Nov 24, 2016
Here are 282 of Donald Trump’s campaign promises
Trump told voters “I will give you everything.” So we made a list of things he’s promised
In Donald Trump’s final days on the campaign trail, he promised his supporters that “every dream you ever dreamed for your country” will come true if he becomes president — one of dozens of sweeping promises he made and is now expected to fulfill.
In January, I compiled a list of 76 campaign promises Trump had made. Since then, the list has grown to 282, collected from Trump’s speeches, public comments, tweets and campaign and transition websites.
JOBS
1. Create at least 25 million jobs and “be the greatest jobs president that God ever created.”
2. Bring back manufacturing jobs from China, Mexico, Japan and elsewhere. States that can expect a rush of jobs include Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Michigan, Ohio, Florida, New Hampshire, Iowa, Nevada, New York and Virginia.
3. Encourage manufacturers to build or grow factories in the United States with tax incentives.
4. Refuse to eat another Oreo until Nabisco fully moves production back to the United States from Mexico.
5. Tell Ford’s president that unless he cancels plans to build a massive plant in Mexico, the auto company will face a 35 percent tax on cars imported into the United States. Trump is confident he can get this done before taking office. (Trump has twice incorrectly said this has already happened.)
6. “Get Apple to start building their damn computers and things in this country, instead of in other countries.”
7. Call the executives at the parent company of Carrier, an air-conditioning manufacturer that is closing a plant in Indiana and moving to Mexico, and threaten to impose a 35 percent tariff on air conditioners imported into the United States. Trump predicts the company will say: “Sir, we’ve decided to stay in the United States.”
8. Bring back the steel industry to Pennsylvania and use American-made steel in all federal infrastructure projects.
9. Make the auto industry in Michigan “bigger and better and stronger than ever before.” Trump plans to return to the state each time a new factory or auto plant opens.
10. Bring the coal industry back to life in the Appalachian Mountain region.
11. Require employers to recruit “from the unemployment office — not the immigration office.”
12. Leave the federal minimum wage at $7.25 per hour, which is already too high.
13. Raise the federal minimum wage to $10 per hour, as $7.25 is too low and “the minimum wage has to go up.”
14. Allow states to set their own minimum wage.
15. “Under a Trump presidency, the American worker will finally have a president who will protect them and fight for them.”
APPROACH TO THE PRESIDENCY
16. “I’m going to be so presidential, you’re going to be so bored.” He might also quit tweeting.
17. “I refuse to be politically correct.”
18. “My only special interest is you, the American people,” not major donors, the party or corporations.
19. “Be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.”
20. Pass on the president’s annual salary of $400,000.
21. “I would not be a president who took vacations. I would not be a president that takes time off.” Trump will make time for golf but promises to “always play with leaders of countries and people that can help us.”
22. “I promise I will never be in a bicycle race. That I can tell you.” (Trump has criticized Secretary of State John F. Kerry, who was injured while riding a bicycle amid the Iran negotiations.)
23. “In negotiation, you must be willing to walk. . . . When the other side knows you’re not going to walk, it becomes absolutely impossible to win.”
24. “If I draw a line in the sand, I will enforce it.”
25. “I don’t settle cases. I don’t do it.” (This month Trump settled a fraud lawsuit against Trump University for $25 million.)
26. Fully focus on the presidency and put his three oldest children — Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump — in charge of running his company. (Trump has yet to take steps to fully isolate himself from his business, and his three oldest children have played a major role in his transition team. In an interview with the New York Times on Tuesday, Trump noted that he could legally continue running his business.)
TAXES
27. Release his tax returns as soon as an Internal Revenue Service audit is complete.
28. Pass the Middle Class Tax Relief and Simplification Act, which will reduce the number of tax brackets from seven to four and lower income taxes for all. The highest earners would pay a 25 percent tax. Individuals earning less than $25,000 per year or couples earning less than $50,000 would not be charged income tax, although they would have to file a one-page form with the IRS that states: “I win.”
29. Lower the corporate tax rate to 15 percent and get rid of most corporate tax loopholes or incentives. Allow corporations a one-time window to transfer money being held overseas, charging a much-reduced 10 percent tax.
30. Eliminate the carried interest loophole for Wall Street, the federal estate tax, the alternative minimum tax and the so-called marriage penalty that affects some high-income earners. Continue to allow taxpayers to deduct mortgage interest and charitable donations from their taxes.
31. “We are going to have the biggest tax cuts since Ronald Reagan.”
TRADE
32. Renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement or withdraw from the deal under Article 2205.
33. On the first day in office, pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, President Obama’s signature trade deal linking countries around the Pacific Rim.
34. Negotiate trade deals with individual countries instead of regions. Trump would gather together the “smartest negotiators in the world” and assign them each a country. Billionaire hedge fund manager Carl Icahn would be in charge of trade negotiations with China and Japan.
35. Identify all foreign trading abuses that affect American workers and “use every tool under American and international law to end those abuses immediately.” This would include cracking down on “sweatshops in Mexico that undercut U.S. workers.”
36. Impose new taxes on imports into the country from companies that used to be based in the United States. Trump’s most frequently cited number is 35 percent.
37. Impose a 45 percent tariff on Chinese products imported into the United States.
ECONOMY AND FEDERAL BUDGET
38. “We will double our growth and have the strongest economy anywhere in the world.” Grow the nation’s economy by at least 4 percent per year, although Trump has also suggested he will boost growth to at least 6 percent per year — if not much higher.
39. Eliminate the $19 trillion national debt within eight years by “vigorously eliminating waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government, ending redundant government programs and growing the economy to increase tax revenues.”
40. Never default on this debt, as the United States can “print the money” or renegotiate the amount owed with creditors, as the self-described “king of debt” has done with his private businesses.
41. Cut the budget by 20 percent by simply negotiating better prices or renegotiating existing deals.
42. Implement the “Penny Plan,” which each year would reduce net spending by 1 percent of the previous year’s total. Over 10 years, Trump says, this would reduce spending by almost $1 trillion. Defense and public safety spending would be exempt.
43. Immediately institute a hiring freeze on all federal employees to reduce the workforce through attrition. There would be exceptions for those in the military, public safety and public health.
44. Order every federal government department head to “provide a list of wasteful spending projects that we can eliminate in my first 100 days.” Review each agency and then decrease the size of the “bloated government,” making it “leaner and more responsive to the public.”
45. Stop spending money on space exploration until the United States can fix its potholes. Encourage private space-exploration companies to expand.
46. Stop so-called zombie spending, in which the government funds programs that have had their congressional authorization lapse. By cutting 5 percent of this spending, Trump estimates he could save almost $200 billion over 10 years.
47. Collect unpaid taxes, which Trump says could be as much as $385 billion per year.
48. Crack down on improper government payments, which Trump estimates exceed $135 billion per year.
49. Dismantle the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which aims to prevent the excessive risk-taking that led to the financial crisis and was signed into law by Obama in 2010.
REGULATION
50. Issue a moratorium on new federal regulations that are not compelled by Congress or public safety. For every new regulation that is added, two existing regulations must be eliminated. And those new regulations must pass this test: Is this regulation good for the American worker?
51. Order agency and department heads to identify all “needless job-killing regulations” and then remove them.
HEALTH CARE
52. “Completely repeal” the Affordable Care Act and replace it with something “terrific” that is “so much better, so much better, so much better.” Americans will have “great health care at a fraction of the cost.” Trump plans to call Congress into a special session to do this, which will likely be unnecessary.
53. Eliminate the individual mandate, as “no person should be required to buy insurance unless he or she wants to.”
54. Allow individuals to fully deduct health insurance premium payments from their tax returns.
55. Knock down the regulatory walls between states for health insurance, making plans available nationally instead of regionally. “Insurance costs will go down and consumer satisfaction will go up.”
56. Expand use of Health Savings Accounts, which allow workers to save money for medical expenses without having to pay federal income tax on those funds. These payments will be allowed to accumulate and can be passed on to heirs. These funds can be used by any member of a family.
57. Encourage states to establish high-risk pools to cover individuals who have not maintained continuous coverage.
58. Preserve Medicare and Medicaid but encourage states to root out fraud, waste and abuse. Provide states with block grants of Medicaid funds to provide more freedom in designing programs to assist low-income citizens.
59. Reduce the number of individuals on Medicaid and/or using the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Trump would also cut any health care offered to undocumented immigrants.
60. Make medical marijuana widely available to patients and allow states to decide if they want to fully legalize pot.
61. Push the Food and Drug Administration to more quickly approve the thousands of drugs it is currently reviewing. Trump also wants to “advance research and development in health care.”
62. Bring down drug prices by importing cheaper medications from overseas and allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices.
63. Require price transparency from health-care providers so patients can shop for the best prices.
64. “You will be able to choose your own doctor again.”
BORDER SECURITY
65. Fully fund the construction of an “impenetrable physical wall” along the southern border with Mexico. The wall will be one foot taller than the Great Wall of China and “artistically beautiful,” constructed of hardened concrete, rebar and steel. The wall might cover only about 1,000 miles of the nearly 2,000-mile border because of natural barriers, and Trump is open to using fencing in some places.
66. Make Mexico pay for the wall, “100 percent.” If Mexico refuses, then the United States will impound remittance payments taken from the wages of undocumented immigrants, cut foreign aid, institute tariffs, cancel visas for Mexican business leaders and diplomats, and increase fees for visas, border-crossing cards and port use.
67. “Charge Mexico $100,000 for every illegal that crosses that border because it’s trouble.”
68. “Find and dislocate tunnels” along the border.
69. Supplement the wall with “above-and below-ground sensors, towers, aerial surveillance and manpower.” Hire an additional 5,000 Border Patrol agents and expand the number of Border Patrol stations.
70. End “catch-and-release.” Anyone who illegally crosses the border will be detained until they are removed from the country.
IMMIGRATION
71. On the first day in office, terminate President Obama’s executive orders related to immigration.
72. Triple the number of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
73. Cancel federal funding to “sanctuary cities” that choose to not prosecute undocumented immigrants for being in the country illegally.
74. Create a Deportation Task Force.
75. Immediately deport undocumented immigrants who have committed a crime, are a member of a gang or pose a security threat. Trump estimates this is 2 million to 3 million people, although experts say the number is much lower.
76. Deport the millions of undocumented immigrants who are in the United States on an expired visa.
77. Deport undocumented immigrants who are benefiting from government assistance programs such as food stamps or housing assistance.
78. Issue detainers for undocumented immigrants who are arrested for any crime and immediately begin removal proceedings.
79. Do not grant amnesty to immigrants who are in the country illegally. “Anyone who has entered the United States illegally is subject to deportation,” and those wanting legal status will have to return to their home country and apply for reentry.
80. Restore the Secure Communities deportation program, which was ended by the Obama administration in 2014. The program was a partnership among federal, state and local law enforcement agencies that worked together to identify and deport undocumented immigrants.
81. “Expand and revitalize” use of Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows the Department of Homeland Security to deputize state and local law enforcement officers to perform the functions of federal immigration agents.
82. On the first day in office, ask Congress to pass “Kate’s Law” — named for Kate Steinle, who was killed by an undocumented immigrant in San Francisco last summer — to “ensure that criminal aliens convicted of illegal reentry face receive strong mandatory minimum sentences.”
83. Introduce legislation named for Michael Davis Jr. and Danny Oliver, law enforcement officers in California who were killed by an undocumented immigrant in 2014. Such legislation would hasten the removal of “criminal immigrants and terrorists.” (Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama introduced the Davis-Oliver Act in June 2015, but it did not go anywhere.)
84. Stop issuing visas to countries that refuse to take back citizens who immigrated illegally to the United States.
85. Allow “tremendous numbers” of legal immigrants based on a “merit system,” selecting immigrants who will help grow the country’s economy.
86. Reduce the number of legal immigrants because it is “simply too large to perform adequate screening,” and these immigrants could be taking jobs away from American workers.
87. Expand the number of H-1B visas for highly skilled workers so that more of the “talented people” who graduate from Ivy League institutions can stay in the United States and work in Silicon Valley.
88. Get rid of the H-1B visa program because it’s “very, very bad” for American workers.
89. Continue to allow lowly paid foreign workers to come to the United States on temporary work visas to pick grapes and work in seasonal resorts.
90. Institute “extreme vetting” of all immigrants.
91. End birthright citizenship, only granting citizenship to babies whose parents are legally in the country.
92. Sunset visa laws, forcing Congress to periodically review and revise them.
93. Strongly enforce visa expiration dates. Complete the biometric entry-exit visa tracking system, which has been authorized by Congress but has yet to be completed.
94. Strengthen and expand the use of E-Verify, which allows employers to check an employee’s eligibility to work.
95. Urge assimilation because “our system of government, and our American culture, is the best in the world and will produce the best outcomes for all who adopt it.”
96. Accomplish more immigration reforms in a few months than politicians have accomplished in the past 50 years. With these reforms, Trump promises: “Crime will go down, border crossings will plummet, gangs will disappear, and welfare use will decrease.”
97. Make illegal immigration a “memory of the past.”
NATIONAL DEFENSE AND SECURITY
98. Be unpredictable and keep all military strategy a secret. “No one is going to touch us, because I’m so unpredictable.”
99. Put “different generals” in place because “under the leadership of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, I think the generals have been reduced to rubble.” Trim military bureaucracy.
100. Find great generals — like the next Gen. George Patton or Gen. Douglas MacArthur — and do not allow them to go on television news shows to explain their military strategy. Trump prefers generals who are rough, foul-mouthed and beloved by their troops.
101. As soon as he takes office, ask Congress to repeal the defense sequester that limited the military’s budget.
102. Strengthen the military so that it’s “so big and so strong and so great” that “nobody’s going to mess with us.”
103. Equip troops with the “best equipment known to mankind.”
104. Modernize and renew the nuclear weapons arsenal.
105. Grow the Army from its current size of 470,000 active-duty soldiers to 540,000.
106. Modernize and grow the Navy fleet to 350 surface ships and submarines. The Navy currently has 272 deployable battle-force ships.
107. Grow the Air Force to 1,200 fighter aircraft.
108. Grow the Marine Corps to 36 battalions, increasing the active-duty force from its current target of 182,000 to 200,000.
109. Involve all 50 states in rebuilding the military and developing new technologies. Create thousands of jobs building these new ships in Philadelphia, Portsmouth, N.H., and Hampton Roads, Va. North Carolina’s Research Triangle will also play a key role.
110. Develop a “state of the art” missile defense system and modernize naval cruisers to provide Ballistic Missile Defense capabilities. It will cost $220 million per modernization.
111. Leave troops in Afghanistan because it’s such “a mess.”
112. Increase the U.S. military presence in the East and South China Seas.
113. Keep the military prison at Guantanamo Bay open.
114. Continue use of drone strikes but put a renewed emphasis on human intelligence in information gathering and utilize technology such as “3-D printing, artificial intelligence and cyberwarfare.”
115. Drop that “dirty, rotten traitor” Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl out of an airplane into desolate Afghanistan without a parachute. Trump has also suggested that Bergdahl be shot.
116. “I will not hesitate to deploy military force when there is no alternative. But if America fights, it must fight to win.”
CYBERSECURITY
117. Assemble a “cyber review team” of the best military, civilian and private sector cybersecurity experts to comprehensively review all systems and technology, starting with the most sensitive ones. The team will also remain current on new methods of attack and set up protocols for each agency and government officials.
118. Establish a training program for government employees to make certain they understand what defenses are available and utilize them. Punish those who violate classification rules, holding them responsible to the fullest extent of the law.
119. Solicit recommendations from the secretary of defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff for strengthening and augmenting the country’s Cyber Command.
120. Order the Department of Justice to create joint task forces to coordinate responses to cyberthreats. (The FBI already runs “cyber task forces” in each one of its 56 field offices.)
121. Develop better cyberweapons.
VETERANS AFFAIRS
122. Appoint a Department of Veterans Affairs secretary whose “sole purpose will be to serve veterans.”
123. Dramatically reform the agency. Fire “the corrupt and incompetent” leaders and make it easier for the secretary to fire people. Trump promises to protect and promote “honest employees” who highlight wrongdoing. These employees will also receive bonuses.
124. Create a commission to investigate “all the fraud, cover-ups and wrongdoing that has taken place in the VA.” Present these findings to Congress to spur legislative reform.
125. Create a White House hotline that is active 24 hours a day and is answered by a real person who will handle veterans’ complaints of wrongdoing at the VA and “ensure no complaints fall through the cracks.”
126. Allow veterans to take their military identification card to any medical facility that accepts Medicaid patients to receive care. Veterans can also seek care “at a private service provider of their own choice.” Trump promises that: “Under a Trump administration, no veteran will die waiting for service. These days are over starting January 2017.”
127. Embed satellite VA clinics in rural hospitals and underserved areas, and ensure that every VA hospital is permanently staffed with obstetrics and gynecology doctors.
128. Increase funding for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries and mental health issues. Increase the number of mental health professionals.
129. Ensure that undocumented immigrants do not receive better health services than veterans.
130. Veterans who apply for a job at a VA facility will have five points added to their qualifying scores. For all jobs across the country, employers should consider veterans ahead of immigrants.
131. Invest more heavily in programs that help military veterans transition back to civilian life, including job training and placement services.
132. “Ensure our veterans get the care they need wherever and whenever they need it. No more long drives. No more waiting backlogs. No more excessive red tape.”
FOREIGN POLICY
133. “A Trump administration will never ever put the interest of a foreign country before the interest of our country. From now on, it’s going to be America first.”
134. Force other NATO countries to pay for more of their defense, and only come to the aid of other countries if those nations have “fulfilled their obligations to us.” In particular, Trump expects Germany, Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia to pay more for the security the United States provides.
135. Call a summit with NATO allies and a separate summit with Asian allies to discuss “a rebalancing of financial commitments” and adopting new strategies, such as upgrading “NATO’s outdated mission and structure.”
136. Get along with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I hope that we get along great with Putin because it would be great to have Russia with a good relationship.” Trump would also look into lifting the sanctions imposed on Russia after its annexation of Crimea.
137. Communicate with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un about his nuclear program, which would mark a major shift in U.S. policy toward the isolated nation. “I would speak to him, I would have no problem speaking to him.”
138. Stay out of the Syrian civil war. Although Trump considers Syrian President Bashar al-Assad “bad,” he has said the United States has higher priorities. Around the world, Trump has said, he prefers stability over regime changes.
139. Reverse Obama’s executive orders and “concessions towards Cuba until freedoms are restored.” Trump has pledged to “demand political and religious freedom for the people of Cuba.”
140. “Stand with the oppressed people of Venezuela yearning to be free.”
141. Help Haiti and its “incredible people” rebuild their country.
142. Be a “true friend to Israel.” Trump says the United States will “be working with Israel very closely, very, very closely.”
143. Do not throw a lavish state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping, as Obama did last year, and instead buy Jinping a “double-size Big Mac” and tell him “we gotta get down to work.”
144. If not properly welcomed into a foreign country, turn around and leave.
145. “It is time to shake the rust off of America’s foreign policy. It’s time to invite new voices and new visions into the fold.” Trump wants to “establish a foreign policy that will endure for several generations.”
IRAN
146. Tear up the Iran deal and then “totally” renegotiate the whole thing.
147. Negotiate the release of all U.S. prisoners held in Iran before taking office. (Five Americans were released during the campaign, including Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian; Trump has claimed some credit for this.)
148. Refuse to call Iran’s leader by his preferred title. “I’ll say, ‘Hey baby, how ya doing?’ I will never call him the supreme leader.”
149. “Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon and, under a Trump administration, will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.”
CHINA
150. “We can’t continue to allow China to rape our country, and that’s what they’re doing.”
151. Direct the secretary of the treasury to label China a currency manipulator.
152. Instruct the U.S. trade representative to bring trade cases against China, both here and at the World Trade Organization. If necessary, apply tariffs against China consistent with Section 201 and 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 and Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.
153. Adopt a “zero tolerance policy” for Chinese hackers and those who steal American intellectual property and ideas.
154. Crack down on China’s “lax labor and environmental standards.”
FIGHTING THE ISLAMIC STATE
155. Immediately ask the generals to present a plan within 30 days to defeat and destroy the Islamic State.
156. Frequently use the term “radical Islamic terrorism.”
157. Call an international conference focused on how to halt the spread of the “hateful ideology of Radical Islam. ”
158. Allow Russia to deal with the Islamic State in Syria and/or work with Putin to wipe out shared enemies.
159. Work with allies to cut off funding to the Islamic State, expand intelligence sharing and use cyberwarfare to disrupt and disable their propaganda and recruiting. Work closely with NATO and “our Arab allies and friends in the Middle East.” Partner with Israel, King Abdullah II of Jordan, and Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi and “all others who recognize this ideology of death that must be extinguished.”
160. “Bomb the s — — out of ISIS” and “knock them out.” Also bomb oil fields controlled by the Islamic State, then seize the oil and give the profits to military veterans who were wounded while fighting.
161. Target and kill the relatives of suspected terrorists, a violation of international law.
162. Shut down parts of the Internet so that Islamic State terrorists cannot use it to recruit American children.
163. Bring back waterboarding, which is widely considered torture, and use interrogation techniques that are “a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding.” Even if such tactics don’t work, Trump says, suspected terrorists “deserve it anyway, for what they’re doing.” (Trump suggested after the election, however, that he was reconsidering his position because of a conversation with a general who opposed the tactic.)
164. Establish a Commission on Radical Islam that will include “reformist voices in the Muslim community” and will identify the warning signs of radicalization, educate the American public and develop protocol for police officers, federal investigators and immigration screeners.
165. Temporarily ban most foreign Muslims from entering the United States “until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.” Trump would allow exceptions for dignitaries, business people, athletes and others who have “proven” themselves. Although Trump’s aides, surrogates and running mate insist he no longer wants this so-called Muslim ban, Trump himself has yet to fully disavow the idea and it is still posted on his campaign website.
166. Temporarily suspend “immigration from some of the most dangerous and volatile regions of the world that have a history of exporting terrorism.” Order the Department of State, Homeland Security and the Department of Justice to develop a list of regions and countries to include. The list will likely include Syria and Libya.
167. Create an ideological screening test for all immigration applicants with the goal of keeping “radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country.” For example, immigrants from Iraq and Afghanistan would be asked for their views on honor killings and sharia law, along with their opinions of women, gays and minorities.
168. Heavily surveil mosques in the United States. Trump has said he would “strongly consider” closing some mosques.
169. Encourage Muslim communities to “cooperate with law enforcement and turn in the people who they know are bad — and they do know where they are.”
170. Deport those “who are guests in our country that are preaching hate.”
171. Aggressively investigate and charge anyone who lends material support to terrorism.
172. “Our administration will be a friend to all moderate Muslim reformers in the Middle East, and will amplify their voices. This includes speaking out against the horrible practice of honor killings.”
173. “If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which as everyone knows is ISIS’s ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been president because this would not have happened.”
REFUGEES
174. Bar Syrian refugees from entering the country and kick out any who are already living here, as they might be “the ultimate Trojan horse.”
175. Create a database of Syrian refugees. Trump has also seemed open to the idea of creating a database of Muslims in the country, although his aides say that is not true.
176. Set up safe zones in Syria and then force wealthy Persian Gulf nations such as Saudi Arabia to pick up the bill. “They’re gonna put up all the money. We’re not gonna put up money. We’re gonna lead it and we’ll do a great a job. But we’re gonna get the Gulf states to put up the money.”
177. Do not admit any refugees without the support of the local community where they will be placed.
ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
178. Gut, if not eliminate, the Environmental Protection Agency, which Trump has called a “disgrace.”
179. Rescind all environmental executive actions signed by Obama.
180. Eliminate “intrusive” regulations, along with “any regulation that is outdated, unnecessary, bad for workers, or contrary to the national interest.” Eliminate duplication in regulations, deferring to local officials and residents. Remove the “draconian barriers” to allow energy infrastructure projects and development to proceed.
181. Eliminate the Clean Water Rule that defines the “waters of the United States” and gives added protection to tributaries that impact the health of downstream waters.
182. Scrap the Clean Power Plan, which reduces the amount of carbon pollution from power plants. Trump says this could save the country $7.2 billion per year.
183. Oppose a carbon tax on fossil fuels use that could be used to reverse damage to the environment caused by the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
184. Revoke restrictions on new drilling technologies and support “safe hydraulic fracturing” to create “millions of jobs.” Lease more federal land for drilling, including “vast areas of our offshore energy resources.”
185. Ease federal regulations on coal mining to revive the industry. Eliminate Obama’s moratorium on new leases for coal mined from federal lands.
186. Treat climate change like the “hoax” that Trump has said it is. (In a recent interview with the New York Times, Trump seemed to soften that position.)
187. Cancel all funding for domestic and international climate change programs, which he estimates would total $100 billion over two terms. Trump would instead spend that money on domestic infrastructure projects.
188. Pull out of the Paris Agreement, which was recently signed by 196 countries pledging to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
189. Become the world’s dominant leader in energy production. Attain “complete American energy independence” so that the United States is no longer dependent on foreign oil.
190. Lower energy prices for consumers.
191. Ask TransCanada to renew its permit application for the Keystone XL pipeline so that it can be approved.
192. “Unleash an energy revolution that will bring vast new wealth to our country.” Create at least a half million jobs a year, prompting a more than $30 billion increase in annual wages over seven years. This will increase the GDP by more than $100 billion annually. Use the revenue from energy production to rebuild roads, schools, bridges and public infrastructure.
193. Restore and protect the Florida Everglades, even though it’s a “rough-looking sight down there.”
194. Ensure the country has “absolutely crystal clear and clean water” and “beautiful, immaculate air.”
INFRASTRUCTURE
195. Spur the spending of $1 trillion in public and private dollars on infrastructure projects over 10 years. Invest in “transportation, clean water, a modern and reliable electricity grid, telecommunications, security infrastructure, and other pressing domestic infrastructure needs” without adding to the national debt.
196. Negotiate rates for these projects that are one-third of what the United States is currently paying. “Cut wasteful spending on boondoggles” by streamlining the permit and approval processes.
197. Provide tax incentives to encourage public-private partnerships.
198. Employ incentive-based contracting to ensure projects are on time and on budget.
199. Triple funding for revolving loan fund programs to help states and local governments upgrade drinking water and wastewater infrastructure.
200. Create “thousands of new jobs in construction, steel manufacturing, and other sectors” to carry out this work. Only “American workers” will be hired for these jobs.
201. Modernize airports and air traffic control systems. Reform the Federal Aviation Administration and Transportation Security Administration to reduce wait times and hassle for travelers.
202. Look to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who championed the interstate highway system, for inspiration.
ETHICS REFORM
203. “Drain the swamp” in Washington and “cut our ties with the failed politicians of the past.”
204. Propose a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress, limiting House members to three terms, or six years, and senators to two terms, or 12 years.
205. Institute a five-year ban on White House and congressional officials becoming lobbyists after they leave office. (Trump is already having staff and Cabinet members sign pledges.
206. Institute a lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government.
207. Ban foreign lobbyists from raising money for American elections.
208. Appoint an attorney general who will reform the Department of Justice “like it was necessary after Watergate.”
HILLARY CLINTON
209. “Lock her up.” Instruct the attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton’s “situation because there has never been so many lies, so much deception.” Trump had said the investigation would include Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of state and the ways in which the Clinton Foundation raised money. (Trump told the New York Times on Tuesday this is now a lesser priority. “I want to move forward, I don’t want to move back. And I don’t want to hurt the Clintons. I really don’t,” he said.)
EDUCATION
210. “When I am president, I will work to ensure that all of our kids are treated equally, and protected equally.”
211. Limit the influence of the Department of Education and give more control to local school districts. The department might also see a major budget cut.
212. Get rid of Common Core because it’s “a disaster” and a “very bad thing.”
213. “Be the nation’s biggest cheerleader for school choice,” use the “pulpit of the presidency” to campaign for expanded school choice in all 50 states and support the election of local, state and federal officials who agree.
214. Allow families to redirect their share of education spending to a private, charter, magnet, religious or homeschool. Provide $20 billion in federal funding to establish block grants that states could use to help children in low-income families enroll at private and charter schools.
215. Support merit pay for teachers.
216. Expand vocational and technical training programs.
217. Take away federal tax breaks and other perks from colleges and universities that do not make “a good faith effort” to reduce the cost of tuition and the amount of student debt.
218. “Make post-secondary options more affordable and accessible through technology enriched delivery models.”
219. Push universities to spend their “multi billion-dollar endowments” on tuition, student life and student housing.
220. Cap repayment of federal student loans at 12.5 percent of a person’s discretionary income and forgive any remaining balance after 15 years. Current income-based plans allow for payments of 10 to 15 percent of discretionary income, with balances forgiven after 20 to 25 years.
221. Reduce or end the government’s role in student loans.
222. Ensure that jobs are waiting for high school and college graduates.
CHILD CARE
223. Rewrite the tax code to allow parents to fully deduct child-care expenses for up to four children and elderly dependents. (Some of these expenses are already deductible under the law.)
224. Create Dependent Care Savings Accounts and provide matching funds for low-income families.
225. Add incentives for employers that offer on-site child care to employees. Trump has said companies can “very easily” and inexpensively do this because “you need one person or two people, and you need some blocks and you need some swings and some toys.”
226. Guarantee six weeks of paid maternity leave by amending the conditions of unemployment insurance employers are required to carry.
INNER-CITY POVERTY AND VIOLENCE
227. “Every action I take, I will ask myself: Does this make life better for young Americans in Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Ferguson who have as much of a right to live out their dreams as any other child America?”
228. Rebuild and fix inner cities, especially Detroit. “The inner cities are unbelievably dangerous. The education is no good, the safety is horrible, and there are no jobs. And I tell everybody: ‘What the hell do you have to lose?’ I’m going to fix it.”
229. Quickly end inner-city violence, which Trump has repeatedly compared to war zones. “I’ll be able to make sure that when you walk down the street in your inner city, or wherever you are, you’re not gonna be shot. Your child isn’t gonna be shot.”
230. Create “jobs and opportunities for African Americans and Hispanic Americans.”
231. Reduce the number of people receiving welfare.
232. “And at the end of four years, I guarantee you that I will get over 95 percent of the African American vote. I promise you. Because I will produce.”
POLICING
233. “The crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon come to an end. Beginning on January 20, 2017, safety will be restored.” On that day, Trump says, “Americans will finally wake up in a country where the laws of the United States are enforced.”
234. Stop the surge of violent crime and homicides in Chicago within “one week.”
235. “Dismantle every last criminal gang and cartel threatening our cities. . . . They are not going to be here very long, folks. They’re gonna be out of here.”
236. Immediately stop the killing of police officers. “It’s going to stop, okay? It’s going to stop. We’re going to be law and order. It’s going to stop.”
237. Sign an executive order calling for the death penalty for anyone found guilty of killing a police officer.
238. Provide more funding for police training.
239. Ensure that firefighters are not shot at when they are responding to a fire.
240. Expand the use of “stop and frisk,” which Trump says worked “incredibly well” in New York.
241. Encourage profiling and targeting “people that maybe look suspicious.”
242. “The police and the law enforcement in this country — I will never ever let them down, just remember that.”
SUPREME COURT
243. Pick Supreme Court justices who are “really great legal scholars,” opposed to abortion and fans of the Second Amendment. Select a replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia from a list of more than 20 contenders that has already been released.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
244. “If I become president, we’re all going to be saying ‘Merry Christmas’ again.”
245. Get rid of the Johnson Amendment, which prohibits tax-exempt organizations like churches from formally endorsing or opposing political candidates.
246. Sign the First Amendment Defense Act if it passes Congress. The legislation, introduced by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), would prevent any federal agency from denying a tax exemption, grant, contract, license or certification to an individual, association or business that discriminates against gays.
247. “We will be one people under one God.”
ABORTION
248. Defund Planned Parenthood and reallocate its funding to community health centers.
249. Sign into law the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would prohibit abortions after 20 weeks, the point at which antiabortion activists say a fetus can feel pain.
250. Make the Hyde Amendment permanent. Since 1976, Congress has annually passed the Hyde Amendment, banning the use of federal dollars — in particular, Medicaid funds — for abortion, except in the case of rape, incest or a threat to the mother’s life.
GUNS
251. On the first day in office, get rid of gun-free zones at military bases, recruiting centers and, in some cases, schools. These zones are like “target practice for the sickos and for the mentally ill.”
252. Use “common sense” to fix the mental health system to prevent mass shootings. Expand treatment programs and reform laws to make it easier to take preventive action.
253. Rescind Obama’s executive actions related to gun control.
254. Arm more of the “good guys” who can reduce the severity of mass shootings. Get rid of bans on certain types of guns and magazines so that “good, honest people” can own the guns of their choice.
255. Fix the background check system used when purchasing guns to ensure states are properly uploading criminal and health records.
256. Allow concealed-carry permits to be recognized in all 50 states.
257. Impose a minimum sentence of five years in federal prison for any violent felon who commits a crime using a gun, with no chance for parole or early release.
258. Expand programs like Project Exile, a federal program started in Virginia in 1997 that locked up criminals possessing illegal guns for years in federal prisons far from their homes.
259. “The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed upon. Period.”
MEDIA
260. “Open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money.”
261. Oppose the killing of journalists. “I hate some of these people, but I would never kill them.”
262. Stop AT&T from buying Time Warner, the parent company of CNN. Federal antitrust regulators would have to review and approve that type of merger.
263. “It’s time to reject the political and media elite that’s bled our country dry.”
OTHER
264. Fix the rigged system.
265. Sue the women who have accused him of sexual misconduct or assault. “All of these liars will be sued after the election is over.”
266. Sue the New York Times for publishing accusations from women who say Trump groped them.
267. Reopen Trump University. (Earlier this month, Trump paid $25 million to settle a fraud case against the now defunct business.)
268. Ensure that Iowa continues to host the nation’s first presidential nominating contest.
269. Boost American agriculture by lessening environmental regulations and ensuring family farms aren’t double taxed.
270. Push federal regulators to increase the amount of ethanol blended into the nation’s gasoline supply.
271. “I will take care of women, and I have great respect for women. I do cherish women, and I will take care of women.”
272. Change the new name of North America’s tallest mountain back to Mount McKinley.
273. Provide more funding for drug treatment, especially for heroin addicts. “We are going to work very hard with medical professionals to take care of those people that are so badly addicted.”
274. Fully protect Social Security benefits.
OVERARCHING PROMISES
275. “The whole psyche [of the United States] will change” on Election Day.
276. “Whether you vote for me or not, I’m with you. I will never ever let you down.”
277. “I will give you everything.”
278. “I pledge to protect and defend all Americans who live inside of our borders. Wherever they come from, wherever they were born, all Americans living here and following our laws will be protected. America will be a tolerant and open society.”
279. Be a cheerleader for America and bring the country’s spirit back. “Bring us all together as Americans. We’re living in a divided nation. We’re living in a very divided nation. We’re going to be brought together.”
280. Bring back the American Dream. “Take the brand of the United States and make it great again.”
281. “We will start winning again and winning like you’ve never seen before.”
282. “Together we will make American wealthy and prosperous again. We will make America strong again. We will make America safe again. And we will make America great again.”
This list was originally published on The Washington Post.
Jenna Johnson is a political reporter who covered Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. Follow @wpjenna
