Ledger · 2016 campaign · № 77

day one

Lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying for foreign governments

Broken

“[paraphrase] A lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government.”

Promised

October 17, 2016, Campaign rally, Green Bay, Wisconsin; restated in the Gettysburg contract

Stated deadline

“day one” → October 18, 2016

Overdue by

9 years, 11 months as of September 22, 2026

Re-promised

8 times with a fresh deadline

Topic

Ethics & conflicts

Era

2016 campaign

What happened

Executive Order 13770 of January 28, 2017 included a lifetime ban limited to activity requiring FARA registration. Trump revoked the order on January 19-20, 2021, eliminating the ban. A companion promise to ban foreign lobbyists from raising money in American elections was never implemented; PolitiFact rated both broken.

Sources

1. Place lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying for foreign government PolitiFact Trump-O-Meter, Jul 15, 2020
2. Place lifetime ban on foreign lobbyists raising money for American elections PolitiFact Trump-O-Meter, Jul 15, 2020
3. Trump revokes lobbying ban he signed at the beginning of his presidency Forbes, Jan 20, 2021