The Washington Examiner’s Paul Bedard explained in an exclusive New Year’s Eve article how one month shy of completing three years in office, President Trump has fulfilled or is making significant progress on most of his 2016 campaign promises, which aides said give him a strong reelection argument to counter his impeachment by a bitterly partisan House last week.
As the president and his team ready for the 2020 campaign at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, officials said it would be built on the administration’s achievements list of 15 categories and 319 “results.”
When we asked them to expand on Mr. Bedard’s reporting, White House aides provided CHQ with this impressive look-back at the results of President Donald J. Trump’s first three years in office:
President Trump’s pro-growth policies have led to an economic boom that is lifting up Americans of all backgrounds.
Since President Trump’s election, more than 7 million jobs have been added to the economy.
For the first time on record there are more job openings than unemployed Americans.
There are more than 7 million job openings, outnumbering job seekers by more than 1 million.
Nearly two-thirds of Americans rate now as a good time to find a quality job, empowering more Americans with rewarding careers.
This year, the unemployment rate reached its lowest level in half a century.
The unemployment rate has remained at or below 4 percent for the past 21 months.
The unemployment rate for women reached its lowest rate in 65 years under President Trump.
Under President Trump, jobless claims hit their lowest level in half a century.
The number of people claiming unemployment insurance as a share of the population is the lowest on record.
American workers of all backgrounds are thriving under President Trump.
The unemployment rates for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and those without a high school diploma have all reached record lows under President Trump.
The booming economy is putting more money in Americans’ pockets.
Wages are growing at their fastest rate in a decade, with year-over-year wage gains exceeding 3 percent for the first time since 2009.
November 2019 marked the 16th consecutive month that wages rose at an annual rate of at or over 3 percent.
Median household income surpassed $63,000 in 2018 – the highest level on record.
President Trump’s policies are helping forgotten Americans across the country prosper, driving down income inequality.
Wages are rising fastest for low-income workers.
Middle-class and low-income workers are enjoying faster wage growth than high-earners.
When measured as the share of income earned by the top 20 percent, income inequality fell in 2018 by the largest amount in over a decade.
Americans are being lifted out of poverty as a result of today’s booming economy.
Since President Trump took office, over 2.4 million Americans have been lifted out of poverty.
Poverty rates for African Americans and Hispanic Americans have reached record lows.
Since President Trump’s election, nearly 7 million Americans have been lifted off of food stamps.
Americans are coming off of the sidelines and back into the workforce.
The prime age labor force has grown by 2.1 million under President Trump.
In the third quarter of 2019, 73.7 percent of workers entering employment came from out of the labor force rather than from unemployment, the highest share since the series began in 1990.
President Trump’s pro-growth policies are helping businesses of all sizes thrive like never before.
Small business optimism broke a 35-year old record in 2018 and remains historically high.
The DOW, S&P 500, and NASDAQ have all repeatedly notched record highs under President Trump.
President Trump is following through on his promise to revitalize American manufacturing, with more than a half million manufacturing jobs added since the election.
President Trump has prioritized workforce development to ensure American workers are prepared to fill high quality jobs.
The President has worked to expand apprenticeship programs, helping Americans gain hands-on training and experience with no student debt.
Since President Trump took office, over 660,000 apprentices have been hired across the country.
President Trump established the National Council for the American Worker, tasked with developing a workforce strategy for the jobs of the future.
Over 370 companies have signed the President’s “Pledge to America’s Workers,” pledging to provide more than 14.4 million employment and training opportunities.
President Trump signed an Executive Order prioritizing Cyber Workforce Development to ensure that we have the most skilled cyber workforce of the 21st century.
President Trump signed the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act in 2017 – the largest tax reform package in history.
More than 6 million American workers received wage increases, bonuses, and increased benefits thanks to the tax cuts.
$1 trillion has poured back into the country from overseas since the President’s tax cuts.
President Trump is revitalizing distressed communities through Opportunity Zones, which encourage investment and growth in underserved communities.
More than 8,760 communities in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and 5 Territories have been designated as Opportunity Zones.
The White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council has taken more than 175 actions to encourage investment and promote growth within Opportunity Zones.
The White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council is engaging all levels of government to identify best practices and assist leaders, investors, and entrepreneurs in using the Opportunity Zone incentive to revitalize low-income communities.
The President is ensuring that America is prepared to lead the world in the industries of the future, by promoting American leadership in emerging technologies like 5G and AI.
The Administration named artificial intelligence, quantum information science, and 5G, among other emerging technologies, as national research and development priorities.
President Trump launched the American AI Initiative to invest in AI research, unleash innovation, and build the American workforce of the future.
President Trump signed an Executive Order that established a new advisory committee of industry and academic leaders to advise the government on its quantum activities.
President Trump has made supporting working families a priority of his Administration.
President Trump signed legislation securing historic levels of funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, helping low-income families access child care.
During his Joint Address to Congress and each State of the Union Address, the President called on Congress to pass a nationwide paid family leave plan.
The President signed into law 12-weeks of paid parental leave for federal workers.
President Trump’s tax reforms provided a new tax credit to incentivize businesses to offer paid family leave to their employees.
The President’s historic tax reforms doubled the child tax credit, benefitting nearly 40 million American families with an average of over $2,200 dollars in 2019.
LIFTING THE BURDEN OF OVERREGULATION: President Trump’s historic deregulation efforts are driving economic growth, cutting unnecessary costs, and increasing transparency.
President Trump has delivered on, and far exceeded, his promise to slash two existing regulations for every new regulation.
Since taking office, President Trump has rolled back nearly 8 regulations for every new significant one.
The Trump Administration’s deregulatory efforts have slashed regulatory costs by more than $50 billion.
In the coming years, the average American household is projected to see an income gain of $3,100 per year thanks to President Trump’s historic regulatory reform.
Once fully in effect, 20 major deregulatory actions undertaken by the Administration are expected to save American consumers and businesses over $220 billion per year.
President Trump signed 16 pieces of deregulatory legislation that are expected to result in a $40 billion increase in annual real incomes.
President Trump established the Governors Initiative on Regulatory Innovation.
This initiative is working to reduce outdated regulations at the State, local, and tribal levels, advance occupational licensing reform, and align Federal and State regulation.
The President signed legislation eliminating regulatory barriers that made offering retirement benefits difficult for small businesses.
The President took action to increase transparency in Federal agencies and protect Americans from administrative abuse.
This year, President Trump signed two Executive Orders to guard against secretive or unlawful interpretations of rules and prevent Americans from being hit with unfair and unexpected penalties.
President Trump has followed through on his promise to repeal the Obama-era Waters of the United States Rule, lifting a burden off American farmers.
President Trump ended the previous Administration’s war on coal.
President Trump signed legislation repealing the harmful Obama-era Stream Protection Rule.
President Trump replaced the overreaching Obama-era Clean Power Plan with the Affordable Clean Energy Rule, which respects States’ rights and promotes economic growth while lowering power-sector CO2 emissions.
In 2017, the President announced the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, which would have killed millions of American jobs.
The Administration has worked to undo the Obama-era fuel economy regulations by proposing the SAFE Vehicles Rule to lower the cost of new and safer cars.
President Trump helped community banks by signing legislation that rolled back costly provisions of Dodd-Frank.
President Trump established the White House Council on Reducing Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing Development to bring down the costs of housing across the country.
The President’s deregulatory actions are removing government barriers to personal freedom and consumer choice in healthcare.
In 2017, President Trump corrected Obama Administration overreach by right-sizing Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
FIGHTING FOR FAIRER TRADE: President Trump is negotiating better trade deals for the American people after years of our country being taken advantage of.
President Trump negotiated the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement (USMCA) to replace the outdated North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
USMCA includes tremendous wins for American workers, farmers, and manufacturers, generating over $68 billion in economic activity and creating 176,000 new jobs.
President Trump negotiated two tremendous deals with Japan to boost America’s agricultural and digital trade with the world’s third largest economy.
Thanks to President Trump’s efforts, Japan will open its market to approximately $7 billion in American agricultural exports.
The President’s negotiations will boost the already approximately $40 billion worth of digital trade between our two countries.
President Trump fulfilled his promise to renegotiate the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement, providing a boost to American auto exports.
These efforts doubled the number of American autos that can be exported to South Korea using United States safety standards.
President Trump reached a historic phase one trade agreement with China that will begin rebalancing our two countries’ trade relationship.
As a result of President Trump’s leadership, China has agreed to structural reforms in areas of intellectual property, technology transfer, agriculture, financial services, and currency and foreign exchange.
China will be making substantial purchases of American agricultural products, marking a monumental win for American farmers.
President Trump fulfilled his promise to withdraw from the disastrous Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
President Trump achieved a mutual agreement with the European Union to work together towards zero tariffs, non-tariff barriers, and subsidies on certain goods.
President Trump has worked to prepare for post-Brexit trade and made Congress aware of his intent to negotiate a free trade agreement with the United Kingdom (UK).
President Trump imposed tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum to protect our vital industries and support our national security.
President Trump imposed tariffs to protect American-made washing machines and solar products that were hurt by import surges.
The United States scored an historic victory by overhauling the Universal Postal Union (UPU), whose outdated policies were undermining American interests and workers.
President Trump has expanded markets for American farmers to export their goods worldwide, for example:
The European Union has opened up to more American beef and increased imports of American soybeans.
China lifted its ban on American poultry and opened up to American beef.
South Korea lifted its ban on American poultry and eggs and agreed to provide market access for the greatest, guaranteed volume of American rice.
The Trump Administration has authorized a total of $28 billion in aid for farmers who have been subjected to unfair trade practices.
SECURING THE BORDER: President Trump has taken historic steps to confront the crisis on our Nation’s borders and protect American communities.
President Trump is following through on his promise to build a wall on our southern border.
The Administration expects to have approximately 450 miles of new border wall by the end of 2020.
The President struck new agreements with Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to help stop the flood of illegal immigration.
The President worked with Mexico to ensure they would improve their border security.
The United States is working with Mexico and others in the region to dismantle the human smuggling networks that profit from human misery and fuel the border crisis by exploiting vulnerable populations.
The Administration negotiated agreements with El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to stem the surge of aliens arriving at our border.
President Trump negotiated the Migrant Protection Protocols, requiring certain migrants to wait in Mexico during their immigration proceedings instead of allowing them to disappear into our country.
Thanks to the President’s swift action, border apprehensions fell by more than 70 percent from May – the peak of the crisis – to November.
The Trump Administration is stopping deadly drugs and violent criminals from flowing across our borders and into our communities.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized more than 163,000 pounds of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl at the southern border in FY 2019.
The United States Coast Guard seized more than 458,000 pounds of cocaine at sea in FY 2019 and referred nearly 400 suspected drug smugglers for prosecution.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) seized over 1.4 million pounds of narcotics and made more than 12,000 narcotic-related arrests in FY 2019.
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized over 50,000 kilograms of methamphetamine and over 2,700 kilograms of fentanyl in FY 2019.
CBP apprehended 976 alien gang members in FY 2019, including 464 aliens affiliated with MS-13.
ICE HSI made over 4,000 arrests of gang members in FY 2019, including over 450 arrests of MS-13 members.
RESTORING THE RULE OF LAW: President Trump is upholding the rule of law, restoring integrity to our asylum system, and promoting immigrant self-sufficiency.
President Trump released an immigration plan to fully secure our border, modernize our laws, and promote an immigration system based on merit.
President Trump is working to combat the abuse of our asylum system that drives illegal immigration.
The Administration took action to close the Flores Settlement Agreement loophole and ensure alien families can be kept together through their proceedings.
The President released an order that makes aliens ineligible for asylum if they passed through another country in transit to our border and did not apply for asylum in that country first.
Since taking office, President Trump has stepped up enforcement to ensure there are consequences for breaking our laws.
In FY 2019, the Department of Justice prosecuted a record breaking number of immigration related crimes.
ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested 143,099 aliens in FY 2019, 86 percent of whom had criminal records.
ICE ERO removed more than 267,000 illegal aliens from the United States in FY 2019.
The Trump Administration is cracking down on sanctuary cities and increasing cooperation at the local level on immigration enforcement.
The Administration has more than doubled the number of jurisdictions participating in the 287(g) program, enhancing local cooperation on immigration enforcement.
The Administration took action to protect taxpayers by ensuring that aliens wishing to enter or remain in our country are able to support themselves and not rely on public benefits.
The President issued a proclamation to ensure immigrants admitted to America do not burden our healthcare system.
The President has taken action to reduce nonimmigrant visa overstays, a problem that undermines the rule of law, impacts public safety, and strains resources needed for the border.
President Trump made our country safer by ordering the enhanced vetting of individuals attempting to come to America from countries that do not meet our security standards.
The President is taking a responsible approach to refugee admissions, prioritizing refugee resettlement in jurisdictions where both State and local governments consent to receive them.
This order is designed to ensure that refugees are placed in an environment where they will have the best opportunity to succeed in their new homes.
CREATING SAFER COMMUNITIES: President Trump’s policies are supporting our brave law enforcement officers and making America’s communities safer.
Violent crime fell in 2017 and 2018, after rising during each of the two years prior to President Trump taking office.
Since 2016, the violent crime rate in America has fallen nearly 5 percent and the murder rate has decreased by over 7 percent.
President Trump signed the First Step Act into law, making our criminal justice system fairer for all while making our communities safer.
President Trump has promoted second-chance hiring to give former inmates the opportunity to live crime-free lives and find meaningful employment, all while making our communities safer.
The Department of Education is expanding an initiative that allows individuals in Federal and State prisons to receive Pell Grants to better prepare themselves for the workforce.
The Department of Justice and Bureau of Prisons launched a new “Ready to Work” Initiative to help connect employers directly with former prisoners.
The Department of Labor awarded $2.2 million to states to expand the use of fidelity bonds, which underwrite companies that hire former prisoners.
President Trump has revitalized Project Safe Neighborhoods, bringing together Federal, State, local, and tribal law enforcement officials to develop solutions to violent crime.
The President is standing up for our Nation’s law enforcement officers and making America’s communities safer.
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Photo “Donald Trump” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.
