1 year into Trump’s 2nd term, here are some of the seismic shifts in foreign and domestic policies

When President Donald Trump capped a historic political comeback on Inauguration Day final Jan. 20, he proclaimed the “Golden Age of America” had arrived, and in his first 12 months, the nation has skilled a whiplash of home and international coverage modifications, and political disputes which have stirred intense nationwide debate.

Inside hours of taking workplace, the president signed greater than 200 government actions, together with rescinding practically 80 actions beneath President Joe Biden, and pardoning 1,500 folks convicted of crimes stemming from the Jan. 6 revolt on the U.S. Capitol.

“From at the present time ahead, our nation will flourish and be revered once more all around the world. We would be the envy of each nation, and we won’t enable ourselves to be taken benefit of any longer. Throughout each single day of the Trump administration, I’ll very merely put America First,” Trump vowed throughout his inaugural address. 

A take a look at Trump’s first 12 months exhibits a combination of fulfilled guarantees, dramatic actions and ongoing controversies that present his political ambitions and the divided response from Individuals.

International coverage

Trump ran on an agenda of “peace by way of power,” promising to be a worldwide peacemaker. 

“My proudest legacy shall be that of a peacemaker and unifier. That is what I need to be, a peacemaker and a unifier,” Trump mentioned throughout his deal with on the inauguration.

Since taking workplace, the president has made important international coverage selections, from an on-the-ground operation to seize the leader of Venezuela, ratcheting tensions with Europe in an effort to seize Greenland and efforts to realize peace in international conflicts from Ukraine to the Center East. 

The president achieved a type of objectives by securing a ceasefire within the Israel-Hamas conflict that raged in Gaza. The fragile peace deal has held and lately moved into its second section. The deal got here after months of statecraft by Trump and lots of of his closest allies. 

Trump has additionally formulated what he calls the “Donroe Doctrine,” a play on phrases of the Monroe Doctrine that reimagines the American function within the Western Hemisphere. That change in imaginative and prescient was punctuated by an on-the-ground operation in Venezuela to seize then-President Nicolas Maduro and convey him to the U.S. to face fees for allegedly supporting cartels that introduced narcotics into the U.S. 

That effort got here after the administration carried out strikes on boats that have been allegedly carrying medication, killing greater than 100 folks. These strikes have confronted main questions from Democrats.

The president has additionally referred to as for the U.S. to personal Greenland and is ratcheting up rigidity with European allies as he tries to make good on his promised efforts to personal Denmark’s semiautonomous territory. These tensions have reached a fever pitch round Trump’s one-year mark in workplace because the president has not dominated out taking Greenland by power. 

Trump vowed on the marketing campaign path to finish the conflict in Ukraine on Day 1 of his time period in workplace. Nevertheless, after many conferences with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a historic summit on American soil with Russian President Vladimir Putin, that promise has did not materialize. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues to rage on and Trump has repeatedly mentioned that ending the battle is extra complicated than he anticipated it could be. 

Immigration

Trump has adopted by way of on his marketing campaign pledge to aggressively crack down on unlawful immigration.

In 2025, america skilled detrimental internet migration for the primary time in no less than 50 years on account of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, in accordance with a report by the Brookings Establishment, which added that the quantity is usually as a result of a big drop in entries into the U.S.

The Division of Homeland Safety claims greater than 622,000 folks have been deported because the president took workplace.

All year long, the administration considerably expanded Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations nationwide, with the White Home publicly celebrating rising ICE arrests in a number of states, regardless of their controversial techniques, lethal power, authorized pushback and protests.

A Quinnipiac University poll discovered 57% of voters disapproving of how ICE is implementing immigration legal guidelines, with 40% approving, largely unchanged from Quinnipiac’s earlier polling in July. Most Democrats and independents disapprove of how ICE is implementing legal guidelines; most Republicans approve.

The president surged federal regulation enforcement and even troops into cities comparable to Los Angeles, New Orleans and at the moment Minneapolis, Minnesota, to assist perform immigration enforcement there. Nevertheless, many native officers have spoken out towards the enforcement operations. 

Federal restructuring (DOGE)

Trump has additionally made main modifications to the federal authorities, executing on one other of his main modifications to the scale and powers of the federal authorities. Trump labored alongside billionaire Elon Musk for the primary months of his presidency to enact the coverage of the Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE). 

DOGE took a chainsaw to much of the government, together with shuttering the U.S. Company for Worldwide Improvement (USAID) and firing or shedding hundreds of federal staff. 

In Could, after months working to reshape the federal workforce and authorities, Musk mentioned that the DOGE effort, which he promised on the marketing campaign path would minimize $2 trillion in federal spending, saved about $160 million after about 5 months. 

“I believe we have been efficient, not as efficient as I might like, I believe we may very well be more practical, however we made progress,” Musk said in May.

Financial insurance policies

Trump enacted considered one of his greatest marketing campaign guarantees throughout his first 12 months in workplace: widespread tariffs on items introduced into the U.S. The objective of the tariffs was to onshore manufacturing and slash commerce deficits. 

On April 2, which Trump dubbed “Liberation Day,” the president introduced sweeping tariff insurance policies on nearly all of America’s buying and selling companions and went far past what many specialists anticipated his tariff coverage to seem like. Simply in the future later, the inventory market tanked in response, with shares shedding practically $3.1 trillion in worth. 

Just a few days later, the president paused these sweeping tariffs to present time for the administration to as an alternative minimize offers with nations. Trump mentioned that traders had gotten “the yips,” which is why he pulled again. The administration set to work, promising to strike 90 offers in 90 days with America’s buying and selling companions.

They fell in need of that objective, however the White Home has since reached offers or frameworks with dozens of America’s buying and selling companions. The White Home has additionally made important carve-outs for some items that can not be produced or grown within the U.S. comparable to espresso and bananas. 

The president got here into workplace promising a “manufacturing increase” and that his insurance policies would create “thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of blue-collar jobs and jobs of each sort,” however the ultimate jobs report of 2025 confirmed hiring within the American financial system is cooling.

Roughly 50,000 new jobs have been added to the workforce in December, barely beneath expectations, however the unemployment charge did drop to 4.4%. Roughly two thirds of total job positive factors final 12 months have been within the well being care sector, whereas manufacturing, tech and authorities all misplaced extra jobs than they added, in accordance with the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The most recent CPI report exhibits inflation up 2.7% from a 12 months in the past. Prices proceed to rise for power, medical care and meals comparable to espresso and floor beef, whereas wholesale egg costs have dropped to their lowest ranges since 2019, in accordance with the USDA.

The everyday American family is now spending $184 extra a month to buy the identical items and providers as a 12 months in the past, and $590 extra a month than three years in the past, in accordance with Moody’s Analytics.

The president kicked off a tour in December to speak to Individuals straight about his administration’s efforts to convey down prices. Trump has continued to insist that “affordability” is a “hoax” that was invented by Democrats. 

Trump unveiled a health care plan, which he had promised for practically a decade in early 2026. The administration unveiled his “nice healthcare plan,” however the particulars are sparse, with high administration officers calling it “broad” and a “framework.”

Trump says he needs to present cash on to Individuals to allow them to purchase their very own insurance coverage, nevertheless it’s unclear how that might work, how a lot they are going to get or whether or not it could cowl their well being care prices. A latest ballot discovered 52% of voters saying Trump has “harm” the price of well being care.

The president has additionally deliberate to unveil a plan that might decrease housing prices throughout an upcoming journey to Davos, Switzerland. It is unclear what precisely the plan will entail, however the president has floated “steps to ban giant institutional traders from shopping for extra single-family properties” in an effort to enhance housing prices.

Adjustments to the White Home

Trump has additionally made his mark on the physical space of the White House. From decorative modifications to main tear downs, the president has made his mark on the historic residence of the commander in chief. 

What began with gilded additions to the Oval Workplace and the standard redecorating rapidly turned extra long-lasting modifications to the White Home. The president repaved the historic Rose Backyard with white stone and added what he dubbed the “Presidential Stroll of Fame” which incorporates portraits and politically charged plaques about American presidents by way of historical past. 

One of many greatest strikes got here in October of 2025, when Trump tore down the White Home East Wing to make approach for a 90,000 square foot ballroom. The main development and speedy tempo of the tear-down confronted main criticism from many Democrats. 

The president has made his mark on different D.C. landmarks too. The president’s hand-picked board of the Kennedy Performing Arts Middle voted in mid-December to rename the structure the “Trump-Kennedy Center.”

The president has adopted by way of of lots of his marketing campaign guarantees. But a latest Reuters-Ipsos ballot finds that on each situation measured, Trump doesn’t get pleasure from majority approval. With the midterm elections looming, it stays to be seen whether or not the president may have the political capital to push by way of his agenda all through his historic second time period.