Donald Trump completes a year as 47th US President: Did he deliver what he promised?

It's already been a year since Donald Trump took over as the US President. As the 47th president, he made 7 key promises to “make America great again”.

Trump has since issued a flurry of bold orders regarding immigration, justice, the economy and more.

Here's a review of what he said, and what actually happened over a year:

According to The Guardian's report, during Trump's first year in office, the crime rate actually decreased in every major category across the US.

The report, citing the Real Time Crime Index, which uses data from nearly 600 jurisdictions, said there were 20% fewer murders in 2025 than in 2024.

Trump declared, “We are the federal law”, and had dismissed 17 independent inspectors general despite legal objections.

"All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came," Trump said.

As promised, he designated the cartels as foreign terrorist organisations and invoked the Alien Enemies Act, deporting Venezuelans to a mega-jail in El Salvador. Trump also reinstated the Remain in Mexico policy, as promised, ended catch-and-release, and deployed troops, reducing border encounters to 1970s lows.

Trump also allocated $170 billion for the “big, beautiful bill” for enforcement, including detention expansion and border barriers and had deployed National Guard, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal forces to Democratic-run cities.

However, his policies drew criticism for hurting these communities — he eliminated the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes across the US government, while his hardline crackdown on immigration has left the Latino communities in fear.

According to The Guardian, Trump has the least diverse US government this century – his cabinet is packed with white men at the expense of people of colour. A Washington thinktank said that nine of 10 individuals confirmed by the Senate in the first 300 days of the second Trump administration were white.

In a New York Times interview, Trump claimed that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 led to white people being “very badly treated”.

Oftentimes, he tried to show he was focused on lowering prices, but, according to The Guardian, he undercut that effort by simultaneously claiming the economy was strong and the issue of affordability was a Democratic hoax.

In numbers: When Trump took office, the inflation rate was 3%; the consumer price index rose 2.7% in the year to December, a small improvement during 2025 but still showing persistent inflation.

Other economic data was mixed. The fourth quarter of 2025 saw real GDP grow at an annualised 4.3%, up from 3.8% in the second quarter. Employment remains mostly stable; the jobless rate stood at 4.4% in December.

The stock market hit record highs, largely thanks to tech companies and AI investment.

He has since described “tariffs” as his favourite word, which he said is key to bringing manufacturing back to US shores. They were also his go-to diplomatic weapon.

On 2 April 2025, dubbed “Liberation Day”, Trump slapped a 10% tax on imports and additional tariffs on imports from about 90 countries. He also invoked the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to justify them.

However, businesses and several states went to court arguing that Trump overstepped his authority. According to The Guardian, if the Supreme Court, currently hearing the case, throws out Trump’s tariffs, he would be forced to send refunds to the US importers that paid them.

Tariffs fueled market volatility and raised prices for consumers, unlike the economic apocalypse that was predicted.

“…we have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have – the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth – and we are going to use it,” he had said.

In pursuit of Trump's “energy dominance” agenda, the US became the world’s leading producer and a net exporter of oil and natural gas, and achieved record production levels through policies that encouraged fracking and expanded drilling access. Oil and gas drilling permits surged by 55%, reported The Guardian.

Aimed to drastically reduce federal spending, Doge's actual financial impact remains highly debated and difficult to verify.

The Guardian, citing critics and watchdog groups, highlighted the widespread chaos caused by the initiative aimed at saving trillions, including the dismantling of essential foreign aid and the mass termination of government employees.

Doge disbanded in November, eight months early.