Political positions of Donald Trump#Political affiliation and ideology

File:Donald Trump by Gage Skidmore 3.jpg

Trump registered as a Republican in Manhattan in 1987; since that time, he has changed his party affiliation five times. In 1999, he changed his party affiliation to the Independence Party of New York. In August 2001, Trump changed his party affiliation to Democratic. In September 2009, he changed his party affiliation back to the Republican Party. In December 2011, Trump changed to "no party affiliation" (independent). In April 2012, he again returned to the Republican Party.Gillin, Joshua; [http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2015/aug/24/jeb-bush/bush-says-trump-was-democrat-longer-republican-las/ "Bush says Trump was a Democrat longer than a Republican 'in the last decade'"], PolitiFact (August 24, 2015).

In a 2004 interview, Trump told CNN's Wolf Blitzer: "In many cases, I probably identify more as Democrat", explaining: "It just seems that the economy does better under the Democrats than the Republicans. Now, it shouldn't be that way. But if you go back, I mean it just seems that the economy does better under the Democrats...But certainly we had some very good economies under Democrats, as well as Republicans. But we've had some pretty bad disaster under the Republicans."Moody, Chris; [http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/21/politics/donald-trump-election-democrat/ "Trump in '04: 'I probably identify more as Democrat'"], CNN (July 21, 2015). In a July 2015 interview, Trump said that he has a broad range of political positions and that "I identify with some things as a Democrat."

During his 2016 campaign for the presidency, Trump consistently described the state of the United States in bleak terms, referring to it as a nation in dire peril that is plagued by lawlessness, poverty, and violence, constantly under threat, and at risk of having "nothing, absolutely nothing, left".Johnson, Jenna; [https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/donald-trumps-message-of-doom-and-despair-in-america/2016/07/21/8afe4cae-3f22-11e6-80bc-d06711fd2125_story.html "Donald Trump's vision of doom and despair in America"], The Washington Post (July 21, 2016).Reena Flores, [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-gop-convention-speech/ "Donald Trump offers dark vision of America in GOP convention speech"], CBS News (July 22, 2016). In accepting the Republican nomination for president, Trump said that "I alone can fix" the system,Jackson, David; [https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/07/21/donald-trump-republican-convention-acceptance-speech/87385658/ "Donald Trump accepts GOP nomination, says 'I alone can fix' system"], USA Today (July 22, 2016). and pledged that if elected, "Americanism, not globalism, will be our credo." He described himself as a "law and order" candidate and "the voice" of "the forgotten men and women".Rucker, Philip; Fahrenthold, David A.; [https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-speech-at-republican-national-convention-trump-to-paint-dire-picture-of-america/2016/07/21/418f9ae6-4fad-11e6-aa14-e0c1087f7583_story.html "Donald Trump positions himself as the voice of 'the forgotten men and women'"], The Washington Post (July 21, 2016). Trump's inaugural address on January 20, 2017, focused on his campaign theme of America in crisis and decline.Page, Susan; [https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/01/20/donald-trump-president-inauguration-speech-analysis-defiant-address-and-political-revolt/96836152/ "Analysis: Trump's short, dark and defiant inaugural address"] {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170717043705/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/01/20/donald-trump-president-inauguration-speech-analysis-defiant-address-and-political-revolt/96836152/ |date=July 17, 2017}}, USA Today (January 20, 2017). He pledged to end what he referred to as "American carnage",{{cite news |url= http://globalnews.ca/news/3194820/donald-trump-inauguration-speech-and-transcript/ |title=Donald Trump's full inauguration speech and transcript |publisher=Global News |date=January 20, 2017 |access-date=January 28, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170128155656/http://globalnews.ca/news/3194820/donald-trump-inauguration-speech-and-transcript/ |archive-date=January 28, 2017}}{{cite news |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-to-be-sworn-in-marking-a-transformative-shift-in-the-countrys-leadership/2017/01/20/954b9cac-de7d-11e6-ad42-f3375f271c9c_story.html |title=Donald Trump is sworn in as president, vows to end 'American carnage' |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=January 22, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170122040205/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-to-be-sworn-in-marking-a-transformative-shift-in-the-countrys-leadership/2017/01/20/954b9cac-de7d-11e6-ad42-f3375f271c9c_story.html |archive-date=January 22, 2017}} depicting the United States in a dystopian light—as a "land of abandoned factories, economic angst, rising crime"—while pledging "a new era in American politics".

Although Trump was the Republican nominee, he has signaled that the official party platform, adopted at the 2016 Republican National Convention, diverges from his own views.O'Keefe, Ed; Balz Dan; Weigel, David; [https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-gop-platform-fight-donald-trump-is-a-distant-presence/2016/07/11/439abe0e-4780-11e6-bdb9-701687974517_story.html "In GOP platform fight, Donald Trump is a distant presence"], The Washington Post (July 11, 2016). According to a The Washington Post tally, Trump made some 282 campaign promises over the course of his 2016 campaign.Johnson, Jenna; [https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/i-will-give-you-everything-here-are-282-of-donald-trumps-campaign-promises/2016/11/24/01160678-b0f9-11e6-8616-52b15787add0_story.html "'I will give you everything.' Here are 282 of Donald Trump's campaign promises"], The Washington Post (November 24, 2016). In February 2017, Trump stated that he was a "total nationalist" in a "true sense".{{cite news |work=RealClearPolitics |title=Trump: I Am a Nationalist in a True Sense |url= https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2017/02/27/trump_i_am_a_nationalist_in_a_true_sense.html |date=February 27, 2017}} In October 2018, Trump again described himself as a nationalist.{{Cite news |url= https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/22/trump-nationalist-926745 |title=Trump: 'I'm a nationalist' |work=Politico |access-date=2018-10-23}}{{Cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/23/us/politics/nationalist-president-trump.html |title=Promoting His Agenda, Trump Embraces the 'Nationalist' Label |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 23, 2018 |access-date=2018-10-23|last1=Baker |first1=Peter }} During the last week of his presidential term in January 2021, Trump reportedly considered founding a new political party called the Patriot Party.{{Cite web|agency=Associated Press|date=19 January 2021|title=Trump Has Discussed Starting a New Political Party - WSJ.com|url=https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/trump-impeachment-biden-inauguration/card/90pPMzFPqr5fMzg1Bkbs|access-date=19 January 2021|website=The Wall Street Journal}}

Trump's political positions are populist,{{Cite journal |last1=Ross |first1=Bertrall L. |date=October 2024 |title=Polarization, Populism, and the Crisis of American Democracy |url=https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-041922-035113 |journal=Annual Review of Law and Social Science |volume=20 |access-date=December 20, 2024 |pages=293–308 |issn=1550-3631 |doi=10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-041922-035113 |quote-page=298|quote=In 2016, a populist won the presidential election in the United States.|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite journal |last=Urbinati |first=Nadia |date=May 2019 |title=Political Theory of Populism |url=https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-polisci-050317-070753 |journal=Annual Review of Political Science |volume=22 |access-date=December 20, 2024 |pages=111–127 |issn=1094-2939 |doi=10.1146/annurev-polisci-050317-070753|url-access=subscription }} more specifically described as right-wing populist.

• {{Cite book|title=What Is Populism?|last=Muller|first=Jan-Werner|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|year=2016|isbn=9780812293784|pages=101}}
• Kazin, Michael. [http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/03/27/magazine/how-can-donald-trump-and-bernie-sanders-both-be-populist.html?referer= How Can Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders Both Be 'Populist'?], The New York Times (March 22, 2016).
• Becker, Bernie. [https://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/donald-trump-working-class-voters-219231 Trump's 6 populist positions], Politico (February 13, 2016).
• {{Cite journal |last1=Campani |first1=Giovanna |last2=Fabelo Concepción |first2=Sunamis |last3=Rodriguez Soler |first3=Angel |last4=Sánchez Savín |first4=Claudia |date=December 2022 |title=The Rise of Donald Trump Right-Wing Populism in the United States: Middle American Radicalism and Anti-Immigration Discourse |journal=Societies |language=en |volume=12 |issue=6 |pages=154 |doi=10.3390/soc12060154 |issn=2075-4698 |doi-access=free }}
• {{Cite journal |last=Norris |first=Pippa |date=November 2020 |title=Measuring populism worldwide |journal=Party Politics |language=en |volume=26 |issue=6 |pages=697–717 |doi=10.1177/1354068820927686 |s2cid=216298689 |issn=1354-0688|doi-access=free }}
• {{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/donald-trump-is-transforming-the-g-o-p-into-a-populist-nativist-party|title=Donald Trump is Transforming the G.O.P. Into a Populist, Nativist Party|last=Cassidy|first=John|magazine=The New Yorker|date=February 29, 2016|access-date=July 22, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304225035/http://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/donald-trump-is-transforming-the-g-o-p-into-a-populist-nativist-party|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=live}} Politicians and pundits alike have referred to Trump's populism, anti-free trade, and anti-immigrant stances as "Trumpism".{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/separating-donald-trump-from-trumpism-1470678372 |title=Separating Donald Trump From Trumpism |newspaper=Wall Street Journal|author=Gerald F. Seib |date=August 8, 2016}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35845233 |title=Mitt Romney: Vote for Ted Cruz over 'Trumpism' |work=BBC News |date=March 18, 2016 |access-date=December 5, 2016}}

Liberal economist and columnist Paul Krugman disputes that Trump is a populist, arguing that his policies favor the rich over those less well off.Krugman, Paul. [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/20/opinion/obamas-war-on-inequality.html Obama's War on Inequality], The New York Times (May 20, 2016): "Just for the record, while Mr. Trump is sometimes described as a 'populist,' almost every substantive policy he has announced would make the rich richer at workers' expense". Harvard Kennedy School political scientist Pippa Norris has described Trump as a "populist authoritarian" analogous to European parties such as the Swiss People's Party, Austrian Freedom Party, Swedish Democrats, and Danish People's Party.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/03/11/its-not-just-trump-authoritarian-populism-is-rising-across-the-west-heres-why/ |title=It's not just Trump. Authoritarian populism is rising across the West. Here's why|last=Norris|first=Pippa|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=March 11, 2016}} Columnist Walter Shapiro and political commentator Jonathan Chait describe Trump as authoritarian.{{cite web|url=http://www.rollcall.com/opinion-analysis/319/?dcz=|title=Dear Republican Sirs: It's Up to You to Save the Republic|last=Shapiro|first=Walter|magazine=Roll Call|date=February 23, 2016|quote=He is the embodiment of the authoritarian temptation that has imperiled liberty since the days of the Roman Republic.|access-date=May 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200123144034/http://www.rollcall.com/opinion-analysis/319/?dcz=|archive-date=January 23, 2020|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://nymag.com/daihly/intelligencer/2016/05/heres-how-trumps-authoritarianism-would-work.html|title=Here's How Donald Trump's Authoritarianism Would Actually Work|last=Chait|first=Jonathan|magazine=New York|date=May 13, 2016|access-date=February 20, 2020|archive-date=March 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200323175144/https://nymag.com/daihly/intelligencer/2016/05/heres-how-trumps-authoritarianism-would-work.html|url-status=dead}} Conservative commentator Mary Katharine Ham characterized Trump as a "casual authoritarian," saying "he is a candidate who has happily and proudly spurned the entire idea of limits on his power as an executive and doesn't have any interest in the Constitution and what it allows him to do and what [it] does not allow him to do. That is concerning for people who are interested in limited government."[http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1605/11/cnr.03.html Transcript: Donald Trump Sweeps Nebraska and West Virginia Primaries; Bernie Sanders Wins West Virginia But Gains Little], CNN (May 11, 2016). Charles C. W. Cooke of the National Review has expressed similar views, terming Trump an "anti-constitutional authoritarian."{{cite web|author=Charles C. W. Cooke|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/article/428208/trump-anti-constitutional-authoritarian|title=Here's How Donald Trump's Authoritarianism Would Actually Work|magazine=National Review|date=December 8, 2015}} Libertarian journalist Nick Gillespie, by contrast, calls Trump "populist rather than an authoritarian".Gillespie, Nick. [http://reason.com/blog/2016/03/14/donald-trump-supporters-are-less-authori Donald Trump Supporters Are Less Authoritarian Than Ted Cruz Voters], Reason.com (March 14, 2016): "Understanding Trump as a populist rather than an authoritarian helps explain why he can get away with sloppy, inconsistent thinking." In an article for Newsweek, political theorist Rafael Holmberg described Trump's politics as even more unsettling than populism, and as a new type of political discourse.{{cite news |last1=Holmberg |first1=Rafael |title=Donald Trump is No Populist |url=https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-no-populist-opinion-2023522 |publisher=Newsweek |date=4 February 2025}} Rich Benjamin refers to Trump and his ideology as fascist and a form of inverted totalitarianism.{{Cite web|url=https://theintercept.com/2020/09/27/trump-supporters-fascism-election/|title=Democrats Need to Wake Up: The Trump Movement Is Shot Through With Fascism|first1=Rich |last1=Benjamin|website=The Intercept|date=September 27, 2020}}

Legal experts spanning the political spectrum, including many conservative and libertarian scholars, have suggested that "Trump's blustery attacks on the press, complaints about the judicial system and bold claims of presidential power collectively sketch out a constitutional worldview that shows contempt for the First Amendment, the separation of powers and the rule of law."{{Cite news |last=Liptak |first=Adam |author-link=Adam Liptak |date=2016-06-03 |title=Donald Trump Could Threaten U.S. Rule of Law, Scholars Say |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/04/us/politics/donald-trump-constitution-power.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20160603140501/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/04/us/politics/donald-trump-constitution-power.html?_r=0 |archive-date=2016-06-03 |access-date=2025-03-01 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} Law professors Randy E. Barnett, Richard Epstein, and David G. Post, for example, suggest that Trump has little or no awareness of, or commitment to, the constitutional principles of separation of powers and federalism. Law professor Ilya Somin believes that Trump "poses a serious threat to the press and the First Amendment," citing Trump's proposal to expand defamation laws to make it easier to sue journalists and his remark that the owner of The Washington Post, Jeff Bezos, would "have problems" if Trump was elected president. Anthony D. Romero, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, wrote in an op-ed published in The Washington Post in July 2016 that "Trump's proposed policies, if carried out, would trigger a constitutional crisis. By our reckoning, a Trump administration would violate the First, Fourth, Fifth and Eighth amendments if it tried to implement his most controversial plans."Anthony D. Romero, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-president-trump-would-threaten-our-constitutional-freedoms/2016/07/13/42b41048-4876-11e6-bdb9-701687974517_story.html ACLU Director: We will defend the constitution against a President Trump], The Washington Post (July 13, 2016).

Prior to his election as president, his views on social issues were often described as centrist or moderate. Political commentator Josh Barro termed Trump a "moderate Republican," saying that except on immigration, his views are "anything but ideologically rigid, and he certainly does not equate deal making with surrender."{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/18/upshot/donald-trump-moderate-republican.html|title=Donald Trump, Moderate Republican|last=Barro|first=Josh|publisher=The Upshot, The New York Times|date=August 14, 2015|access-date=March 5, 2016}} MSNBC host Joe Scarborough said Trump is essentially more like a "centrist Democrat" on social issues.Hains, Tim. [http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/04/22/joe_scarborough_donald_trump_is_a_centrist_democrat_its_not_been_a_secret.html "Joe Scarborough: Donald Trump Is A Centrist Democrat On Social Issue, 'It's Not Been A Secret'"], Real Clear Politics (April 22, 2016). Journalist and political analyst John Heilemann characterized Trump as liberal on social issues,With All Due Respect (TV series) (April 21, 2016). while conservative talk radio host and political commentator Rush Limbaugh said that Heilemann is seeing in Trump what he wants to see.Limbaugh, Rush. [http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2016/04/25/trump_walks_it_back_on_bathrooms Trump Walks It Back on Bathrooms] (April 25, 2016): "[P]eople make Trump into what they want him to be. So here you have these two guys Heilemann and Halperin, who are liberals, and they want to like Trump, I think." Since he became president, commentators have generally characterized his policy agenda as socially conservative.{{cite news|work=The Daily Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/04/trump-administration-cuts-funding-un-population-fund-concerns/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/04/trump-administration-cuts-funding-un-population-fund-concerns/ |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|date=April 4, 2017|title=Trump administration cuts off funding to UN Population Fund over concerns about abortion}}{{cbignore}}{{cite news|work=Fortune|url=http://fortune.com/2017/03/13/mark-cuban-president-trump-sxsw/|title=Mark Cuban Calls Trump the 'Zoolander President.' He's Also Not Ruling Out a White House Bid|date=March 12, 2017}}{{cite news|work=Politico|title=Social Conservatives Are 'Over the Moon' About Trump|url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/04/26/donald-trump-social-conservatives-215073/|date=April 26, 2017}}

Trump and his political views have often been described as nationalist.{{cite news|work=The New York Times|title=France Poses Biggest Test Yet for Trump's Brand of Nationalism

|date=April 21, 2017|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/21/world/europe/france-election-trump-marine-le-pen.html?mcubz=1}}{{cite news|work=USA Today|title=Trump visits Poland and not everyone is happy about it|date=July 3, 2017|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/07/03/trump-abroad-u-s-president-goes-poland-before-g-20-summit/447412001/}} John Cassidy of New Yorker writes that Trump seeks to make the Republican Party "into a more populist, nativist, avowedly protectionist, and semi-isolationist party that is skeptical of immigration, free trade, and military interventionism."John Cassidy, [https://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/donald-trump-is-transforming-the-g-o-p-into-a-populist-nativist-party Donald Trump Is Transforming the G.O.P. into a Populist, Nativist Party], New Yorker (February 29, 2016). The Washington Post editorial page editor Fred Hiatt and College of the Holy Cross political scientist Donald Brand describe Trump as a nativist.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/in-america-citizenship-trumps-tribe/2015/08/23/51be75da-481b-11e5-846d-02792f854297_story.html|title=Donald Trump's nativist bandwagon |last=Hiatt|first=Fred|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=August 23, 2015|access-date=March 5, 2016}}Donald Brand, [http://fortune.com/2016/06/21/donald-trump-nativism-gop/ How Donald Trump's Nativism Ruined the GOP], Fortune (June 21, 2016). Rich Lowry, the editor of National Review, instead calls Trump an "immigration hawk" and supports Trump's effort to return immigration levels to what Trump calls a "historically average level".Lowry, Rich. [https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/08/donald-trump-2016-immigration-pandering-121541/ Yes, Pander to Trump on Immigration], Politico (August 19, 2015). Trump is a protectionist, according to free-market advocate Stephen Moore and conservative economist Larry Kudlow.{{cite web|url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/08/26/donald_trump_a_21st_century_protectionist_herbert_hoover_127893.html|title=Donald Trump: A 21st Century Protectionist Herbert Hoover|last1=Kudlow|first1=Lawrence|last2=Moore|first2=Stephen|website=Real Clear Politics |date=August 26, 2015|access-date=March 5, 2016}} Historian Joshua M. Zeitz wrote in 2016 that Trump's appeals to "law and order" and "the silent majority" were comparable to the dog-whistle and racially-coded terminology of Richard Nixon.{{cite news|last1=Zeitz|first1=Josh|title=How Trump Is Recycling Nixon's 'Law and Order' Playbook|url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/07/donald-trump-law-and-order-richard-nixon-crime-race-214066/|access-date=February 5, 2017|work=Politico Magazine|date=July 18, 2016}}

According to a 2020 study, voters had the most difficulty assessing the ideology of Trump in the 2016 election out of all presidential candidates since 1972 and all contemporary legislators.{{Cite journal|last1=Eady|first1=Gregory|last2=Loewen|first2=Peter|date=2020-07-28|title=Measuring Public Uncertainty about Candidate Ideology: An Application to US Presidential Elections|url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/710147|journal=The Journal of Politics|volume=83|issue=2|pages=794–799|doi=10.1086/710147|s2cid=225466445|issn=0022-3816|url-access=subscription}}

In 2015, Crowdpac gave Trump a ranking of 0.4L out of 10, indicating moderate positions. In 2016, the ranking was changed to 5.1C out of 10, shifting him more to the conservative spectrum.{{cite web|url=https://ballotpedia.org/2016_presidential_candidate_ratings_and_scorecards |title=2016 presidential candidate ratings and scorecards |publisher=Ballotpedia.org |access-date=July 27, 2016}}

The organization and website On the Issues has classified Trump in a variety of ways over time:

• "Moderate populist" (2003){{cite web |url=http://www.ontheissues.org/Donald_Trump.htm |title=Donald Trump On the Issues August 16, 2003 |date=August 16, 2003 |access-date=July 27, 2016 |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030816141728/http://www.ontheissues.org/Donald_Trump.htm |archive-date=August 16, 2003}}
• "Liberal-leaning populist" (2003–2011){{cite web |url=http://ontheissues.org/Donald_Trump.htm |title=Donald Trump On the Issues December 5, 2003 |date=December 5, 2003 |access-date=July 27, 2016 |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031205131757/http://ontheissues.org/Donald_Trump.htm |archive-date=December 5, 2003}}
• "Moderate populist conservative" (2011–2012){{cite web |url=http://www.ontheissues.org/donald_trump.htm |title=Donald Trump On the Issues May 7, 2011 |access-date=July 27, 2016 |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110507083640/http://www.ontheissues.org/Donald_Trump.htm|archive-date=May 7, 2011}}
• "Libertarian-leaning conservative" (2012–2013){{cite web |url=http://ontheissues.org/Donald_Trump.htm |title=Donald Trump On the Issues February 26, 2012 |access-date=July 27, 2016 |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226172725/http://ontheissues.org/Donald_Trump.htm |archive-date=February 26, 2012}}
• "Moderate conservative" (2013–2014){{cite web |url=http://www.ontheissues.org/donald_trump.htm |title=Donald Trump On the Issues May 27, 2013 |access-date=July 27, 2016 |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213224859/http://www.ontheissues.org/Donald_Trump.htm |archive-date=December 13, 2013}}
• "Libertarian-leaning conservative" (2014–2015){{cite web |url=http://www.ontheissues.org/Donald_Trump.htm |title=Donald Trump On the Issues September 24, 2014 |access-date=July 27, 2016 |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141003004540/http://www.ontheissues.org/Donald_Trump.htm|archive-date=October 3, 2014}}
• "Hard-core conservative" (2015){{cite web |url=http://www.ontheissues.org/Donald_Trump.htm |title=Donald Trump On the Issues July 19, 2015 |access-date=July 27, 2016 |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150719083750/http://www.ontheissues.org/Donald_Trump.htm |archive-date=July 19, 2015}}
• "Libertarian-leaning conservative" (2015–2016){{cite web |url=http://www.ontheissues.org/Donald_Trump.htm |title=Donald Trump on the issues December 31, 2015 |access-date=December 31, 2016 |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151231034812/http://www.ontheissues.org/Donald_Trump.htm |archive-date=December 31, 2015}}
• "Moderate conservative" (2016–2017){{cite web|title=Donald Trump On the issues August 1, 2016 |url=http://www.ontheissues.org/Donald_Trump.htm|publisher=Ontheissues.org|access-date=August 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801221604/http://www.ontheissues.org/Donald_Trump.htm |archive-date=August 1, 2016 |url-status=deviated}}
• "Hard-core conservative" (2017–present){{cite web|url=http://www.ontheissues.org/Donald_Trump.htm |title=Donald Trump on the Issues October 4, 2017|publisher=On the Issues|access-date=October 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004000455/http://www.ontheissues.org/Donald_Trump.htm |archive-date=October 4, 2017 |url-status=deviated}}

As president, Trump has pursued sizable income tax cuts, deregulation, increased military spending, rollbacks of federal health-care protections, and the appointment of conservative judges consistent with conservative (Republican Party) policies.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/where-president-trump-stands-on-the-issues-in-2020|title=Where President Trump stands on the issues in 2020|date=2019-06-19|website=PBS NewsHour|access-date=2019-08-09}} However, his anti-globalization policies of trade protectionism cross party lines.{{cite news|author=Amber Phillips|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/08/08/a-shortlist-of-economic-issues-on-which-donald-trump-sounds-more-like-a-democrat-than-a-republican/|title=A shortlist of economic issues on which Donald Trump sounds more like a Democrat than a Republican|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=August 8, 2016}} In foreign affairs he has described himself as a nationalist.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/23/us/politics/nationalist-president-trump.html|title='Use That Word!': Trump Embraces the 'Nationalist' Label|last=Baker|first=Peter|date=2018-10-23|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-08-09|issn=0362-4331}} Trump has said that he is "totally flexible on very, very many issues."{{cite news|author=Jenna Johnson|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/05/13/trump-all-policy-proposals-are-just-flexible-suggestions/|title=Trump: All policy proposals are just flexible suggestions|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=May 13, 2016}}

Trump's signature issue is immigration, especially illegal immigration,{{cite web |url=http://www.cfr.org/campaign2016/donald-trump/on-immigration |title=Campaign 2015: The Candidates & the World: Donald Trump on Immigration |publisher=Council on Foreign Relations |access-date=May 15, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205113607/http://www.cfr.org/campaign2016/donald-trump/on-immigration |archive-date=February 5, 2017 |url-status=dead }} and in particular building or expanding a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico.Keller, Jon. [http://boston.cbslocal.com/2016/02/02/donald-trump-immigration-mexico-wall-ted-cruz-marco-rubio-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-wbz-jon-keller-at-large/ "On The Issues: Building A Wall Along The Mexican Border"], The Boston Globe (February 2, 2016): "It has become Donald Trump's signature issue: his vow to wall off the Mexican border..."

In his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump promised significant infrastructure investment and protection for entitlements for the elderly, typically considered liberal (Democratic Party) policies. In October 2016, Trump's campaign posted fourteen categories of policy proposals on his website, which have been since removed.{{cite web|url=https://www.donaldjtrump.com/policies/|title=Trump Pence Campaign Policies|date=October 16, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161101083734/http://www.donaldjtrump.com/policies/|archive-date=2016-11-01}} During October 2016, Trump outlined a series of steps for his first 100 days in office.{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2016/11/10/501597652/fact-check-donald-trumps-first-100-days-action-plan|title=Fact Check: Donald Trump's First 100 Days Action Plan|newspaper=NPR|date=November 10, 2016}}

Trump's political positions, and his descriptions of his beliefs, have often been inconsistent.{{refn|{{cite web |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/08/17/20-times-donald-trump-has-changed-his-mind-since-june/ |title=20 times Donald Trump has changed his mind since June|author=David A. Fahrenthold |date=August 17, 2015|newspaper=The Washington Post}}{{cite web|author=Jane C. Timm|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/full-list-donald-trump-s-rapidly-changing-policy-positions-n547801|title='Meet the Press' tracks Trump's flip-flops|publisher=NBC News|date=March 30, 2016}}{{cite web |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/will-the-real-donald-trump-please-stand-up-120607|author=Timothy Noah|title=Will the real Donald Trump please stand up? |newspaper=Politico|date=July 26, 2015}}Chris Cillizza, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/07/12/the-massive-flip-floppery-of-donald-trump-explained-in-238-seconds/ The massive flip-floppery of Donald Trump, explained in 113 seconds], The Washington Post (July 12, 2015).Michelle Ye Hee, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/08/03/a-guide-to-all-of-donald-trumps-flip-flops-on-the-minimum-wage/ A guide to all of Donald Trump's flip-flops on the minimum wage], The Washington Post (August 3, 2016).Louis Jacobson, [http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2016/may/11/trying-pin-down-what-donald-trump-thinks-about-abo/ Trying to pin down what Donald Trump thinks about abortion, the minimum wage, taxes, and U.S. debt], PolitiFact (May 11, 2016). "But how much of this stems from actual changes in position from one day to the next, and how much stems from his penchant for using confusing, vague and even contradictory language?"}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/05/donald-trump-2016-contradictions-213869/|title=Donald Trump's Greatest Self-Contradictions|last1=Kruse|first1=Michael|last2=Weil|first2=Noah|website=Politico Magazine|date=May 5, 2016 |access-date=2019-07-15}} Politico has described his positions as "eclectic, improvisational and often contradictory."{{cite news|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/will-the-real-donald-trump-please-stand-up-120607|title=Will the real Donald Trump please stand up?|date=July 26, 2015|newspaper=Politico|author=Timothy Noah}} According to an NBC News count, over the course of his campaign Trump made "141 distinct shifts on 23 major issues."{{Cite web|author=Jane C. Timm|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/full-list-donald-trump-s-rapidly-changing-policy-positions-n547801|title=The 141 Stances Donald Trump Took During His White House Bid (alt. headline: A Full List of Donald Trump's Rapidly Changing Policy Positions)|publisher=NBC News|date=November 7, 2016}} Fact-checking organizations reported that during the campaign, Trump made a record number of false statements and lies compared to other candidates,{{refn|{{cite web |url=http://www.factcheck.org/2015/12/the-king-of-whoppers-donald-trump/ |title=The 'King of Whoppers': Donald Trump |publisher=FactCheck.org |date=December 21, 2015}}{{cite news |url=http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2015/dec/21/2015-lie-year-donald-trump-campaign-misstatements/ |title=2015 Lie of the Year: the campaign misstatements of Donald Trump |work=PolitiFact |date=December 21, 2015 |first1=Angie Drobnic |last1=Holan |first2=Linda |last2=Qiu}}{{cite news |first=Paul |last=Farhi |title=Think Trump's wrong? Fact checkers can tell you how often. (Hint: A lot.) |date=February 26, 2016 |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-existential-crisis-of-professional-factcheckers-in-the-year-of-trump/2016/02/25/e994f210-db3e-11e5-81ae-7491b9b9e7df_story.html}}}} a pattern that has continued{{Snd}}and further increased{{Snd}}in office.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/09/13/president-trump-has-made-more-than-false-or-misleading-claims/|title=President Trump has made more than 5,000 false or misleading claims|last1=Kelly|first1=Meg|last2=Rizzo|first2=Salvador|date=September 13, 2018|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=February 19, 2019|last3=Kessler|first3=Glenn}}[Trump's Lies vs. Obama's {{cite news| url = https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/14/opinion/sunday/trump-lies-obama-who-is-worse.html| title = Opinion {{!}} Trump's Lies vs. Obama's - The New York Times| newspaper=The New York Times| date = December 14, 2017| last1 = Leonhardt| first1 = David| last2 = Philbrick| first2 = Ian Prasad| last3 = Thompson| first3 = Stuart A.}} NYT-Trump's Lies Vs. Obama's-December 14, 2017]

{{Main|Domestic policy of the first Donald Trump administration|Domestic policy of the second Donald Trump administration}}

File:Donald_Trump_Signs_The_Pledge_25.jpg for the 2016 general election, he pledged to support whoever the nominee may have been, and to not run as a third-party candidate.]]

File:Trump_with_supporters_in_Iowa,_January_2016_(2).jpg, January 2016. Multiple supporters hold up signs stating "The silent majority stands with Trump."]]

{{See also|Campaign finance reform in the United States}}

While Trump has repeatedly expressed support for "the idea of campaign finance reform",{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-08-14/trump-i-love-the-idea-of-campaign-finance-reform-|title=Trump: 'I Love the Idea of Campaign Finance Reform'|date=August 14, 2016|publisher=Bloomberg Politics}} he has not outlined specifics of his actual views on campaign-finance regulation.Peter Overby, [https://www.npr.org/2016/02/14/466668949/presidential-candidates-pledge-to-undo-citizens-united-but-can-they Presidential Candidates Pledge To Undo 'Citizens United.' But Can They?], Morning Edition NPR (February 14, 2016) ("Trump says he supports campaign finance reform, though a specific plan is not available on his website.").Charles Borden, Claire Rajan & Daniel Holman, [http://www.corpcounsel.com/id=1202752884135/The-Presidential-Candidates-on-Campaign-Finance-Reform?slreturn=20160518165911 The Presidential Candidates on Campaign Finance Reform], Corporate Counsel (March 23, 2016) ("While saying he is open to reform, however, Trump has refrained from detailing specific policies and focused instead on accusing fellow candidates of being bought while arguing that his personal wealth guarantees his political independence."). For example, Trump has not said whether he favors public financing of elections or caps on expenditures of campaigns, outside groups, and individuals.

During the Republican primary race, Trump on several occasions accused his Republican opponents of being bound to their campaign financiers, and asserted that anyone (including Trump himself) could buy their policies with donations.{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/17/politics/donald-trump-public-financing/index.html|title=Trump on public financing: 'I don't know yet'|author=Eugene Scott|work=CNN|access-date=June 15, 2016}} He called super PACs a "scam" and "a horrible thing".Richard Pildes, [https://electionlawblog.org/?p=81159 What are Donald Trump's Views on Campaign Finance Regulation?], Election Law Blog (ed. Richard L. Hasen) (March 23, 2016).{{cite web|url=https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/266189-trump-open-to-campaign-finance-reform/|title=Trump open to campaign finance reform|last=Richardson|first=Bradford|date=January 17, 2016|newspaper=The Hill}} In October 2015, he said, "All Presidential candidates should immediately disavow their Super PACs. They're not only breaking the spirit of the law but the law itself."{{Cite magazine|url=https://time.com/4373124/donald-trump-donors-super-pacs/|title=Trump Embraces Donors, Super PACs He Once Decried|last=Levinthal|first=Dave|magazine=Time|access-date=July 29, 2016}}

Having previously touted the self-funding of his campaign as a sign of his independence from the political establishment and big donors, Trump reversed course and started to fundraise in early May 2016.{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/self-financing-campaign-all-the-way-would-have-been-a-stretch-for-trump-1463341722|title=Donald Trump Wouldn't Have Had the Ready Cash to Self-Finance Entire Campaign – Analysis|last1=Grant|first1=Peter|date=May 16, 2016|last2=Mullins|first2=Brody|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|issn=0099-9660|access-date=June 15, 2016}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-wont-self-fund-general-election-campaign-1462399502|title=Donald Trump Won't Self-Fund General-Election Campaign|last1=Langley|first1=Monica|date=May 5, 2016|last2=Ballhaus|first2=Rebecca|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|issn=0099-9660|access-date=June 15, 2016}}{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/18/politics/trump-big-donors/index.html|title=How Donald Trump won over big donors|author1=Sara Murray|author2=Theodore Schleifer|work=CNN|date=May 18, 2016}} While Trump systematically disavowed pro-Trump super PACs earlier in the race, he stopped doing so from early May 2016.

According to Chris Christie (who served briefly as leader of Trump's White House transition team), Trump will seek to purge the federal government of officials appointed by Obama and will ask Congress to pass legislation making it easier to fire public workers.{{Cite news|author=Emily Flitter|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-purge-exclusive-idUSKCN10003A|title=Exclusive: Trump could seek new law to purge government of Obama appointees|date=July 20, 2016|work=Reuters}}

Trump's former Chief Strategist, Steve Bannon, stated in February 2017 that Trump's goal is to "deconstruct the administrative state".Philip Rucker and Robert Costa, The Washington Post [https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/top-wh-strategist-vows-a-daily-fight-for-deconstruction-of-the-administrative-state/2017/02/23/03f6b8da-f9ea-11e6-bf01-d47f8cf9b643_story.html Bannon Vows a Daily Fight For "Deconstruction of the Administrative State"] February 23, 2017

Trump has provided "little detail regarding his positions on disability-related policies," and his campaign website made no mention of disabled people.Irin Carmon, [https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/disability-rights-have-long-been-bipartisan-will-trump-end Disability rights have long been bipartisan. Will Trump end that?], MSNBC (June 1, 2016).[https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/candidates-offer-americans-disabilities-growing-voting-bloc What the candidates offer to Americans with disabilities, a growing voting bloc], PBS NewsHour, PBS (November 2, 2016): "Judy Woodruff: Trump doesn't address disability issues in detail on his Web site."Jacqueline Alemany, [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-election-that-forgot-americas-disabled/ The election that forgot America's disabled], CBS News (November 4, 2016): "Trump has not mentioned a plan for research or improved care for the disabled, and there is nothing on his website on this issue." As of June 1, 2016, Trump had not responded to the issue questionnaire of the nonpartisan disability group RespectAbility.

{{Main|Statehood movement in the District of Columbia}}

Trump is opposed to D.C. statehood. In 2020, Donald Trump indicated that if the statehood legislation for Washington, D.C. passes both houses of Congress, he would veto the admission legislation.{{cite news| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/white-house-opposes-dc-statehood/2020/06/24/d74a2b24-b597-11ea-aca5-ebb63d27e1ff_story.html| title = Before historic D.C. statehood vote, Trump White House states opposition| newspaper=The Washington Post}}

{{Main|Education in the United States}}

Trump has stated his support for school choice and local control for primary and secondary schools. On school choice he's commented, "Our public schools are capable of providing a more competitive product than they do today. Look at some of the high school tests from earlier in this century and you'll wonder if they weren't college-level tests. And we've got to bring on the competition—open the schoolhouse doors and let parents choose the best school for their children. Education reformers call this school choice, charter schools, vouchers, even opportunity scholarships. I call it competition—the American way."{{cite web|title=Donald Trump on School Choice |url=http://www.americanprinciplesinaction.org/apia-education/education/school-choice/donald-trump-on-school-choice/ |website=American Principles in Action |access-date=November 25, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125105242/http://www.americanprinciplesinaction.org/apia-education/education/school-choice/donald-trump-on-school-choice/ |archive-date=November 25, 2015 }}

Trump has blasted the Common Core State Standards Initiative, calling it a "total disaster".Joshua Gillin, [http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/mar/10/donald-trump/common-core-education-through-washington-dc-trump-/ Common Core is 'education through Washington, D.C.,' Trump says], PolitiFact (March 10, 2016).Valerie Strauss, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/03/04/donald-trump-is-wrong-about-common-core-but-hes-not-the-only-candidate-who-is/ Donald Trump is wrong about Common Core — but he's not the only candidate who is], The Washington Post (March 4, 2016). Trump has asserted that Common Core is "education through Washington, D.C.", a claim which PolitiFact and other journalists have rated "false", since the adoption and implementation of Common Core is a state choice, not a federal one.

Trump has stated that Ben Carson will be "very much involved in education" under a Trump presidency.{{cite web|url=https://theweek.com/speedreads/612056/donald-trump-promised-education-secretary-ben-carson|title=Has Donald Trump promised education secretary to Ben Carson?|website=The Week |date=March 11, 2016|access-date=July 15, 2016}} Carson rejects the theory of evolution and believes that "home-schoolers do the best, private schoolers next best, charter schoolers next best, and public schoolers worst"; he said that he wanted to "take the federal bureaucracy out of education."{{cite news|author=Valerie Strauss|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/03/11/donald-trump-thinks-ben-carson-is-an-education-expert-oy-vey/|title=Donald Trump thinks Ben Carson is an education expert. Oy vey|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=March 11, 2016}}

Trump has proposed redirecting $20 billion in existing federal spending to block grants to states to give poor children vouchers to attend a school of their family's choice (including a charter school, private school, or online school).{{cite web|author=Ashley Parker|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/09/us/politics/donald-trump-education.html?_r=0|title=Donald Trump Releases Education Proposal, Promoting School Choice|website=The New York Times|date=September 8, 2016}}{{cite web|author=Abby Jackson|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-pledges-20-billion-to-school-choice-education-agenda-2016-9|title=Donald Trump just provided the first detailed education proposal of his campaign|website=Business Insider|date=September 8, 2016}} Trump did not explain where the $20 billion in the federal budget would come from. Trump stated that "Distribution of this grant will favor states that have private school choice and charter laws."

As president, Trump chose Republican financier Betsy DeVos, a prominent Michigan charter school advocate, as Secretary of Education.Emmarie Huetteman & Yamiche Alcindor, [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/07/us/politics/betsy-devos-education-secretary-confirmed.html Betsy DeVos Confirmed as Education Secretary; Pence Breaks Tie], The New York Times (February 7, 2017). The nomination was highly controversial;Greg Toppo, [https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/01/30/trump-education-nominee-opposition/97260878/ Trump education nominee opposed by special ed advocates], USA Today (January 31, 2017). The Washington Post education writer Valerie Strauss wrote that "DeVos was considered the most controversial education nominee in the history of the nearly 40-year-old Education Department."Valerie Strauss, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/01/31/why-betsy-devos-is-the-most-polarizing-education-secretary-nominee-ever/ Why Betsy DeVos is the most polarizing education secretary nominee ever], The Washington Post (January 31, 2017). On the confirmation vote the Senate split 50/50 (along party lines, with two Republican senators joining all Democratic senators to vote against confirmation). Vice President Mike Pence used his tie-breaking vote to confirm the nomination, the first time in U.S. history that occurred.

During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump expressed opposition to the use of academic tenure and diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in U.S. educational institutions.

{{See also|Eminent domain in the United States}}

In 2015 Trump called eminent domain "wonderful". He repeatedly asked the government to invoke it on his behalf during past development projects.{{cite web |url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2015/10/06/trump_eminent_domain_wonderful.html |title=Trump: Eminent Domain "Wonderful" |work=RealClearPolitics |date=October 6, 2015}}{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/08/19/donald-trumps-abuse-of-eminent-domain/ |title=Donald Trump's history of eminent domain abuse |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=August 19, 2015}}

{{Main|Food safety in the United States}}

In September 2016, Trump posted a list on his website of regulations that he would eliminate. The list included what it called the "FDA Food Police" and mentioned the Food and Drug Administration's rules governing "farm and food production hygiene" and "food temperatures".{{Cite web|url=https://thehill.com/regulation/healthcare/296152-trump-says-he-would-eliminate-food-safety-regulations/|title=Trump floats rolling back food safety regulations|last=Wheeler|first=Lydia|date=September 15, 2016|access-date=September 16, 2016}} The factsheet provided by Trump mirrored a May report by the conservative Heritage Foundation.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/09/15/us/politics/ap-us-campaign-2016-trump-food-rules.html|title=Trump Campaign Pushes Food Safety Rollbacks, Then Deletes|agency=Associated Press|date=September 15, 2016|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=September 16, 2016|archive-date=September 16, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916042004/http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/09/15/us/politics/ap-us-campaign-2016-trump-food-rules.html|url-status=dead}} It was replaced later that month and the new factsheet did not mention the FDA.

{{Further|Native Americans in the United States}}

Colman McCarthy of The Washington Post wrote in 1993 that in testimony given that year to the House Natural Resources subcommittee on Native American Affairs, Trump "devoted much of his testimony to bad-mouthing Indians and their casinos," asserted that "organized crime is rampant on Indian reservations" and that "if it continues it will be the biggest scandal ever." Trump offered no evidence in support of his claim, and testimony from the FBI's organized crime division, the Justice Department's criminal division, and the IRS's criminal investigation division did not support Trump's assertion.Colman McCarthy, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1993/10/26/trumped-up-assault-on-indian-gambling/beece94f-3c59-481d-9174-84808b288fa1/ Trumped Up Assault on Indian Gambling], The Washington Post (October 26, 1993). Representative George Miller, a Democrat who was the chairman of the Natural Resources Committee at the time, stated: "In my 19 years in Congress, I've never heard more irresponsible testimony."

Trump bankrolled in 2000 a set of anti-Indian gaming ads in upstate New York that featured "a dark photograph showing hypodermic needles and drug paraphernalia," a warning that "violent criminals were coming to town," and an accusation that the St. Regis Mohawks had a "record of criminal activity."Alexander Burns, [https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/01/nyregion/trumps-instinct-for-racially-charged-rhetoric-before-his-presidential-bid.html Donald Trump's Instinct for Racially Charged Rhetoric, Before His Presidential Bid], The New York Times (July 31, 2015). The ad—aimed at stopping the construction of a casino in the Catskills that might hurt Trump's own Atlantic City casinosJoe Mahoney, [http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/trump-fined-attack-indian-casino-article-1.888723 Trump is Fines in Attack on Indian Casino], New York Daily News (November 14, 2000).—was viewed as "incendiary" and racially charged, and at the time local tribal leaders, in response, bought a newspaper ad of their own to denounce the "smear" and "racist and inflammatory rhetoric" of the earlier ad. The ads attracted the attention of the New York Temporary State Commission on Lobbying because they failed to disclose Trump's sponsorship as required by state lobbying rules.Charles V. Bagli, [https://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/06/nyregion/trump-and-others-accept-fines-for-ads-in-opposition-to-casinos.html Trump and Others Accept Fines For Ads in Opposition to Casinos], The New York Times (October 6, 2000). Trump acknowledged that he sponsored the ads and reached a settlement with the state in which he and his associates agreed to issue a public apology and pay $250,000 (the largest civil penalty ever levied by the commission) for evading state disclosure rules.

In 2015, Trump defended the controversial team name and mascot of the Washington Redskins, saying that the NFL team should not change its name and he did not find the term to be offensive.Scott Allen, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dc-sports-bog/wp/2015/10/05/donald-trump-doesnt-think-the-redskins-should-change-their-name/ Donald Trump doesn't think the Redskins should change their name], The Washington Post (October 5, 2015).John Keim, [https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/13814698/donald-trump-says-nfl-washington-redskins-change-name Donald Trump: Redskins a 'positive' name, Washington shouldn't change], ESPN (October 5, 2015). The "Change the Mascot" campaign, led by the Oneida Indian Nation and National Congress of American Indians, condemned Trump's stance.Mark Weiner, [http://www.syracuse.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/10/oneida_indian_nation_blasts_donald_trump_for_defending_washington_redskins.html Oneida Indian Nation blasts Donald Trump for defending Washington Redskins], Syracuse.com (October 5, 2015).

{{Main|Barack Obama citizenship conspiracy theories}}

File:Donald Trump by Gage Skidmore 12.jpg

For several years, Trump promoted "birther" conspiracy theories about Barack Obama's citizenship.{{cite web | last=Gass | first=Nick | title=Trump: I'm still a birther | website=Politico | date=January 12, 2012 | url=https://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/donald-trump-birther-obama-119945.html | access-date=October 27, 2018}}{{cite web | last=Keneally | first=Meghan | title=Trump's History of Raising Birther Questions About Obama | website=ABC News | date=September 18, 2015 | url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trumps-history-raising-birther-questions-president-obama/story?id=33861832 | access-date=October 27, 2018}}{{cite web | last=Epps | first=Garrett | title=Trump's Birther Libel | website=The Atlantic | date=February 26, 2016 | url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/02/trump-birther-rubio-cruz/471015/ | access-date=October 27, 2018}}

In March 2011, during an interview on Good Morning America, Trump said he was seriously considering running for president, that he was a "little" skeptical of Obama's citizenship and that someone who shares this view should not be so quickly dismissed as an "idiot". Trump added: "Growing up no one knew him"{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2011/03/donald-trump-birther-051473|title=Donald Trump, birther?|magazine=Politico|date=March 17, 2011 |access-date=May 16, 2016}}—a claim ranked "Pants on Fire" by PolitiFact.{{cite web|url=http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/feb/14/donald-trump/donald-trump-says-people-who-went-school-obama-nev/|title=Donald Trump says people who went to school with Obama never saw him|website=PolitiFact|date=February 14, 2011}} Later, Trump appeared on The View repeating several times that "I want him (Obama) to show his birth certificate" and speculating that "there's something on that birth certificate that he doesn't like."{{cite web|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/03/24/donald-trump-discusses-president-obama-on-the-view/|title=Donald Trump, Whoopi Goldberg, Spar Over Obama on 'The View'|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=March 24, 2011}} Although officials in Hawaii certified Obama's citizenship, Trump said in April 2011 he would not let go of the issue, because he was not satisfied that Obama had proven his citizenship.{{Cite news|url=http://www2.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=299949|title=Trump hammers away at Obama's citizenship question|date=April 7, 2011|agency=Associated Press|access-date=May 18, 2016|archive-date=January 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220119173254/http://www2.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=299949 |url-status=dead}}

After Obama released his long-form birth certificate on April 27, 2011, Trump said: "I am really honored and I am really proud, that I was able to do something that nobody else could do."{{Cite news|url=https://swampland.time.com/2011/04/27/birtherism-is-dead-but-the-birther-industry-continues/|title=Birtherism Is Dead, But the Birther Industry Continues|last=Scherer|first=Michael|magazine=Time|issn=0040-781X|date=April 27, 2011}} Trump continued to question Obama's birth certificate in the following years, as late as 2015.{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2016/09/16/494231757/without-apology-trump-now-says-obama-was-born-in-the-u-s|title=Without Apology, Trump Now Says: 'Obama Was Born In' The U.S.|website=NPR|date=September 16, 2016|access-date=September 16, 2016|last1=Montanaro|first1=Domenico}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/video/long-strange-trip-trump-s-birther-claims-through-the-years-766964803832|title=Long, Strange Trip: Trump's Birther Claims Through the Years |publisher=NBC News|access-date=September 18, 2016}} In May 2012, Trump suggested that Obama might have been born in Kenya.{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-haberman/2012/05/trump-obama-born-in-kenya-124569|title=Trump: Obama born in Kenya|website=Politico|date=May 25, 2012 |access-date=May 16, 2016}} In October 2012, Trump offered to donate five million dollars to the charity of Obama's choice in return for the publication of his college and passport applications before the end of the month.{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/donald-trump-fails-drop-bombshell-offers-cash-obama/story?id=17553670|title=Donald Trump's Obama 'Bombshell' Falls Short|publisher=ABC News|date=October 24, 2012}} In a 2014 interview, Trump questioned whether Obama had produced his long-form birth certificate. When asked in December 2015 if he still questioned Obama's legitimacy, Trump said that "I don't talk about that anymore."{{cite web|url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2015/12/16/trump_post-debate_interview_with_chris_matthews_goes_off_the_rails.html|title=Trump Post-Debate Interview With Chris Matthews Goes Off The Rails: Won't Put "Birth Certificate" Talk To Bed|website=RealClearPolitics.com|date=December 16, 2015}}

On September 14, 2016, Trump declined to acknowledge whether he believed Obama was born in the United States.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/17/us/politics/donald-trump-birther-obama.html|title=Trump Drops False 'Birther' Theory, but Floats a New One: Clinton Started It|last1=Haberman|first1=Maggie|date=September 16, 2016|last2=Rappeport|first2=Alan|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=September 16, 2016}} On September 15, 2016, Trump for the first time acknowledged that Obama was born in the United States. He gave a terse statement, saying, "President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period." He falsely accused Hillary Clinton of having started the "Birther" movement.{{Cite web|url=http://www.factcheck.org/2016/09/trump-on-birtherism-wrong-and-wrong/|title=Trump on Birtherism: Wrong, and Wrong|website=www.factcheck.org|date=September 16, 2016|access-date=September 16, 2016}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-idUSKCN11M1F3|title=Trump finally backs off Obama birth claim, falsely accuses Clinton of starting it|date=September 16, 2016|work=Reuters|access-date=September 16, 2016}} He also asserted that he "finished" the birther controversy, apparently referring to Obama's 2011 release of his long-form birth certificate, despite the fact that he continued to question Obama's citizenship in the years that followed.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-37382612|title=US election: Donald Trump keeping fact-checkers busy|date=September 16, 2016|newspaper=BBC News|access-date=September 16, 2016}} The next day, Trump tweeted a story in The Washington Post with the headline "Donald Trump's birther event is the greatest trick he's ever pulled".{{Cite web|url=https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/09/ap-jumps-lie-bandwagon|title=AP jumps on the "lie" bandwagon|access-date=September 17, 2016}}{{Cite web|url=https://twitter.com/SopanDeb/status/777023971959058432?lang=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308121711/https://twitter.com/SopanDeb/status/777023971959058432?lang=en|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 8, 2021|title=Sopan Deb on Twitter|access-date=September 17, 2016}} The "greatest trick" of the headline referred to the fact that cable networks aired the event live, waiting for a "birther" statement, while Trump touted his new hotel and supporters gave testimonials.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/09/16/donald-trumps-birther-event-is-the-greatest-trick-hes-ever-pulled/|title=Donald Trump's birther event is the greatest trick he's ever pulled|last=Cillizza|first=Chris|date=September 16, 2016|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=September 19, 2016}} In October 2016, Trump appeared to question the legitimacy of Barack Obama's presidency, referring to him at a rally as the "quote 'president'⁠ ⁠".{{Cite news|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/donald-trump-obama-legitimacy-229842|title=Trump air-quotes Obama's presidency|newspaper=Politico|access-date=October 15, 2016}}

{{Main|Social Security (United States)|Medicare (United States)|Medicaid}}

During his campaign Trump repeatedly promised "I'm not going to cut Social Security like every other Republican and I'm not going to cut Medicare or Medicaid."{{cite news|url=https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/trumpometer/subjects/medicare/|title=Promises about Medicare on Trump-O-Meter|work=PolitiFact|access-date=11 August 2020}}

For the first three years of his presidency he said nothing about cutting Social Security or Medicare. In a January 2020 interview he said he planned to "take a look" at entitlement programs like Medicare,{{cite news|url=https://slate.com/business/2020/01/trump-entitlements-social-security-medicare-davos.html|title=Donald Trump Says He's Willing to "Look" at Entitlements "Toward The End of This Year"|last=Weissman|first=Jordan|date=January 22, 2020|work=Slate|access-date=11 August 2020}} but he then said via Twitter "We will not be touching your Social Security or Medicare in Fiscal 2021 Budget."{{cite news|url=https://www.vox.com/2020/2/10/21131316/trump-2021-budget-entitlement-cuts|title=Trump vowed to not cut Social Security and Medicare — hours before proposing just that|last=Rupar|first=Aaron|date=February 10, 2020|work=Vox|access-date=11 August 2020}} His proposed 2021 budget, unveiled in February 2020, included a $45 billion (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=45000000000|start_year=2021}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) cut to the program within Social Security that supports disabled people,{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/02/12/social-security-trump-budget-aims-cuts-disabled-workers-program/4738795002/|title=Social Security: Here's what Trump's proposed budget could mean for your benefits|last=Picchi|first=Aimee|date=February 12, 2020|work=USA Today|access-date=11 August 2020}} as well as cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. In August 2020, as part of a package of executive orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic, he signed an order to postpone the collection of the payroll taxes that support Social Security and Medicare, paid by employees and employers, for the rest of 2020. He also said that if he wins re-election, he will forgive the postponed payroll taxes and make permanent cuts to the payroll tax, saying he would "terminate the tax", although only Congress can change tax law.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/08/08/trump-payroll-tax-cut/|title=Trump promises permanent cut to payroll tax funding Social Security and Medicare if he's reelected|last=Romm|first=Tony|date=August 8, 2020|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=11 August 2020}} Analysts said such an action would threaten Social Security and Medicare by eliminating the dedicated funding which pays for the programs.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/dems-say-trumps-payroll-tax-break-weakens-social-security/2020/08/10/b24d5294-db56-11ea-b4f1-25b762cdbbf4_story.html|title=Dems say Trump's payroll tax break weakens Social Security|last1=Alonso-Zaldivar|first1=Ricardo|last2=Taylor|first2=Taylor|date=August 10, 2020|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=11 August 2020}}{{cite news|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/10/trumps-payroll-tax-cut-would-terminate-social-security-critics-say.html|title=Trump's payroll tax cut would 'terminate' Social Security, critics say|last=Konish|first=Lorie|date=August 10, 2020|work=CNBC|access-date=11 August 2020}}

Trump caused a stir in July 2015 when he charged that Senator John McCain had "done nothing to help the vets," a statement ruled false by PolitiFact and the Chicago Tribune.{{cite web|url=http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/jul/21/donald-trump/after-not-war-hero-remark-donald-trump-says-john-m/|title=After 'not a war hero' remark, Donald Trump says John McCain has 'done nothing' for veterans|website=PolitiFact|access-date=May 30, 2016}}{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-trump-veterans-20160529-story.html|title=At Rolling Thunder rally, Trump says those in U.S. illegally treated better than veterans|access-date=May 30, 2016|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=May 29, 2016 }} Trump added that McCain is "not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured."{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/trump-attacks-mccain-i-like-people-who-werent-captured-120317|title=Trump attacks McCain: 'I like people who weren't captured'|author=Ben Schreckinger|date=July 18, 2015|website=Politico}}

As a presidential candidate, Trump was critical of the ways in which veterans are treated in the United States, saying "the vets are horribly treated in this country...they are living in hell." He favored eliminating backlogs and wait-lists that had caused a Veterans Health Administration scandal the previous year. He claimed that "over 300,000 veterans have died waiting for care."{{cite web|url=http://www.politifact.com/virginia/statements/2015/nov/09/donald-trump/trump-says-300000-veterans-dies-waiting-va-care/|title=Trump says 300,000 veterans died waiting VA care|website=PolitiFact|access-date=May 31, 2016}} He said he believed Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities needed to be technologically upgraded, to hire more veterans to treat other veterans, to increase support of female veterans, and to create satellite clinics within hospitals in rural areas.{{cite web |url=https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/veterans-administration-reforms |title=Veterans Administration Reforms That Will Make America Great Again |publisher=Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. |date=October 31, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031205644/https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/veterans-administration-reforms |archive-date=October 31, 2015}} He proposed a plan for reforming the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs with provisions to allow veterans to obtain care from any doctor or facility that accepts Medicare, to increase funding for PTSD and suicide prevention services, and to provide ob/gyn services at every VA hospital.{{cite web|author=Ali Vitali|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/donald-trump-gets-specific-veterans-affairs-policy-reform-plan-n455111 |title=Donald Trump Gets Specific on Veteran's Affairs Policy Reform Plan|publisher=NBC News |date=October 31, 2015}} Trump called for greater privatization of veterans' care,{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-says-he-would-make-va-system-more-privatized-1468273989|title=Donald Trump Says He Would Make VA System More Privatized|last=Kesling|first=Ben|date=July 11, 2016|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|issn=0099-9660|access-date=July 12, 2016}} although his plan made no direct reference to letting veterans get health care outside the VA system. The Wall Street Journal noted that "such a plan is counter to recommendations from major veterans groups, the VA itself and from the Commission on Care, an independent body established by Congress that last week made recommendations for VA changes." Trump's plan calls "for legislation making it easier to fire underperforming employees, increasing mental-health resources and adding a White House hotline so veterans can bypass the VA and bring problems directly to the president." Trump opposed the current G.I. Bill in 2016.{{cite web |url=http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/election/2016/05/09/trump-faces-attacks-veterans-issues/84134896/|title=Trump faces mounting attacks on veterans issues|access-date=July 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822153246/http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/election/2016/05/09/trump-faces-attacks-veterans-issues/84134896/|archive-date=August 22, 2016|url-status=dead}}{{cite web |url=https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/nday/date/2016-05-09/segment/03|title=CNN - Transcripts|website=CNN|access-date=July 11, 2016}}

In January 2016, Trump hosted a fundraising rally for veterans (skipping a televised Republican debate to do so). Weeks later, after The Wall Street Journal inquired with the Trump campaign when veterans' groups would receive their checks, the funds began to be disbursed.{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/veterans-wait-after-trump-fundraiser-shows-hurdles-for-campaign-1455239053?cb=logged0.7819732998032123|title=Veterans' Wait After Trump Fundraiser Shows Hurdles for Campaign|last1=Kesling|first1=Ben|date=February 12, 2016|last2=Haddon|first2=Heather|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|issn=0099-9660|access-date=May 30, 2016}} In April, the Journal reported that the funds had yet to be fully distributed.{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/veterans-charities-await-funds-raised-by-donald-trump-1460069309|title=Veterans' Charities Await Funds Raised by Donald Trump|last=Haddon|first=Heather|date=April 7, 2016|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|issn=0099-9660|access-date=May 30, 2016}} In May, NPR confirmed directly with 30 recipient charities that they had received their funds, "accounting for $4.27 million of the $5.6 million total," while the remaining 11 charities did not answer the question.{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2016/05/31/480163943/questions-over-trumps-donations-to-veterans-boil-over|title=At Least $1.9 Million In Donations Trump Collected For Vets Was Sent Last Week|website=NPR|date=May 31, 2016|access-date=2018-12-20|last1=Sprunt|first1=Barbara|last2=Seipel|first2=Arnie|last3=Gonyea|first3=Don}}

In February 2018, the Trump administration initiated a policy known as 'Deploy Or Get Out' (DOGO), ordering the Pentagon to discharge any soldier who would be ineligible for deployment within the next 12 months. This mainly affected disabled soldiers. It also affected HIV-positive soldiers, who are allowed to serve within the US but cannot be deployed overseas; the DOGO policy meant that they could no longer serve within the US, either.{{Cite web|url=https://www.intomore.com/impact/breaking-the-trump-administration-is-kicking-hiv-positive-soldiers-out-of-the-air-force|title=BREAKING: The Trump Administration Is Kicking HIV-Positive Soldiers Out of The Air Force|website=www.intomore.com|date=December 19, 2018 |access-date=2018-12-20}}

In August 2019, Trump credited himself for passing the Veterans Choice Act, a law that had actually been passed under the previous president, Barack Obama, in 2014. Trump did sign an expansion of that Act in 2018.

In September 2020, The Atlantic reported that Trump referred to Americans who were casualties of war as "losers" and "suckers", citing multiple people who were present for the statements; later reporting by the Associated Press and Fox News corroborated some of these stories.{{cite news |last=Goldberg |first=Jeffrey |title=Trump: Americans Who Died in War Are 'Losers' and 'Suckers'|quote=The president has repeatedly disparaged the intelligence of service members, and asked that wounded veterans be kept out of military parades, multiple sources tell The Atlantic.|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/09/trump-americans-who-died-at-war-are-losers-and-suckers/615997/ |date=September 3, 2020 |work=The Atlantic |access-date=September 4, 2020 }}{{cite news |last1=Maddow |first1=Rachel |last2=LaPorta |first2=James |title=AP report corroborates some stories of Trump deriding veterans - James LaPorta, investigative reporter for the Associated Press, talks with Rachel Maddow about his own reporting that confirms some of the episodes described in an Atlantic article depicting Donald Trump deriding military service and injured veterans. |url=https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/ap-report-corroborates-some-stories-of-trump-deriding-veterans-91110981648|date=September 3, 2020 |work=MSNBC |access-date=September 4, 2020 }}{{cite news |last1=Itkowitz |first1=Colby |last2=Horton |first2=Alex |last3=Leonnig |first3=Carol D. |title=Trump said U.S. soldiers injured and killed in war were 'losers,' magazine reports |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-said-us-soldiers-injured-and-killed-in-war-were-losers-magazine-reports/2020/09/03/6e1725cc-ee35-11ea-99a1-71343d03bc29_story.html |date=September 4, 2020 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=September 4, 2020 }}{{cite news |last1=Baker |first1=Peter |last2=Haberman |first2=Maggie |title=Trump Faces Uproar Over Reported Remarks Disparaging Fallen Soldiers - A report in The Atlantic said the president called troops killed in combat "losers" and "suckers." He strenuously denied it, but some close to him said it was in keeping with other private comments he has made disparaging soldiers. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/04/us/politics/trump-veterans-losers.html |date=September 4, 2020 |work=The New York Times |access-date=September 5, 2020 }}{{cite news |last=Barr |first=Jeremy |title=Jennifer Griffin defended by Fox News colleagues after Trump Twitter attack over confirmation of Atlantic reporting |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2020/09/05/jennifer-griffin-defended-by-fox-news-colleagues-after-trump-twitter-attack-over-her-confirmation-atlantic-reporting/ |date=September 5, 2020 |access-date=September 5, 2020 }} Veterans expressed scorn over the report's allegations.{{cite news |last=Armus |first=Ted |title='The last full measure of his disgrace': Veterans scorn Trump over report that he calls fallen soldiers 'losers' |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/09/04/trump-veterans-atlantic-military-losers/ |date=September 4, 2020 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=September 4, 2020 }} Trump denied these allegations and called them "disgraceful", adding: "I would be willing to swear on anything that I never said that about our fallen heroes".{{cite web | title=Trump Denies Report Alleging He Called American War Dead 'Losers' and 'Suckers' | publisher=Independent Journal Review| date=September 4, 2020 | url=https://ijr.org/trump-denies-report-american-war-dead-losers/ | access-date=November 3, 2020}} John Bolton, who was present at the discussion, also said he never heard Trump make such comments.{{cite web | last=Deese | first=Kaelan | title=John Bolton says he didn't hear Trump insult fallen soldiers in France | website=The Hill| date=September 4, 2020 | url=https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/515132-john-bolton-says-he-didnt-hear-trump-insult-fallen-soldiers-in-france/ | access-date=November 3, 2020}}

A fact-check of the topic from The Washington Post analyzed various statements about the matter and found that, regardless of the nature of the exact quote, Trump has repeatedly expressed negative views about American military personnel who have been captured, wounded, or died in combat. "Trump was puzzled why people went into military service: 'What's in it for them? They don't make any money.' The official added: 'It was a character flaw of the President. He could not understand why someone would die for their country, not worth it.'"{{cite news | last=Kessler | first=Glenn | title=The murky facts about Trump's failure to visit American war dead near Paris | newspaper=The Washington Post | date=April 22, 2024 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/22/murky-facts-about-trumps-failure-visit-american-war-dead-near-paris/ | access-date=June 11, 2024}}

In August 2024, Trump was criticized for saying that the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which is awarded to civilians, is a "much better" award than the Medal of Honor, the top military honor, because those who are awarded the Medal of Honor "They're either in very bad shape because they've been hit so many times by bullets or they're dead," whereas the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom is "healthy".{{Cite web |last1=Walsh |first1=Kelsey |last2=Ibssa |first2=Lalee |last3=Kim |first3=Soo Rin |date=August 16, 2024 |title=Trump draws fire for remarks about Medal of Honor recipients |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-draws-fire-remarks-medal-honor-recipients/story?id=112883414 |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=ABC News |language=en}}{{Cite news |last1=Svitek |first1=Patrick |last2=Lamothe |first2=Dan |date=2024-08-17 |title=Trump draws intense criticism for calling civilian medal 'much better' than military award |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/08/16/trump-medal-of-honor-much-better/ |access-date=2024-08-17 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}{{Cite web |last=Rahman |first=Khaleda |date=2024-08-16 |title=Donald Trump's Medal of Honor remarks spark anger from veterans |url=https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-medal-honor-remarks-spark-anger-veterans-miriam-adelson-1940135 |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=Newsweek |language=en}}

{{Main|Economic policy of the first Donald Trump administration|Economic policy of the second Donald Trump administration}}

{{Further|Tariffs in the first Trump administration|Tariffs in the second Trump administration}}

{{See also|2018 United States federal budget}}

Some of the tax cuts in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which Trump signed into law in 2017, were set by the law to expire in 2025. In April 2024, Trump stated at a fundraiser for wealthy donors that, if returned to office, he would seek to extend those provisions.{{cite web| url = https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/10/politics/trump-2017-tax-cuts-rich/index.html| title = Trump tells wealthy donors he wants to extend his 2017 tax cuts. Here's why they'd benefit the most | last = Luhby| first = Tami| date = April 10, 2024| website = cnn.com| publisher = CNN| access-date = 2024-04-19}}

During his first presidency, Trump withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, initiated a trade war with China, and negotiated the USMCA (United States Mexico Canada Agreement) as a successor to NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement).{{cite news |last=Swanson |first=Ana |date=July 5, 2018 |title=Trump's Trade War With China Is Officially Underway |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/05/business/china-us-trade-war-trump-tariffs.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=May 26, 2019 }}{{Cite web |last=Canada |first=Global Affairs |date=2022-04-21 |title=The Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement |url=https://www.international.gc.ca/trade-commerce/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/agr-acc/cusma-aceum/index.aspx?lang=eng |access-date=2022-10-13 |website=GAC}}

In 2019, Trump expressed skepticism about cryptocurrencies.{{cite news |author1=Yen Nee Lee |title=Trump says he's 'not a fan' of cryptocurrencies |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/trump-says-he-s-not-fan-cryptocurrencies-n1029116 |access-date=January 20, 2025 |work=CNBC |date=July 12, 2019}} In a post on Twitter, he said, "I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air. Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity".{{Cite tweet |user=realDonaldTrump |number=1149472282584072192 |title=I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air. Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity|date=July 12, 2019|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250119030731/https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1149472282584072192|archive-date=January 19, 2025|url-status=live|author=Donald J. Trump}}

During the 2024 election campaign, Trump became the first presidential candidate to accept digital assets as donations.{{cite news |last1=Hoskins |first1=Peter |title=Melania Trump launches her own cryptocurrency |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c98y47vrv2jo |access-date=January 20, 2025 |work=BBC |date=January 20, 2025}} He has since, vowed to create a federal "Bitcoin stockpile" from Bitcoins seized by the US government from criminals over time, or by simply acquiring new Bitcoins.{{cite news |author1=David Yaffe-Bellany |title=A First-Day Trump Order: A Federal Stockpile of Bitcoin? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/16/technology/trump-bitcoin-stockpile.html |access-date=January 20, 2025 |work=The New York Times |date=January 16, 2025}}

{{Main|Environmental policy of the first Donald Trump administration}}

By March 2016, Trump had not released any plans to combat climate change or provided details regarding his approach to energy issues more broadly.{{cite web|author=Lauren Carroll|url=http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/mar/01/barack-obama/obama-none-gop-candidates-have-climate-change-plan/|title=Obama: None of the GOP candidates have climate change plan|website=PolitiFact|date=March 1, 2016}}

In May 2016, Trump asked Republican U.S. representative Kevin Cramer of North Dakota—described by Reuters as "one of America's most ardent drilling advocates and climate change skeptics"—to draft Trump's energy policy.Valerie Volcovici, [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-energy-idUSKCN0Y41ZP Trump taps climate change skeptic, fracking advocate as key energy advisor], Reuters (May 13, 2016).{{Cite news|author=Michelle Conlin|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-hamm-exclusive-idUSKCN10100Z|title=Exclusive: Trump considering fracking mogul Harold Hamm as energy secretary – sources|date=July 21, 2016|work=Reuters}}

{{Main|Droughts in California}}

In May 2016, Trump said that he could solve the water crisis in California.{{cite web|author1=Jill Colvin |author2=Ellen Knickmeyer|url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/fea527c86dfe42c78609619c5ce7fd59/trump-vows-solve-californias-water-crisis|title=Trump tells California 'there is no drought'|agency=Associated Press|date=May 27, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610181100/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/fea527c86dfe42c78609619c5ce7fd59/trump-vows-solve-californias-water-crisis|archive-date=June 10, 2016|url-status=dead}} He declared that "there is no drought", a statement which the Associated Press noted is incorrect. Trump accused California state officials of denying farmers of water so they can send it out to sea "to protect a certain kind of three-inch fish." According to the AP, Trump appeared to be referring to a dispute between Central Valley farming interests and environmental interests; California farmers accuse water authorities of short-changing them of the water in their efforts to protect endangered native fish species.

{{Main|Pollution in the United States|Climate change|Climate change policy of the United States|Climate change denial}}

Trump rejects the scientific consensus on climate change,{{cite news |author=Ashley Parker & Coral Davenport |date=May 26, 2016 |title=Donald Trump's Energy Plan: More Fossil Fuels and Fewer Rules |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/27/us/politics/donald-trump-global-warming-energy-policy.html |url-status=live |url-access=limited |access-date=May 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160526112651/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/27/us/politics/donald-trump-global-warming-energy-policy.html |archive-date=May 26, 2016}}{{cite news |author=Samenow |first=Jason |author-link=Jason Samenow |date=March 22, 2016 |title=Donald Trump's unsettling nonsense on weather and climate |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2016/03/22/donald-trumps-unsettling-nonsense-on-weather-and-climate/ |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=May 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322131511/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2016/03/22/donald-trumps-unsettling-nonsense-on-weather-and-climate/ |archive-date=March 22, 2016}}{{YouTube|bX_7dAe280w|Seeing the future of climate policy under the next president}}, September 7, 2016 PBS NewsHour repeatedly contending that global warming is a "hoax".Ehrenfreund, Max. July 22, 2015. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/07/22/heres-what-donald-trump-really-believes/ Here's what Donald Trump really believes.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150823172902/http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/07/22/heres-what-donald-trump-really-believes/ |date=August 23, 2015 }} The Washington Post.{{cite web|url=http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jan/24/bernie-s/yes-donald-trump-really-did-tweet-climate-change-h/|title=What Donald Trump said about the Chinese inventing the 'hoax' of climate change|website=PolitiFact|access-date=May 16, 2016}} He has said that "the concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive", a statement which Trump later said was a joke.{{cite news |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-china-created-climate-change-2016-1 |title=Trump: I was joking when I said the Chinese 'created' the concept of climate change |date=January 8, 2016 |work=Business Insider |access-date=January 30, 2016}} It was also observed that he often conflates weather with climate change.{{cite magazine |last=Garza |first=Alejandro de la |date=January 20, 2019 |title=President Trump Renews Climate Change Denial Days After Defense Department Releases Daunting Report on Its Effects |url=https://time.com/5508259/trump-climate-change-defense-department/ |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190121005911/https://time.com/5508259/trump-climate-change-defense-department/ |archive-date=January 21, 2019 |access-date=May 28, 2022 |magazine=Time}}

Trump criticized President Obama's description of climate change as "the greatest threat to future generations" for being "naive" and "one of the dumbest statements I've ever heard."{{cite news|author1=Tal Kopan |author2=Heather Goldin|url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/30/politics/donald-trump-obama-climate-change-dumbest-thing/ |title=Donald Trump: Obama climate change remarks one of 'dumbest things' uttered in history |date=November 30, 2015 |work=CNN}}{{cite news |url=https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/presidential-races/261619-trump-obama-has-made-us-fools-on-climate-change/ |title=Trump: Obama has made us 'fools' with focus on climate change |date=December 1, 2015 |newspaper=The Hill |access-date=January 30, 2016}} A 2016 report by the Sierra Club contended that, were he to be elected president, Trump would be the only head of state in the world to contend that climate change is a hoax.{{cite news | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-would-stand-alone-among-world-leaders-sierra-club/ | title=Donald Trump would stand alone among world leaders: Sierra Club | work=CBS News | date=July 12, 2016 | agency=Reuters | access-date=February 3, 2017 | author=Bernstein, Aaron P.}} In December 2009, Trump and his three adult children had signed a full-page advertisement from "business leaders" in The New York Times stating "If we fail to act now, it is scientifically irrefutable that there will be catastrophic and irreversible consequences for humanity and our planet" and encouraging "investment in the clean energy economy" to "create new energy jobs and increase our energy security".{{cite web|url=http://grist.org/politics/donald-trump-climate-action-new-york-times/|title=Donald Trump once backed urgent climate action. Wait, what?|first1=Ben|last1=Adler|first2=Rebecca|last2=Leber|date=8 June 2016|work=Grist|access-date=6 March 2017}}

Although "not a believer in climate change", Trump has stated that "clean air is a pressing problem" and has said: "There is still much that needs to be investigated in the field of climate change. Perhaps the best use of our limited financial resources should be in dealing with making sure that every person in the world has clean water."{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-clinton-climate-change-warming-2016-9|title=TRUMP: Claims of global warming still 'need to be investigated'|access-date=October 24, 2016|work=Business Insider |first=Rafi|last=Letzter|date=August 26, 2016}}

The Trump administration repealed the Clean Water Rule protections afforded with the Clean Water Act, which were "established to limit the amount of pollution in U.S. bodies of water and to protect sources of drinking water for about one third of the country."{{Cite news |date=September 14, 2019 |title=Trump to propose 'narrower definition' for water protection |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/trump-to-propose-narrower-definition-for-water-protection |work=PBS}}{{cite news |last1=Davenport |first1=Coral |last2=Friedman |first2=Lisa |date=September 19, 2019 |title=Trump Administration Rolls Back Clean Water Protections |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/12/climate/trump-administration-rolls-back-clean-water-protections.html |work=The New York Times}}

In May 2016, during his presidential campaign, Trump issued an energy plan focused on promoting fossil fuels and weakening environmental regulation. Trump promised to "rescind" in his first 100 days in office a variety of Environmental Protection Agency regulations established during the Obama administration to limit carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants, which contribute to a warming global climate. Trump has specifically pledged to revoke the Climate Action Plan and the Waters of the United States rule, which he characterizes as two "job-destroying Obama executive actions."{{cite web|url=https://www.donaldjtrump.com/press-releases/an-america-first-energy-plan|title=An America first Energy Plan|publisher=Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.|access-date=May 27, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203120726/https://www.donaldjtrump.com/press-releases/an-america-first-energy-plan|archive-date=December 3, 2016}}

Trump has said "we're practically not allowed to use coal any more", a statement rated "mostly false" by PolitiFact.{{cite news|url=http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/dec/15/donald-trump/donald-trump-exaggerates-how-much-coal-us-has-been/|title=Donald Trump exaggerates how much coal in U.S. has been phased out|date=December 15, 2015|work=PolitiFact|access-date=March 8, 2016}} Trump has criticized the Obama administration's coal policies, describing the administration's moves to phase out the use of coal-fired power plants as "stupid". Trump has criticized the Obama administration for prohibiting "coal production on federal land" and states that it seeks to adopt "draconian climate rules that, unless stopped, would effectively bypass Congress to impose job-killing cap-and-trade." Trump has vowed to revive the U.S. coal economy, a pledge that is viewed by experts as unlikely to be fulfilled because the decline of the coal industry is driven by market forces, and specifically by the U.S. natural gas boom. An analysis by Scientific American found that Trump's promise to bring back closed coal mines would be difficult to fulfill, both because of environmental regulations and economic shifts.{{Cite web|url=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/trump-cannot-bring-back-coal/|title=Trump Cannot Bring Back Coal|last=Lehmann|first=Evan|work=Scientific American – ClimateWire|date=May 10, 2016|access-date=August 12, 2016}} An analysis by Bloomberg New Energy Finance dismissed Trump's claims of a "war on coal": "U.S. coal's main problem has been cheap natural gas and renewable power, not a politically driven 'war on coal'...[coal] will continue being pushed out of the generating mix."{{Cite news|url=https://archive.thinkprogress.org/coal-wont-rebound-whatever-president-trump-does-energy-experts-say-e30a78745b77/|title=Energy experts give Trump the hard truth: You can't bring coal back|last=Romm|first=Joe|date=2017-02-10|newspaper=ThinkProgress|access-date=2017-02-12}}

Trump wrote in his 2011 book that he opposed a cap-and-trade system to control carbon emissions.Donald J. Trump Time to Get Tough: Making America#1 Again (Regnery, 2011), p. 15.

According to FactCheck.org, over at least a five-year period, Trump has on several occasions made incorrect claims about the use of hair spray and its role in ozone depletion. At a rally in May 2016, "Trump implied that the regulations on hairspray and coal mining are both unwarranted" and incorrectly asserted that hairspray use in a "sealed" apartment prevents the spray's ozone-depleting substances from reaching the atmosphere.{{cite web|author=Vanessa Schipani|url=http://www.factcheck.org/2016/05/trump-on-hairspray-and-ozone/|title=Trump on Hairspray and Ozone|website=FactCheck.org|publisher=Annenberg Public Policy Center|date=May 30, 2016}}

In June 2019, the Trump White House tried to prevent a State Department intelligence analyst from testifying to Congress about "possibly catastrophic" effects of human-caused climate change, and prevented his written testimony containing science from NASA and NOAA from being included in the official Congressional Record because it was not consistent with administration positions.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2019/06/08/white-house-blocked-intelligence-aides-written-testimony-saying-human-caused-climate-change-could-be-possibly-catastrophic/|title=White House blocked intelligence agency's written testimony saying climate change could be 'possibly catastrophic'|newspaper=The Washington Post}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/08/climate/rod-schoonover-testimony.html|title=White House Tried to Stop Climate Science Testimony, Documents Show|first=Lisa|last=Friedman|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 8, 2019}}

In August 2019, Trump described America's coal production as "clean, beautiful", despite coal being a particularly polluting energy source. Although "clean coal" is a specific jargon used by the coal industry for certain technologies, Trump instead generally asserts that coal itself is "clean".

{{See also|United States and the Paris Agreement#First withdrawal|United States and the Paris Agreement#Second withdrawal}}File:President Trump Makes a Statement Regarding the Paris Accord.webm

Trump pledged in his May 2016 speech on energy policy to "cancel the Paris climate agreement" adopted at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (in which 170 countries committed to reductions in carbon emissions).{{cite news |first1=Steve |last1=Holland |first2=Emily |last2=Flitter |title=Exclusive: Trump would talk to North Korea's Kim, wants to renegotiate climate accord |work=Reuters |date=May 18, 2016 |url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-exclusive-idUSKCN0Y82JO}} Trump pledged to cancel the agreement in his first hundred days in office.{{Cite news|author1=Valerie Volcovici |author2=Emily Stephenson|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-energy-idUSKCN0YH2D9|title=Trump vows to undo Obama's climate agenda in appeal to oil sector|date=May 27, 2016|work=Reuters|access-date=May 27, 2016}} This pledge followed earlier comments by Trump, in which he said that as president, he would "at a minimum" seek to renegotiate the agreement and "at a maximum I may do something else."Emily Flitter and Steve Holland, [https://web.archive.org/web/20160519123448/http://uk.reuters.com/article/usa-election-trump-climate-idUKL5N18E5N4 Exclusive: Skeptical Trump says would renegotiate global climate deal], Reuters (May 17, 2016). Trump characterizes the Paris Agreement as "one-sided" and "bad for the United States", believing that the agreement is too favorable to China and other countries. In his May 2016 speech, Trump inaccurately said that the Paris Agreement "gives foreign bureaucrats control over how much energy we use on our land, in our country"; in fact, the Paris Agreement is based on voluntary government pledges, and no country controls the emissions-reduction plan of any other country.

Once the agreement is ratified by 55 nations representing 55 percent of global emissions (which has not yet occurred), a four-year waiting period goes into effect for any country wishing to withdraw from the agreement. A U.S. move to withdraw from the Paris Agreement as Trump proposed was viewed as likely to unravel the agreement; according to Reuters, such a move would spell "potential doom for an agreement many view as a last chance to turn the tide on global warming."

In Trump's May 2016 speech on energy policy, he declared that if elected president, he would "stop all payment of U.S. tax dollars to global warming programs." This would be a reversal of the U.S. pledge to commit funds to developing countries to assist in climate change mitigation and could undermine the willingness of other countries to take action against climate change.

In August 2016, 375 members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, including 30 Nobel laureates, issued an open letter warning that Trump's plan to unilaterally withdraw from the Paris Agreement would have dire effects on the fight against climate change.Ian Simpson [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-scientists-idUSKCN11Q2PD More than 300 scientists warn over Trump's climate change stance], Reuters (September 20, 2016).[http://responsiblescientists.org/ An Open Letter Regarding Climate Change From Concerned Members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences], ResponsibleScientists.org/Climate Science Rapid Response Team (September 20, 2016). The scientists wrote, in part:

{{blockquote|[I]t is of great concern that the Republican nominee for President has advocated U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Accord. A "Parexit" would send a clear signal to the rest of the world: "The United States does not care about the global problem of human-caused climate change. You are on your own." Such a decision would make it far more difficult to develop effective global strategies for mitigating and adapting to climate change. The consequences of opting out of the global community would be severe and long-lasting – for our planet's climate and for the international credibility of the United States.}}

{{Main|United States energy independence}}

In his May 2016 speech on energy policy, Trump stated: "Under my presidency, we will accomplish complete American energy independence. We will become totally independent of the need to import energy from the oil cartel or any nation hostile to our interest." The New York Times reported that "experts say that such remarks display a basic ignorance of the workings of the global oil markets."

In January 2016, Trump vowed "tremendous cutting" of the budget for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency if elected.{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-vows-to-slash-funding-for-education-epa-1452551107 |title=Donald Trump Vows to Slash Funding for Education, EPA |work=The Wall Street Journal |first=Heather |last=Haddon |date=January 11, 2016}} In an October 2015 interview with Chris Wallace, Trump explained, "what they do is a disgrace. Every week they come out with new regulations."{{cite web|url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2015/10/18/full_replay_and_transcript_donald_trump_with_fncs_chris_wallace.html|title=Full Interview and Transcript: Donald Trump on "FOX News Sunday" With Chris Wallace|website=www.realclearpolitics.com|access-date=May 22, 2016}} When Wallace asked, "Who's going to protect the environment?", Trump answered "we'll be fine with the environment. We can leave a little bit, but you can't destroy businesses."

Trump has charged that the "U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service abuses the Endangered Species Act to restrict oil and gas exploration." In 2011, Trump said that would permit drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Alaska.{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/exclusive-donald-trump-talks-2012-calls-obama-the-worst-president-ever|title=Exclusive: Donald Trump Talks 2012, Calls Obama the 'Worst President Ever'|date=June 16, 2016|website=Fox News|access-date=June 16, 2016}}

In July 2016, Trump suggested that he was in favor of state and local bans on hydraulic fracturing (fracking), saying, "I'm in favor of fracking, but I think that voters should have a big say in it. I mean, there's some areas, maybe, they don't want to have fracking. And I think if the voters are voting for it, that's up to them...if a municipality or a state wants to ban fracking, I can understand that."{{Cite web|url=https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/289851-trump-let-towns-states-ban-fracking/|title=Trump indicates towns, states should be able to ban fracking|last=Rupert|first=Evelyn|work=The Hill |date=July 29, 2016|access-date=July 30, 2016}}{{cite web|url=https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/290186-trump-rattles-industry-with-fracking-position/|title=Trump rattles industry with fracking position|access-date=October 24, 2016|work=The Hill|first=Timothy|last=Cama|date=August 3, 2016}}

{{Main|Keystone Pipeline}}

Trump promised to construct the Keystone XL pipeline, a proposed project to bring Canadian petroleum to the U.S. Trump pledged that if elected, he would ask TransCanada Corp. to renew its permit application for the project within his first hundred days in office. Trump claimed that Keystone XL pipeline will have "no impact on environment" and create "lots of jobs for U.S.",{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/18/politics/donald-trump-keystone-pipeline-support/index.html|title=Donald Trump supports the Keystone pipeline|first=Theodore |last=Schleifer|work=CNN|access-date=June 16, 2016}} although in fact the pipeline is projected to create only 35 permanent jobs.Katie Sanders, [http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/feb/10/van-jones/cnns-van-jones-says-keystone-pipeline-only-creates/ CNN's Van Jones says Keystone pipeline only creates 35 permanent jobs], PolitiFact (February 10, 2014).

In his first days in office, Trump revived the Keystone XL project, signing a presidential memorandum reversing the rejection of the proposed pipeline that President Obama had made. Trump "also signed a directive ordering an end to protracted environmental reviews," pledging to make environmental review " a very short process".Peter Baker & Coral Davenport, [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/24/us/politics/keystone-dakota-pipeline-trump.html Trump Revives Keystone Pipeline Rejected by Obama], The New York Times (January 24, 2017).

{{Main|Dakota Access Pipeline|Dakota Access Pipeline protests}}

After months of protest by thousands of protesters, including the largest gathering of Native Americans in 100 years, in December 2016 the United States Army Corps of Engineers under the Obama administration announced that it would not grant an easement for the pipeline, and the Corps of Engineers undertook an environmental impact statement to look at possible alternative routes.{{Cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/04/politics/dakota-access-pipeline/|title=Dakota Access Pipeline to be rerouted|date=2016-12-04|access-date=2018-02-22|newspaper=CNN}}

However, in February 2017, newly elected President Donald Trump ended the environmental impact assessment and ordered construction to continue.{{Cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/02/07/513951600/army-approves-dakota-access-pipeline-route-paving-way-for-the-projects-completio |title=Army Approves Dakota Access Pipeline Route, Paving Way For The Project's Completion |last=Hersher |first=Rebecca |date=February 22, 2018}} Trump has financial ties to Energy Transfer Partners and Phillips 66, who are both directly involved in the controversial project. The CEO of Energy Transfer Partners is a campaign donor for Donald Trump.{{cite web|last1=Milman|first1=Oliver|title=Dakota Access pipeline company and Donald Trump have close financial ties|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/26/donald-trump-dakota-access-pipeline-investment-energy-transfer-partners|website=The Guardian|access-date=November 2, 2016|date=October 26, 2016}}

{{Main|Renewable energy in the United States}}

In his 2015 book Crippled America, Trump is highly critical of the "big push" to develop renewable energy, arguing that the push is based on a mistaken belief that greenhouse gases contribute to climate change.{{cite web|url=http://www.ontheissues.org/Archive/Crippled_America_Energy_+_Oil.htm|title=Crippled America, by Donald J. Trump (Sept. 2015)|website=www.ontheissues.org|access-date=June 4, 2016}} He writes, "There has been a big push to develop alternative forms of energy—so-called green energy—from renewable sources. That's a big mistake. To begin with, the whole push for renewable energy is being driven by the wrong motivation, the mistaken belief that global climate change is being caused by carbon emissions. If you don't buy that—and I don't—then what we have is really just an expensive way of making the tree-huggers feel good about themselves."

Despite criticizing wind farms in the past (calling them "ugly"), Trump has said that he does not oppose the wind production tax credit, saying: "I'm okay with subsidies, to an extent."Philip Bump, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/11/19/donald-trump-hated-wind-farms-until-an-iowa-voter-asked/ Donald Trump hated wind farms – until an Iowa voter asked], The Washington Post (November 19, 2015). Trump has criticized wind energy for being expensive and for not working without "massive subsidies".{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/05/26/theres-a-lot-to-unpack-in-donald-trumps-answers-about-energy-policy/|title=There's a lot to unpack in just one of Donald Trump's answers about energy policy|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=May 27, 2016}} He added, "windmills are killing hundreds and hundreds of eagles. One of the most beautiful, one of the most treasured birds—and they're killing them by the hundreds and nothing happens," a claim rated as "mostly false" by PolitiFact since best estimates indicate that about one hundred golden eagles are killed each year by wind turbine blades.Jon Greenberg, [http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/may/31/donald-trump/trump-exaggerates-wind-turbine-eagle-deaths/ Trump inflates wind turbine eagle deaths], PolitiFact (May 31, 2016).

In his official platform, Trump claims that he will reduce bureaucracy which would then lead to greater innovation. His platform mentions "renewable energies", including "nuclear, wind and solar energy" in that regard but adds that he would not support those "to the exclusion of other energy".

Trump supports a higher ethanol mandate (the amount of ethanol required by federal regulation to be blended into the U.S. gasoline supply).Timothy Cama, [https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/266339-trump-calls-for-higher-ethanol-mandate/ Trump calls for higher ethanol mandate], The Hill' (January 19, 2016). Trump vowed to protect the government's Renewable Fuel Standard and corn-based ethanol.{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-15/trump-caught-between-corn-oil-interests-on-renewable-fuels|title=Trump Caught Between Corn, Oil Interests on Renewable Fuels|access-date=October 25, 2016|work=Bloomberg News|first=Jennifer|last=Dlouhy|date=September 15, 2016}}

In August 2019, Trump claimed: "if a windmill is within two miles of your house, your house is practically worthless"; this claim is not supported by studies in the United States.{{cite web |last1=Dale |first1=Daniel |last2=Subramaniam |first2=Tara |last3=Lybrand |first3=Holmes |date=August 1, 2019 |title=Fact check: Trump makes more than 20 false claims at Cincinnati rally |url=http://lite.cnn.com/en/article/h_13c98257a62ea3e38ab806d6390e16b9 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215005652/http://lite.cnn.com/en/article/h_13c98257a62ea3e38ab806d6390e16b9 |archive-date=February 15, 2021 |access-date=August 3, 2019 |website=CNN}}

In October 2016, the Humane Society of the United States denounced Trump's campaign, saying that a "Trump presidency would be a threat to animals everywhere" and that he has "a team of advisors and financial supporters tied in with trophy hunting, puppy mills, factory farming, horse slaughter, and other abusive industries."{{Cite news|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/299626-humane-society-legislative-fund-backs-clinton-launches-ad-against-trump/|title=Humane Society launches ad: Trump presidency a 'threat to animals everywhere'|last=Neidig|first=Harper|date=October 6, 2016|newspaper=The Hill}}

In February 2017, under the Trump administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) unexpectedly removed from its public website "all enforcement records related to horse soring and to animal welfare at dog breeding operations and other facilities."Karin Brulliard, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2017/02/09/usda-animal-welfare-records-purge-may-have-been-triggered-by-horse-industry-lawsuit/ USDA removed animal welfare reports from its site. A showhorse lawsuit may be why.], The Washington Post (February 9, 2017). The decision prompted criticism from animal welfare advocates (such as the Animal Welfare Institute), investigative journalists, and some of the regulated industries (the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the group Speaking of Research said that the move created an impression of non-transparency).

{{Main|Foreign policy of Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential election|Foreign policy of the first Donald Trump administration|Foreign policy of the second Donald Trump administration}}

In 1999, during his abortive 2000 Reform Party presidential campaign, Trump told TV interviewer Larry King, "I believe in universal health care." In his 2000 book, The America We Deserve, Trump reiterated his call for universal health care and focused on a Canadian-style single-payer health care system as a means to achieve it.

File:U.S. Mortality - Premature Death Rates by County.png stated in January 2017 that: "If you take county by county in the US, and you look at what we call deaths of despair{{Snd}}suicides, opioids and liver disease{{Snd}}that it correlates by .4 with votes for Trump. That's a big correlation...a very strong relationship."{{Cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/angus-deaton-white-deaths-trump-2017-1|title=There is a correlation between 'deaths of despair' among white people and voters for Trump|first=Jim|last=Edwards|website=Business Insider}}]]

According to a report by the RAND Corporation, Trump's proposed health-care policy proposals, depending on specific elements implemented, would result in between 15 and 25 million fewer people with health insurance and increase the federal deficit in a range from zero to $41 billion (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=41000000000|start_year=2018}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) in 2018. This was in contrast to Clinton's proposals, which would expand health insurance coverage for between zero and 10 million people while increasing the deficit in a range from zero to $90 billion (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=90000000000|start_year=2018}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) in 2018.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-09-23/the-numbers-behind-trump-versus-clinton-health-reform-proposals|title=The Numbers Behind Trump Versus Clinton Health-Reform Proposals|date=September 23, 2016|publisher=Bloomberg Politics}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.rand.org/blog/2016/09/estimating-the-impacts-of-the-trump-and-clinton-health.html|title=Estimating the Impacts of the Trump and Clinton Health Plans|last=Christine|first=Eibner|publisher=RAND Corporation|date=September 23, 2016}} According to the report, low-income individuals and sicker people would be most adversely affected by his proposed policies, although it was pointed out that not all policy proposals have been modeled.

{{See also|Economic policy of the first Donald Trump administration#Health care}}

File:CBO AHCA Health Insurance Coverage Impact.png or AHCA, about 23 million fewer people would have health insurance in 2026, compared with current law.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbo.gov/publication/52752|title=H.R. 1628, American Health Care Act of 2017 | Congressional Budget Office|date=May 24, 2017|website=www.cbo.gov}}]]

{{Further|American Health Care Act|2017 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act replacement proposals}}

President Trump advocated repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA or "Obamacare"). Trump celebrated the Republican-controlled House passing the American Health Care Act (AHCA) in May 2017. The Senate decided to write its own version of the bill rather than voting on the AHCA.{{Cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/senate-plan-for-healthcare-bill-ahca-2017-5|title=Senate Republicans signal they plan to scrap bill the House just passed and write their own|first=Bob|last=Bryan|website=Business Insider}} One Senate bill, called the "Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017" (BCRA), failed on a vote of 45–55 in the Senate during July 2017. One variation fell one vote short amid opposition from all Democrats as well as John McCain, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins.{{Citation |last=Klein |first=Ezra | author-link = Ezra Klein |title=The GOP's massive health care failures, explained |publisher=Vox |date=July 28, 2017 |url=https://www.vox.com/health-care/2017/7/28/16055284/gop-massive-health-care-failures-explained | access-date = 2017-08-03}} In all, the Senate rejected five bills to repeal and/or replace Obamacare. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the bills would increase the number of uninsured by over 20 million persons, while reducing the budget deficit marginally.

{{See also|Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act}}

President Trump continued Republican attacks on the ACA while in office,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/27/opinion/health-care-obamacare.html|title=Opinion | Killing Obamacare Softly|first=Thomas B.|last=Edsall|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 27, 2017}} including steps such as:

• Weakening the individual mandate through his first executive order, which resulted in limiting enforcement of mandate penalties by the IRS. For example, tax returns without indications of health insurance ("silent returns") will still be processed, overriding instructions from the Obama administration to the IRS to reject them.{{Cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/03/trump-obamacare-mandate-enforcement-237937|title=Trump still enforcing Obamacare mandate|first1=Brianna|last1=Ehley|first2=Aaron|last2=Lorenzo|website=Politico|date=May 3, 2017 }}
• Reducing funding for advertising for the 2017 and 2018 exchange enrollment periods by up to 90%, with other reductions to support resources used to answer questions and help people sign-up for coverage. Some attributed the reduction in ACA enrollment in 2018 to these cuts.{{Cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/2017/8/31/16236280/trump-obamacare-outreach-ads|title=Trump is slashing Obamacare's advertising budget by 90%|first=Sarah|last=Kliff|date=August 31, 2017|website=Vox}}{{Cite web |date=2024-09-16 |title=Donald Trump misrepresents his push to repeal the Affordable Care Act |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/donald-trump-misrepresents-repeal-affordable-care-act-obamacare-rcna171293 |access-date=2024-10-10 |website=NBC News |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Galewitz |first=Phil |date=November 28, 2018 |title=Obamacare Sign-Ups Lag As Trump Slashes Funds For Enrollment Help |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/11/28/671045006/obamacare-sign-ups-lag-as-trump-slashes-funds-for-enrollment-help |work=NPR}}
• Cutting the enrollment period for 2018 by half, to 45 days. The NYT editorial board referred to this as part of a concerted "sabotage" effort.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/04/opinion/obamacare-vs-the-saboteurs.html|title=Opinion | Obamacare vs. the Saboteurs|author=The Editorial Board|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 4, 2017}}
• Issuing public statements that the exchanges are unstable or in a death spiral.{{Cite web|url=https://www.healthinsurance.org/blog/12-ways-the-gop-sabotaged-obamacare/|title=12 ways the GOP sabotaged Obamacare|date=July 26, 2019}} CBO reported in May 2017 that the exchanges would remain stable under current law (ACA), but would be less stable if the AHCA were passed.
• Advocating in 2020 for a lawsuit that would have wiped out the ACA entirely (the Supreme Court upheld the law in 2021)

Several insurers and actuary groups cited uncertainty created by President Trump, specifically non-enforcement of the individual mandate and not funding cost sharing reduction subsidies, as contributing 20-30 percentage points to premium increases for the 2018 plan year on the ACA exchanges. In other words, absent Trump's actions against the ACA, premium increases would have averaged 10% or less, rather than the estimated 28-40% under the uncertainty his actions created.{{Cite web |last=Scott |first=Dylan |date=2017-10-18 |title=Obamacare premiums were stabilizing. Then Trump happened. |url=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/10/18/16458316/obamacare-premiums-trump |access-date=2024-10-10 |website=Vox |language=en-US}}

CNN in 2020 described Trump's administration as opting to undermine the Affordable Care Act from within after failing to overturn the law in Congress.{{Cite web |last=Luhby |first=Tami |date=2020-10-17 |title=Trump keeps chipping away at Obamacare with only weeks until the election – and a Supreme Court hearing {{!}} CNN Politics |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/17/politics/affordable-care-act-georgia-medicaid/index.html |access-date=2024-10-10 |website=CNN |language=en}} The outlet described in particular approving requests by Georgia that consumer advocates say weakened the law and would reduce coverage and raise premiums.{{Cite web |last=Luhby |first=Tami |date=2020-11-02 |title=Trump takes last swipe at Affordable Care Act before Election Day {{!}} CNN Politics |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/02/politics/affordable-care-act-georgia-obamacare/index.html |access-date=2024-10-10 |website=CNN |language=en}} His administration had also repeatedly attempted to water down or repeal the ACA's protections for people with preexisting medical conditions, without any proposal on how to restore these protections if the ACA was rendered void.

In February 2021, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) published a timeline of "sabotage" efforts to undermine the Affordable Care Act throughout the Trump Administration.[https://www.cbpp.org/sabotage-watch-tracking-efforts-to-undermine-the-aca "Sabotage Watch: Tracking Efforts to Undermine the ACA"]. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Updated February 2, 2021.

{{Main|Cost sharing reductions subsidy}}

President Trump announced in October 2017 he would end the smaller of the two types of subsidies under the ACA, the cost sharing reduction (CSR) subsidies. This controversial decision significantly raised premiums on the ACA exchanges (as much as 20 percentage points) along with the premium tax credit subsidies that rise with them, with the CBO estimating a $200 billion increase in the budget deficit over a decade.{{Cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/health-care/2017/10/18/16499806/trump-insurance-bailouts-completely-incoherent|title=Trump's stance on insurance "bailouts" is completely incoherent|first=Sarah|last=Kliff|date=October 18, 2017|website=Vox}} CBO also estimated that initially up to one million fewer would have health insurance coverage, although more might have it in the long run as the subsidies expand. CBO expected the exchanges to remain stable (e.g., no "death spiral") as the premiums would increase and prices would stabilize at the higher (non-CSR) level.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbo.gov/publication/53009|title=The Effects of Terminating Payments for Cost-Sharing Reductions | Congressional Budget Office|date=August 15, 2017|website=www.cbo.gov}}

President Trump's argument that the CSR payments were a "bailout" for insurance companies and therefore should be stopped, actually results in the government paying more to insurance companies ($200B over a decade) due to increases in the premium tax credit subsidies. Journalist Sarah Kliff described Trump's argument as "completely incoherent."

{{Main|Healthcare reform in the United States|Healthcare reform debate in the United States|Affordable Care Act}}

As the 2016 campaign unfolded, Trump stated that he favors repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA or "Obamacare")—which Trump refers to as a "complete disaster"Peter Suderman, [https://reason.com/blog/2015/09/29/donald-trump-wants-to-repeal-obamacare-r Donald Trump Wants to Repeal Obamacare, Replace It With Obamacare], Reason (September 29, 2015).—and replacing it with a "free-market system".{{cite web|url=http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2015/sep/11/reid-ribble/donald-trump-wants-replace-obamacare-single-payer-/ |title=Donald Trump wants to replace Obamacare with a single-payer health care system, GOP congressman says|date=September 11, 2015|website=PolitiFact|last1=Kertscher|first1=Tom}} On his campaign website, Trump said, "on day one of the Trump Administration, we will ask Congress to immediately deliver a full repeal of Obamacare."{{cite web |url=https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/healthcare-reform|title=Healthcare Reform|publisher=Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.|access-date=May 21, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113005945/https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/healthcare-reform|archive-date=January 13, 2017}}{{cite web |url=http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/may/05/hillary-clinton/clinton-video-lists-8-promises-trump-presidency/|title=Hillary Clinton video lists 8 promises of Donald Trump presidency. Did he say that?|website=PolitiFact|date=May 5, 2016}} Trump's campaign has insisted that the candidate has "never supported socialized medicine."

Trump has cited the rising costs of premiums and deductibles as a motivation to repeal the Affordable Care Act.{{cite web|url=https://www.donaldjtrump.com/policies/health-care/|title=Health Care|publisher=donaldjtrump.com|access-date=November 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161212080424/https://www.donaldjtrump.com/policies/health-care/|archive-date=December 12, 2016|url-status=dead}} However, an estimated 70% of persons on the exchanges could still purchase a plan for $75/month thanks to subsidies.{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/10/24/499190020/rates-rise-again-for-obamacare-health-plans-but-so-do-subsidies|title=Rates Up 22 Percent For Obamacare Plans, But Subsidies Rise, Too|newspaper=NPR|access-date=November 19, 2016}} Further, in the employer market, health insurance premium cost increases from 2015 to 2016 were an estimated 3% on average, low by historical standards. While deductibles rose 12% on average from 2015 to 2016, more workers are pairing higher-deductible plans with tax-preferred health savings accounts (HSAs), offsetting some of the deductible increase (i.e., lowering their effective deductible).{{Cite web|url=http://kff.org/health-costs/press-release/average-annual-workplace-family-health-premiums-rise-modest-3-to-18142-in-2016-more-workers-enroll-in-high-deductible-plans-with-savings-option-over-past-two-years/|title=Average Annual Workplace Family Health Premiums Rise Modest 3%|website=Kaiser Family Foundation|date=September 14, 2016|access-date=November 23, 2016}}

The Congressional Budget Office reported in March 2016 that there were approximately 23 million people with insurance due to the law, with 12 million people covered by the exchanges (10 million of whom received subsidies to help pay for insurance) and 11 million made eligible for Medicaid.{{Cite web|url= https://www.cbo.gov/publication/51385|title=Federal Subsidies for Health Insurance Coverage for People Under Age 65:2016 to 2026|website=CBO|date=March 24, 2016|access-date=November 23, 2016}} The CBO also reported in June 2015 that: "Including the budgetary effects of macroeconomic feedback, repealing the ACA would increase federal budget deficits by $137 billion over the 2016–2025 period."{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbo.gov/publication/50252|title=Budgetary and Economic Effects of Repealing the Affordable Care Act|website=CBO|date=June 19, 2015|access-date=December 4, 2016}} CBO also estimated that excluding the effects of macroeconomic feedback, repeal of the ACA would increase the deficit by $353 billion over that same period.

In the early part of his campaign, Trump responded to questions about his plan to replace the ACA by saying that it would be "something terrific!"Sarah Ferris, [https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/249697-trump-replace-obamacare-with-something-terrific/ Trump: I'll replace ObamaCare with 'something terrific'], The Hill (July 29, 2015). Trump subsequently said at various points that he believes that the government should have limited involvement in health care, but has also said that "at the lower end, where people have no money, I want to try and help those people," by "work[ing] out some sort of a really smart deal with hospitals across the country." and has said "everybody's got to be covered." At a February 2016 town hall on CNN, Trump said that he supported the individual health insurance mandate of the ACA, which requires all Americans to have health insurance, saying "I like the mandate. So here's where I'm a little bit different [from other Republican candidates]."{{cite web |last=Sullivan |first=Peter |url=https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/270021-gop-senator-hits-trump-over-obamacare-mandate-support/|title=GOP senator hits Trump over ObamaCare mandate support |work=The Hill |date=February 19, 2016}}[https://web.archive.org/web/20160220091639/http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2016/02/18/rush-transcript-donald-trump-cnn-republican-presidential-town-hall-columbia-sc/ Transcript: Donald Trump: CNN Republican Presidential Town Hall, Columbia, South Carolina], CNN (February 18, 2016). In March 2016, Trump reversed himself, saying that "Our elected representatives must eliminate the individual mandate. No person should be required to buy insurance unless he or she wants to."{{cite web |last=Vitali |first=Ali |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/donald-trump-reveals-details-his-health-care-plan-n530701 |title=Donald Trump Reveals Details of His Health Care Plan |work=NBC News |date=March 3, 2016 |access-date=August 11, 2016}}

In March 2016, Trump released his health care plan, which called for allowing health insurance companies to compete across state lines and for making Medicaid into a block grant system for the states. He also called for elimination of the individual mandate for health insurance, for allowing health insurance premiums to be deducted on tax returns, and for international competition in the drug market. In the same document, Trump acknowledged that mental health care in the U.S. is often inadequate but offered no immediate solution to the problem, instead stating that "there are promising reforms being developed in Congress."

Explaining how he would address the problem of ensuring the people that would lose their insurance coverage if Obamacare were repealed, Trump said, "We have to come up, and we can come up with many different plans. In fact, plans you don't even know about will be devised because we're going to come up with plans—health care plans—that will be so good. And so much less expensive both for the country and for the people. And so much better."{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/09/15/donald-trumps-visit-with-dr-oz-was-just-as-amazing-as-you-though-it-would-be/|title=Donald Trump's interview with Dr. Oz was just as amazingly strange as we thought it would be|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=September 24, 2016}} His plan has been criticized by Republican health experts as "a jumbled hodgepodge of old Republican ideas, randomly selected, that don't fit together" (Robert Laszewski){{cite news |last1=Laughland |first1=Oliver |last2=Ackerman |first2=Spencer |last3=Borger |first3=Julian |last4=Holpuch |first4=Amanda |last5=Redden |first5=Molly |last6=Milman |first6=Oliver |last7=Rushe |first7=Dominic |last8=Lartey |first8=Jamiles |date=9 November 2016 |title=What will President Donald Trump do? Predicting his policy agenda |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/09/donald-trump-president-policy-immigration-agenda-healthcare |access-date=November 9, 2016 |agency=The Guardian}} providing nothing that "would do anything more than cover a couple million people" (Gail R. Wilensky).{{cite news|last1=Pear|first1=Robert|last2=Haberman|first2=Maggie|title=Donald Trump's Health Care Ideas Bewilder Republican Experts|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/09/us/politics/donald-trump-health-care.html|access-date=November 9, 2016|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 8, 2016}}

He characterized the Canadian healthcare system as "catastrophic in certain ways" in October 2016 during the second presidential debate.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/10/canada-healthcare-donald-trump-debate|title=Trump's attack on 'catastrophic' Canadian healthcare system draws ire|last=Kassam|first=Ashifa|date=October 10, 2016|newspaper=The Guardian|issn=0261-3077|access-date=October 10, 2016}} In 2015, Trump also expressed admiration for the Scottish health-care system, which is single payer, but argued it would work well in the US.

In November 2023, Trump continued to advocate for repealing and replacing Obamacare.{{Cite web |last=Kapur |first=Sahil |date=2023-11-29 |title=Trump doubles down, saying 'Obamacare Sucks' and must be replaced |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/trump-doubles-saying-obamacare-sucks-must-replaced-rcna126978 |access-date=2024-10-10 |website=NBC News |language=en}}

During a March 11, 2024 interview, Trump suggested he was open to cutting entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare, which the Trump campaign later claimed was merely referring to "cutting waste" and that he would protect the programs. Trump previously suggested while president in 2020 that he would "at some point" look into cutting entitlement programs, and Trump's previous budget proposals have suggested some cuts to the programs. During the Republican primary, Trump attacked his opponents by suggesting they would cut entitlement benefits.{{cite news |last=Browning |first=Kellen |date=March 11, 2024 |title=Trump Mentions Cutting Entitlements, and Biden Pounces |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/11/us/politics/trump-mentions-cutting-entitlements-and-biden-pounces.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240311202251/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/11/us/politics/trump-mentions-cutting-entitlements-and-biden-pounces.html |archive-date=March 11, 2024 |access-date=March 11, 2024 |work=The New York Times}}{{cite news |last=Cancryn |first=Adam |date=March 11, 2024 |title=Trump tees up a Biden broadside on Social Security |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/11/trump-biden-social-security-2024-elections-00146307 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240322002140/https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/11/trump-biden-social-security-2024-elections-00146307 |archive-date=March 22, 2024 |access-date=March 21, 2024 |work=Politico}}

Trump admitted in the debate that he did not have a Health Care plan, saying only that he had "concepts of a plan."{{Cite web |last=Kapur |first=Sahil |date=2024-09-16 |title=Donald Trump misrepresents his push to repeal the Affordable Care Act |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/donald-trump-misrepresents-repeal-affordable-care-act-obamacare-rcna171293 |access-date=2024-10-10 |website=NBC News |language=en}}

{{Main|Ebola virus cases in the United States}}

In 2014, after a New York physician returned from treating Ebola patients in West Africa and showed symptoms of the disease, Trump tweeted that if the doctor had Ebola, "Obama should apologize to the American people & resign!"Nicholas Kristof, [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/12/opinion/congress-to-america-drop-dead.html?_r=0 Congress to America: Drop Dead], The New York Times (May 12, 2016), When the doctor was later confirmed to have developed Ebola in New York, Trump tweeted that it was "Obama's fault" and "I have been saying for weeks for President Obama to stop the flights from West Africa. So simple, but he refused. A TOTAL incompetent!"{{cite web|author= Melanie Eversley|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/23/trump-ebola-twitter-obama/17815841/|title=Trump hits Twitter to blame Obama for Ebola in NYC|newspaper=USA Today|date=October 23, 2014}} Trump also criticized President Obama's decision to send 3,000 U.S. troops to affected regions to help combat the outbreak (see Operation United Assistance).Matthew Champion, [https://web.archive.org/web/20160818130908/http://indy100.independent.co.uk/article/donald-trump-has-a-novel-approach-to-fighting-ebola-irrationality--gJ2mxU1kLe Donald Trump has a novel approach to fighting Ebola: Irrationality], The Independent (2014).

As doctor Kent Brantly returned to the U.S. for treatment, Trump tweeted that U.S. doctors who went abroad to treat Ebola were "great" but "must suffer the consequences" if they became infected and insisted that "the U.S. must immediately stop all flights from EBOLA infected countries or the plague will start and spread inside our 'borders.'"{{cite news|author=Jenn Selby|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/donald-trump-says-ebola-doctors-must-suffer-the-consequences-9646445.html|title=Donald Trump says Ebola doctors 'must suffer the consequences'|date=August 4, 2014|newspaper=The Independent}} When an Ebola patient was scheduled to come to the U.S. for treatment, Trump tweeted, "now I know for sure that our leaders are incompetent. KEEP THEM OUT OF HERE!"{{cite web|author=Sarah Smith|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/ebola-us-donald-trump-reaction-109636|title=Trump: Keep out Ebola victims|newspaper=Politico|date=August 8, 2014}}

Trump's suggestion on the Ebola crisis "would go against all the expert advice being offered". Doctors warned "that isolating West Africa would only make the Ebola outbreak much worse" by "potentially denying help and supplies from getting in", and might destabilize the countries and contribute to the disease's spread outside West Africa.

{{Main|2015–2016 Zika virus epidemic}}

On August 3, 2016, Trump called the Zika virus outbreak in Florida "a big problem".{{Cite web|url=http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2016/08/trump-on-the-zika-rick-scott-has-it-under-control.html|title=Trump on 'the Zika': Rick Scott has it 'under control' {{!}} Naked Politics|access-date=August 12, 2016}} He expressed his support for Florida governor Rick Scott's handling of the crisis, saying that he's "doing a fantastic job". When asked if Congress should convene an emergency session to approve Zika funding, Trump answered, "I would say that it's up to Rick Scott." On August 11, 2016, Trump said that he was in favor of Congress setting aside money to combat the Zika virus.{{Cite web|url=http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/election/donald-trump/article95144337.html|title=Trump: Americans could be tried in Guantánamo|website=Miami Herald|access-date=August 12, 2016}}

Trump suggested that childhood vaccinations were related to autism, a hypothesis which has been repeatedly debunked.{{cite news |url=http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/03/28/trump-weighs-in-on-vaccine-autism-controversy/ |title=Trump weighs in on vaccine-autism controversy |work=CNN |date=March 28, 2014 |access-date=August 24, 2015 |archive-date=February 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215005730/https://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/03/28/trump-weighs-in-on-vaccine-autism-controversy/ |url-status=dead }}Ariana Eunjung Cha, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/09/17/the-origins-of-donald-trumps-autismvaccine-theory-and-how-it-was-completely-debunked-eons-ago/ The origins of Donald Trump's autism/vaccine theory and how it was completely debunked eons ago], The Washington Post (September 17, 2015). The American Academy of Pediatrics and Autism Speaks have "decried Trump's remarks as false and potentially dangerous."

In 2010, the Donald J. Trump Foundation donated $10,000 to Generation Rescue, Jenny McCarthy's nonprofit organization that advocates the incorrect view that autism and related disorders are primarily caused by vaccines.{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilywillingham/2016/10/01/finally-someone-found-a-beneficiary-of-trump-charity-and-its-an-antivaccine-organization/|title=Finally, Someone Found A Beneficiary Of Trump Charity, And It's An Antivaccine Organization|last=Willingham|first=Emily|website=Forbes|access-date=October 2, 2016}}

Despite his prior views, however, Trump did drop his claims of vaccines being related to autism in 2019 after the 2019 measles outbreaks, in saying: "They have to get those shots," as well as "...vaccinations are so important".{{Cite news|last=Sink|first=Justin|date=Apr 26, 2019|title=Trump Backs Vaccines Amid Measles Outbreak, Drops Autism Claims|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-26/trump-backs-vaccines-amid-measles-outbreak-drops-autism-claims|access-date=2020-07-29|newspaper=Bloomberg}}{{Cite web|last1=Fritze|first1=John|last2=Collins|first2=Michael|title=Donald Trump urges measles shots for children, in shift from prior warnings on vaccines|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/04/26/measles-outbreak-trump-says-children-have-get-shots/3560304002/|access-date=2020-07-29|website=USA Today}}

{{Main|Immigration policy of the first Donald Trump administration|Immigration policy of the second Donald Trump administration}}

File:Donald Trump by Gage Skidmore 5.jpg

Illegal immigration was a signature issue of Trump's presidential campaign, and he proposed reforms and made controversial remarks regarding immigrants.

In August 2019, Trump accused Democrats of supporting "open borders" by attempting to use their opposition to his immigration priorities as an example despite no explicit evidence to support his claim.{{cite news |last1=Qiu |first1=Linda |title=No, Democrats Don't Want 'Open Borders' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/27/us/politics/fast-check-donald-trump-democrats-open-borders.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 27, 2018 |access-date=8 July 2021}}{{cite web |last1=Farley |first1=Robert |title=calls to abolish ice not open borders |url=https://www.factcheck.org/2018/07/calls-to-abolish-ice-not-open-borders/ |website=factcheck.org |date=July 3, 2018 |access-date=8 July 2021}} He also claimed that his administration is "building the wall faster and better than ever", but no new barriers were erected by June 2019 at the Mexico–United States border unlike what Trump promised during his 2016 campaign. The only installations have been replacement fencing of old barriers. Trump also falsely claimed that only 2% of migrants who were released instead of detained eventually returned for their immigration hearings. The 2017 statistic is 72% for migrants, and 89% of migrants applying for asylum.

{{See also|Capital punishment in the United States}}

File:Trump_Bring_Back_Death_Penalty_ad_1989.jpg"{{Cite web |date=February 17, 2016 |title=Donald Trump and the Central Park Five: the racially charged rise of a demagogue |url=http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/17/central-park-five-donald-trump-jogger-rape-case-new-york |access-date=December 7, 2022 |website=the Guardian |language=en}} Donald Trump spent $85,000 in submitting the ad across four New York City newspapers.]]

Trump has long advocated for capital punishment in the United States.Matt Ford, [https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/12/donald-trump-death-penalty/420069/ Donald Trump's Racially Charged Advocacy of the Death Penalty], The Atlantic (December 18, 2015). In May 1989, shortly after the Central Park jogger case received widespread media attention, Trump purchased a full-page ad in four New York City newspapers with the title "BRING BACK THE DEATH PENALTY!" Five defendants (the "Central Park Five") were wrongfully convicted in the case and were subsequently exonerated.{{cite news|last1=Foderaro|first1=Lisa|title=Angered by Attack, Trump Urges Return Of the Death Penalty|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/01/nyregion/angered-by-attack-trump-urges-return-of-the-death-penalty.html|access-date=March 15, 2016|work=The New York Times|date=May 1, 1989}}{{cite news|last1=Ford|first1=Matt|title=Donald Trump's Racially Charged Advocacy of the Death Penalty|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/12/donald-trump-death-penalty/420069/|access-date=March 15, 2016|work=The Atlantic|date=December 18, 2015}}{{cite news|last1=Laughland|first1=Oliver|title=Donald Trump and the Central Park Five: the racially charged rise of a demagogue|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/17/central-park-five-donald-trump-jogger-rape-case-new-york|access-date=March 15, 2016|work=The Guardian|date=February 17, 2016}} By October 2016, Trump still maintained that the Central Park Five were guilty.{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/06/politics/reality-check-donald-trump-central-park-5/index.html|title=Reality Check: Donald Trump and the Central Park 5|first=Steven A. |last=Holmes|website=CNN|date=October 6, 2016|access-date=October 7, 2016}}

In December 2015, in a speech accepting the endorsement of the New England Police Benevolent Association, Trump said that "One of the first things I do [if elected President] in terms of executive order if I win will be to sign a strong, strong statement that will go out to the country, out to the world, that...anybody killing a police officer—death penalty. It's going to happen, O.K.?"[https://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/12/10/verbatim-donald-trump-promises-death-penalty-in-killings-of-police-officers/ Verbatim: Donald Trump Promises Death Penalty in Killings of Police Officers], The New York Times (December 10, 2015).{{cite web |url=http://www.mediaite.com/online/trump-tells-police-group-every-single-cop-killer-gets-death-penalty-if-i-win/ |title=Trump Tells Police Group: Every Single Cop-Killer Gets Death Penalty If I Win|date=December 11, 2015}}{{cite web |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/262897-trump-i-will-mandate-death-penalty-for-killing-police-officers/ |title=Trump: I will mandate death penalty for killing police officers |newspaper=The Hill|date=December 10, 2015 }}{{cite news|last1=Diamond|first1=Jeremy|title=Trump: Death penalty for cop killers|url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/10/politics/donald-trump-police-officers-death-penalty/|work=CNN|date=December 11, 2015}} However, the president has no authority over these prosecutions as they usually take place in state court under state law,[https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/us/elections/fact-check.html#/factcheck-20?smid=tw-share Fact Checks: Donald J. Trump: "One of the first things I do in terms of executive order if I win will be to sign a strong, strong statement" that "anybody killing a police officer—death penalty."], The New York Times (December 11, 2016). and over one-third of U.S. states have already abolished the death penalty. Furthermore, mandatory death sentences are unconstitutional, as held by the Supreme Court in Woodson v. North Carolina (1976).

In the six months between July 2020{{Cite web |date=2020-12-07 |title=Trump ratchets up pace of executions before Biden inaugural |url=https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-death-penalty-legacy-838932ac2b665b42373309336d130f56 |access-date=2024-03-06 |website=AP News |language=en |archive-date=April 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240421172426/https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-death-penalty-legacy-838932ac2b665b42373309336d130f56 |url-status=live }} and the end of Trump's term, the federal government executed thirteen people; the first executions since 2002.{{Cite news|first1=Michael |last1=Tarm |first2=Michael |last2=Kunzelman |url=https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-wildlife-coronavirus-pandemic-crime-terre-haute-28e44cc5c026dc16472751bbde0ead50 |access-date=November 10, 2021 |title=Trump administration carries out 13th and final execution |work=Associated Press |date=January 15, 2021}} In this time period, Trump oversaw more federal executions than any president in the preceding 120 years.

{{Main|Torture and the United States}}

Trump has said that he believes that "torture absolutely works". During his campaign, Trump said that "I would bring back waterboarding, and I'd bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding". However, during his presidency, he did not bring back waterboarding.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38753000|title=Donald Trump says he believes waterboarding works|website=BBC.com|date=January 27, 2017}}

{{Main|Criminal justice reform in the United States}}

As of May 2016, Trump's campaign website made no mention of criminal justice reform, and Trump rarely talked in specifics.{{cite web|author=Liz Goodwin|url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/1990s-mugging-roots-donald-trump-000000780.html|title=A 1990s mugging and the roots of Donald Trump's hardline criminal justice views|website=Yahoo! News|date=May 25, 2016}}{{cite web|author=Adam Wisnieski|url=http://www.thecrimereport.org/news/inside-criminal-justice/2016-03-trump-on-crime-tough-talk-few-specifics|title=Trump On Crime: Tough Talk, Few Specifics|website=The Crime Report|publisher=Center on Media, Crime and Justice, John Jay College of Criminal Justice|access-date=May 31, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505060744/http://www.thecrimereport.org/news/inside-criminal-justice/2016-03-trump-on-crime-tough-talk-few-specifics|archive-date=May 5, 2016|url-status=dead}} Trump has stated that he would be "tough on crime" and criticized Barack Obama's and Hillary Clinton's criminal justice reform proposals.{{cite web|url=http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/may/26/donald-trump/donald-trump-wrong-hillary-clinton-wants-release-a/|title=Donald Trump wrong that Hillary Clinton wants to release all violent criminals from prison|website=PolitiFact|date=May 26, 2016}} When asked about specific criminal justice reforms, Trump reportedly often changes the subject back to supporting police or vague answers about needing to be "tough." In January 2016, Trump said that along with veterans, "the most mistreated people in this country are police."{{cite web|url=http://www.c-span.org/video/?c4577615/trump-mistreated-people-country-police-veterans|title=Trump: The most mistreated people in this country are police and veterans|publisher=C-SPAN|access-date=June 1, 2016}}

Trump supports the use of "stop and frisk" tactics, of the kind once used in New York City.Julia Craven, [https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-crime-chicago-comments_us_56e1d8d9e4b0860f99d84542 Donald Trump on Crime in Chicago: You Have To Be Tough On 'These People'], HuffPost (March 10, 2016).{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-idUSKCN11R2NZ|title=Trump praises 'stop-and-frisk' police tactic|date=September 21, 2016|newspaper=Reuters|access-date=September 21, 2016}} In 2000, Trump also rejected as elitist and naive the arguments of criminal justice reformers that the U.S. criminal justice system puts too many criminals in jail. Trump is in favor of at least one mandatory sentence, where using a gun to commit a crime results in a five-year sentence.{{cite web|url=https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/second-amendment-rights |title=Second Amendment Rights|publisher=Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.|access-date=May 31, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107050849/https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/second-amendment-rights|archive-date=January 7, 2016|url-status=dead}}

Trump on several occasions asserted that crime was rising in the United States.{{cite web|url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/de1817b5-0662-3ac7-bc55-d0e0c7cc0049/donald-trump-actually-read.html?nhp=1|title=Donald Trump actually read his victory speech from a teleprompter. Here's the transcript|website=Yahoo News|access-date=June 8, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808150618/https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/de1817b5-0662-3ac7-bc55-d0e0c7cc0049/donald-trump-actually-read.html?nhp=1|archive-date=August 8, 2016|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/aug/30/donald-trump/donald-trump-wrong-inner-city-crime-reaching-recor/|title=Trump wrong that inner-city crime is reaching record levels|access-date=August 30, 2016}}{{cite tweet |last=Trump |first=Donald J. |author-link= Donald Trump|user=realDonaldTrump |number=752834632907943936 |date= 12 July 2016|title=Crime is out of control, and rapidly getting worse. Look what is going on in Chicago and our inner cities. Not good! |access-date=August 30, 2016}}{{cite tweet |last= Trump|first= Donald J.|author-link=Donald Trump |user= realDonaldTrump|number=759450053379579905 |date= July 30, 2016 |title=Violent crime is rising across the United States, yet the DNC convention ignored it. Crime reduction will be one of my top priorities. |access-date=August 30, 2016 }}{{Cite web |url=https://www.vox.com/2016/6/7/11880448/donald-trump-victory-speech-transcript|title=Donald Trump actually read his victory speech from a teleprompter. Here's the transcript|last=Golshan|first=Tara|date=June 8, 2016 |website=Vox|access-date=August 30, 2016}} Trump's assertions that crime was rising were false; in fact, both violent and property crimes declined consistently declined in the U.S. from the early 1990s until 2014.Louis Jacobson, [http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jun/09/donald-trump/donald-trump-said-crime-rising-its-not-and-hasnt-b/ Donald Trump said, 'Crime is rising.' It's not (and hasn't been for decades)], PolitiFact (June 9, 2016). Trump's claim that "inner-city crime is reaching record levels" received a "pants-on-fire" rating from PolitiFact. As president, Trump reiterated in February 2017 the false claim that crime was rising, saying, "the murder rate in our country is the highest it's been in 47 years."{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/true-crime/wp/2017/02/07/trump-makes-false-statement-about-u-s-murder-rate-to-sheriffs-group/|title=Trump makes false statement about U.S. murder rate to sheriffs' group|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=2017-02-07}}

In May 2016, Trump stated that the cities of Oakland and Ferguson are "among the most dangerous in the world".Draper, Robert. [http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/05/22/magazine/donald-trump-primary-win.html "Mr. Trump's Wild Ride"], The New York Times Magazine (May 18, 2016): "there are places in America that are among the most dangerous in the world. You go to places like Oakland. Or Ferguson. The crime numbers are worse. Seriously." In response, CBS News in San Francisco reported that the murder rates in Oakland and Baghdad are comparable,[http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/video/category/news-politics/3402075-trump-gets-flak-for-crack-about-oakland-being-most-dangerous-city/ "Trump Gets Flak For Crack About Oakland Being 'Most Dangerous' City"], KPIX-TV (May 18, 2016): "In Baghdad it's 32 murders per 100,000 people...In Oakland it's 25 per 100,000, 32 versus 25, so Baghdad/Oakland, not out of the ballparkTrum according to the statistics." but PolitiFact rated Trump's claim false given that "homicide rates alone are not enough to gauge whether a city is dangerous or not".{{cite web|url=http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/may/25/donald-trump/donald-trumps-false-claim-oakland-ferguson-are-amo/|title=Donald Trump's false claim that Oakland, Ferguson are 'among the most dangerous in the world'|website=PolitiFact|date=May 30, 2016}}

On November 22, 2015, Trump retweeted a graphic with purported statistics—cited to a nonexistent "Crime Statistics Bureau"—which claimed that African Americans were responsible for 81% of the homicides of White Americans and that police were responsible for 1% of black homicides compared to 4% of white homicides. Trump's retweet earned PolitiFact's "Pants on Fire" rating and was called "grossly inaccurate" by FactCheck.org the next day.{{cite web|url=http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/nov/23/donald-trump/trump-tweet-blacks-white-homicide-victims/|title=Trump's Pants on Fire tweet that blacks killed 81% of white homicide victims|website=PolitiFact|access-date=May 30, 2016}}{{cite web|author=Robert Farley|url=http://www.factcheck.org/2015/11/trump-retweets-bogus-crime-graphic/|title=Trump Retweets Bogus Crime Graphic|website=FactCheck.org|publisher=Annenberg Public Policy Center|date=November 23, 2015}} Blacks were actually responsible for only 15% of white homicides according to FBI data for 2014. The breakdown of the racial differences in police killings in Trump's retweet was also inaccurate. Based on the percentages, the number of whites killed by police would be almost 4 times greater than the number of blacks. Data from The Washington Post for 2009 to 2013 showed a ratio of 1.5 white deaths by police for each black death. A separate estimate by Peter Moskos, associate professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice attributed 10% of white homicides to police and 4% to police for blacks. When asked about the statistics, Trump maintained that the statistics came "from sources that are very credible."

{{See also|Federal drug policy of the United States}}

Trump's views on drug policy have shifted dramatically over time.Emily Gray Brosious, [http://extract.suntimes.com/news/10/153/6390/dramatic-evolution-donald-trump-marijuana-drug-policy-reform-rhetoric The dramatic evolution of Donald Trump's drug policy rhetoric] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314103541/http://extract.suntimes.com/news/10/153/6390/dramatic-evolution-donald-trump-marijuana-drug-policy-reform-rhetoric |date=March 14, 2016 }}, Chicago Sun-Times (October 28, 2015).

At a luncheon hosted by the Miami Herald in April 1990, Trump told a crowd of 700 people that U.S. drug enforcement policy was "a joke," and that: "We're losing badly the war on drugs. You have to legalize drugs to win that war. You have to take the profit away from these drug czars."Asawin Suebsaeng, [http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/08/03/donald-trump-legalize-all-the-drugs.html Wayback Machine: Donald Trump: Legalize ALL the Drugs], The Daily Beast (August 3, 2015).[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=19900414&id=eUoeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EHoEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4675,4533445&hl=en Donald Trump: Legalize Drugs], Sarasota Herald-Tribune (April 14, 1990).

In his campaign for the presidency in 2015 and 2016, however, Trump adopted "drug warrior" positions and has sought advice on the issue from William J. Bennett, who served as the U.S. first "drug czar" in the 1980s "and has remained a proponent of harsh 1980s-style drug war tactics."Christopher Ingraham, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/03/03/donald-trump-thinks-a-wall-will-solve-the-nations-heroin-problem/ Donald Trump's drug policy is an alarming throwback to the 1980s], The Washington Post (March 3, 2016). Trump told Sean Hannity in June 2015 that he opposes marijuana legalization and that "I feel strongly about that." Trump also claims to have personally never used controlled substances of any kind.

Trump has voiced support for medical marijuana, saying that he is "a hundred percent in favor" because "I know people that have serious problems...and...it really, really does help them."Jon Gettman, [http://www.hightimes.com/read/pot-matters-trump-marijuana Pot Matters: Trump on Marijuana] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160704065458/http://www.hightimes.com/read/pot-matters-trump-marijuana |date=July 4, 2016 }}, High Times (February 12, 2016). When asked about Colorado (where recreational use of marijuana is legal), Trump softened his previously expressed views and essentially said that states should be able to decide on whether marijuana for recreational purposes should be legal.{{cite web |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/10/29/trump-wants-marijuana-legalization-decided-at-the-state-level/ |title=Trump softens position on marijuana legalization |author=Jenna Johnson|date=October 29, 2015|newspaper=The Washington Post|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151030153150/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/10/29/trump-wants-marijuana-legalization-decided-at-the-state-level/|archive-date=October 30, 2015|url-status=live}}

The administration organized the Marijuana Policy Coordination Committee in 2018.{{citation|newspaper=The Hill|title=Trump tasked multi-agency committee with countering pro-marijuana message: report|author=Megan Keller|date=August 29, 2018|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/404187-trump-tasked-multi-agency-committee-with-countering-pro-marijuana/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180829193916/https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/404187-trump-tasked-multi-agency-committee-with-countering-pro-marijuana/|archive-date=August 29, 2018|url-status=live}}

In 2024, Trump endorsed decriminalization of marijuana in Florida. On full legalization of marijuana, he suggested it would be inevitable in the state regardless of his personal stance on the issue, and instead advocated regulations restricting its use in public spaces.{{cite web | url=https://www.firstpost.com/world/trump-backs-marijuana-decriminalisation-opposes-arrests-for-small-amounts-13810240.html | title=Trump backs marijuana decriminalisation, opposes arrests for small amounts | date=August 31, 2024 }}

On Jan. 21, 2025, a day into his second term, Trump pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the Silk Road dark Web marketplace for illegal drugs, including opioids, such as fentanyl, incapacitating agents and other narcotics.{{cite news |title=Trump pardons Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht - CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-pardons-silk-road-founder-ross-ulbricht/ |access-date=7 February 2025 |work=www.cbsnews.com |agency=AP |date=22 January 2025}} During a Dec. 2023 meeting at Mar-a-Lago, Angela McArdle, chairwoman of the Libertarian Party, told Trump that "he needed to free Ulbricht if he wanted Libertarian support" for his 2024 campaign.{{cite news |last1=Collins |first1=Eliza |last2=Viswanatha |first2=Aruna |last3=Gurman |first3=Sadie |title=How Silk Road Founder Ross Ulbricht Got a Pardon From Trump |url=https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/ross-ulbricht-silk-road-trump-pardon-16f2e7a9 |access-date=7 February 2025 |work=Wall Street Journal |date=25 January 2025}}

{{Main|Gun politics in the United States}}

In his 2000 book The America We Deserve, Trump wrote that he generally opposed gun control, but supported the Federal Assault Weapons Ban and supported a "slightly longer waiting period to purchase a gun."{{cite book | title=The America We Deserve | author=Donald Trump | year=2000 | publisher=Macmillan | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PV6qZU_xev8C&pg=124| isbn=9781580631686 }}Trip Gabriel, [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/20/us/politics/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-gun-control.html?_r=0 Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Set for Clash on Gun Control], The New York Times (May 19, 2016). In his book, Trump also criticized the gun lobby, saying: "The Republicans walk the N.R.A. line and refuse even limited restrictions." In 2008, Trump opposed hunting-education classes in schools and called the "thought of voluntarily putting guns in the classroom...a really bad plan."{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-said-hillary-clinton-would-make-a-good-president-in-2008-1468281714|title=Donald Trump Said Hillary Clinton Would 'Make a Good President' in 2008|last1=Rothfeld|first1=Michael|date=July 12, 2016|last2=Maremont|first2=Mark|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|issn=0099-9660|access-date=July 12, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160712012806/https://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-said-hillary-clinton-would-make-a-good-president-in-2008-1468281714|archive-date=July 12, 2016|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}

While campaigning for the presidency Trump reversed some of his positions on gun issues, calling for the expansion of gun rights. In 2015 he described himself as a staunch advocate of the Second Amendment{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/donald-trump-believe-candidate-stands-10-issues |author1=Lisa Desjardins |author2=Nathalie Boyd |title=What does Donald Trump believe? Where the candidate stands on 10 issues|work=PBS NewsHour|date=June 16, 2015}}Sopan Deb, [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/election-2016-donald-trump-takes-on-gun-control-mass-shootings/ Donald Trump takes on gun control, mass shootings], CBS News (October 5, 2015). and said concealed carry "is a right, not a privilege." He proposed eliminating prohibitions on assault weapons, military-style weapons and high-capacity magazines (which Trump described as "scary sounding phrases" used by gun control advocates "to confuse people"), as well as making concealed carry permits valid nationwide, rather than on the current state-to-state basis.Katie Zezima, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/09/18/trump-plan-calls-for-nationwide-concealed-carry-and-an-end-to-gun-bans/ Trump plan calls for nationwide concealed carry and an end to gun bans], The Washington Post (September 18, 2015). At his campaign website he called for an overhaul of the current federal background check system, arguing that "Too many states are failing to put criminal and mental health records into the system."{{cite news |author1=Jon Keller |title=On The Issues: Guns And The Race For President |url=http://boston.cbslocal.com/2016/03/08/gun-control-second-amendment-nra-donald-trump-hillary-clinton-ted-cruz-marco-rubio-bernie-sanders-john-kasich/ |work=CBS Boston |date=March 8, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310104315/http://boston.cbslocal.com/2016/03/08/gun-control-second-amendment-nra-donald-trump-hillary-clinton-ted-cruz-marco-rubio-bernie-sanders-john-kasich/ |archive-date=March 10, 2016 |language=en-US |url-status=live}}

On the campaign trail in 2015, Trump praised the National Rifle Association of America (NRA),{{cite news |author1=Brianne Pfannenstiel |title=Trump in Iowa: More guns could stop mass shootings |url=http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2015/12/05/trump-iowa-more-guns-could-stop-mass-shootings/76838578/ |work=Des Moines Register |date=December 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210311163100/https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2015/12/05/trump-iowa-more-guns-could-stop-mass-shootings/76838578/ |archive-date=March 11, 2021 |language=en-US |url-status=live}} and received the group's endorsement after becoming the presumptive Republican nominee.Beth Reinhard, [https://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-expected-to-win-nra-endorsement-1463769758 Donald Trump Wins NRA Endorsement], The Wall Street Journal (May 20, 2016). He asserted that the presence of more guns in schools and public places could have stopped mass shootings such as those in 2015 in Paris; in San Bernardino, California; and at Umpqua Community College.{{cite web |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-san-bernardino-victims-couldve-protected-themselves-if-they-had-guns/|title=Trump: San Bernardino victims "could've protected themselves if they had guns"|work=CBS News|date=December 5, 2015}} Trump supported barring people on the government's terrorist watch list from purchasing weapons, saying in 2015: "If somebody is on a watch list and an enemy of state and we know it's an enemy of state, I would keep them away, absolutely." On this position, Trump departed from the position of gun-rights groups and most of his 2016 Republican rivals for the presidency and supported a stance backed by Senate Democrats. Trump said that he holds a New York concealed carry permitAnita Balakrishnan, [https://www.cnbc.com/2015/10/28/trump-i-carry-a-gun-on-occasion.html Trump: I carry a gun on occasion], CNBC (October 28, 2015). and that "I carry on occasion, sometimes a lot. I like to be unpredictable." A 1987 Associated Press story said that he held a handgun permit at that time.

In January 2016, Trump said: "I will get rid of gun-free zones on schools, and—you have to—and on military bases...My first day, it gets signed, okay? My first day. There's no more gun-free zones."{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/01/08/donald-trump-i-will-get-rid-of-gun-free-zones-on-schools/|title=Donald Trump: 'I will get rid of gun-free zones on schools'|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=May 21, 2016}} Trump could not eliminate gun-free school zones by executive order, however, since such zones were created by a federal law that can only be reversed by Congress. In May 2016, Trump made ambiguous comments on guns in classrooms, saying: "I don't want to have guns in classrooms. Although, in some cases, teachers should have guns in classrooms."Janell Ross, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/05/22/donald-trumps-stance-on-guns-in-classrooms-yes-no-and-probably/ Donald Trump's stance on guns in classrooms – yes, no and probably], The Washington Post (May 22, 2016). In May 2016, Trump accused Hillary Clinton of lying when she claimed that "Donald Trump would force schools to allow guns in classrooms on his first day in office."{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/trump-vows-end-gun-free-zones-amid-string/story?id=39305921|title=Trump's Gun Views in Spotlight Amid Accidental Shootings|date=May 24, 2016|publisher=ABC News|access-date=May 24, 2016}} According to The Washington Post fact-checker, Clinton's statement was accurate.{{cite web|author=Michelle Ye Hee Lee|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/05/18/clinton-campaigns-claim-that-trump-would-force-schools-to-allow-guns-in-classrooms/|title=Clinton campaign's claim that Trump would 'force schools to allow guns in classrooms'|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=May 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160519080203/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/05/18/clinton-campaigns-claim-that-trump-would-force-schools-to-allow-guns-in-classrooms/|archive-date=May 19, 2016|url-status=live}}

In June 2016, Trump said "it would have been a beautiful, beautiful sight" to see Omar Mateen shot in the head by an armed patron in the Orlando nightclub shooting, reiterating his stance that more people should be armed in public places.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3FWUoD444o|title=Donald Trump's blistering words toward Orlando shooter|last=Trump|first=Donald J.|date=June 17, 2016|work=CNN|via=YouTube|access-date=June 18, 2016}} A few days later, after two top officials of the NRA challenged the notion that drinking clubgoers should be armed, Trump reversed his position, saying that he "obviously" meant that additional guards or employees should have been armed in the nightclub.{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-guards-orlando-club-armed-clubgoers/story?id=39984788|title=Trump Contradicts Previous Stance on Guns at Pulse Nightclub|date=June 20, 2016|publisher=ABC News|access-date=June 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160620201202/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-guards-orlando-club-armed-clubgoers/story?id=39984788|archive-date=June 20, 2016|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/trump-guns-nra-224533|title=Trump clarifies stance on guns after NRA criticism|website=Politico|date=June 20, 2016 |access-date=June 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160620132718/http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/trump-guns-nra-224533|archive-date=June 20, 2016|url-status=live}} Security personnel and other staffers at a number of Trump's hotels and golf courses told ABC News that patrons are not permitted to carry guns on the property. A Trump spokesman denied this, saying that licensed persons are permitted to carry guns on the premises.Christopher Good & Candace Smith, [https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-gun-free-zones-guns-allowed-properties/story?id=39266544 Donald Trump Is Against 'Gun-Free Zones' But Guns Aren't Allowed on Many of His Properties, Staff Says], ABC News (May 20, 2016).

At a rally on August 9, 2016, Trump accused his opponent of wanting to "essentially abolish the Second Amendment", and went on: "By the way, and if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don't know." These comments were interpreted by critics as suggesting violence against Clinton or her appointees, but Trump's campaign stated that he was referring to gun rights advocates' "great political power" as a voting bloc.{{cite web | last=Rafferty | first=Andrew | title=Trump '2nd Amendment' Comment Seen as Threat Against Clinton | website=NBC News | date=August 9, 2016 | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/trump-campaign-defends-2nd-amendment-comment-n626601 | access-date=August 17, 2016}}

One month after his inauguration, Trump reversed an Obama-era regulation that had been intended to prevent weapons purchases by certain people with mental health problems. Had the regulation been allowed to take effect, it would have added 75,000 names, including the names of those who receive federal financial assistance due to a mental illness or who have financial proxies due to a mental illness, to a background check database.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-signs-bill-revoking-obama-era-gun-checks-people-mental-n727221|title=Trump signs bill revoking Obama-era gun checks for mental illness|last=Vitali|first=Ali|date=28 February 2017|website=NBC News|access-date=2019-08-23}}

Following the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in February 2018, Trump met with students and others at the White House for a "listening session". Trump suggested arming up to 20% of the teachers to stop "maniacs" from attacking students. The following day Trump called a "gun free" school a "magnet" for criminals and tweeted, "Highly trained, gun adept, teachers/coaches would solve the problem instantly, before police arrive. GREAT DETERRENT!"{{cite web|title='Gun free' schools are magnets for 'bad people': Trump|url=https://nz.news.yahoo.com/apos-gun-free-apos-schools-131408755.html|website=Yahoo! News|access-date=February 22, 2018|archive-date=October 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031094709/https://nz.news.yahoo.com/apos-gun-free-apos-schools-131408755.html|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Trump suggests arming teachers as a solution to increase school safety|url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/21/politics/trump-listening-sessions-parkland-students/index.html|website=CNN|date=February 21, 2018|access-date=February 22, 2018}}

In August 2019, following mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and in Dayton, Ohio, Trump declined to support universal background checks, saying that existing background checks are already "very, very strong," even though "we have sort of missing areas and areas that don't complete the whole circle." He also indicated that he was not interested in working on bipartisan compromises.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/20/us/politics/trump-gun-control-nra.html|title=N.R.A. Gets Results on Gun Laws in One Phone Call With Trump|last1=Haberman|first1=Maggie|date=2019-08-20|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-08-23|last2=Karni|first2=Annie|issn=0362-4331|last3=Hakim|first3=Danny}}

In a speech at a 2023 NRA convention, Trump expressed support for national concealed carry reciprocity which would allow a person with a concealed carry permit in one state to have their permit apply across state lines nationwide.{{Cite web |first1=Eric |last1=Bradner |first2=Steve |last2=Contorno |first3=Kristen |last3=Holmes |date=2023-04-14 |title=GOP 2024 hopefuls attend NRA convention following mass shootings in Kentucky and Tennessee {{!}} CNN Politics |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/14/politics/nra-convention-republican-2024-presidential-race/index.html |access-date=2023-05-21 |website=CNN|language=en}}

{{further|List of federal judges appointed by Donald Trump}}

According to The New York Times, many of Trump's statements on legal topics are "extemporaneous and resist conventional legal analysis," with some appearing "to betray ignorance of fundamental legal concepts."

{{Main|Donald Trump Supreme Court candidates}}

Trump stated he wanted to replace U.S. Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia, who had died, with "a person of similar views and principles".{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/07/21/full-text-donald-trumps-prepared-remarks-accepting-the-republican-nomination/|title=Donald Trump's prepared speech to the Republican National convention, annotated|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=July 21, 2016}} He released a list of eleven potential picks to replace Scalia.{{cite web|url=http://bigstory.ap.org/c68d11041efe47cc918fe3d7d2da4edb|title=Trump unveils list of potential picks for Supreme Court seat|website=The Big Story|access-date=May 19, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602163331/http://bigstory.ap.org/c68d11041efe47cc918fe3d7d2da4edb|archive-date=June 2, 2016|url-status=dead}} The jurists were widely considered to be conservative.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/19/us/politics/donald-trump-supreme-court-nominees.html|title=Donald Trump Releases List of Possible Supreme Court Picks|last1=Rappeport|first1=Alan|date=May 18, 2016 | last2 = Savage | first2 = Charlie | newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331|access-date=May 19, 2016 |author-link2=Charlie Savage (author) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160722041723/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/19/us/politics/donald-trump-supreme-court-nominees.html |archive-date=July 22, 2016 |url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2016/05/18/478609623/trumps-supreme-court-list-might-reassure-conservatives-but-leaves-off-big-names|title=Trump's Supreme Court List Might Reassure Conservatives, But Leaves Off Big Names|website=NPR|date=May 18, 2016|access-date=May 19, 2016|last1=Totenberg|first1=Nina}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-05-18/trump-lists-11-possible-u-s-supreme-court-successors-to-scalia|title=Trump Goes Conventional With Conservative Supreme Court List|newspaper=Bloomberg|date=May 18, 2016 |access-date=May 19, 2016}} All are white, and eight of the eleven are men. Trump had previously insisted that he would seek guidance from conservative groups such as the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation when it came to picking Supreme Court candidates. Several of the judges listed by Trump had questioned abortion rights. Six of the eleven judges had clerked for conservative Supreme Court justices.

Trump has claimed that he "would probably appoint" justices to the Supreme Court who "would look very seriously" at the Hillary Clinton email controversy "because it's a criminal activity."{{cite web|author=Nolan D. McCaskill|url=https://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/03/trump-supreme-court-clinton-email-221377|title=Trump: I'd pick justices who would look at Clinton's email scandal|website=Politico|date=March 30, 2016}} However, under the U.S. Constitution, Supreme Court justices "are neither investigators nor prosecutors."

Trump criticized Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts, a George W. Bush appointee, as a "nightmare for conservatives," citing Roberts' vote in the 2015 decision in King v. Burwell, which upheld provisions of the Affordable Care Act.{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-calls-chief-justice-john-roberts-nightmare/story?id=36336627|title=Trump Calls Chief Justice Roberts a 'Nightmare for Conservatives'|date=January 17, 2016|publisher=ABC News|access-date=May 26, 2016}} He also blamed Roberts for the June 2015 Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, apparently in error, since in that case Roberts actually dissented from the majority opinion.{{cite web|url=http://www.factcheck.org/2016/02/cruz-distorts-rubios-stance-on-gay-marriage/|title=Cruz Distorts Rubio's Stance on Gay Marriage|website=FactCheck.org|date=February 16, 2016|access-date=May 26, 2016}}

In February 2016, Trump called on the Senate to stop Obama from filling the vacant seat on the Supreme Court.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/live/supreme-court-justice-antonin-scalia-dies-at-79/at-debate-trump-calls-on-republicans-to-delay-delay-delay/|title=At Debate, Donald Trump Calls on Republicans to 'Delay, Delay, Delay'|last=Corasaniti|first=Nick|date=February 13, 2016|newspaper=The New York Times}}

An analysis by FiveThirtyEight predicted that, under the assumption that Scalia's vacant seat on the Court would not be filled before Trump's presidency, and taking account of the advanced age of three of the sitting justices, that a Trump presidency would move the Supreme Court "rightward toward its most conservative position in recent memory".{{Cite web|url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/clinton-and-trump-are-both-promising-an-extreme-supreme-court/|title=Clinton And Trump Are Both Promising An Extreme Supreme Court|last=Roeder|first=Oliver|date=August 1, 2016|access-date=August 1, 2016}}

Trump ultimately appointed three justices to the court: Neil Gorsuch to replace Scalia, Brett Kavanaugh to replace Anthony Kennedy, and Amy Coney Barrett to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The appointments of Trump's nominees shifted the court to a strongly conservative position. In the period after Trump left office, the court issued several conservative rulings, including declaring that the constitution does not protect abortion, in which Trump's appointees contributed to the majority.{{Cite web |last=Biskupic |first=Joan |author-link=Joan Biskupic |date=July 26, 2021 |title=Trump's appointees are turning the Supreme Court to the right with different tactics |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/26/politics/trump-kavanaugh-gorsuch-barrett-supreme-court/index.html |access-date=September 3, 2023 |website=CNN}}{{Cite web |last1=Hurley |first1=Lawrence |last2=Chung |first2=Andrew |date=July 1, 2022 |title=Explainer: How the conservative Supreme Court is reshaping U.S. law |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/how-conservative-supreme-court-is-reshaping-us-law-2022-07-01/ |access-date=September 3, 2023 |website=Reuters}}

Since taking office, Trump has made a series of "escalating attacks on the federal judiciary" in response to judicial decisions against him.Abby Phillip, Robert Barnes & Ed O'Keefe, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/supreme-court-nominee-gorsuch-says-trumps-attacks-on-judiciary-are-demoralizing/2017/02/08/64e03fe2-ee3f-11e6-9662-6eedf1627882_story.html Supreme Court nominee Gorsuch says Trump's attacks on judiciary are 'demoralizing'], The Washington Post (February 8, 2017). After a federal district judge, James Robart, issued a stay of Trump's executive order on travel, immigration, and refugees, Trump disparaged him on Twitter, referring to him as a "the so-called judge" and writing: "[He] put our country in such peril. If something happens blame him and court system. People pouring in. Bad!"Eric Bradner and Jeff Zeleny, [http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/05/politics/trump-twitter-attacks-judge/ Trump: 'If something happens blame' the judge], CNN (February 5, 2017).

While presidents in the past have sometimes offered muted criticism of judicial opinions, Trump's personal attacks on individual judges are seen as unprecedented in American history.Jeffrey Rosen, [https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/02/a-historical-precedent-for-trumps-attack-on-judges/516144/ Not Even Andrew Jackson Went as Far as Trump in Attacking the Courts], The Atlantic (February 2017). Trump's remarks prompted criticism from his own nominee, Gorsuch, who told Senator Richard Blumenthal that Trump's statements were "disheartening" and "demoralizing" to the federal judiciary. A number of legal scholars feared that Trump's conduct could undermine public confidence in the courts and endanger the independence of the judiciary.Corky Siemaszko, [https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/experts-trump-undermines-judiciary-twitter-attack-judge-robart-n717626 Experts: Trump Undermines Judiciary With Twitter Attack on Judge Robart], NBC News (February 7, 2017).

{{Main|Term limits in the United States}}

In October 2016, Trump said that he would push for a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on members of Congress, so that members of the House of Representatives could serve for a maximum of six years and senators for a maximum of twelve years. Trump also pledged to re-institute a ban on executive branch officials from lobbying for five years after leaving government service and said that he supported Congress instituting a similar five-year lobbying ban of its own, applicable to former members and staff.{{cite news|last1=Vitali|first1=Ali|title=Donald Trump: I Will Push Term Limits to Tell Congress 'You're Fired'|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/trump-proposes-term-limits-congress-n668466|access-date=October 19, 2016|work=NBC News|date=October 18, 2016}}{{cite web|title=Trump Pledges To Drain The Swamp and Impose Congressional Term Limits|url=https://www.donaldjtrump.com/press-releases/trump-pledges-to-drain-the-swamp|publisher=Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.|access-date=October 19, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018233021/https://www.donaldjtrump.com/press-releases/trump-pledges-to-drain-the-swamp|archive-date=October 18, 2016|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|title=Trump calls for congressional term limits, lobbyist crackdown|url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-calls-for-congressional-term-limits-lobbyist-crackdown|access-date=October 19, 2016|publisher=Fox News|date=October 18, 2016}}Catherine Ho, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/10/17/trump-proposes-five-year-ban-on-executive-branch-officials-and-lawmakers-who-want-to-become-lobbyists/ Trump proposes five-year ban on executive branch officials and lawmakers who want to become lobbyists], The Washington Postt (October 17, 2016). Under current "cooling-off period" regulations, former U.S. representatives are required to wait one year before they can lobby Congress, former U.S. senators are required to two years, and former executive-branch officials "must wait either two years or one year before lobbying their former agency, depending on how senior they were."

On multiple occasions since taking office in 2017, Trump has questioned presidential term limits and in public remarks has talked about serving beyond the limits of the Twenty-second Amendment. For instance, during an April 2019 White House event for the Wounded Warrior Project, he joked that he would remain president "at least for 10 or 14 years".{{cite web |last=Einbinder |first=Nicole |title=Trump suggested his supporters want him to serve more than 2 terms as president |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-suggests-supporters-serve-more-two-terms-president-2019-6 |website=Business Insider |access-date=September 14, 2019 |date=June 17, 2019}}{{cite web |last=Croucher |first=Shane |title=Donald Trump Posts Image on Twitter, Instagram Joking That He'll Stand in 2024 |url=https://www.newsweek.com/trump-twitter-instagram-joke-third-term-2024-1458686 |website=Newsweek|access-date=September 14, 2019 |date=September 11, 2019}}

During a rally in June 2020, President Trump told supporters that he thinks flag burning should be punishable by one year in prison.{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-06-24/column-trump-revives-banning-flag-burning|title=Trump revives a lower of an issue: banning flag burning|first=Robin|last=Abcarian|work=Los Angeles Times|date=2020-06-24|access-date=2020-06-26}}

During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump proposed that the United States should "open up" its libel laws to make it easier to sue newspapers that write "purposely negative and horrible and false articles".{{Cite web |last=Gold |first=Hadas |author-link=Hadas Gold |date=2016-02-26 |title=Donald Trump: We're going to 'open up' libel laws |url=https://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/02/donald-trump-libel-laws-219866 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20160227001333/http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/02/donald-trump-libel-laws-219866 |archive-date=2016-02-27 |access-date=2025-03-01 |website=Politico |language=en}}

In 2015 during a debate, Trump said, "This is a country where we speak English, not Spanish."{{Cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/donald-trumps-english-only-campaign-228559|first=Shane|last=Goldmacher|date=September 23, 2016|title=Trump's English-only campaign|website=Politico|access-date=January 27, 2020}}

In June 2019, Senator Steve Daines proposed reviving the previously unsuccessful language amendment, and in doing so received the support of the Trump administration.{{cite web|url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/06/trump-backs-ban-flag-burning-no-brainer.html|title=Trump Backs Measure to Ban Flag Burning: 'A No Brainer!'|publisher=Slate|first=Daniel|last=Politi|date=June 15, 2019}}

On March 1, 2025, Trump signed an executive order designating English as the country's official language.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/02/trump-signs-executive-order-designating-english-as-official-language-of-us|title=Trump signs executive order designating English as official language of US|work=The Guardian |agency=Associated Press|date=March 2, 2025}}

{{Main|Violence and video games}}

Trump has voiced his opposition to video game violence. After it was erroneously reported that the Sandy Hook shooter frequently played violent video games, Trump tweeted, "Video game violence & glorification must be stopped—it is creating monsters!"{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/280812064539283457|title=Donald J. Trump on Twitter|website=Twitter|access-date=May 26, 2016}}{{cite web|author=Chris Morris|url=https://www.yahoo.com/tech/bp/donald-trump--not-so-great-for-gamers-201007482.html|publisher=Plugged In (publication)/Yahoo! Tech|title=Donald Trump: Not so great for gamers|date=August 10, 2015}}

After the 2019 El Paso shooting, Trump said in a speech, "We must stop the glorification of violence in our society. This includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace. It is too easy today for troubled youth to surround themselves with a culture that celebrates violence. We must stop or substantially reduce this and it has to begin immediately."{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/fact-check-trump-suggests-video-games-blame-mass-shootings-n1039411|title=Fact check: Trump suggests video games to blame for mass shootings|website=NBC News|date=August 5, 2019 |access-date=2019-10-08}}

Trump supports online gambling, based on the following reasoning: "This has to happen because many other countries are doing it and like usual the U.S. is just missing out."{{cite magazine|author=Nathan Vardi |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanvardi/2011/10/20/donald-trump-internet-gambling-mogul/|magazine=Forbes|title=Donald Trump: Internet Gambling Mogul|date=October 20, 2011}}

{{Main|List of people granted executive clemency by Donald Trump}}

Trump has said multiple times that if he were reelected in 2024, he would Pardon Jan 6 rioters.{{Cite news |last1=Pager |first1=Tyler |date=January 30, 2022 |title=Trump suggests that if he is reelected, he will pardon Jan. 6 Capitol rioters |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/01/29/trump-jan6-protesters/ |access-date=January 30, 2022 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=January 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131120245/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/01/29/trump-jan6-protesters/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last1=Papenfuss |first1=Mary |date=June 17, 2022 |title=Trump Says He'll 'Look Very Seriously' At Pardoning Jan. 6 Defendants If Reelected |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-nashville-very-very-seriously-pardons-jan-6-insurrection_n_62acecfbe4b0cdccbe5d9bc1 |access-date=June 18, 2022 |website=HuffPost |language=en |archive-date=June 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220621022230/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-nashville-very-very-seriously-pardons-jan-6-insurrection_n_62acecfbe4b0cdccbe5d9bc1 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last1=Papenfuss |first1=Mary |date=2022-11-05 |title='Let Them All Go Now': Trump Calls For Release Of Everyone Arrested In Jan. 6 Riot |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-release-jan-6-prisoners-unfair_n_6366cea1e4b05f221e7a9335 |access-date=2022-11-06 |website=HuffPost |language=en |archive-date=November 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221106162718/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-release-jan-6-prisoners-unfair_n_6366cea1e4b05f221e7a9335 |url-status=live }}

On January 20, 2025, Upon assuming the presidency again, Trump issued roughly 1,500 pardons and 14 commutations to people charged in connection to the January 6 United States Capitol attack.{{cite web |author1=Reilly, Ryan J. |title=Trump pardons roughly 1,500 criminal defendants charged in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/trump-set-pardon-defendants-stormed-capitol-jan-6-2021-rcna187735 |website=NBC News |publisher=NBCUniversal Media, LLC |access-date=20 January 2025 |date=20 January 2025}}

:See also Climate change and pollution, above.

A 2016 report in Scientific American graded Trump and three other top presidential candidates—Hillary Clinton, Gary Johnson, and Jill Stein—on science policy, based on their responses to a twenty-question ScienceDebate.org survey. Trump "came in last on all counts" in grading, with scientists and researchers faulting him for a lack of knowledge or appreciation of scientific issues.Christine Gorman & Ryan F. Mandelbaum, [http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/grading-the-presidential-candidates-on-science/ Grading the Presidential Candidates on Science: Scientific American evaluates responses from Clinton, Trump, Johnson and Stein to 20 questions], Scientific American (September 26, 2016).

{{Main|Space policy of the first Donald Trump administration}}

File:President Trump Signs NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017 (33443482781).jpg

As of October 2016, one of Trump's policy advisors declared that, under Trump, NASA would recreate the National Space Council and pursue a goal of "human exploration of the solar system by the end of the century", to drive technology developments to a stronger degree than a crewed mission to Mars. Other goals would include shifting budget to deep space exploration from Earth science and climate research, and pursuit of small satellites and hypersonic technology.{{Cite news|url=http://spacenews.com/what-a-trump-administration-means-for-space/|title=What a Trump administration means for space |date=2016-11-09|newspaper=SpaceNews.com|access-date=2016-11-11}} A possibility of China joining the International Space Station program was also considered. A stronger role of crewed Lunar exploration is possible in NASA's quest for a crewed mission to Mars. Prior to that statement, the Trump campaign appeared to have little to no space policy at all.{{cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2016/08/trump-flip-flops-on-nasa-from-wonderful-to-like-a-third-world-nation/|title=Trump: "Look at your space program… We're like a third world nation"|date=August 8, 2016|website=Ars Technica|access-date=September 30, 2016}}

{{Main|Net neutrality in the United States}}

As of June 2016, Trump has published no tech policy proposals.Jon Swartz, [https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/2016/06/28/clinton-tech-plan-reads-like-silicon-valley-wish-list/86474144/ Clinton wants high-speed Internet in every U.S. home by 2020], USA Today (June 30, 2016). On the campaign trail, Trump frequently antagonized Silicon Valley figures,Dawn Chmielewski, [http://www.recode.net/2016/6/30/12060228/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-tech-policy Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are worlds apart on tech policy issues], Recode (June 30, 2016). using his Twitter account to lambast tech leaders such as Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Tim Cook of Apple, and Brian Chesky of Airbnb over a series of months. He is particularly concerned about the social breakdown of American culture caused by technology, and said, "the Internet and the whole computer age is really a mixed bag,"{{cite web | title = Trump: Sony has 'no courage, no guts...it's extortion' | website=Fox News | url = http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/on-the-record/2014/12/19/trump-sony-has-no-courage-no-guts-its-extortion | access-date=September 20, 2016}} having "complicated lives very greatly".{{Cite web|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/312076-trump-computers-have-complicated-lives-very-greatly/|title=Trump on Russian hacking: 'Computers have complicated lives very greatly'|first=Rebecca|last=Savransky|date=December 29, 2016|website=The Hill}}

Trump is opposed to net neutrality, asserting that it is "Obama's attack on the internet" and saying that it "will target the conservative media."Caroline Craig, [http://www.infoworld.com/article/2986220/net-neutrality/where-the-candidates-stand-on-net-neutrality.html Where the candidates stand on Net neutrality], InfoWorld (September 25, 2015).

Trump has suggested closing "certain areas" of the Internet. Regarding how this relates to freedom of speech, he added "Somebody will say, 'Oh freedom of speech, freedom of speech.' These are foolish people. We have a lot of foolish people."David Goldman, [https://money.cnn.com/2015/12/08/technology/donald-trump-internet/index.html "Donald Trump wants to 'close up' the Internet"], CNN (December 8, 2015).

The tech publication Recode reports that Trump has made no public statements on the issues of patent reform or broadband access.

The Free Press Action Fund, a group of tech policy activists, rated Trump the worst 2016 presidential candidate for "citizens' digital lives," citing his positions opposing reforming the Patriot Act, favoring Internet censorship, and opposing net neutrality.Sam Thielman, [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/14/election-2016-tech-policy-net-neutrality-bernie-sanders-donald-trump "Tech policy activists find Bernie Sanders is best bet – while Trump is the worst"], The Guardian (March 14, 2016).

{{Main|Social policy of the first Donald Trump administration}}

{{Main|Abortion in the United States}}

File:March for Life (49435741078).jpg.]]

Trump describes himself as pro-life and generally opposes abortion with some exceptions: rape, incest, and circumstances endangering the health of the mother.{{Cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/21/politics/donald-trump-republican-platform-abortion/ |title=Trump: I would change GOP platform on abortion |last=Wright |first=David |date=April 21, 2016 |work=CNN}} As a candidate, he said he believes the issue of abortion "would have been better if it were up to the states."{{Citation |title=Donald Trump clarifies his stance on abortion | date=April 2016 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-33wt9KKGxs |language=en |access-date=2022-05-09}}{{Cite news |title=Donald Trump took 5 different positions on abortion in 3 days |language=en-US |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/04/03/donald-trumps-ever-shifting-positions-on-abortion/ |access-date=2022-05-09 |issn=0190-8286}} He said he was committed to appointing justices who would overturn the ruling in Roe v. Wade.{{cite news|last=de Vogue|first=Ariane|date=November 15, 2016|title=Trump: Same-sex marriage is 'settled,' but Roe v Wade can be changed|work=60 Minutes|publisher=CBS|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/14/politics/trump-gay-marriage-abortion-supreme-court/|access-date=November 30, 2016|via=CNN}}

After Roe v. Wade was overturned in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, Trump took credit for the decision but has not stated whether he supports a federal ban or federal restrictions on abortion. During the second presidential debate in September 2024, Trump stated he would not sign a federal ban but declined to answer questions about whether he would veto such legislation.{{cite news |last1=Dixon |first1=Matt |title=Trump says he wouldn't sign a federal abortion ban while dodging veto questions |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-says-wont-sign-federal-abortion-ban-dodging-veto-questions-rcna170536 |access-date=10 November 2024 |work=NBC News |date=11 September 2024 |language=en}}

{{See also|LGBTQ rights in the United States}}

The Trump administration rolled back many existing LGBTQ protections and also introduced new policies that undermine LGBTQ rights.{{Cite web|title=Donald Trump|url=https://www.glaad.org/tap/donald-trump|date=2016-11-28|website=GLAAD|access-date=2020-05-19}}{{Cite news|title='Whiplash' Of LGBTQ Protections And Rights, From Obama To Trump|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/03/02/804873211/whiplash-of-lgbtq-protections-and-rights-from-obama-to-trump|last=Simmons-Duffin|first=Selena|date=2 March 2020|website=NPR|access-date=2020-05-19}}

{{Main|Employment discrimination law in the United States}}

In early 2017, Trump reversed an Obama-era directive that had required companies with large federal contracts to prove their compliance with LGBTQ protections.{{cite magazine|last1=Kutner|first1=Jenny|date=March 29, 2017|title=Trump Rolls Back Protections for LGBTQ Workers, Despite Recent Promises|url=https://www.vogue.com/article/trump-executive-order-rolls-back-lgbtq-protections|magazine=Vogue|access-date=6 December 2018}}

In 2018, Trump signed the United States–Mexico–Canada trade agreement with a footnote exempting the United States from complying with the agreement's call for an end to "sex-based discrimination".{{Cite web|title=Trump agrees to USMCA agreement with LGBT provisions|url=https://www.washingtonblade.com/2018/11/30/trump-agrees-to-nafta-update-with-lgbt-provisions/|date=November 30, 2018}}

The Trump administration unsuccessfully tried to eliminate nondiscrimination protections at the level of the Supreme Court, where the Justice Department intervened in three employment lawsuits—Bostock v. Clayton County; Altitude Express, Inc. v. Zarda; and Harris Funeral Homes v. EEOC—arguing that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not prohibit job discrimination based on sexual orientation{{cite news|last1=Barbash|first1=Fred|date=July 27, 2017|title=Trump administration, intervening in major LGBTQ case, says job bias law does not cover sexual orientation|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/07/27/trump-administration-intervening-in-major-lgbt-case-says-job-bias-law-does-not-cover-sexual-orientation/|access-date=August 24, 2017}}{{cite news|last1=Feuer|first1=Alan|date=July 27, 2017|title=Justice Department Says Rights Law Doesn't Protect Gays|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/27/nyregion/justice-department-gays-workplace.html|access-date=August 25, 2017}} or "transgender status."{{Cite web|title=Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court To Legalize Firing Transgender Workers|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-administration-supreme-court-transgender-workers_n_5d57254be4b056fafd0be1aa|last=Blumberg|first=Antonia|date=2019-08-16|website=HuffPost|access-date=2019-08-17}} However, despite the Trump administration's intervention, the Supreme Court ruled on these three cases on June 15, 2020, that sexual orientation and gender identity are indeed covered under existing protections for "sex discrimination".

The Affordable Care Act included an Obama-era nondiscrimination provision that explicitly entitled people to receive care regardless of sex or gender identity, but the Trump administration reversed it. On June 12, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services finalized and revealed its replacement rule. Now, healthcare providers and insurers may decide whether to serve transgender people.{{Cite news|last1=Sanger-Katz|first1=Margot|last2=Weiland |first2=Noah|date=2020-06-12|title=Trump Administration Erases Transgender Civil Rights Protections in Health Care |work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/12/us/politics/trump-transgender-rights.html|access-date=2020-06-13|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web|publisher=Department of Health and Human Services|title=Nondiscrimination in Health and Health Education Programs or Activities, Delegation of Authority (4153-01-P)|url=https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/1557-final-rule.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613001752/https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/1557-final-rule.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 13, 2020|access-date=12 June 2020}}

{{Main|Transgender rights in the United States}}

One month after taking office, Trump reversed a directive from the Obama administration that had allowed transgender students to use bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity; this reversal allowed public schools to make their own rules about gendered bathrooms.{{cite news|author1=Faith Karimi|author2=Emanuella Grinberg|title=Trump's reversal on transgender directive: How we got here|website=CNN|url=http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/23/health/transgender-bathrooms-trump-q-and-a/index.html|access-date=2017-08-03}} In 2020, the U.S. Department of Education threatened to withhold funding from Connecticut school districts that allow transgender girls to compete on girls' teams, claiming that the transgender students' participation is a violation of Title IX.{{Cite web|title=US rules against state allowing transgender athletes to compete in women's sports|url=https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/equality/499960-us-rules-against-state-allowing-transgender-athletes-to/|last=Kelley|first=Alexandra|date=2020-05-28|website=The Hill|access-date=2020-05-28}}

Six months into his presidency, Trump tweeted that transgender individuals would not be allowed to serve "in any capacity" in the U.S. military, an order that took Pentagon officials by surprise.{{cite magazine|last1=Miller|first1=Zeke|date=July 26, 2017|title=President Trump's Tweets Catch D.C. Off Guard|magazine=TIME|url=https://time.com/4874245/president-trumps-tweets-catch-d-c-off-guard/|access-date=August 24, 2017}} Eventually, in 2019, the Supreme Court—without hearing arguments or explaining its own decision—allowed the Trump administration to move ahead with the ban.{{Cite news|last=Stohr|first=Greg|date=22 January 2019|title=Supreme Court Lets Trump's Transgender Military Ban Take Effect|work=Bloomberg|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-22/supreme-court-lets-trump-s-transgender-military-ban-take-effect|access-date=22 January 2019}}{{Cite news|last=Jackson|first=Brie|date=22 January 2019|title=President Trump's transgender ban goes into effect|work=ABC4|url=https://www.abc4.com/news/national/president-trump-s-transgender-ban-goes-into-effect/1716979968|access-date=22 January 2019|archive-date=January 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123121503/https://www.abc4.com/news/national/president-trump-s-transgender-ban-goes-into-effect/1716979968|url-status=dead}}

In 2018, the Department of Health and Human Services wrote a memo planning to establish a definition of gender based on sex assignment at birth. The memo argued in favor of a definition of gender "on a biological basis that is clear, grounded in science, objective and administrable" and the government's prerogative to genetically test individuals to determine their sex. If approved by the Justice Department, the definition would apply across federal agencies, notably the departments of Education, Justice, and Labor, which, along with Health and Human Services, are responsible for enforcing Title IX nondiscrimination statutes.{{Cite news|last1=Green|first1=Erica L.|last2=Benner|first2=Katie|last3=Pear|first3=Robert|date=21 October 2018|title='Transgender' Could Be Defined Out of Existence Under Trump Administration|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/21/us/politics/transgender-trump-administration-sex-definition.html|access-date=2018-10-27}}

The Trump administration also reversed Obama-era guidance on transgender prisoners, ordering the Bureau of Prisons instead to house them according to their "biological sex."{{cite news|last1=Browning|first1=Bil|date=12 May 2018|title=Trump strips transgender prisoners of protections against rape & abuse|publisher=LGBTQ Nation|url=https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2018/05/trump-strips-transgender-prisoners-protections-rape-abuse/|access-date=9 December 2018}}

In 2019, HUD proposed a new rule{{Cite web|title=RIN: 2506-AC53|url=https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaViewRule?pubId=201904&RIN=2506-AC53|website=www.reginfo.gov|access-date=2019-05-23}} to weaken the 2012 Equal Access Rule, which requires equal access to housing regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. This could allow homeless shelters to place transgender women in men's housing or to deny transgender people admission altogether.{{Cite news|title=Proposed HUD rule would strip transgender protections at homeless shelters|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/05/22/proposed-hud-rule-would-strip-transgender-protections-homeless-shelters/|last=Jan|first=Tracy|date=22 May 2019|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=22 May 2019}}

In a 2021 speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, Trump referred to transgender women who are athletes as "biological males".{{Cite web|title=Trump promises to ban transgender women from sports if re-elected|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/trump-promises-ban-transgender-women-sports-re-elected-rcna14248|access-date=2022-02-09|website=NBC News|date=February 2022 |language=en}}

In April 2021 Donald Trump attacked Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson for vetoing legislation that would have banned gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors.{{Cite web|date=2021-04-08|title=Donald Trump attacks GOP Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson over veto of transgender bill: "Bye-Bye!"|url=https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-attacks-gop-arkansas-governor-asa-hutchinson-over-veto-transgender-bill-bye-bye-1582142|access-date=2021-04-08|website=Newsweek}}

In a video posted on his 2024 campaign website, Trump called gender-affirming care to minors "chemical, physical, and emotional mutilation" and that he would pass a federal law banning it if in office. He also stated that he would have the Department of Justice investigate pharmaceutical companies and hospital networks to determine if they "covered up the long-term side effects of gender transitions" and would remove hospitals who provide gender-affirming care from receiving funds from both Medicare and Medicaid.{{Cite news |last=Cai |first=Sophia |date=May 21, 2023 |title=Trump's 2025 vision, revealed |work=Axios|url=https://www.axios.com/2023/05/21/trump-2025-vision |access-date=May 21, 2023}}{{Cite web |title=President Trump's Plan to Protect Children from Left-Wing Gender Insanity {{!}} Donald J. Trump For President 2024 |url=https://www.donaldjtrump.com/agenda47/president-trumps-plan-to-protect-children-from-left-wing-gender-insanity |access-date=2023-05-21 |website=www.donaldjtrump.com |language=en}}

On his 2024 campaign website Trump states that he would direct Congress to pass a bill that would mandate the United States only recognize the male and female genders and that they are assigned at birth.

{{Main|Same-sex marriage in the United States}}

After several decades of national debate, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in 2015 in the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling. After his election, Trump acknowledged that the court had already "settled" the issue. Trump has not, however, been a personal proponent of same-sex marriage, saying as recently as 2011 that he was "not in favor of gay marriage"{{Cite news|last=Uy|first=JD|date=15 February 2011|title=Donald Trump says he's against gay marriage|work=Metro Weekly (DC)|url=https://www.metroweekly.com/2011/02/donald-trump-says-hes-against/|access-date=29 March 2020}} and saying during his 2016 campaign that he would "strongly consider" appointing Supreme Court justices who were inclined to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges.{{cite news|last=Johnson|first=Chris|date=March 22, 2016|title=Trump's far-fetched plan to undo marriage equality|work=Washington Blade|url=http://www.washingtonblade.com/2016/03/22/trump-unlikely-to-undo-marriage-equality-before-supreme-court/}}{{Cite news|title=Trump attacks Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/01/31/trump-attacks-supreme-court-decision-legalizing-same-sex-marriage/|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=2017-03-24}} He had previously supported and been a proponent of civil unions and he included the policy in his 2000 presidential campaign as a Reform Party candidate.{{Cite news |last1=Samuels |first1=Robert |last2=Johnson |first2=Jenna |date=July 26, 2017 |title='It's not my thing': A history of Trump's shifting relationship with the LGBT community |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/its-not-my-thing-a-history-of-trumps-shifting-relationship-with-the-lgbt-community/2017/07/26/92920302-7220-11e7-8f39-eeb7d3a2d304_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post}}{{Cite web |date=2015-09-28 |title=READ: Donald Trump's Advocate Interview Where He Defends Gays, Mexicans |url=http://www.advocate.com/election/2015/9/28/read-donald-trumps-advocate-interview-where-he-defends-gays-mexicans |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=www.advocate.com |language=en}} During his last year in office, Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign launched "Trump Pride", a coalition within the Trump campaign focused on outreach to LGBTQ voters, and claimed that Trump now supports same-sex marriage.{{Cite news|last=Haberman|first=Maggie|date=2020-08-26|title=After Three Years of Attacking L.G.B.T.Q. Rights, Trump Suddenly Tries Outreach|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/26/us/politics/trump-lgbtq-rights.html|access-date=2021-12-22|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web|date=2020-10-13|title=Donald Trump just sent invites to a 'Trump Pride' rally with no mention of LGBT+ people – or his 181 attacks on the community|url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/10/13/donald-trump-pride-rainbow-richard-grenell-lara-eric-pennsylvania-rally-amy-coney-barrett/|access-date=2021-12-22|website=PinkNews }}{{Cite web|author=Kate Bennett|title=Melania Trump posts video that misleads on the President's LGBTQ policies|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/30/politics/melania-trump-lgbtq-donald-trump/index.html|access-date=2021-12-22|website=CNN|date=October 30, 2020 }}{{Cite web|date=2020-08-20|title=Trump Bafflingly Says It's "Great Honor" to Be "Most Pro-Gay President in America"|url=https://www.them.us/story/log-cabin-republicans-trump-tweet|access-date=2021-12-22|website=them.|language=en-US}}

The Trump administration has made efforts to remove questions about LGBTQ identity and relationships from the 2020 census,{{cite news|last1=Wang|first1=Hansi Lo|date=30 March 2018|title=2020 Census Will Ask About Same-Sex Relationships|agency=NPR|url=https://www.npr.org/2018/03/30/598192154/2020-census-will-ask-about-same-sex-relationships|access-date=9 December 2018}}{{cite news|last1=Necati|first1=Yas|date=6 April 2018|title=The 2020 US census will fail to recognise all LGBT+ people who aren't currently in a same sex relationship|newspaper=The Independent|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-census-lgbt-same-sex-relationship-recognise-donald-trump-a8292561.html|access-date=9 December 2018}} the American Community Survey,{{cite news|last1=Johnson|first1=Chris|date=28 March 2017|title=Trump's U.S. Census proposes, immediately cuts LGBT survey questions|newspaper=Washington Blade|url=https://www.washingtonblade.com/2017/03/28/u-s-census-proposes-immediately-cuts-lgbt-questions/|access-date=9 December 2018}}{{cite news|last1=O'Hara|first1=Mary Emily|date=29 March 2017|title=LGBTQ Americans Won't Be Counted in 2020 U.S. Census After All|agency=NBC News|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/lgbtq-americans-won-t-be-counted-2020-u-s-census-n739911|access-date=9 December 2018}} the annual National Survey of Older Americans Act Participants,{{cite news|last1=O'Hara|first1=Mary Emily|date=20 March 2017|title=Trump Administration Removes LGBTQ Questions From Elderly Survey|agency=NBC News|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/trump-administration-removes-lgbtq-questions-elderly-survey-n735741|access-date=9 December 2018}} and the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System.{{Cite news|last=Cha|first=Ariana Eunjung|date=24 April 2019|title=Trump administration prepares a rule civil rights groups worry may deny care to transgender patients|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2019/04/24/trump-administration-prepares-rule-that-civil-rights-groups-worry-may-deny-care-transgender-patients/|access-date=22 May 2019}}

{{Main|HIV/AIDS in the United States}}

In 2017, Trump dissolved the Office of National AIDS Policy and the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, both of which had existed since the 1990s. Every year on World AIDS Day—2017, 2018, 2019—Trump's proclamations have omitted mention of LGBTQ people.{{cite news|last1=Armus|first1=Teo|date=1 December 2017|title=Trump's World AIDS Day proclamation leaves out LGBTQ people|agency=NBC News|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/trump-s-world-aids-day-proclamation-leaves-out-lgbtq-people-n825756|url-status=live|access-date=9 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181209165204/https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/trump-s-world-aids-day-proclamation-leaves-out-lgbtq-people-n825756|archive-date=9 December 2018}}{{Cite web|title=President Donald J. Trump Proclaims December 1, 2017, as World AIDS Day|url=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/president-donald-j-trump-proclaims-december-1-2017-world-aids-day/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120202416/https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/president-donald-j-trump-proclaims-december-1-2017-world-aids-day/|archive-date=January 20, 2021|via=National Archives|work=whitehouse.gov|access-date=2019-12-01}}{{Cite web|title=Presidential Proclamation on World AIDS Day, 2018|url=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-proclamation-world-aids-day-2018/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120202326/https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-proclamation-world-aids-day-2018/|archive-date=2021-01-20|via=National Archives|work=whitehouse.gov|access-date=2019-12-01}}{{Cite web|title=Presidential Proclamation on World AIDS Day, 2019|url=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-proclamation-world-aids-day-2019/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120202040/https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-proclamation-world-aids-day-2019/|archive-date=2021-01-20|via=National Archives|work=whitehouse.gov|access-date=2019-12-01}}{{cite news|last1=Herrick|first1=John|date=1 December 2018|title=VP Pence Criticized for Not Mentioning Gay Community in AIDS Speech|agency=WIBC|url=https://www.wibc.com/news/national/vp-pence-criticized-not-mentioning-gay-community-aids-speech|access-date=9 December 2018|archive-date=March 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329224106/https://www.wibc.com/news/national/vp-pence-criticized-not-mentioning-gay-community-aids-speech|url-status=dead}}

In 2018, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the creation of the Conscience and Religious Freedom Division.{{cite news|date=18 January 2018|title=HHS Announces New Conscience and Religious Freedom Division|publisher=Health and Human Services|url=https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2018/01/18/hhs-ocr-announces-new-conscience-and-religious-freedom-division.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180118210204/https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2018/01/18/hhs-ocr-announces-new-conscience-and-religious-freedom-division.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 18, 2018|access-date=21 January 2018}} Its purpose is to enforce federal laws that related to "conscience and religious freedom"; that is, to enable individuals and businesses to exempt themselves from obeying nondiscrimination laws.

In 2019, HHS granted an exemption from an Obama-era nondiscrimination regulation to a foster care agency in South Carolina. HHS cited the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) as a basis for allowing federally funded Christian groups to discriminate against non-Christians.{{Cite web|title=S.C. group can reject gays and Jews as foster parents, admin says|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/s-c-group-can-reject-gays-jews-foster-parents-trump-n962306|last=Fitzsimons|first=Tim|date=2019-01-24|website=NBC News|access-date=2019-01-27}}{{Cite web|title=The Trump Administration Will Let Adoption Agencies Turn Away Jews and Same-Sex Couples. Thank SCOTUS.|url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/01/trump-adoption-same-sex-couples-jews-miracle-mill.html| author-link = Mark Joseph Stern | last = Stern |first=Mark Joseph|date=2019-01-24|website=Slate|access-date=2020-02-09}} Later that year, the Department of Labor, also referencing the RFRA, proposed a new rule to exempt "religious organizations" from obeying employment nondiscrimination law if they invoke "sincerely held religious tenets and beliefs" as their reason to discriminate.{{Cite web|title=U.S. Department of Labor Proposes a Rule Clarifying Civil Rights Protections for Religious Organizations {{!}} U.S. Department of Labor|url=https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/ofccp/ofccp20190814|date=14 August 2019|website=www.dol.gov|access-date=2019-08-14}} In 2020, the Justice Department filed a brief with the Supreme Court in support of another foster care agency in Pennsylvania, defending the agency's right to turn away same-sex couples as part of its "free exercise of religion".{{Cite web|last=Kelleher|first=Patrick|date=4 June 2020|title=The Trump administration just asked the Supreme Court to make it legal to ban same-sex couples from adopting|url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/06/04/donald-trump-department-of-justice-brief-supreme-court-same-sex-parents-adoption-catholic-social-services/|access-date=6 June 2020|website=Pink News}}

In 2019, the State Department created the Commission on Unalienable Rights to initiate philosophical discussions of human rights that are grounded in the Catholic concept of "natural law" rather than modern identities based on gender and sexuality. Most of the twelve members of the commission have a history of anti-LGBTQ comments.{{Cite news|last1=Wong|first1=Edward|last2=Sullivan|first2=Eileen|date=2019-07-08|title=New Human Rights Panel Raises Fears of a Narrowing U.S. Advocacy|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/08/us/politics/state-human-rights.html|access-date=2019-07-12|issn=0362-4331}}

In March 2022 Trump said he approved of Florida's Parental Rights in Education bill, also referred to as the "don't say gay" bill, during an interview with The Washington Post that occurred after the bill was signed by Florida governor Ron DeSantis, but did not elaborate as to why he supports it.{{Cite web |last=Brooke Migdon|date=2022-04-08 |title=Trump says DeSantis signing 'Don't Say Gay' was a 'good move' |url=https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/equality/3262616-trump-says-desantis-signing-dont-say-gay-was-a-good-move/ |access-date=2022-04-10 |website=The Hill |language=en-US}}

The Trump administration eliminated the State Department's position for a Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI Persons.{{cite web|title=Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI Persons: Vacant (Archive)|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/title/as/237773.htm|date=July 27, 2017|publisher=U.S. State Department|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170727032140/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/title/as/237773.htm|archive-date=July 27, 2017|access-date=October 21, 2018}}

In 2018, the Trump administration denied visas to the unmarried same-sex partners of foreign diplomats, even if they were from countries that recognize only civil partnership or that ban same-sex marriage.{{Cite news|title=U.S. Halts Visas For Diplomats' Same-Sex Partners If They're Not Married|url=https://www.npr.org/2018/10/02/653646121/u-s-halts-visas-for-diplomats-same-sex-partners-if-they-re-not-married|newspaper=NPR|date=October 2, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191012194746/https://www.npr.org/2018/10/02/653646121/u-s-halts-visas-for-diplomats-same-sex-partners-if-they-re-not-married|archive-date=2019-10-12|access-date=2019-10-14|last1=Dwyer|first1=Colin}}

Richard Grenell, nominated by Trump as the U.S. ambassador to Germany, is openly gay. In February 2019, Grenell was announced as the leader of a new campaign to decriminalize homosexuality worldwide, and he hosted a meeting with 11 European activists.{{Cite news|last=Gilchrist|first=Tracy E.|date=19 February 2019|title=Trump Launches Campaign to Decriminalize Homosexuality|work=Advocate|url=https://www.advocate.com/politics/2019/2/19/trumps-campaign-launches-campaign-decriminalize-homosexuality|access-date=23 February 2019}} Trump seemed unaware of the initiative when he was asked about it the next day.{{Cite news|last=Fitzsimons|first=Tim|date=21 February 2019|title='I don't know': Trump draws blank on homosexuality decriminalization push|work=NBC News|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/i-don-t-know-trump-draws-blank-homosexuality-decriminalization-push-n974161|access-date=23 February 2019}} Several months later, Trump tweeted that, "as we celebrate LGBT Pride Month," Americans should "stand in solidarity with the many LGBT people who live in dozens of countries worldwide that punish, imprison, or even execute" people for their sexual orientation. However, that same week, the Trump administration instructed U.S. embassies not to fly the pride flag during Pride Month.{{Cite web|title=State Dept denies embassies' requests to fly rainbow pride flag on official flagpoles|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/state-dept-denies-embassies-requests-fly-rainbow-pride/story?id=63566900|last1=Finnegan|first1=Conor|last2=Palmeri|first2=Tara|date=7 June 2019|website=ABC News|access-date=2019-06-10}}

{{See also|List of federal judges appointed by Donald Trump}}

About one-third of Trump's judicial nominees have anti-LGBTQ records.{{Cite web|title=Stacking the Courts: The Fight Against Trump's Extremist Judicial Nominees|url=https://www.lambdalegal.org/judicial-nominees|website=Lambda Legal|access-date=2020-05-19}}{{Cite web|title=A third of Trump's court nominees have anti-LGBTQ history, report finds|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/third-trump-s-court-nominees-have-anti-lgbtq-history-report-n1106691|last=Sopelsa|first=Brooke|date=23 December 2019|website=NBC News|access-date=2020-05-19}} The U.S. Senate has, as of May 2020, confirmed nearly 400 of Trump's nominees to their new roles. At least one of the confirmed judges, Patrick Bumatay, is openly gay.{{Cite news|url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/President-Trump-nominates-3-to-Court-of-Appeals-13300981.php|title=President Trump nominates 3 to Court of Appeals in S.F.|date=2018-10-12|work=San Francisco Chronicle|access-date=2018-10-14}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetillman/trump-judicial-nominees-dianne-feinstein-kamala-harris-9th-c|title=Trump's Latest Group Of Judicial Nominees Is A Jab At Dianne Feinstein And Kamala Harris|work=BuzzFeed News|access-date=2018-10-14}}

{{See also|Cannabis policy of the first Donald Trump administration}}Marijuana and the rights of individual states to legalize recreational and medical marijuana was an issue of Trump's presidential campaign, and he formally stated during his campaign that he believed states should have the right to manage their own policies with regard to medical and recreational marijuana.{{Cite web|url=https://hightimes.com/news/politics/pot-matters-trump-on-marijuana/|title=Pot Matters: Trump on Marijuana|date=February 12, 2016|website=High Times}}{{Cite magazine|url=https://time.com/4594445/legal-marijuana-trump-sessions-policy/|title=7 Reasons Trump Is Unlikely to Fight Legal Marijuana|magazine=Time}} Following his election, he reversed his position on recreational marijuana and stated he believed medical marijuana should be allowed but stated the Federal Government may seek legal resolutions for those states which regulate the growth and sale of recreational marijuana.{{cite web|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/320902-white-house-hints-at-crackdown-on-recreational-marijuana/|title=White House hints at crackdown on recreational marijuana|first=Meghashyam|last=Mali|date=February 23, 2017}}{{cite news|url=http://www.marketwatch.com/story/expect-greater-enforcement-of-marijuana-laws-under-trump-spicer-says-2017-02-23|title=Expect 'greater enforcement' of marijuana laws under Trump, Spicer says|first=Trey|last=Williams|newspaper=Marketwatch }} However, in April 2018, he once again reversed himself, endorsing leaving the issue to the states;{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-13/trump-to-give-states-latitude-on-legal-marijuana-senator-says|title = Trump Backs State-Level Marijuana Regulation, Lifting Pot Stocks|newspaper=Bloomberg|date = April 13, 2018}} and in June 2018, Trump backed a bill introduced by Republican senator Cory Gardner of Colorado and Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts that would leave the decision to the states.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/08/us/politics/trump-marijuana-bill-states.html|title=Trump Says He's Likely to Back Marijuana Bill, in Apparent Break With Sessions|last=Sullivan|first=Eileen|date=2018-06-08|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-12-08|issn=0362-4331}}

In September 2024 Trump expressed support for 2024 Florida Amendment 3, an amendment that would legalize cannabis in the state.{{Cite web |last=Suter |first=Tara |date=2024-09-09 |title=Former President Donald Trump endorses Florida marijuana legalization |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4869303-donald-trump-backs-florida-marijuana/ |access-date=2024-09-09 |website=The Hill |language=en-US}}

{{Main|Accommodationism in the United States}}

Trump wove Christian religious imagery into his 2024 presidential campaign, characterizing it as a "righteous crusade" against "atheists, globalists and the Marxists". He stated that his aims included restoring the United States "as one nation under God with liberty and justice for all".{{cite web |last1=Vakil |first1=Caroline |title=Trump paints 2024 campaign as 'righteous crusade' as he rallies evangelicals |url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-paints-2024-campaign-righteous-024641796.html |publisher=Yahoo |access-date=24 January 2025 |language=en-US|date=25 June 2023}}

Trump has been critical of what he sees as a persecution of Christians. On February 6, 2025, following the National Prayer Breakfast, he signed an executive order to create a task force to "immediately halt all forms of anti-Christian targeting and discrimination within the federal government, including at the DOJ, which was absolutely terrible, the IRS, the FBI — terrible — and other agencies".{{cite web |last1=Madhani |first1=Aamer |last2=Smith |first2=Peter |title=After prayer breakfast, Trump creates task force to root out 'anti-Christian bias' |url=https://apnews.com/article/trump-national-prayer-breakfast-30ff6f55a2e3c7b8643a15e7b158537d |publisher=Associated Press |access-date=7 February 2025 |language=en |date=6 February 2025}}{{cite web |last1=Lasher |first1=James |title=President Trump Champions Faith and Freedom at National Prayer Breakfast - Charisma News |url=https://charismanews.com/news/president-trump-champions-faith-and-freedom-at-national-prayer-breakfast/ |publisher=Charisma News |access-date=7 February 2025 |date=6 February 2025}} Donald Trump appointed Attorney General Pam Bondi to lead the task force and appointed Paula White to direct the White House Faith Office.{{cite web |last1=Bose |first1=Nandita |last2=Chiacu |first2=Doina |title=Trump to create religious office in White House, target 'anti-Christian bias' |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-he-will-sign-order-targeting-anti-christian-bias-2025-02-06/ |publisher=Reuters |access-date=7 February 2025 |date=6 February 2025}}

The principles of McCarthyism and values of both Positive Thought and the Old Guard, have influenced Donald Trump's political positions and approach throughout his upbringing, business, and subsequent political career. Biographer Micheal D’Antonio said that while Donald Trump is politically aligned with the Republican Party, he was willing to align with the political machine of the Democratic Party for practical reasons. He further explains that Trump's inclinations are generally conservative and populist but based in an anti-intellectual interpretation of common sense.{{Cite book |last=D’Antonio |first=Micheal |title=Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success |publisher=St. Martin’s Press |isbn=978-1250116956 |publication-date=June 27, 2016 |pages=58}} Journalist Dylan Matthews argued that Donald Trump has consistently held views that are nationalist, protectionist, and anti-immigrant.{{Cite web |last=Dylan |first=Matthews |date=January 19, 2017 |title=Zero-sum Trump |url=https://www.vox.com/a/donald-trump-books |access-date=2024-11-18 |website=Vox.com}}

Trump has cited Norman Vincent Peale as a formative influence, with Roy Cohn and Roger Stone also reported to have been longtime advisors and confidants. Cohn and Stone have been significant figures in conservative politics, critical to advising and informing Republican Party political strategy since the 1970s.

Cohn was seen as the foremost anti-communist public figure in the United States. This was due to his involvement in the sentencing of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, and his work as Chief Counsel on the United States Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs under Joseph McCarthy during the Second Red Scare, from which the contemporary American conservative movement's goals would originate. Much of Roy Cohn's political methodology would parallel significant developments in American conservatism,{{Cite book |last=von Hoffman |first=Nicholas |title=Citizen Cohn |publisher=Doubleday |year=1988 |isbn=0385236905 |pages=210}} with his fundamental principles informing Republican political strategy in the 21st century. While Cohn served as Donald Trump's lawyer from 1973 to 1984, both men were reportedly close friends, with Cohn serving as a mentor to the former, advising him on business and personal affairs. Both reportedly communicated with each other several times a week, between 15 and 20 times a day. Cohn and Trump's relationship would cool after 1984 when the latter found out the former contracted AIDS, and subsequently severing all ties with Cohn for a time. During Cohn's 1986 disbarment hearings by the Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court in New York, Trump would serve as a character witness. Trump would reportedly be the last person Cohn spoke to before his death that year. When interviewed about Cohn's role in his business and personal life, Trump downplayed his influence, referring to Cohn as amongst several lawyers he's hired throughout his career.{{Cite web |date=2024-10-11 |title='The Apprentice' Examines Roy Cohn's Influential Friendship with Donald Trump |url=https://www.biography.com/legal-figures/a60776177/roy-cohn-donald-trump-friendship |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=Biography |language=en-US}}

Roger Stone was an influential figure in the Republican Party, having worked on the presidential campaigns of Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Jack Kemp, Bob Dole, and Donald Trump.{{Cite web |last1=Paschal |first1=Olivia |last2=Carlisle |first2=Madeleine |date=2019-11-15 |title=A Brief History of Roger Stone |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/11/roger-stones-long-history-in-trump-world/581293/ |access-date=2025-01-25 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}} Stone would be introduced to Trump by Cohn in 1979 while they were part of Ronald Reagan's second presidential campaign. Stone would become a close confidant to Trump, serving as a strategic advisor and lobbyist for The Trump Organization.{{Cite web |last=D'antonio |first=Michael |date=2016-03-29 |title=The Men Who Gave Trump His Brutal Worldview |url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/03/2016-donald-trump-brutal-worldview-father-coach-213750/ |access-date=2025-01-25 |website=POLITICO Magazine |language=en}} Trump has claimed that Stone has encouraged him to run for president as early as 1980, with the latter serving as the director of the former's 2000 presidential exploratory committee and early advisor for his 2016 presidential campaign, with longtime associate Paul Manafort serving as campaign chairman.

Peale himself would be a leading figure in the resurgence of Evangelical Christianity within the United States throughout the 1950s, becoming prominent for providing what was seen as a moral basis for capitalism.D’Antonio, Micheal (June 27, 2016). Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success. St. Martin's Press. p. 54. {{ISBN|978-1250116956}}. His premise that salvation in Christ would lead to national redemption and rejuvenation would also influence Billy Graham's rhetoric, who was a leading figure in the Fourth Great Awakening. He would also be a significant figure in the American conservative movement post-World War II era. After politically aligning with Joseph McCarthy during the Second Red Scare, Peale released his self-help book, The Power of Positive Thinking. The book itself was devoted heavily to Evangelizing, with its author stressing that religious belief was a necessary condition for belief in one's self and country. He also repeatedly equated commercial acumen with religious devotion, personal uncertainty with spiritual doubt, and personal and cultural failure with collectivism and atheism. This helped contribute to a narrative defining Americans as societally superior and successful. In 1957, he taught that negative self-perception was sinful against oneself, the United States, and God.{{Cite web |date=2024-04-02 |title=Unholy Influence: The Success Gospel of Norman Vincent Peale and Donald Trump |url=https://www.christopherlane.org/2024/04/02/unholy-influence-the-success-gospel-of-norman-vincent-peale-and-donald-trump/ |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=Christopher Lane |language=en-US}} However, his sermons devoted very little to the Bible, or concepts of sin, suffering, or redemption, instead preaching about the success of individuals who used his techniques to overcome issues ranging from poverty to alcoholism. He would portray God as a source of meditation or life coaching, telling those who attended his services to imagine where they wanted to be in life and invoke God's power through various mantras to achieve such. During his upbringing in Queens, Donald Trump and his father Fred Trump, would be regular attendees of Marble Collegiate Church, while Peale served as its pastor. In Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success, D’Antonio writes that Fred and Donald Trump would be near-perfect practitioners of Positive Thinking as taught by Peale.D’Antonio, Micheal (June 27, 2016). Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success. St. Martin's Press. p. 52-54.{{ISBN|978-1250116956}}.

Though not active in political advocacy, Trump's father, Fred Trump, was reported to have privately held moral and political views aligned with the Republican Party,D’Antonio, Micheal (June 27, 2016). Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success. St. Martin's Press. p. 52. {{ISBN|978-1250116956}}. with Donald Trump being his most like-minded son, idolizing the former. According to Micheal Kruse, a senior staff writer for Politico, Fred Trump embraced right-wing politics that was characterized by an in-group and out-group mentality. Within the right-wing of the Republican Party, prominently associated with Styles Bridges, Everett Dirksen, Joseph McCarthy, and Robert A. Taft, held and espoused positions generally aligned with strict constructionism, states’ rights, economic liberalism, autarchism, fiscal conservatism, protectionism, unilateralism, and anti-communism. Referred to as the Old Guard, they most noticeably opposed programs within the New Deal, which they was variously derided by as communist, socialist, or overreaching, seeing its programs as unwanted, unconstitutional, unwise, and politically unprofitable. Their counter to the New Deal was an interpretation of Americanism which entailed a strict construction of the Constitution, fiscal responsibility, and state and local over federal regulation. They opposed federal regulation of state, local, or business interests, viewing “big government” as a threat to liberty, which they interpreted as economic freedom, which they saw as critical to incentivizing individuals to improve their material welfare and develop the pioneer virtues of individualism and self-reliance. When it concerned foreign policy, lawmakers in the Old Guard eschewed alliances that entailed advance military commitments while “go[ing] it alone” in foreign engagements. This also entailed economic self-sufficiency, prioritizing American financial interests, and thus partially informed the Old Guard's support for tariffs on imports and opposition to foreign aid.{{Cite book |last=Reinhard |first=David W. |title=The Republican Right since 1945 |date=1983 |publisher=The University Press of Kentucky |isbn=978-0-8131-5449-7 |pages=2–4}}

Donald Trump was also influenced by his upbringing in Jamaica Estates, Queens, New York, whose society in the 1960s and 1970s was ethically homogenous and conservative,{{Cite web |date=2016-10-20 |title=Donald Trump's childhood in Queens can explain his obsession with borders |url=https://qz.com/814851/donald-trumps-childhood-in-queens-can-explain-his-obsession-with-borders |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=Quartz |language=en}} being 95 percent white.{{Cite book |last=Trump |first=Mary L. |title=Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man |date=2020 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-1-9821-4146-2 |location=New York |pages=36}} Conservatism after World War II evolved out of opposition to communism and any element that was seen as subversive to society in the context of deteriorating relations with the Soviet Union. This saw the entrenchment of conservative social norms and mentality to maintain security and preserve privilege.{{Cite book |last=Farber |first=David R. |title=The rise and fall of modern American conservatism: a short history |date=2012 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-15606-4 |location=Princeton, N.J Woodstock |pages=3, 120}} The ideal social structure American conservatives advocated for in the 1970s was the nuclear family, understood as heteronormative, racially homogeneous, monogamous, and bearing multiple children, with the father as the head of such, and the wife and children being subservient to him. This interpretation of the family was seen as being a frontline in an existential conflict between communism and capitalism in the context of the Cold War.{{Cite web |title=The Changing Face of the American Family {{!}} History Today |url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/changing-face-american-family |access-date=2025-01-25 |website=www.historytoday.com}} Those who criticized this societal structure were seen as subversive, and thus advocating the overthrow of American society. While conservative men saw women as a source of strength in preserving this tradition, the former did not view the latter as equals.{{Cite book |last=Farber |first=David R. |title=The rise and fall of modern American conservatism: a short history |date=2012 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-15606-4 |location=Princeton, N.J Woodstock |pages=127}}

• Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign#Political positions
• Donald Trump 2020 presidential campaign#Political positions
• Donald Trump 2024 presidential campaign#Political positions
• Social media use by Donald Trump
• Fascism: A Warning, book by Madeleine Albright, 2018
• First presidency of Donald Trump
• Second presidency of Donald Trump

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Category:Policies of Donald Trump

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Category:Trumpism