President Donald Trump followed through Tuesday on several actions he pledged to take on his first day in office, but he still has some major items left on the to-do list he made for himself during the presidential campaign.
Trump signed 46 executive orders and presidential actions on his first day back in the White House aimed at a variety of policy priorities he promised to address on Day One, such as border security, energy, production, transgender rights and pardoning the Jan. 6 Capitol rioters.
A few big issues Trump promised to address were not among those actions, including tariffs and ending the war in Ukraine.
Still on the to-do list
Tariffs
Weeks after his election, Trump promised that he would sign an executive order to implement a 25% tariff on products imported from Mexico and Canada, two of America’s biggest trading partners.
“On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders,” Trump said on Truth Social on Nov. 25.
But Trump did not sign an order imposing tariffs on any foreign nation on his first day in office. Asked in the Oval Office on Monday evening, Trump said he was considering 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada, two top trading partners for the United States. Asked when the tariffs would be imposed, he said, “I think we’ll do it Feb. 1st.”
End the war in Ukraine
Trump also said he could end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office — or even earlier.
“That is a war that’s dying to be settled. I will get it settled before I even become president,” Trump said at a debate with Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia in September.
Trump began backing off of that promise after the election. In remarks to the media at Mar-a-Lago, his estate in Florida, he was asked when he plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss an end to the war. Trump said it would be inappropriate to hold the meeting before his inauguration.
The war in Ukraine continues. When Trump was asked in the Oval Office on Monday about his promise to end the war on Day One, he said: “Well, there’s only half a day. I have another half a day left. We’ll see. We want to get it done.”
Asked again later about his promise, Trump said he needed to speak with Putin and teased that the conversation “could be very soon.”
Auto industry changes
Trump also pledged at a rally in September that said the auto industry would be “fueled by American energy,” “sourced by American suppliers” and built by American laborers on his "first day in office.”
But Trump’s executive orders did not include those specific measures aimed at the auto industry.
'The largest deportation program in American history'
Trump also pledged at a rally in New York City in late October that he would "launch the largest deportation program in American history" on his first day.
While widespread deportations have not occurred yet, Trump did take steps to prioritize detaining, and ultimately deporting, people in the country illegally, an executive order titled "Protecting the American People Against Invasion."
In the order, Trump authorized relevant Cabinet heads “to prioritize the prosecution of criminal offenses related to the unauthorized entry or continued unauthorized presence of aliens in the United States.”
Trump also called on the homeland security secretary to stand up the detention facilities required to carry out his deportation push.
Checked off the to-do list
Pardon Jan. 6 rioters
Trump said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” in December that he would look to pardon those involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot on his “first day” in office, and he did just that. On Monday night he granted pardons to and commuted sentences for roughly 1,500 defendants charged with crimes related to the riot.
