Trump Promises Megathread: Kept or Broken

[Danny Bateman]

Thought it would be a good idea to document exactly what Americans were promised and what they ultimately got for posterity's sake.

 

I'll try to edit the OP to keep it up to date. Feel free to make additions for things I didn't cover or forgot to update.

 

Anyway, here's a start:

1. Completely repeal and replace Obamacare and replace it with something "terrific" Status: Currently saying he's open to keeping parts of the ACA. (Update 1/15/17): Says he wants cheaper, better, simpler, universal coverage. (Update 3/24/17): Political golden boy Paul Ryan pulls Trump's AHCA bill and Trump announces he's moving on from healthcare reform.
2. Build a wall on the Mexican border to combat illegal immigration and drug trade, and make Mexico pay for it Status: Issued executive order to begin building wall - funding undetermined. (Edit 1/5/17: Sources reporting Trump will ask Congress to appropriate funds for the wall instead of Mexico. Edit 1/25/17: Orders start to construction of wall).
3. Oppose the TPP and renegotiate NAFTA Status: Still supports both, but Obama administration has already given up on TPP. (Edit 1/23/17: Withdrew from TPP negotiation via executive order.)
4. Put Hillary Clinton in prison, via a special prosecutor or otherwise Status: Is not going to pursue investigations of Clinton.
5. Wants to drain the swamp and combat Washington corruption Status: A bit vague in terms of progress, but currently adding a suspicious number of old guard Republicans, especially in the Koch mold, to round out his administration. (Update 12/21: Newt Gingrich says they don't want to drain the swamp anymore).
6. Fix Medicare/Medicaid/Social Security with no reduction in benefits Status: Trump's official website recently flipped to somehow support Paul Ryan's plan to phase out/privatize Medicare and an advisor on his SS team supports privatization of that, too.
7. Reallocate money from space exploration to fixing potholes Status: Advisor says he wants to shift NASA funding from climate research to space exploration.
8. Support the use of waterboarding and/or targeting of terrorist families to combat terrorism Status: Currently wavering on waterboarding after meeting with Gen James Mathis.
9. Bomb the sh*t out of ISIS and possibly "take the oil" Status: Unknown
10. Eliminate and/or renegotiate Iran nuclear non-proliferation deal Status: Unknown
11. Remove generals from media speaking engagements to allow them to focus on their jobs Status: Unknown
12. Execute Bowe Bergdahl by dropping him off a plane Status: Unknown
13. Fire VA administrators and reform agency Status: Unknown
14. Invest more in veteran welfare/transition programs Status: Unknown
15. Rebuild our "decimated" military Status: Unknown
16. Declare China a currency manipulator and crack down on their labor/environmental violations Status: Included in his 100 day agenda.
17. Appoint new, more aggressive trade negotiators Status: Unknown
18. Impose taxes on imports somewhere in the range of 30-35% Status: Unknown
19. Reduce the $18T by eliminating "waste, fraud, and abuse" Status: Unknown
20. Grow the GDP by 4% per year and add 25 million new jobs Status: Unknown
21. Simplify the tax code and cut taxes across the board with largest cuts for middle class Status: Unknown
22. Eliminate income taxes for singles making <$25000 per year or couples making <$50000, instead opting to have them file a one-page form with the IRS declaring "I win." Status: Unknown
23. Allow a one-year window for companies to bring overseas investments back to the US with reduced tax rate Status: Unknown
24. Eliminate gun-free zones at schools and on military bases Status: Unknown
25. Address mass shootings by getting more "good guys" with guns to take out "sickos" Status: Unknown
26. Minimum 5 year sentence w/o possibility of parole for violent felons who commit gun crimes Status: Unknown
27. Fix background check system for gun purchasing Status: Unknown
28. Allow concealed carry permits to be recognized in any state Status: Unknown
29. Sign manditory executive order assigning death sentence to anyone found guilty of murdering a police officer Status: Unknown
30. Increase police funding Status: Unknown
31. Increase funding for drug treatment, especially opioids Status: Unknown
32. Eliminate Dodd-Frank and Consumer Protection Act Status: Unknown
33. Defunding Planned Parenthood Status: Unknown
34. Plans to ban most Islamic immigrants from regions of the world affected by terrorism Status: Unknown, but meeting with has appointed/met with members for cabinet positions that have some hardline anti-Islam views.
35. Stop Syrian immigration and kick out Syrian refugees we have accepted Status: Unknown
36. Surveil mosques and/or create Muslim registration system Status: Unknown
37. Eliminate funding for sanctuary cities Status: Included in his 100 day agenda
38. Deportation of 11M+ illegal immigrants living in the US Status: Unknown
39. Triple the number of ICE officers Status: Unknown
40. End birthright citizenship Status: Unknown
41. Support marijuana legalization via state decision making Status: Unknown, but appointed a very anti-pot AG in Jeff Sessions.
42. Say things that are politically incorrect because PC culture is a waste of time Status: Winning.
43. Will release tax returns to the public "after the IRS audit concludes." Status: 1/22/17- Advisor says Trump will not release his taxes.

Sources:

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/01/22/here-are-76-of-donald-trumps-many-campaign-promises/

 

http://www.npr.org/2016/11/09/501451368/here-is-what-donald-trump-wants-to-do-in-his-first-100-days

[huKSer]

** Obama wrote an executive order on day 1 of his presidency to close Gitmo **

 

Still there

 

Idealism vs Realism

[NM11046]

This is great Dude - thank you!

[84HuskerLaw]

Interesting but I would say that only a couple weeks after the election and 2 months BEFORE he has even been sworn in (something Obama never did btw), it is a little early to start talking about "promises' unkept.

 

We might have some fun taking about all of Obama's promises / representations over two campaigns and elections and 8 years in office with de facto control of the courts, DOJ, FBI, and Senate. Really in some ways Obama has been excruciatingly 'successful' in carrying out his agenda (mostly hidden and not publicly 'promised' before he was elected). In other ways, one can certainly state accurately that Obama has accomplished almost nothing positive for the country and or kept his promises. I don't think he really promised to double the national debt but he did it. I remember he vowed to close Club Gitmo and he has basically done it by simply emptying it out for the most part, releasing the worst and the badest of the terrorists we managed to capture over 8 years prior to his taking over. He's not done yet so I expect a few more 'pardons' and releases of the remaining ones although perhaps the ones that remain are pretty happy and comfortable in their island paradise and are not looking to be evicted any time soon.

[NM11046]

If you read it 84 you'd see it's a running, changing list that he's updating as there are changes.

 

If you want, you could start a separate thread digging into all you want to with Obama - then you could spend your time there instead of trying to derail this one with your rambling.

[Danny Bateman]

Thanks NM. I wanted to throw something like this together. For those who don't know, Politifact has the similar tool for Obama called the Obameter that tracks his campaign promises. I know not everyone puts a lot of stock in them but at least it's something. Obama has scored quite well by that metric. I'd imagine they'll do a similar one for Trump.

 

And yes, it was intended to be a running list that gets updated often. I tried to list most of his major promises and keep the snark to a minimum. If I forgot something, he's made a new promise, or you feel like something is debatable, I'm open to input. Rather hoping for it, actually. Let me know!

[zoogs]

Vox: Take Trump literally as well as seriously.

 

Sessions is most infamous with the liberal public for his past history of racist statements and his broad brush opposition to civil rights causes. But in the halls of Congress, Sessions is known as a very serious, hard-working, and committed opponent of immigration to the United States. He led the charge against George W. Bush’s attempt at immigration reform in 2007 and again against the Obama-era effort in 2013. And importantly, Sessions isn’t just opposed to some hazy notion of “amnesty” — he’s a full spectrum immigration hawk, who opposes both legal and illegal immigration of both less-skilled and more-skilled workers.

Politicians generally work along the lines of what they promised. The coming administration is not an inscrutable black box. Such an argument is sheer fallacy.

[Danny Bateman]

So now we'll likely get protectionist economic policies AND an aversion to ALL types of immigration? I myself prefer a vibrant, dynamic society of people in the US. It seems like this administration will strive for the opposite.

 

Why stop The Fence^TM just at the southern border? It should probably just extend to the seaboards and northern border as well. Gotta keep out those pesky Cubans and Canadians.

[Danny Bateman]

Gingrich: Trump doesn't want to "drain the swamp" anymore

 

Updating number 5 to reflect the fact this isn't a priority anymore. I'd imagine term limits are now out, but that was essentially an unpassable piece of legislation anyway. You'd be asking politicians to OK giving themselves an expiration date.

 

I don't know that we've ever had a candidate scrap so many of their key campaign promises this quickly. Trump probablhas whiplash from the speed he's whipping his neck around.

[BigRedBuster]

During “thank you” tour rallies, Trump acknowledged that his supporters have been more laid back following his election win.

"You people were vicious, violent, screaming, 'Where's the wall? We want the wall!' Screaming, 'Prison! Prison! Lock her up!' I mean, you are going crazy. I mean, you were nasty and mean and vicious and you wanted to win, right?" Trump said during a stop in Florida last Saturday.

"But now, you're mellow and you're cool and you're not nearly as vicious or violent, right? Because we won, right?"

 

 

So, he is openly telling them that he totally played them and profited from their emotions during the campaign.

 

And......people still just blather on about how great he is.

[Moiraine]

Gingrich: Trump doesn't want to "drain the swamp" anymore

 

Updating number 5 to reflect the fact this isn't a priority anymore. I'd imagine term limits are now out, but that was essentially an unpassable piece of legislation anyway. You'd be asking politicians to OK giving themselves an expiration date.

 

I don't know that we've ever had a candidate scrap so many of their key campaign promises this quickly. Trump probablhas whiplash from the speed he's whipping his neck around.

 

As we've seen his followers will just let him spin this however he wants and be duped again and again.

[zoogs]

When he ran, he needed to secure votes.

 

Now that he has been elected, he needs to secure political allies. Thus is the turn of every outsider who ascends to power. The brash invective that brought them there can offer no more utility.

 

And here is where Trump's incompetence will shine through. He knows nothing and is incapable of building any political organization that doesn't involve venally welcoming anyone willing to praise him, and then claiming credit for their pursuits. Here, choice matters: he will choose Tea Partiers, white supremacists, and Wall St. execs alike. He will relish in the chaos and suppose himself very bold and clever. A better word might be incoherent.

[BigRedBuster]

It's fun when his own pose baits him into tweeting.

 

[zoogs]

This is truly concerning. Newt is a Trump booster. He was throwing a line for the Trump camp to take to reverse course on DTS and he wouldn't have done this unless he believed he was helping them get where they want to go.

 

Some have wondered whether Trump is in reality some kind of mad genius. I think Occam's razor has never been more of a slam dunk. This is plainly dysfunctional.

[Danny Bateman]

Newt reversed course on this real quick. Apparently he's not allowed to think on his own.

 

Paying lip service to fixing corruption with this cabinet and absolutely zero financial transparency doesn't really pass muster, does it?