Has President Trump kept his promises? The costs of failure and success
Graphic of protests and humanitarian aid contrasting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and war (Ruby Costa / The Puma Prensa)
By Ruby Costa, Co-Executive Editor
The premise of Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign was simple. He promised to the hopeful people of America an admittedly ambiguous goal: that he’d make it “great again.”
To some, the promise of “great” was enough to sway their vote. But to truly understand where to place your loyalties, you should understand what principles you are actually voting for. To summarize the entire campaign into four points, Trump has primarily focused on: securing the border, making America affordable, defending the constitution, and maintaining peace with other nations.
A year after Trump’s inauguration, it's a better time than any to judge the failures and successes of his administration; and remember, just because something has been successfully accomplished doesn't mean it is actually doing good for the American people.
1.) Securing the border
By restricting immigration and carrying out mass deportations, Trump’s lofty goal was to make America safer. But is the correlation between immigration and danger really there?
The United States Department of Justice finds that the rate of crime committed by US born citizens is actually higher than the rate for documented and undocumented immigrants (Department of Justice).
Despite this pattern being seen in murder rates, theft rates, and many other forms of crime, the Trump administration has simply marched ahead with their plan regardless. The immigration process has been made exponentially harder–which is saying something considering how the process has always been convoluted and unfair–and, staying true to Trump’s word, countless people have been deported since the beginning of his administration.
And here's the thing: there may very well be criminals and dangerous people among those deported by Trump–as there are, statistically, criminals and dangerous people in all populations regardless of race or documentation status–but the presence of some criminals does not mean that everybody is a criminal.
It is highly unreasonable to assume that each and every one of the roughly 600,000 immigrants deported had bad intentions, especially considering that many of them were children. No sane administration would deport an entire demographic simply because there is a chance that a few of them could cause harm.
It's both saddening and frightening to see how many people have been torn from their families; people who came to the United States for the possibility of a better life, only to be met with the vile and inhumane actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, and the notion that the leader of this supposedly “great nation” does not value their life or their possible contributions to the country. These people put in detention experience medical neglect, unsanitary conditions, and unjust punishments. Even before they are detained, people are being pulled out of their schools, jobs, and public spaces like restaurants and stores, most without anything to back up any alleged illegal activity.
Trump has the border under much tighter restrictions than it was before his administration, and his proposed mass deportations have been very successful. That is, however, not an indication of his success as a president, and these actions are majorly harmful. They have snowballed into a far greater crisis than anyone could have expected, with ICE agents bearing sickening resemblance to the Gestapo, the Nazi police forces in 1940s Germany.
It's hard to imagine how that is something some American citizens take pride in.
2.) Making America affordable
Arguably the most anticipated part of Trump’s campaign was the promise to bring down general costs for all Americans, focusing specifically on energy bills, gasoline, and groceries. This core concept drew in supporters from all parts of the country, and became important enough to some that they gave Trump their vote despite disagreeing with other parts of his platform.
One year later, prices have either gone up or remained at unattainable levels, yet the Republican party still claims they have made much progress in the field of affordability.
As of December 15, 2025, “electric bills have increased 13 percent,” and there is no sure sign of prices dropping anytime soon (ABC News). This increase can be attributed partly to the growing demand of energy by data centers, which are the facilities powering artificial intelligence (AI) technology. In Trump’s Executive Order 14179 of January 23, 2025, which "remove[d] barriers to American leadership in artificial intelligence,” all past attempts to “paralyze this industry” were revoked (The White House). Trump's actions here did the complete opposite of his original purpose; endorsing AI will lead to the creation of more data centers that will use increasing amounts of energy, ultimately ending in higher electric bills than ever for the citizens Trump promised to help.
Though gas prices truly have gone down from where they sat during the Biden administration by almost 50%, having “hit an all-time high in June 2022,” the percent change from 2024 to 2025 is far less impressive (ABC News). Despite Trump’s claim to “[bring] those high prices down and [bring] them down very fast,” there has only been a 0.5% decrease during the first year of Trump’s second term.
An NBC study from October of 2025 tracked the average price change of various grocery store staples across the year, and found that out of orange juice, chicken breast, bacon, chicken eggs, fresh ground beef, and bread, only the price of eggs has seen a decrease: 73 cents less than 2024 (NBC). The latest Consumer Price Index Summary from the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics shows a 0.2% increase from September 2025 to November 2025, with food specifically up 2.6%, without seasonal adjustments (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Overall, inflation has gone up 2.7% since the beginning of last year, which surely speaks for itself (US Inflation Calculator).
3.) Defending the constitution
It's almost laughable to hear Trump harp about “ending censorship" and protecting people's "fundamental freedoms.” It’s near ridiculous, because point after point can be brought up to prove how he has done the exact opposite.
To combat the issue of “fake news,” Trump has sued The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, ABC, and CBS. He has had The Late Show With Stephen Colbert canceled, and attempted to do the same to Jimmy Kimmel Live! in late 2025. Trump cut funding for PBS and NPR, and removed the AP from the white house press pool (AP News). The First Amendment protects the freedom of speech and the press, meaning all of the above organizations had every right to criticize Trump, which can be observed as the common thread between them. It is very telling that Trump has no qualms with violating the rights of these journalists and talk show hosts, yet he leaves Fox News–the publication that never fails to flatter Trump and embellish his achivements–blissfully alone.
Then comes the right to assemble and protest, and the ability to “ask the government to fix problems” (National Archives). Anti-ICE and anti-Trump protests have been cropping up in increasing numbers across the country, and violence towards protesters by ICE agents is always close to follow. Shootings, teargas, and general brute force is not a constitutionally respected response to people protesting for a cause they care about.
Lets remember: America would not be a nation at all if the people of the colonies did not protest against British rule. You cannot try to suppress protesting in a nation built on protesting.
The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable search and seizure, yet ICE agents are being told to target and detain people simply for speaking Spanish or looking like they have hispanic heritage.
Something Trump supporters are very vocal about is the Second Amendment, otherwise known as the right to bear arms. The Trump administration has taken this to an extreme, by committing acts such as closing the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention and repealing many gun safety policies (Everytown). All the while, there were over 400 mass shootings in the US in 2025, with 40,000 people shot that year alone. To Trump and his followers, protecting the Second Amendment is more important than protecting 40,000 American citizens, a disgusting amount of which were children.
4.) Maintaining peace with other nations
Trump makes three claims about peace with other nations: “prevent World War III [and] restore peace in Europe and in the Middle East” (The White House).
In Europe, the Russo-Ukraine war is ongoing, despite Trump's attempt at a peace deal (even after the deal, Russia launched more attacks) that was, admittedly, favorable to Russia. This is not a surprise considering President Vladimir Putin and Trump’s ongoing close relations.
Similarly, in the Middle East, the Israeli-Palestinian war has not ended, with death tolls still rising. The US claims phase two of ceasefire in Gaza, but Trump’s 20-point plan, which was meant to guide phase one, only actually held up in one regard; returning the Israeli captives (Al Jazeera). Along with a slew of pro-Isreal policies, like diplomatic support, Trump has clear bias towards Israel, and his plan has done little to actually bring humanitarian aid or stop future attacks.
Making a claim on whether World War III will happen or not is near impossible due to the sheer number of factors and global influence that has to be present for a World War. What can be claimed, however, is that President Trump has a worse relationship with many European nations than the US has had in decades. With the recent developments between America and Greenland–where Trump has threatened tariffs over Greenland and expressed interest in acquiring it as a US territory, possibly using military force–many European nations backing Greenland have blatantly stated that they will continue to defend it and not allow Trump to acquire it. This “strong joint statement” came from “Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland,” and it is concerning to see six of America’s strongest allies, through NATO and direct relations, joining together to directly oppose the actions of America (PBS). WWII might or might not happen, but if it does, America is at risk of losing some of its closest allies, some of whom, like France, have been loyal for centuries.
There are also many instances of Trump saying or doing things that come off as derogatory or mocking to European nations and their leadership, which has caused America, politics and all, to be widely disliked. It’s not as if an anti-American sentiment hasn’t existed in Europe since, essentially, the dawn of its existence, but this sentiment always seems to be more threatening with war looming on the horizon.
Politics are deeply subjective for some. That is the entire reason we have political parties; if we cannot all agree on policies or politicians, it is better to provide multiple options and vote rather than allow one to dominate.
There are certain things, however, that should be universal truths, regardless of your political affiliation. Everyone deserves a chance to achieve their dreams and lead a successful life, regardless of their origins. Money shouldn’t dictate whether you live or die. People deserve to express their opinions. War is harmful to all involved. Human beings are human beings, all the same underneath their varying phenotypes and paraphernalia.
The Trump administration does not understand these universal truths, and it shows. A year into his second term as president, Trump’s net approval rating is -19 percent. This means “37 percent approve, 56 percent disapprove, [and] 5 percent [are] not sure” (The Economist). With this rating only projected to decrease further, the only logical area we can look to place the blame is the Trump administration and their policies.
Many promises have been unmet, and the ones that have been brought to fruition came with dire consequences. Seeing this, some might be aching to scream “I told you so!” from the tops of their roofs, while others may be seething with a deep seated anger for their opposing party. In the end, it doesn’t matter how you feel about Trump or the Republican Party. We all suffer from this administration and the systems it is setting in place.