President Donald Trump has been back in the Oval Office a full year as of Tuesday — with the administration taking a victory lap that he has delivered on every major campaign pledge across the past 12 months.
“President Trump accomplished more in one year than many presidents did in eight. The President delivered on every major campaign promise — securing the border, stopping Biden’s inflation crisis, signing the largest middle-class tax cuts in history, ending woke DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) nonsense, and restoring American strength on the world stage,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, America is safer, stronger, and more prosperous than ever before, and the best is yet to come,” she added.
Trump has signed more than 225 executive orders — surpassing the total 220 such orders he signed across the first four years of his presidency in his first administration — that have promoted his agenda stretching from cracking down on immigration to cleaning up U.S. cities of crime to “unleashing” U.S. energy by cutting red tape.
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Immigration was one of Trump’s top campaign platforms, vowing to shut down the border and deport illegal immigrants who flooded the nation under the Biden administration, causing an immigration crisis that persisted until 2025.
Now, Customs and Border Protection has reported record results, including reporting there were zero parole releases in December 2025, compared to 7,041 released along the southwest border in December 2024 under the Biden administration.
Total nationwide encounters from October 2025 through December 2025 fell to 91,603, the lowest ever recorded at the start of a fiscal year and 25% below the previous record low set in 2012, according to Customs and Border Protection, with Department of Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem celebrating the data as evidence Trump has “most secure” border in U.S. history.
“From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world,” Trump declared one year ago during his inaugural speech. “We will be the envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer. During every single day of the Trump administration, I will, very simply, put America first.”
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“Our sovereignty will be reclaimed. Our safety will be restored. The scales of justice will be rebalanced,” he added.
Since returning to office, Trump has declared the U.S. the “hottest country” in the world after its power on the world stage was reportedly depleted under the Biden administration. He pointed to his May 2025 Gulf trip as evidence of America’s dominance in the world, when the White House touted a $600 billion Saudi investment commitment, a $1.2 trillion “economic exchange” with Qatar, and $200 billion in new commercial deals with the UAE.
Trump has also cited new trade pacts as more proof — including a July 30, 2025, agreement with South Korea that lowered tariffs to 15% in exchange for $350 billion in investment commitments and $100 billion in U.S. energy purchases.
The economy was a top voter concern during the 2024 election cycle, with Trump vowing to bring down Biden-era inflation and usher in an economy similar to his first administration.
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The Biden administration oversaw the highest inflation to rock the nation in 40 years, 30-year mortgage rates that rocketed to roughly 8%, up from under 3%, and the sharpest rise in interest rates in decades.
Under Trump, inflation is down to 2.7% as of December 2025, the 30-year mortgage rate easing to about 6.06%, and the Fed cutting rates to a 3.50%–3.75% target range as his team points to mortgage-bond buys as one lever to bring borrowing costs down.
Affordability and cost of living concerns, however, have dogged the administration as Democrats lean into rhetoric championing their policies to lower housing and food costs at the ballot box, which proved successful as Democrats swept the three major elections held during the off-year election in November 2025.
Energy and trade policies also have sat squarely at the front of Trump’s overarching efforts to strengthen the U.S. economy.
Trump announced sweeping tariffs on foreign nations under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which he said will bring parity to U.S. trade policies and usher in billions of dollars to the U.S. economy, while simultaneously serving as a key to Trump’s vision of a “Golden Age” for voters.
The tariff issue now sits in limbo as the Supreme Court considers a challenge to Trump’s tariff authority — a case he says is crucial to preserving U.S. leverage in trade talks and protecting American industry.
On the energy front, gas prices have fallen to a national average of $2.67 in January – compared to rough $3.08 during January 2025 – as the administration celebrates Trump has “unleashed” U.S. energy.
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Since returning to office, Trump has leaned on executive power to ramp up domestic energy production, including signing the “Unleashing American Energy” order rolling back red tape and speed permitting for oil and gas projects. The administration has also moved to restart and accelerate reviews for liquefied natural gas (LNG) export approvals, reversing the Biden-era pause and making U.S. LNG exports a central plank of its energy strategy.
While on a military standpoint, Trump has laid out the U.S.’ “peace through strength” vision. Trump has framed that approach around deterrence — arguing that a visibly stronger U.S. military, tougher posture toward adversaries, and clearer red lines reduce the likelihood of conflict. He has pointed to increased defense investment, pressure on NATO allies to shoulder more of their own security costs, and a willingness to use force swiftly when American interests are threatened as central pillars of that strategy.
The president and his administration have pointed to this mission after the June strikes on Iran to end the nation’s nuclear program, and after the successful capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro in January.
“We’re putting America first and we are making America great again. Very simple. We are making America great again,” Trump said in an address to the nation in December. “Inflation is stopped, wages are up. Prices are down. Our nation is strong. America is respected and our country is back stronger than ever before. We’re poised for an economic boom, the likes of which the world has never seen.”
Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom and Sophia Compton contributed to this report.
