Trump’s campaign was plagued by biased media trash-talk.
An MRC study found that 91 percent of opinions on Trump broadcasted from ABC, CBS and NBC during his campaign were hostile, and the bashing hasn’t let up since Trump’s taken office. New York Times headlines read “‘Unbelievable Turmoil’: Trump’s First Month Leaves Washington Reeling,” and media have compared possible Russian ties in the White House to Watergate, despite the only broken law being the never-before-enforced Logan Act.
But, strip the news’ left-bias and consider the platforms Trump ran on. Has this month really been a disaster, or is the president delivering what he promised his supporters?
One of Trump’s biggest platform issues was illegal immigration. On the campaign trail in Arizona, Trump pledged to “build a great wall along the southern border,” end catch and release, have “zero tolerance for criminal aliens,” defund sanctuary cities, hire 5,000 more Border Patrol agents and deport illegal immigrants with priorities being “criminals, gang members, security threats, visa overstays, public charges.”
Trump’s supporters were hoping a crackdown on illegal immigration would make communities safer, ease the strain on welfare resources and open up job positions by shutting down employers’ ability to hire illegal immigrants for low under the table wages.
Jan. 25, Trump signed executive order 13767. This order fulfills Trump’s promise to hire 5,000 more Border Patrol agents, ends catch and release and emphasizes “enacting Federal-State partnerships to enforce Federal immigration priorities.”
This order also states it is the policy of the executive branch to “secure the southern border of the United States through the immediate construction of a physical wall on the southern border.” A “Government Transparency” section states the Secretary must monthly “report statistical data on aliens apprehended at or near the southern border” to the public in a “format that is easily understandable.”

Trump has also started working with the Department of Homeland Security on pulling grant money from sanctuary cities. Many people are expecting this issue to go to court, but as long as money is taken from areas related to the federal law cities are breaking, defunding is legal.
While an executive order alone cannot promise results, this does lay out the groundwork for Trump’s immigration policy, and matches what Trump promised his supporters.
Another big part of Trump’s appeal was his “outsider” status. He was a proud anti-politician: someone who was going to clean up lobbyists and big government in Washington.
Trump started this effort Jan. 23 by ordering a hiring freeze of “Federal civilian employees to be applied across the board in the executive branch.” This does not apply to Military personnel or Presidential appointments.
In addition to the hiring freeze, Jan. 30, Trump issued Executive Order 13771. This states that, unless prohibited by law, for every new regulation an executive department or agency has proposed, two which can be repealed must be identified. The idea is to keep government spending low, and directs “the total incremental cost of all new regulations, including repealed regulations, to be finalized this year shall be no greater than zero, unless otherwise required by law or consistent with advice provided in writing by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (Director).”
Arguably, Trump’s most important move so far in draining the swamp was Executive Order 13770, signed Jan. 28. While this order doesn’t manage to impede on Congress’s relations with lobbyists, it does require every appointee in the executive agency to sign an ethics pledge. This legally binds them to wait at least five years after leaving office before engaging in lobbying activities related to the agency they worked in. It bars them from accepting gifts from registered lobbyists or lobby organizations while in office. If the appointee was a lobbyist up to two years before entering office, they can not participate in any matter they lobbied in for two years after appointment.
Additionally, a largely contested issue during the race was refugee admittance. Trump represented Americans worried about the terrorism refugees could bring, the burden they would put on our economy and the impact some of their values might have in communities.
Trump tried to follow through with a temporary ban on visas from seven Middle Eastern countries classified as terrorist threats, but his ban was contested in court. Instead of slowing down the political process with arduous court proceedings, the Trump administration has backed down and promised to issue a new refined order sometime in the next week.
Also, in the interest of national security, Trump promised voters to rebuild America’s military. A month isn’t really long enough to prove his dedication to military strength, but Trump did issue a memorandum Jan. 27 stating, “To pursue peace through strength, it shall be the policy of the United States to rebuild the U.S. Armed Forces.” This memorandum works to lay the foundation for rebuilding military strength.
Similar to the military, Trump campaigned as a friend to police forces at all levels of government. Again, it’s still a little too soon to tell if this was real or just hot air, but an executive order released Feb. 9 emphasizes finding strategies “to further enhance the protection and safety of Federal, State, tribal, and local law enforcement officers.”
Trump has come through on several other campaign promises. He’s backed out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership he thought would hurt American workers. He’s started what will be a long process to repeal and replace Obamacare, which raised many people’s premiums and prompted employers to cut workers’ hours. His Supreme Court pick was from a list of possibilities he’d released as a candidate. He stopped the Federal government’s intervention in transgender bathroom policies, leaving the issue up to states. And, he expedited the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Of course, it’s going to take more time to see whether Trump will follow through on promises to bring back jobs and “take care of our workers … in particular African-American and Latino workers who are being shut out in this process so unfairly,” build safe zones in the Middle East or lower taxes for all Americans.
In his first month, Trump hasn’t won over many of his opposers, but he has done right by his supporters. It seems we can expect a Trump presidency that tries to follow most of his campaign platforms. Hopefully, Washington D.C. will experience a healthy shake-up during the next four years, and America will come out a better place for all citizens.