continues to boast
record to date falls far short of
lofty pronouncement
Adapted from the article, Trump’s Broken Promises, in 11 Charts By Steven Rattner, a contributing NYT Opinion writer, served as counselor to the Treasury secretary in the Obama administration where Mr. Rattner writes:
“Promises made, promises kept.”
Other presidents have employed variations of that phrase, although few with the gusto of President Trump; he even proclaims it on the White House website.
When it comes to the economy, though, “promises not kept” would be a more apt description of the first 19 months of Trump 2.0.
And many of the promises he has kept are causing as much damage as critics predicted.
All in all, while Mr. Trump continues to boast about the “greatest economy we’ve ever had, by far,” the record to date falls far short of that lofty pronouncement.
Mr. Rattner then lists 11 promises, the basis and context of the promise and the current state of affairs:
- Economic growth
Trump’s Promise
‘We’re going to grow like nobody’s ever grown before.’ Economic Club of New York, Sept. 5, 2024
The economy is slowing – In this year’s second quarter, growth dropped to an annual rate of just 1.5 percent, a shift substantially caused or exacerbated by Mr. Trump’s policies. Rising energy prices and inflation. Decreased government spending. A deteriorating trade balance, thanks to his tariffs. That’s added up to materially slower growth than the healthy 2.75 percent rate that Mr. Trump was bequeathed by President Joe Biden.
- Deficit
Trump’s Promise: ‘In the near future, I want to do what has not been done in 24 years: balance the federal budget.’ (Address to a joint session of Congress, March 4, 2025)
The deficit is projected to keep growing – Spending was high under Mr. Biden as he worked to combat the lingering effects of Covid and invest in priorities like clean energy and infrastructure. But even as Republicans cut a number of these initiatives, the deficit rose in Mr. Trump’s first budget after his return to office, largely because of his huge tax cut. And the Congressional Budget Office projects that it will continue to climb to $3.1 trillion by 2036. That makes the notion of Mr. Trump balancing the budget just plain laughable.
- Debt
Trump’s Promise: ‘But now it’s our turn to prosper, and in so doing, use trillions and trillions of dollars to reduce our taxes and pay down our national debt, and it’ll all happen very quickly.’ (Tariff announcement, White House Rose Garden, April 2, 2025)
National debt is about to break its World War II record – Huge deficits mean, of course, more debt. The soaring national debt should terrify every American. It makes business loans and mortgages more expensive. And perhaps more important, it burdens future generations by squeezing Washington’s ability to fund other important priorities. The ratio of total debt held by the public to the size of our economy is about to surpass the World War II record. By 2036, the C.B.O. projects our national debt will reach 120 percent of gross domestic product.
- Manufacturing
Trump’s Promise: ‘America will be a manufacturing nation once again, and we have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have.’
Second inaugural address, Jan. 20, 2025
Manufacturing employment has stalled – Manufacturing employment, which grew during much of Mr. Biden’s administration because of his ambitious industrial investments, has slipped to 12.6 million, down 62,000 since Mr. Trump’s second inauguration. China and other emerging nations continue to put pressure on higher-cost production in the United States, and Mr. Trump’s tariffs have yet to reverse this trend. They probably had the opposite effect by increasing prices on the materials factories need to produce goods for export.
- Tariffs
Trump’s Promise: ‘Without tariffs, and all of the TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS we have already taken in, our Country would be completely destroyed.’ (Truth Social, Aug. 31, 2025, after the appeals court ruling against the IEEPA tariffs)
Tariff refunds are in full swing – The only visible changes are to tariffs themselves, given that the Supreme Court ruled that the bulk of Mr. Trump’s new tariffs were illegal and lower courts ordered those payments refunded. It should be noted that the refunds are going to the companies that paid them rather than to the consumers who probably bore much of the cost. And the array of new tariffs Mr. Trump has rolled out since have already been challenged in court. Even if they are upheld, they stand to generate only $121 billion in 2026 — far less than the $166 billion that the government must refund.
- Inflation
Trump’s Promise:
‘Starting on Day 1, we will end inflation and make America affordable again, to bring down the prices of all goods.’ (Campaign rally, Bozeman, Mont., Aug. 9, 2024)
Inflation has caught up with paychecks – It’s unimaginable that Mr. Trump was ever going to bring down prices. But thanks to his war against Iran, inflation has become an even bigger problem. When Mr. Trump took office in 2025, inflation was only modestly higher than the Federal Reserve’s target of 2 percent a year. With prices now rising by more than 3 percent, the Fed may begin raising rates — a move that will make everything from credit card debt to mortgage loans more expensive — in order to curb inflation.
- Gas prices
Trump’s Promise: ‘Energy is going to bring us back. That means we’re going down and getting gasoline below $2 a gallon.’ (Economic Club of New York, Sept. 5, 2024).
Gas is above $4 a gallon – Mr. Trump’s promise of gasoline prices under $2 per gallon was never realistic. At that price, the price of crude oil would probably have to fall to $30 per barrel, a level that would make drilling for new supplies so unprofitable that supply would drop, eventually causing prices to turn back up. And that was before Mr. Trump started the Iran war. Gas prices reached $4.50 in mid-May and remain around $4 — about 30 percent higher than they were on Inauguration Day.
- Homeownership costs
Trump’s Promise: ‘Young people will be able to buy a home again and be a part of the American dream. We will eliminate regulations that drive up housing costs, with the goal of cutting the cost of a new home in half. … The regulations alone cost 30 percent. Regulation cost 30 percent of a new home.’ (Economic Club of New York, Sept. 5, 2024).
Home costs have barely gone down – If we use conventional methodology, a family would need an annual income of about $120,000 to afford the median price of a newly constructed home. At present, the median household earns roughly $86,000.
- Mortgage rates
Trump’s Promise: ‘Reducing mortgage rates is a big factor. We’re going to get them back down to, we think, 3 percent, maybe even lower than that, saving the average homebuyer thousands of dollars per year.’ (Economic Club of New York, Sept. 5, 2024).
Mortgage rates are stuck near 7 percent – The mortgage interest rate — a large component of the cost of home ownership — is virtually unchanged since Mr. Trump took office. Why? Largely because of the surge in overall prices and the upward pressure the growing debt is putting on long-term rates. The higher the inflation rate, the more lenders charge so they can earn an acceptable after-inflation rate of return.
- Medicaid
Trump’s Promise: ‘We’re not cutting Medicaid, we’re not cutting Medicare, and we’re not cutting Social Security.’ (NBC’s “Meet the Press,” May 4, 2025).
Medicaid cuts get bigger every year – Just months after Mr. Trump claimed that there would be no cuts to Medicaid, he broke that promise with his 2025 domestic policy legislation. It imposed an onerous requirement that recipients document at least 80 hours of work per month to keep their coverage, limited states’ ability to finance their share of the program and closed off simplified paths to enrollment. To minimize the political fallout, more than 95 percent of the cuts were timed to take effect after the 2026 midterms. But some changes have started being phased in, and the number of Medicaid recipients has already fallen by almost five million over the past year.
- Health care premiums
Trump’s Promise: ‘Costs were going to go way up, and that’s what happened, and now I’m bringing them way down on health care and everything else.’ (State of the Union address, Feb. 24, 2026).
Price of health insurance jumped 26% from last year – While Republicans have stopped talking about repealing the Affordable Care Act, their smaller changes are making health care more expensive for millions of Americans. The average premium for a benchmark plan on the marketplace rose nearly 26 percent from last year, contrary to one of Mr. Trump’s promises. And the number of uninsured Americans is rising.
I can read it.
You can read it.
Anyone who can read can read it.
But if that current man in office says red is green, the faithful will not only say red is green but that red has always been green and only those who cannot admit they are wrong and that current man in office is right cannot admit that red has always been green.
Unless of course, this week, red is blue or that blue is also green.
Red?
Green?
If the women don’t find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.
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