days to submit a new plan for defeating the Islamic State group.

Trump did indeed order up a plan. It’s unclear what it is since it has yet to be made public.

– Suspend immigration from “terror-prone regions” where he says vetting is too difficult.

Trump’s effort to bar immigration temporarily from some Muslim-majority countries has been stymied by courts.

– Implement “extreme” immigration vetting techniques.

In progress. The Homeland Security Department is considering a number of measures, like asking for visitors’ phone contacts and social media passwords.

-Build an “impenetrable physical wall” along the length of the southern border, and make Mexico pay for it.

The government has been soliciting bids and test sections could be built as soon as this summer. Mexico is not paying for this work.

-End federal funding to “sanctuary cities” – places where local officials are considered by Washington to be insufficiently cooperative in arresting or detaining people in the country illegally.

The Justice Department has threatened to do so, but there are legal limits.

– Immediately deport the estimated 2 million “criminal aliens” living in the country, including gang members, in joint operations with local, state, and federal law enforcement.

Deportations have not increased. Arrests of people in the U.S. illegally are up and illegal border crossings are significantly down.

-Cancel visas for foreign countries that won’t take back criminals deported by the U.S.

There’s been no discussion of this yet.

-“Immediately terminate President Obama’s two illegal executive amnesties,” one of which allows young people brought into the country as children to stay and work.

Trump has made no effort to end the program, even though it would take a single phone call. In fact, he told AP these young people can “rest easy” and not fear deportation.

GOVERNMENT and the SWAMP:

– Ask agency and department heads to identify job-killing regulations for elimination.

Done.

– Propose a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress.

Nope.

– “Drain the swamp.”

On his pledge to curb the power of special interests, Trump has so far used an executive order to prohibit political appointees from lobbying the government for five years after serving in his administration and to ban outgoing officials from representing foreign governments. But he’s discontinuing the Obama-era practice of releasing White House visitor logs, restoring a shroud over what special interests are getting in his gates. He’s also issued at least one waiver to his lobbying ban, allowing a White House budget adviser to go advocate for a business trade group

– Impose a hiring freeze on federal employees, excluding military and public safety staffers.

This was one of Trump’s first actions. But the freeze has since been lifted.

-Require that two regulations be eliminated for each new one imposed.

Trump signed an order requiring agencies to identify two existing regulations for every new one imposed – though there is nothing in the order that requires the two to be eliminated.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

– End the strategy of nation-building and regime change.

Trump’s foreign policy posture is still in its early stages, though he has already intervened in Syria and has escalated rhetoric against North Korea.

– Move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

The administration says it is studying the issue.

– Negotiate the release of all U.S. prisoners held in Iran, even before taking office. Renegotiate or leave the Iran nuclear deal.

No prisoners have been released. The administration is studying the nuclear deal and Trump told AP “it’s possible” the U.S. will withdraw.

– Create a safe zone in Syria for refugees, paid for by the Gulf states.

Not yet.

HEALTH CARE, COURTS and GUNS:

-“My first day in office, I’m going to ask Congress to put a bill on my desk getting rid of this disastrous law and replacing it with reforms that expand choice, freedom, affordability. You’re going to have such great health care at a tiny fraction of the cost. It’s going to be so easy.”

The bill to replace “Obamacare” was pulled from Congress because it lacked enough support. He will try again with a revised plan.

– Begin selecting a new Supreme Court judge to fill the court’s vacancy.

Done. Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch and the Senate approved him.

– Eliminate gun-free zones in schools and on military bases.

Nope.

REALLY?

– “I promise I will never be in a bicycle race.”

So far, so good. Trump’s vow came after John Kerry, then secretary of state, broke his femur in May 2015 while riding a bicycle. He was not in a bicycle race.

-Bar his generals from being interviewed on television.

Never mind that. Army Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, as Trump’s national security adviser, recently appeared on a Sunday news show. Several senior military officers have done Pentagon news conferences in the past few months that are taped by the networks. Gen. John Nicholson, the top general in Afghanistan, appeared at a news conference Monday.

-No time for play.

Most weekends as president, Trump has broken his pledge to avoid the golf course, after years of criticizing his predecessor for playing the game. “Because I’m going to be working for you, I’m not going to have time to go play golf,” he told a Virginia rally in August. “Believe me.”

-Season’s greetings.

– “If I become president, we’re gonna be saying Merry Christmas at every store. … You can leave ‘happy holidays’ at the corner.”

As president-elect over the holidays, he sent a “Merry Christmas” tweet. So did President Obama. And both sent Happy Hanukkah wishes.