Promises Trump has kept, or not kept, from his 2025 joint session of Congress speech
This affects the entire country.
During President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress last March, he triumphantly declared, “America is back.”
Although it wasn’t an official State of the Union speech, he attempted to offer the nation his vision for the next year of his term, akin to the usual annual address presidents give to Congress.
The more than 90-minute event, the longest in presidential history, featured Trump claiming he would renew the American Dream, usher in a new era of America First priorities, and unleash sweeping policies to revamp the nation after four years under former President Joe Biden.
Ahead of his first official State of the Union address on Tuesday, the Washington Examiner evaluated which promises Trump delivered on from his remarks last year and which promises he came up short on.
EVERYTHING TO KNOW ABOUT THE 2026 STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
Promises kept: immigration, DEI, federal government
One of Trump’s biggest wins since the address last year is his efforts to crack down on the U.S.-Mexico border. During his address, he touted that he “declared a national emergency on our southern border, and deployed the U.S. military and Border Patrol to repel the invasion of our country.”
Last month, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection released operational statistics that showed an eighth consecutive month of zero release of illegal immigrants and a record low number of encounters at the border in December 2025.
In October, illegal border crossings hit their lowest level in more than half a century, at fewer than 9,000, according to CBS. The illegal immigration crackdown “would probably be the one that he has delivered on the most,” said GOP strategist Ford O’Connell about Trump’s promises.
Trump also promised to freeze federal hiring and order federal workers back to in-person work, which he did through executive action. Through the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, about 317,000 federal workers left their jobs by the end of 2025, according to the Office of Personnel Management. Many were fired, laid off through reduction-in-force notices, or retired or quit due to the increasing pressure of the Trump administration to trim the federal workforce.
“We found hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud. And we’ve taken back the money and reduced our debt to fight inflation and other things. Taking back a lot of that money, we got it just in time,” Trump said during his speech.
The president also fulfilled his promise to …
This affects the entire country.
During President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress last March, he triumphantly declared, “America is back.”
Although it wasn’t an official State of the Union speech, he attempted to offer the nation his vision for the next year of his term, akin to the usual annual address presidents give to Congress.
The more than 90-minute event, the longest in presidential history, featured Trump claiming he would renew the American Dream, usher in a new era of America First priorities, and unleash sweeping policies to revamp the nation after four years under former President Joe Biden.
Ahead of his first official State of the Union address on Tuesday, the Washington Examiner evaluated which promises Trump delivered on from his remarks last year and which promises he came up short on.
EVERYTHING TO KNOW ABOUT THE 2026 STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
Promises kept: immigration, DEI, federal government
One of Trump’s biggest wins since the address last year is his efforts to crack down on the U.S.-Mexico border. During his address, he touted that he “declared a national emergency on our southern border, and deployed the U.S. military and Border Patrol to repel the invasion of our country.”
Last month, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection released operational statistics that showed an eighth consecutive month of zero release of illegal immigrants and a record low number of encounters at the border in December 2025.
In October, illegal border crossings hit their lowest level in more than half a century, at fewer than 9,000, according to CBS. The illegal immigration crackdown “would probably be the one that he has delivered on the most,” said GOP strategist Ford O’Connell about Trump’s promises.
Trump also promised to freeze federal hiring and order federal workers back to in-person work, which he did through executive action. Through the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, about 317,000 federal workers left their jobs by the end of 2025, according to the Office of Personnel Management. Many were fired, laid off through reduction-in-force notices, or retired or quit due to the increasing pressure of the Trump administration to trim the federal workforce.
“We found hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud. And we’ve taken back the money and reduced our debt to fight inflation and other things. Taking back a lot of that money, we got it just in time,” Trump said during his speech.
The president also fulfilled his promise to …
Promises Trump has kept, or not kept, from his 2025 joint session of Congress speech
This affects the entire country.
During President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress last March, he triumphantly declared, “America is back.”
Although it wasn’t an official State of the Union speech, he attempted to offer the nation his vision for the next year of his term, akin to the usual annual address presidents give to Congress.
The more than 90-minute event, the longest in presidential history, featured Trump claiming he would renew the American Dream, usher in a new era of America First priorities, and unleash sweeping policies to revamp the nation after four years under former President Joe Biden.
Ahead of his first official State of the Union address on Tuesday, the Washington Examiner evaluated which promises Trump delivered on from his remarks last year and which promises he came up short on.
EVERYTHING TO KNOW ABOUT THE 2026 STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
Promises kept: immigration, DEI, federal government
One of Trump’s biggest wins since the address last year is his efforts to crack down on the U.S.-Mexico border. During his address, he touted that he “declared a national emergency on our southern border, and deployed the U.S. military and Border Patrol to repel the invasion of our country.”
Last month, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection released operational statistics that showed an eighth consecutive month of zero release of illegal immigrants and a record low number of encounters at the border in December 2025.
In October, illegal border crossings hit their lowest level in more than half a century, at fewer than 9,000, according to CBS. The illegal immigration crackdown “would probably be the one that he has delivered on the most,” said GOP strategist Ford O’Connell about Trump’s promises.
Trump also promised to freeze federal hiring and order federal workers back to in-person work, which he did through executive action. Through the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, about 317,000 federal workers left their jobs by the end of 2025, according to the Office of Personnel Management. Many were fired, laid off through reduction-in-force notices, or retired or quit due to the increasing pressure of the Trump administration to trim the federal workforce.
“We found hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud. And we’ve taken back the money and reduced our debt to fight inflation and other things. Taking back a lot of that money, we got it just in time,” Trump said during his speech.
The president also fulfilled his promise to …
