White House claims 127 Trump promises kept, but counts steps towards goals

The White House published its list on 2 November, pairing Trump’s statements with what it calls evidence that he fulfilled them. It covers immigration, taxes, energy, foreign policy and education.

The administration also claims Trump has kept more promises, more quickly, than any president in modern American history. Its publication does not offer a comparable count for other presidents.

Some entries describe progress towards a goal rather than its completion. Trump promised to close the Department of Education; the White House lists that pledge as kept, pointing to his instruction to facilitate its closure and the department’s plan to leave its Washington headquarters. Taking steps towards closure is not the same as closing the department.

The list also treats Trump’s promise to end taxes on Social Security as kept, citing a deduction for older people. In February, the fact-checking organisation PolitiFact rated that pledge a compromise: it said the 2025 tax law created a tax break for over-65s but did not cover every Social Security recipient or eliminate the tax outright.

At that earlier date, PolitiFact rated about 19% of its selection of 75 second-term campaign promises as kept, about 45% as in the works and 31% as stalled. Its assessment covered a different selection more than eight months before the White House publication, so the figures cannot be used as a direct score for the administration’s 127 entries.