A year into his second term, here are Trump’s biggest promises

WASHINGTON (AP) — From gutting Venezuela’s leader to ordering mass deportations, from turning once-independent government institutions into rubber stamps to demolishing the East Wing for the White House ballroom, President Donald Trump has spent his first year in office trampling political norms and testing institutional checks and balances.

Some of his ideas that once seemed inconceivable, if not completely fanciful, are now reality. But there are other things that Trump failed to deliver.

“I’ve kept all my promises and more,” Trump insisted in a speech in Detroit this week.

As his administration approaches the one-year mark, here’s a look at where his many jaw-dropping promises stand:

In Progress: New Qatar Air Force One

US defense officials in May sidestepped ethical and legal questions and constitutional anti-bribery provisions to finally accept a luxury Boeing 747 jet from Qatar for Trump to use as Air Force One. The aircraft are being retrofitted in Texas to meet U.S. safety and communications standards at a cost likely to be about $400 million, the Air Force said. External experts estimate the cost could reach $1 billion. Despite Trump’s boast that the job will be done in six months, it may not be completed until he leaves office in January 2029.

What’s in progress: Annexing Greenland

After the U.S. military ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Trump renewed his call to seize the semi-autonomous Danish territory, insisting the United States would get “Greenland” “one way or another.” The president also tapped Gov. Jeff Landry, R-La., as a special U.S. envoy for Greenland, after agreeing to the 1803 Louisiana Purchase from France that doubled the size of the U.S. Denmark, saying it was not handing over the world’s largest island and that any invasion could have geopolitical implications for Denmark, which is part of NATO.

Perform an automatic investigation

Trump has tried to discredit his predecessor, Joe Biden, by accusing the Democrat of over-reliance on the Autopen to sign presidential pardons, legislation and other key documents, a device Trump and other presidents have also used. In October, a GOP-controlled House committee released a report accusing the Biden administration of misusing Autopen. Trump’s Justice Department is investigating.

Reopening Alcatraz

The president has said he wants to “expand and rebuild” Alcatraz, the notorious San Francisco Bay Area prison that has been closed for more than six decades, to house immigration detainees. William K. Marshall III, director of the Bureau of Prisons, visited the island in July. His agency announced that engineers and planners were developing design concepts, preliminary budgets and logistics models.

50-year home mortgage

Trump has posted on social media about extending traditional home mortgage payments from 30 years to 50 years, suggesting it could ease housing affordability concerns. Economists say the switch will make it harder to build wealth through home ownership. However, the White House has vowed to push for change. Officials have made little progress, however, and Trump has sought to lower mortgage rates by having the federal government buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds.

Seeking a third term

Trump has repeatedly toyed with the idea of ​​a third term, despite the Constitution stating that no one can be elected president “more than twice.” He admitted in October, “I want to say that if you read it, it’s pretty clear that I’m not allowed to run. It’s too bad.” White House chief of staff Susie Wiles also told Vanity Fair that Trump “knows he can’t run again.” Still, Trump suggested this month that “I’m not allowed to run? I’m not sure,” and there might be a “constitutional movement” to do so.

What’s Missing: Making Canada the 51st State

Even if it’s far-fetched, Trump has talked about making America’s northern neighbor the “Great State of Canada” since before his second term began. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney assured Trump his country would “never sell out” during a subsequent White House visit. Carney suggested in June that Trump had lost interest. Trump has continued to bring up the idea, however, including in a September speech to military personnel in Virginia.

Visiting Fort Knox

Trump suggested in February that billionaire Elon Musk would check Fort Knox in Kentucky to make sure the U.S. gold reserves were still there. The president also broadened the notion of tagging. However, nothing came of it and Musk has since left the administration.

Sending thousands of immigrants to Guantanamo

The president promised to send up to 30,000 of the “worst criminal aliens” to a U.S. Navy lockup in Cuba, and between February and June, about 500 immigrants were held there. But those numbers have since declined and sometimes even reached zero. Housing immigrants at Guantánamo is more expensive than in traditional detention centers, and doing so has raised legal challenges.

The Gaza Strip as a Mediterranean resort

Trump has repeatedly suggested that the U.S. will occupy war-torn Gaza and evict the Palestinians living there, and that U.S. developers could turn the region into a “Riviera of the Middle East” after the war between Israel and Hamas. The rebuilding of Gaza is a major question amid a ceasefire brokered by the Trump administration, but Arab nations have rejected the idea of ​​it being a vacation spot. Trump doesn’t mention it anymore.

Tariff revenue check

The president has said his tariffs could raise enough revenue for most Americans to receive a $2,000 payment. But he has pledged to spend the same money on reducing the deficit created by the tax cuts, reducing the national debt, maintaining nutrition programs for low-income mothers and children during last year’s government shutdown, helping farmers and increasing defense spending in 2027. The U.S. collected about $289 billion, which would be less than last year’s revenue without the tax audit. Other pledge earmarks. Trump promised rebate checks to Americans while shrinking the size of the federal government, but those never materialized.

Eliminate federal income tax

Trump has repeatedly said that large import tariffs “would be enough to cut all income taxes,” long suggesting that America was better off in the Gilded Age, when there was no income tax and federal revenue came largely from tariffs. “If you go back to the 1800s, 1887,” he said Friday, “we had money, so much money, we didn’t know what to do with.” Recently, however, his administration has been promoting his tax-and-spend legislation, which could lower 2026 tax bills for many Americans.

Changing the NFL Kickoff Rules

Trump hates the moving kickoff, calling it an “insulting” and “aromantic” insult to football’s “pantry.” By November, Trump was suggesting the NFL “has no right to do that in the game,” adding, “I don’t think they’re going to change.”

What has been accomplished: Bringing back the War Department

Trump signed an executive order in September renaming the Department of Defense to the War Department. It will take an act of Congress to make this change legal.

Renaming the Kennedy Center

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ board of trustees, stocked with Trump loyalists, voted in December to add Trump’s name to Washington’s premier performing arts venue commemorating the 35th president. The move led to the cancellation of the show and a lawsuit. The Kennedy Center is named by statute and requires congressional approval for legal changes.

Reducing Chinese influence in the Panama Canal

Trump suggested before his second term that the U.S. could regain control of the Panama Canal because of China’s failure to curb Chinese influence in the Panamanian waterway. His administration then pushed China to sell those interests to a US consortium, the Hong Kong-based operator of ports on both sides of the canal, although that process has faced delays. Panama withdrew from China’s Belt and Road investment program in Latin America, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited Panama in April and agreed to strengthen security coordination.

Trump Gold Card

The president announced in December that his long-promised “gold card” was being sold. It provides legal status, and the ultimate path to U.S. citizenship, with individuals paying $1 million and corporations paying twice that per foreign-born employee, plus an upfront $15,000 fee to cover screening costs. The program is intended to replace EB-5 visas, which offer permanent U.S. residency in exchange for foreign investors investing more than $1 million in a business that creates at least 10 full-time jobs for U.S. workers.

White House Ballroom

Since the East Wing was demolished, construction crews have worked through the night, rushing to complete the grand ballroom before Trump’s term ends. The president initially said the structure would be bigger than the White House, costing $200 million, but now he says $400 million. He has promised that he and private donors will spend for this. The White House has released only a partial list of who is actually contributing and has argued that parts of the project’s plans are “top secret.”

More to watch: Possible US military action in Colombia, Mexico and Iran

After the US operation in Venezuela, Trump accused Colombian President Gustavo Petro of “making cocaine and selling it to the United States” and said US intervention in that country “is fine by me.” After a friendly call with Petro, however, Trump suggested that “drugs and other discordant situations” have been defused. However, Trump also maintains that Mexico is “run” by drug cartels and says, “You have to do something with Mexico.” He has warned Iran that if that country starts “killing people like it has in the past” during recent widespread, anti-government protests, “they will be hit very hard by the United States.” The killings have run into the thousands, but as of Friday, Trump appeared to be walking back those threats.

Cuba collapses with or without US intervention

Trump has repeatedly noted Cuba’s vulnerable position since the U.S. capture of Maduro, whose country was a key ally of the communist-run island. Trump has said Cuba “survives only because of Venezuela” and is “ready to collapse” without US intervention. Venezuela’s economic and social chaos and Maduro’s ouster have raised questions about Cuba’s future. But Trump also suggested Cuba “make a deal before it’s too late,” without saying what that meant.

Golden Dome

Trump says he wants the Golden Dome missile defense program — the multi-tiered, $175 billion system that will put U.S. weapons in space for the first time — to be fully operational by January 2029. Defense officials say that is some initial capability for the system. It is envisioned to include ground- and space-based capabilities that can detect and intercept missiles at various stages of attack.

Pete Rose as a Hall of Famer

Trump said he spoke with Rob Manfred before Major League Baseball’s commissioner reinstated Cincinnati Reds slugger Pete Rose in May. Rose died in 2024 but faced a baseball ban on betting on the game despite having a record 4,256 career hits. Trump now wants Rose in the Hall of Fame, but that depends on the Hall’s Classic Baseball Committee, which likely won’t meet until at least December 2027.

‘Rush Hour 4’

The fourth installment of the Cup Body comedy series starring Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan is coming out after a reported request from Trump. Paramount, co-owned by David Ellison, son of Oracle co-founder and Trump megadonor Larry Ellison, is set to distribute the film. Semaphore reported that Trump had asked Ellison to help revive the franchise. Warner Bros. released the first three “Rush Hour” films, but abandoned the fourth after allegations of sexual misconduct against its director, Brett Ratner. Ratner has also made a documentary about First Lady Melania Trump.