On Nov. 5, 2024, Donald Trump was elected the 47 president of the United States after the most scrutinized elections in the nation’s history. On Jan. 20, 2025, he took the oath of office and was sworn in as the country’s president. In the two-and-half-month period between, President Trump made a slew of promises that he would achieve on his first day in office. Now that it has passed, we can take a look at if/how these promises were kept.
The promises and the realities
The promise: Trump alluded to the possibility of pardoning those convicted and charged of crimes committed at the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol.
The reality: Fulfilling this promise, Trump issued pardons for over 1,500 rioters on Jan. 6. Among these pardons included members and leaders of the Proud Boys, a far-right militant group that promotes political violence, and the Oath Keepers, who similarly is a far-right, anti-government militant organization. Trump and his cabinet nominees were questioned numerous times whether he would pardon those charged/convicted of violent crimes that day, such as assaulting police officers and seditious conspiracy, which he did. In all, nearly every person charged with crime related to the insurrection was pardoned.
The promise: During his September debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump claimed he would not only end the war in Ukraine but do it before he even took office.
The reality: This was a far-fetched goal of Trump, and the war between Russia and Ukraine is nowhere close to being over. However, it is likely Trump will be in conversation with both sides sooner than later as he has kept a better relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin than past U.S. presidents. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been in conversation with American leaders consistently for the past few years and will need to talk to Trump about U.S. funding for Ukraine as republicans threaten to cut it. While it is impossible to put a timeline on when the war will conclude, Trump will want to start getting the ball rolling on finding a solution with the two countries.
The promise: Trump committed to launching “the largest deportation program in American history” on day one.
The reality: While Trump’s deportations did not actually start on day one, he signed many executive orders that are strict on immigration and that will be tough on undocumented immigrants in the United States, particularly those who have committed crimes here. Reports believe the deportations could start as soon as Jan. 21, his second day in office. His executive orders on immigration are detailed below in the next section.
The promise: One of his many campaign slogans was “drill, baby, drill”.Trump said he would use his authority to start abstracting oil at high rates, even saying he would be a “dictator” on day one to achieve this.
The reality: Former President Biden made efforts to curtail/block oil drilling in the Arctic and U.S. coasts, which Trump reversed through executive order. It is unclear whether drilling itself increased on Jan. 20, but Trump laid the groundwork for extracting oil and energy subsidies, and effectively stopped any attempts by the Biden administration to transition towards clean energy.
The promise: Trump committed that on his first day, he would “keep men out of women’s sports,” referring to banning transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports.
The reality: While Trump himself did not make any moves to ensure this on his first day, the House of Representatives, where Republicans hold a 220-215 advantage, passed a bill on Jan. 14 that would ban transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports that are in federally funded schools/programs. The bill had been previously passed but never voted for in a Democratic-led senate; now that Republicans also hold an advantage in the senate of 53-47, they will likely take the bill up, but it still remains unlikely the bill will end up on the president’s desk as it would need seven Democratic senators to cross party lines for cloture.
The promise: Adding to his transgender policy, Trump asserted that he would reinstate the military transgender ban that he implemented in his first term.
The reality: While Trump has not reinstated the ban, he has set the foundation to do so. Biden made an executive order that allowed transgender people to serve in the military, effectively ending Trump’s ban; now, Trump has made an executive order reversing the one set by Biden. Now, nothing is saying transgender people can not serve in the military, but nothing says they can either. Soon Trump will have to establish policy on this, and will likely reinstate the ban from his first term.
The promise: Adding to his immigration policy, Trump stated that he would end birthright citizenship, particularly for children born by those in the country illegally, though this directly violates the 14th Amendment.
The reality: Trump signed an executive order that jeopardizes birthright citizenship for those with parents who are in the country illegally and/or not U.S. citizens. The order goes into effect on Feb. 19; however, by the afternoon of Jan. 21, less than 24 hours after he signed the order, attorney generals for 18 states have sued to block the order as it deliberately goes against the 14th Amendment, which grants birthright citizenship to all people born in the United States. The lawsuits will likely lead to courts striking down the order.
The promise: One key aspect of Trump’s economic policy is his tariffs, which he said he would impose 25 percent tariffs on all imports from Mexico and Canada through executive order.
The reality: Trump has yet to impose the tariffs that he promised on day one. However, he said in a statement from the Oval Office that 25 percent tariffs against these countries will go into effect on Feb. 1. So, despite no official order being made, his pledge to these tariffs still remains.
Other day-one actions
Using an executive order, Trump effectively paused the ban on TikTok for 75 days. In 2020, Trump himself signed an order attempting to ban the app, though it was blocked by courts and reversed when Biden took office. Then, Congress passed a bill that would shut down TikTok in the United States on Jan. 19 if not sold by its Chinese parent company ByteDance, which Biden signed into law and the Supreme Court upheld. Despite initially supporting this bipartisan bill, Trump has done a full 180 and now is searching for solutions that would allow TikTok to remain running in the country; he has suggested the U.S. government buy 50 percent ownership of the app, but ByteDance has shown no intent to selling it to anybody.
78 Biden executive orders were reversed by Trump on day one. These include various issues such as climate, immigration, gender, DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) and race. This also included a recent decision by Biden to remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, with Trump immediately putting them back on the list.
Much of Trump’s actions on his first day revolved around immigration, including declaring a national emergency at the southern border. He also solidified the use of the military at the border to prevent criminal activity from crossing over into the United States and allowed for the deployment of armed forces and the National Guard. Another executive order called for physical barriers at the border, alluding to a wall, and ended “catch and release” practices which allowed immigrants awaiting court dates to stay in Mexico rather than immigration detention. Other major immigration actions not previously listed include declaring drug cartels as terrorists, suspending the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, and calling for federal agencies to do everything lawful to protect U.S. citizens from criminal immigrants at the border.
The federal death penalty was reinstated by Trump, just weeks after Biden commuted the sentences of 37 people on death row, while three others remained on death row. This adds to Trump’s persona of being tough on crime and enforcing strict punishment.
Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris Climate Treaty, which he did in his first term, but Biden put the U.S. back in. Trump also withdrew the country from the World Health Organization for the second time.
Recap
Much of what Trump promised to do on day one came to fruition. Though it seemed challenging that he would be able to do so much on day one, his team planned the day so that he could maximize the number of executive orders he signed between inauguration events throughout the day. Through just one day of the Trump administration, it looks like he wants to stay true to many of his campaign promises, even the ones that seem extreme and/or experts advise against.
