The Promise List

End the war in Ukraine before Inauguration Day

More than once, Donald Trump has promised to end Russia's war on Ukraine before he's inaugurated on January 20, 2025.

"This is a war that's dying to be settled. I will get it settled before I even become President," Trump said in the September 2024 debate against Vice President Harris.

He has also claimed during a CNN town hall in 2023 that he'd end the conflict "in 24 hours." He has never outlined a plan on how he would do this. Repeatedly he has refused to do so, most recently in September 2024 in response to CBS News' Caitlin Huey-Burns when asked what an end to the fighting would look like.

"I don't want to tell you what that would looks like," he said. In response to questions from other reporters whether Ukraine should give up territory to Russia, Trump would not answer directly.

"Let's get some peace," he said.

Carry out the largest mass deportation in United States history

Trump has frequently vowed to carry out the largest deportation operation effort in U.S. history. In September 2024, he said he'd begin by targeting migrants in Aurora, Colorado and Springfield, Ohio. Post-election, his "border czar" appointee Tom Homan responded to whether there was a solution to families being separated, with the deportation of a loved one. His response: "Of course. Families can be deported together."

Cut federal funding to schools that teach "critical race theory" and "transgender" matters

Trump often goes beyond this, claiming to be "looking forward" to shuttering the Department of Education altogether. However, at the core of the claim, Trump has vowed to cut funding for schools that teach "critical race theory" and "transgender" matters which he labels as "insanity." He has suggested launching civil rights investigations into schools that support transgender rights.

Logistically, local taxes support the majority of school district budgets. The Department of Education estimates that federal taxes account for roughly 8% of funding for U.S. schools, and largely these funds are used to support special needs students.

Roll back Biden's electric vehicle incentives

Donald Trump has claimed he will roll back President Biden's electric vehicle mandate. Biden has not issued an EV mandate, though he has urged Americans to adopt electric vehicles, and has offered incentives to move the country to a goal of 50% zero-emission adoption rate by 2030. While there are hurdles, eliminating an EPA rule is something he can accomplish without Congress.

End taxes on tips

Over the summer of 2024, both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris promised to end taxation of tips for tipped workers. Doing this would require Congressional legislation. Trump has not said how he'd pay for this plan.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has estimated the cost of this promise to be as high as $250 billion.

"Replace" Obamacare

Since 2016, Donald Trump has campaigned on a promise to eliminate the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare. Pressed during the 2024 debate between himself and Vice President Kamala Harris on how he would accomplish this, Trump replied that he has "concepts of a plan."

To date, he has provided no plan to replace and/or repeal the Affordable Care Act since 2016.

Expand the child tax credit

The Trump campaign has proposed expanding the child tax credit up to $5000 a year per child. Congress would be required to sign off on this expansion. Presently, the credit is $2000 a year per child, with $1600 of that being refundable, meaning that tax filers receive this money even if they owe no tax obligation to the federal government.