Shifting vows: will Trump fulfill all his campaign promises
In less than two days of his presidency, Donald Trump has already fulfilled part of his campaign promises. Thus, the new head of the White House began to abolish liberal ideology, took on migrants and lifted restrictions in the energy sector. At the same time, his peace initiatives, including the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, are only partially realized, on the other hand, and his threats to impose duties on BRICS countries have not yet been documented. What Trump focused on in the first days of his presidency - in the material of "Izvestia".
Does Trump fulfill his promises
Immediately after his inauguration, Donald Trump began signing a number of presidential decrees (about 200). And with one stroke he canceled 78 decrees of his predecessor Joe Biden.
So far, the new U.S. president is following his intentions in domestic politics quite clearly, observing the principle of "America First". The Republican announced that he will fight radicalized liberal ideology - now there are only two genders in the United States: male and female. The migration crisis is really being addressed - Trump introduced a state of emergency at the border with Mexico, announcing millions of deportations. He promised to do away with the green agenda as well - there are now no restrictions on drilling for oil and other minerals in the US, and the country will again withdraw from the Paris climate agreement.
- Trump, in my opinion, signed a record number of executive orders in his first days in office. He is really trying to fulfill everything he promised during the campaign. Our country is getting back on the rails of common sense. All of America is happy now," American international law lawyer Cline Preston shared his impressions of Trump's return with Izvestia.
Trump's Ukraine policy
As expected, most of the signed decrees relate to domestic policy, although they also have an indirect impact on the new foreign policy course of the United States. At the same time, it can not be said that all of them exactly repeat Trump's pre-election promises. For example, during the presidential race, he repeatedly stated that if he won the election, he would end the conflict in Ukraine even before officially taking office on January 20. Moreover, he was going to resolve the issue in 24 hours by calling the leaders of Russia and Ukraine by phone.
After Trump's official return to the White House, the deadline increased to 100 days. This is how much, according to the US media, Trump gave to the special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg. As the press emphasizes, he understands that the conclusion of the deal will be a much more difficult task than it was imagined during the election campaign. At the same time, despite Kellogg's loyalty to Trump, it is unlikely that the envoy will be allowed into the direct negotiation process.
For now, Trump has started "preparing" the deal on his own. The US president offered Russia two ways to end the Ukrainian conflict: easy and difficult. In the first case, he said, Moscow must agree to Washington's terms. The second probably involves measures against Russian exports. At the same time, Trump added that he does not plan to "hurt" Russia, noting the country's exceptional role in winning World War II. "I have a love for the people of Russia and have always had a good relationship with President Putin," the White House chief wrote in his own Truth Social network.
It is worth noting that no plan for a settlement Donald Trump has never released. But the proposals come from members of his new team. The same Keith Kellogg, for example, talked about freezing the conflict on the line of contact, which will not suit Russia, as Moscow is interested in a long-term and lasting peace. According to U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, the Republicans' peace plan envisages Ukraine's non-aligned status, Russia's retention of new regions, and the creation of a demilitarized zone along the contact line. By the way, Trump shortly before his inauguration called it a mistake for the past US administration to discuss Kiev's NATO membership. "For years long before Putin said that NATO could not be associated with Ukraine, this was considered an inviolable rule," the Republican said.
By the way, after the inauguration, Trump and Putin confirmed their readiness for dialog on the Ukrainian issue. The US administration expects a phone conversation in the coming days and a meeting in the coming months. The Russian Foreign Ministry notes that there is a small window of opportunity for agreements with the new US administration. On January 22, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis can only be about reliable legally binding agreements that cannot be violated.
US policy on the Middle East and China
Trump's campaign promise to resolve the chaos in the Middle East fared noticeably better. He has repeatedly criticized the Biden and Harris administrations for what he said was allowing a Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. He argued that during his first term, such a scenario was on the verge of fantasy, given Washington's intense pressure on Tehran, which supports the Palestinian movement. And current developments perhaps confirm his constructive engagement. The deal between Israel and Hamas on a ceasefire and hostage return was struck amid Trump's insistence. The first exchange took place exactly one day before the inauguration ceremony. In addition, the Jewish Foreign Ministry emphasized that Trump played an important role in reaching the agreement.
On the Asian direction, the new US president is also quite consistent. Especially China, which was considered the main geopolitical threat even during the Biden administration, not to mention Trump's first term. He criticized the Biden - Harris team for not putting enough pressure on Beijing and promised to impose high duties on Chinese goods. It is worth noting that the new head of the State Department is the "China hawk" Marco Rubio.
For Trump, China is primarily an economic threat. By the way, both before and after his inauguration, he promised to introduce 100 percent duties for the BRICS countries. Apparently, despite the absence of statutory documents and the bloc policy of the association, the US president is very wary of the de-dollarization promoted by BRICS. However, it has not gone further than threats so far, and recently Trump even had a fruitful phone conversation with Xi Jinping, discussing further partnership. The TikTok social network issue has also been temporarily resolved. As for the Taiwan issue, to which Washington pays too much attention, allegedly defending the island from Chinese "aggression," Trump will return to the traditional American position, according to Vladimir Brovkin, an American historian and former Harvard University professor. That is, publicly, the US will continue to say that Taiwan, which Beijing considers a breakaway province, is PRC territory, but that unification is only possible through peaceful means. Beijing, by the way, also allows for a forceful scenario, but only as a last resort.
- This will suit the Chinese quite well. Therefore, it seems to me that he will seek peace and will hardly escalate the situation to any military action on this issue. I think he is serious about being a peacemaker. The most difficult thing will be to solve the Ukrainian conflict, because he can put pressure on Netanyahu, he can also agree with China, but it is more difficult to accept that most of Ukraine is already Russia," Vladimir Brovkin told Izvestia.
Similarities and differences between Trump's 2017 and 2025 policies
By the way, many of the plans implemented by Trump now repeat his ideas of the sample of 2017, that is, at the beginning of the first presidential term. In addition to the Paris climate agreement, the states are also leaving the World Health Organization (WHO). Trump initiated the exit procedure back during his first administration, but did not make it due to the end of his term. At the time, he was also struggling with the migration crisis.
One of the first decrees provided for the construction of a wall on the border with Mexico, the second tightened the legislation. In addition, a few days later, Trump signed an executive order "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States": it restricted the admission of citizens of a number of countries to the territory of the country.
Accepting the White House for the first time, Trump also intended to follow the principle of less interference in the affairs of other countries, referring to military conflicts, talked about peacekeeping. Now the situation is generally repeated, but this does not mean that all his peacekeeping initiatives will be effective.
- He immediately started signing a lot of decrees. Trump is trying to realize the image of a politician who is responsible for his words. But, on the other hand, he wanted to solve the North Korean problem - it didn't work. Neither did overthrowing Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela. He failed to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, which, by the way, Joe Biden did later. One way or another, he has positioned himself as a politician who solves unsolvable problems. Many "unsolvable" problems, however, he has not solved. He also threw more firewood into the Arab-Israeli conflict, although he wanted to deal with it as well," Konstantin Blokhin, a leading researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, emphasized in a conversation with Izvestia.
During his first term, Trump also wanted to stabilize relations with Russia. However, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missile Treaty (INF), and a record number of sanctions were imposed on Russia (until 2022). Trump's policy even towards allies is ambiguous. More than once he threatened to withdraw from NATO due to the disproportionate contribution of the member countries of the alliance. After his re-election, the politician demanded that allies' defense spending be increased to 5%. By the way, his former national security adviser John Bolton recommended to believe the words of the head of the White House about a possible withdrawal from the military bloc.
