Promises vs reality
Back in October, as he neared the end of his campaign, Donald Trump told an audience in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, of his plans for his first 100 days in office should he become president.
After his shock election victory, the 100-day milestone is now very close. But much remains to be done if he is to meet the pledges of his Gettysburg speech. We take a look at the promises Trump has kept — and those he is yet to fulfil. PROMISE: To propose constitutional amendment would impose term limits members of Congress. REALITY: He has taken no action on
the matter. PROMISE: A hiring freeze on federal
employees. REALITY: Trump did place limits on the hiring of workers in January, but lifted it earlier this month to fill positions needed to meet his priorities. PROMISE: That every new regulation should require the elimination of two existing regulations. REALITY: Trump signed an executive order calling for this on his first full working day. PROMISE: To find a replacement for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. REALITY: Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch to fill the longstanding vacancy and he has taken his place on the bench. PROMISE: A five-year ban on White House and Congressional staffers becoming lobbyists. REALITY: Trump asked his appointees to sign an agreement preventing them from lobbying for five years. a that on PROMISE: To renegotiate or withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada. REALITY: He has continued to talk about the need to modify NAFTA, but has yet to initiate talks to renegotiate the deal. PROMISE: To withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal with 11 other Pacific nations on his first day in office. REALITY: He signed off on the move
on January 23. PROMISE: To order the Department to label currency manipulator. REALITY: Trump reversed course. He
concluded this month that Beijing Treasury China a was no longer manipulating the renminbi and would not be labelled a currency manipulator. PROMISE: To lift “the ObamaClinton roadblocks and allow vital energy infrastructure projects, like the Keystone pipeline, to move forward.” REALITY: Trump ordered a review of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines and the projects have since gotten the green light. PROMISE: To cancel payments to
UN climate programmes. REALITY: A 2017 budget blueprint released by the White House proposes cessation of payments to the UN’s Green Climate Fund and other programmes. PROMISE: To cancel funding for so-called sanctuary cities, which have policies not to check the immigration status of residents. REALITY: He has signed an order that would withhold some federal grants from jurisdictions that do not enforce US immigration law. PROMISE: To begin removing illegal
immigrants. REALITY: No such policy announced so far, but he has taken action to bolster spending on immigration enforcement and border security. PROMISE: To suspend immigration from “terror-prone regions” and institute extreme vetting. REALITY: The pledge resulted in Trump’s controversial ban on people travelling to the US from several predominantly Muslim nations. A series of legal challenges have put this effort on hold. PROMISE: To introduce and “fight for” the passage of several key pieces of legislation, including tax reform and the repeal and replacement of Obamacare. REALITY: The Obamacare legislation was pulled from consideration in Congress as leaders failed to line up support from members of Trump’s own Republican Party. The White House has talked about reviving the legislation, but a timeline for doing so remains unclear. Trump has said he will unveil his tax reform plans on Wednesday. PROMISE: To obtain full funding for construction of a border wall with Mexico. REALITY: Instead, Trump has asked for supplemental funding to this year’s budget to begin the project, with additional funds in his budget proposal.