Immigration

Immigration has been the single most consistent through-line of Trump's political identity since his 2015 campaign launch. His positions include:

Significantly reduced legal and illegal immigration, including ending birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. to parents without permanent legal status, ending humanitarian parole programs, and reducing refugee admissions [1, 2].

A southern border wall, with approximately 400-plus miles built or refurbished during his first term [3]

Aggressive deportation enforcement. The Department of Homeland Security claimed more than 622,000 people had been deported in the first year of his second term, with the U.S. experiencing negative net migration in 2025 for the first time in at least 50 years, per Brookings Institution analysis [4].

The Laken Riley Act, signed January 29, 2025, mandates the detention of immigrants charged with or convicted of certain crimes [2].

Designation of certain international cartels and criminal organizations as terrorist organizations [2].

In his second term, the administration significantly expanded ICE operations nationwide and surged federal law enforcement and National Guard troops into cities including Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Minneapolis to support immigration enforcement, drawing criticism from many local officials and legal challenges from civil liberties groups [4].

Supporters argue these measures restore the rule of law and protect U.S. workers; critics argue they have created humanitarian harms, separated families, and exceeded executive authority. Multiple courts have blocked or modified specific actions, including a July 2025 ruling against Trump's asylum-suspension proclamation that was upheld on appeal in April 2026 [5].

Trade and tariffs

Trump's second-term tariff agenda has been the most aggressive U.S. tariff escalation since the 1930 Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act [6]. Major actions include:

The "Liberation Day" tariffs of April 2, 2025, imposed a 10 percent base tariff on nearly all imports and higher "reciprocal" tariffs on 57 countries under emergency powers [6].

Sector-specific tariffs on steel, aluminum (50 percent in some cases), autos, copper, and other goods [7].

Tariffs on Canadian (25 percent) and Mexican (25 percent) goods related to fentanyl and immigration, with energy products at 10 percent [6].

The February 2026 Supreme Court ruling in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump (6-3) that the IEEPA-based tariffs were unconstitutional, requiring a refund of approximately $166 billion collected from more than 330,000 businesses [7].

As of December 31, 2025, Trump had issued 35 executive orders, four memoranda, and eight proclamations on trade and tariffs [7]. Supporters argue tariffs are needed to address trade deficits and rebuild U.S. manufacturing; critics, including the U.S. Court of International Trade and ultimately the Supreme Court, argued that the broad IEEPA tariffs exceeded statutory authority. Several CFR analysts found U.S. reshoring activity was limited, with only about 26 percent of surveyed companies actively planning reshoring as of early 2026 [8].

Taxes

The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), signed on December 22, 2017, was the largest tax legislation of Trump's first term and one of two pieces broadly considered his signature first-term legislative achievements [9, 10]. It restructured corporate and individual tax rules and lowered the corporate income tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent.

In Trump's second term, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), passed via budget reconciliation in 2025, made permanent key TCJA provisions and added new measures, including:

Permanent extension of lower individual rates, enhanced deductions, and the 20 percent pass-through deduction [11].

New deductions for tips, overtime pay, and U.S.-made car loan interest (set to expire after 2028).

A SALT deduction cap rises to $40,000 for five years before reverting to $10,000.

Approximately $1 trillion in Medicaid spending cuts over ten years per Congressional Budget Office projections, a provision that drew sharp opposition from many Democrats and some Republican governors [11].

Supporters frame the legislation as pro-growth and tax relief for working Americans; critics argue it disproportionately benefits high-income earners and corporations and that the Medicaid reductions will increase the uninsured population.

DEI, gender, and education

Trump signed multiple executive orders in his second term targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and transgender policy. Notable actions:

Executive Order 14168 ("Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism") declares federal recognition of "two sexes, male and female" [12].

Executive Order 14201 ("Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports") directed the Department of Education to prevent transgender girls and women from participating in all-female school athletic competitions or using female-only facilities at federally funded institutions [12].

Executive Order on "Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation," restricting federal funding for gender-affirming care for minors [13].

Reduction-in-force at the Department of Education affecting roughly 50 percent of its workforce, announced March 11, 2025 [1].

Supporters describe these as common-sense restoration of biological definitions; critics, including civil rights organizations and many medical associations, argue they harm transgender Americans and federally protected groups.

Energy

Trump declared a National Energy Emergency on the first day of his second term, rescinded multiple Biden-era electric vehicle incentives and climate regulations, expanded oil and gas drilling on federal lands, and withdrew from the Paris climate agreement (a second time) [1]. Domestic LNG export authorizations were expanded, and the administration emphasized "energy dominance" as a foreign policy and economic objective.

Supporters argue this lowered energy costs and strengthened U.S. independence; critics argue it accelerated climate harms and conflicted with state-level energy transitions.

Criminal justice and pardons

Two notable Trump first-term laws on criminal justice include the bipartisan First Step Act, signed in December 2018, which has been broadly described as the most significant federal criminal justice reform in decades, and the Fix NICS Act, which strengthened gun background-check reporting [9, 14].

In his second term, Trump granted pardons or commutations on January 20, 2025, to nearly all 1,500-plus individuals convicted of offenses related to the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack, including those convicted of violent assaults on police officers [12]. Critics, including some Capitol Police representatives, called the pardons a repudiation of accountability; supporters argued they corrected what they viewed as politicized prosecutions.

Foreign policy

Trump's foreign policy has emphasized "America First" themes across both terms:

Withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA), and the World Health Organization (first term) [9].

Renegotiation of NAFTA into the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), signed in 2020.

Three Supreme Court appointments (Gorsuch 2017, Kavanaugh 2018, Barrett 2020) [9].

The 2020 Abraham Accords normalizing relations between Israel and several Arab states.

Aggressive tariff and trade diplomacy in his second term, with mixed results in formal trade negotiations [8].

Voting record before the presidency

Trump did not hold elected office before becoming president in 2017. He had no congressional or state legislative voting record. His policy positions have been expressed through executive action, statutory legislation passed during his terms, and public statements.

His political party affiliation history shifted multiple times before settling as Republican: Democrat (1987), Republican (1987), Independence Party (1999), Democrat again (2001), Republican again (2009), unaffiliated (2011), and Republican again (2012 to present) [3].