On January 20, 2026 Donald Trump will officially finish the first year of his presidency. Over the course of the President’s campaign, he made many promises to Americans as to what he was going to change. One year after his inauguration the Courier has tracked and found what he has fulfilled and what he has yet to achieve. Before this review begins it is important to note that the President is only one year in and still has time to fulfill these promises.
Immigration was at the forefront of the President’s campaign. He made many promises in relation to immigration. First, he vowed that “The day I take the oath of office, the migrant invasion ends.” President Trump is currently in the process of fulfilling this promise through increased border security and by giving ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) increased freedom when conducting operations. His next promise was to end the constitutional right to birthright citizenship. However, despite the President’s attempt to sign an executive order to end birthright citizenship it currently is not in effect. Multiple separate entities have launched lawsuits against the President with the reasoning that he cannot revoke a right given by the Fourteenth Amendment without congressional approval. As it stands this promise is at a standstill. President Trump’s final promise with immigration was to bar a flood of immigrants coming from Gaza as he stated that “Under no circumstances should we bring thousands of refugees from Hamas-controlled terrorist epicenters like Gaza to America.” Currently the President is in the process of completing this as his increased immigration customs have largely halted the progress of refugees from entering the United States. The President’s ultimate goal seems to be ending all refugee intake from Gaza and possibly the Middle East as a whole. However, once again the Trump Administration has been blocked from fully completing this as he does not have the support necessary to fully block Gazans from entering America.
One of the main stories of Trump’s first year in office has been the administrations dealing with Classified Records. Just one day before election day the President stated on the Joe Rogan podcast that he would immediately release files on the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy. This promise has been kept as the President signed an executive order releasing much of the previously classified information on the assassination of President Kennedy. However, the main story of President Trump’s first year has been his alleged involvement in the Epstein Files. Supporters of the President criticized the Biden Administration for failing to release the Epstein Files, which are a set of classified documents detailing sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Despite complaints that they were overly censored, the President did release the Epstein Files in late 2025. However, many members of the Democratic Party and enemies of the President continue to push for him to release information on Epstein.
Education was another one of the President’s main focus points during the campaign. President Trump placed importance on closing down the Department of Education and cutting funding to schools that enforced vaccine mandates. The President is currently in the process of closing the Department of Education, as the Department has announced that it will be closed at the federal level and returned to the states. However, despite this announcement, the President does need congressional approval, which is something he currently does not have.
Arguably, the most audacious claims that came from the Trump Administration were about foreign policy. The President vowed to end a multitude of wars, but certainly the most bold of his claims was on the Russia-Ukraine war. The President stated that “Before I even arrive at the Oval Office, shortly after I win the presidency, I will have the horrible war between Russia and Ukraine settled.” When considering the President’s claims, it is important to understand that the likelihood of this situation taking place was incredibly tiny. Rather, President Trump’s claim can be interpreted as him essentially saying that he would end the war swiftly. Although one year into the President’s term, the war still rages, there has been progress made. Peace deals have been discussed, and Russia has seemed more compliant than in recent years. However, this progress has yielded no significant results as neither party has agreed to anything yet. Moving away from wartime, the President wanted to “Tariff the hell out of the countries that have been taking advantage of us.” So far, the current administration has implemented countless tariffs that have been making major waves in foreign policy. However, these tariffs initially had the goal of aiding the American people, and several economists believe there to be no significant impact yet. Overall, trade wars such as these can take significant amounts of time, but the President only has three more years in office, and a sudden administration change in 2028 could not only undermine any effects the tariffs could have but also lead to them being nothing more than a waste of money. Only time will tell.
The Trump administration did follow through on many of its claims pre-election. However, the time frames presented along with these claims have so far been greatly exaggerated. Time will tell how well the President keeps up with his promises, and it will reveal if the administration’s plan will lead to a legacy of growth and development, or a legacy of failed dreams.
