“Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time! [paired with the threat that] a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”
· Truth Social posts and remarks, setting a hard deadline of 8:00 p.m. ET on April 7, 2026
· ×4
Deadline Apr 7, 2026 · 5 months overdue
Hours before the deadline Pakistan's prime minister publicly asked Trump for a two-week extension. Trump said the US was in 'heated negotiations' and then agreed to suspend attacks for two weeks in exchange for Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz; Iran's Supreme National Security Council accepted and oil posted its biggest one-day drop since 2020. When the two weeks expired around April 21, 2026 Trump extended again and the arrangement became open-ended. On May 18, 2026 he posted that 'we will NOT be doing the scheduled attack of Iran tomorrow.'
“[paraphrase] The core strategic objectives are nearing completion — we'll be out in two weeks, maybe three.”
· Remarks to reporters ahead of a planned address to the nation
· ×4
Deadline Apr 14, 2026 · 5 months overdue
The war did not end on that timeline. Fighting continued, petrol topped $4 a gallon, and a ceasefire only arrived on April 7, 2026 — itself only two weeks long and then repeatedly re-extended. By June 2026 Trump was touting 'complete victory' while the two-week framing recurred; by August 2026 the US-Iran memorandum of understanding had expired and collapsed, and on August 18, 2026 he was threatening to bomb Oman.
“I HAVE INSTRUCTED THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR TO POSTPONE ANY AND ALL MILITARY STRIKES.”
· Truth Social post
· ×3
The pause was extended before it ran out. On March 26, 2026 Trump posted that he was 'pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 Days,' moving the deadline to April 6, and on April 5 he moved it again to 8:00 p.m. ET on April 7.
“If Iran doesn't FULLY OPEN [the Strait of Hormuz]... the United States will hit and obliterate their POWER PLANTS.”
· Truth Social post during the 2026 Iran war (Operation Epic Fury)
· ×6
Deadline Mar 23, 2026 · 6 months overdue
The 48 hours expired and the strikes were postponed rather than executed. It was the first in a chain of at least six short deadlines Trump set and then let pass during the 2026 Iran war, catalogued by ABC News in May 2026 under the headline 'Trump's series of unenforced deadlines.'
“[paraphrase] You have one week to leave Venezuela with your family, for any destination of your choosing.”
· Private phone call from Trump to Nicolas Maduro, lasting under fifteen minutes, first reported by Reuters
Maduro demanded full amnesty plus sanctions relief for more than 100 officials and Trump refused most of it. The November 28 deadline passed with no departure and no immediate action beyond Trump declaring Venezuelan airspace closed. The resolution came five weeks later: on January 3, 2026 US forces executed Operation Absolute Resolve, striking Venezuela and capturing Maduro and his wife.
“[paraphrase] The health care plan will be unveiled Monday.”
· Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the plan would be revealed that week; the Monday rollout was then scrapped
· ×12
Deadline Nov 5, 2025 · 10 months overdue
The Monday rollout of the 'Healthcare Price Cuts Act' was scrapped after congressional Republicans revolted at a two-year ACA subsidy extension one lawmaker called 'Obamacare-lite.' 'The Great Healthcare Plan' finally appeared on January 15, 2026 as a legislative framework rather than a bill. Forbes wrote on February 2, 2026 that it 'isn't more than a brief conceptual outline,' echoing his 2024 'concepts of a plan,' and it still requires Congress to act.
“[paraphrase] We will meet in Budapest within two weeks to end the war.”
· Announcement after a phone call with Vladimir Putin
Deadline Oct 30, 2025 · 10 months overdue
Six days later, on October 22, 2025, Trump cancelled the summit after Moscow restated maximalist demands that Ukraine cede territory, cut its army and renounce NATO. A preparatory Rubio-Lavrov meeting was postponed indefinitely and the Budapest summit never took place.
“[paraphrase] Hamas has three or four days to respond. Hamas is either going to be doing it or not, and if it's not, it's going to be a very sad end.”
· Remarks to reporters after unveiling the 20-point Gaza plan with Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House; hardened on October 3 to a fixed Sunday 6:00 p.m. ET deadline on Truth Social
· ×2
Deadline Oct 4, 2025 · 11 months overdue
This one largely held. On October 3, 2025, just before the deadline, Hamas agreed to release all remaining hostages and hand Gaza's administration to independent technocrats, while refusing to disarm. Trump accepted, told Israel to stop bombing, and the ceasefire and hostage-release phase proceeded in October 2025. The disarmament and stabilisation-force elements remained unresolved long past the deadline.
“We'll see what happens over the next week or two. And at that point, I'll step in very strongly.”
· Remarks to reporters at the White House
· ×6
Deadline Sep 8, 2025 · 1 year overdue
No intervention followed in the stated window. Through September 2025 there were no new US sanctions on Russia tied to the threat, and HuffPost catalogued the run of expired deadlines under the headline that Putin had faced no consequences.
“I think over the next two weeks we're going to find out which way it's going to go.”
· Remarks to reporters at the White House
· ×5
Deadline Sep 5, 2025 · 1 year overdue
The deadline passed with no announced determination and no consequence for Moscow. It was at least the fifth two-week Ukraine deadline of 2025. By late September 2025 the Washington Post was counting 21 weeks since Trump first gave Putin two weeks.
“I may have to think about it in two weeks or three weeks or something.”
· Post-summit remarks after meeting Putin at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Anchorage
· ×3
Deadline Aug 29, 2025 · 1 year overdue
The Anchorage summit produced no ceasefire and no new sanctions after roughly three hours of talks. Nothing followed inside the window Trump named, and Russia escalated strikes on Ukrainian cities through late August 2025.
“[paraphrase] I'm going to reduce that 50 days that I gave him to a lesser number... about 10 or 12 days from today.”
· Remarks alongside UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Turnberry, Scotland
· ×2
Deadline Aug 8, 2025 · 1 year, 1 month overdue
Trump had given Russia 50 days on July 14, 2025 to reach a deal or face 'severe' secondary tariffs, then shortened it to 10-12 days on July 28. The shortened deadline expired around August 8, 2025 with no comprehensive sanctions regime imposed on Russia itself; instead Trump met Putin in Alaska on August 15, 2025. CNN's analysis at the time noted the new deadline deserved skepticism given the string of expired two-week deadlines before it.
“[paraphrase] Trump: I have asked the Attorney General to produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony. Bondi: We are ready to move the court tomorrow.”
· Truth Social post by Trump and a reply on X from Attorney General Pam Bondi
· ×2
Deadline Jul 18, 2025 · 1 year, 2 months overdue
DOJ did file quickly, but federal judges denied the unsealing requests between July 23 and August 11, 2025, with at least one judge finding the administration's stated premise 'demonstrably false.' Essentially nothing new was produced by that route, and the move was widely read as damage control after the July 6 memo saying there was no client list.
“Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks.”
· Statement read by press secretary Karoline Leavitt at the White House briefing
Deadline Jul 3, 2025 · 1 year, 2 months overdue
The two-week window turned out to be misdirection in the other direction: US B-2 bombers struck Iranian nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan on June 21-22, 2025 — two days later, not two weeks. The episode triggered the June 2025 wave of 'two weeks' supercuts on CNN, NBC and late-night television.
“We're going to be sending letters out in about a week and a half, two weeks, to countries, telling them what the deal is.”
· Remarks to reporters
· ×2
The letters did not go out on that schedule. The first batch of tariff letters to trading partners was sent in early July 2025, roughly two weeks past the outer edge of the window, and the rates in them were repeatedly revised afterwards.
· Fox News interview, asked who the buyer for TikTok was
· ×2
No buyer was named within two weeks. The divest-or-ban deadline was extended repeatedly through 2025 by executive order. A framework deal involving a US joint venture was only announced in late September 2025, roughly three months after the two-week promise.
“I'll let you know in about two weeks, within two weeks... We're going to find out whether or not he's tapping us along or not, and if he is we'll respond a little bit differently.”
· Oval Office remarks to reporters
· ×3
Deadline Jun 11, 2025 · 1 year, 3 months overdue
This was the third consecutive two-week deadline on Putin in about a month, and became the most-cited example of the pattern. The two weeks expired around June 11, 2025 with no verdict and no new response. Trump instead issued a 50-day ultimatum on July 14, 2025, then shortened it to 10-12 days on July 28. Russia's war continued.
No pharmaceutical tariff rate was announced within the two weeks. Trump kept promising pharma tariffs through the summer of 2025 before announcing a 100% tariff on branded imported drugs in late September 2025, nearly five months after the deadline he set.
This was the first of at least three consecutive two-week deadlines Trump set in the spring of 2025 on whether Putin was negotiating in good faith. He reset the clock on May 19 and again on May 28 without ever announcing a verdict, then moved to a 50-day ultimatum in July 2025 which he cut to 10-12 days on July 28, 2025.
“You can ask that question in two weeks, and we'll see.”
· Oval Office meeting with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store
· ×4
Deadline May 8, 2025 · 1 year, 4 months overdue
Asked whether US military assistance to Ukraine would continue, Trump deferred by two weeks. No answer came at the two-week mark. He used variations of the same deflection on April 27, May 19 and May 28, 2025.
· Fox News interview with Attorney General Pam Bondi, acting on Trump's release directive
· ×4
Deadline Feb 28, 2025 · 1 year, 6 months overdue
Six days later, on February 27, 2025, DOJ staged the white-binder 'Epstein Files: Phase 1' handout to social media influencers on the White House driveway. It contained essentially no new information. Bondi then blamed the FBI's New York field office. A DOJ and FBI memo in July 2025 concluded there was no client list at all.
“[paraphrase] On day one, I will sign the tariffs — 25 percent on Mexico and Canada, immediately.”
· Truth Social post after the election
· ×10
No tariffs were signed on Jan. 20, 2025; Al Jazeera and NBC News both flagged it as a missed day-one item. Mexico and Canada tariffs came weeks later and were repeatedly paused, and the broader program was voided by the Supreme Court on Feb. 20, 2026 before being partially rebuilt under other statutes.
“It's so easy — I would fire him within two seconds.”
· Call-in interview on 'The Hugh Hewitt Show', asked whether he would fire special counsel Jack Smith on the day he took the oath
· ×3
Deadline Oct 25, 2024 · 1 year, 10 months overdue
He never got to fire him. After the election Smith moved to drop both federal cases, which were dismissed on November 25, 2024 under DOJ's policy against prosecuting a sitting president, and Smith resigned from the Justice Department on January 10, 2025, ten days before the inauguration. Legal analysts also noted a president cannot personally fire a special counsel; only the attorney general can.
“I have concepts of a plan... if we come up with something, we are working on things, we're going to do it and we're going to replace it.”
· ABC News presidential debate with Kamala Harris, National Constitution Center, Philadelphia
· ×12
Deadline Sep 24, 2024 · 1 year, 11 months overdue
This was the terminus of a chain that began with 'something terrific' in 2015, ran through repeated 'two weeks' promises in 2017, and produced five separate 'weeks away' pledges in 2020. No replacement plan followed the debate. The administration's 'Great Healthcare Plan', released January 15, 2026, was a brief conceptual outline requiring congressional action, which Forbes noted was still not more than concepts.
“Starting on day one, we will end inflation and make America affordable again.”
· Campaign rally, Bozeman, Montana (repeated at Waunakee, Wisconsin, Oct. 1, 2024 and dozens of other rallies)
· ×25
Deadline Aug 10, 2024 · 2 years, 1 month overdue
Within a month of taking office the White House was already walking the pledge back; by February 2025 Trump publicly abandoned the idea of an immediate rollback in prices. Inflation reaccelerated after the April 2025 'Liberation Day' tariffs, reaching roughly 3% in 2025, and the Senate Joint Economic Committee and outside analysts estimated households paid about $2,120 more in 2025 because of it. In his 2026 State of the Union Trump claimed he had 'won' on affordability while grocery, electricity, housing and medical prices all remained above January 2025 levels.
“Yeah, yeah, I would... I guess I would. I think that less so because, you don't know, you don't want to affect people's lives if it's phony stuff in there.”
· Fox & Friends Weekend interview with Rachel Campos-Duffy; repeated on the Lex Fridman podcast on September 3, 2024
· ×4
Deadline Jun 3, 2024 · 2 years, 3 months overdue
In February 2025 Attorney General Pam Bondi said the client list was 'sitting on my desk'; a DOJ and FBI memo in July 2025 then concluded there was no client list and no further disclosures were warranted, and Trump called the story 'pretty boring stuff' and a Democratic 'hoax.' He reversed on November 16, 2025, told House Republicans to vote for release, and signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act on November 19, 2025. Releases remained partial and contested into September 2026. House Democrats accused Fox of deceptively editing the original 2024 broadcast to cut his hesitation.
“[paraphrase] On day one I will restore the travel ban, and we'll expand it.”
· Campaign rally, Clive, Iowa
· ×12
Deadline Oct 17, 2023 · 2 years, 11 months overdue
A proclamation covering a list of countries came in June 2025 rather than day one, and PolitiFact still rated the promise Stalled in its January 2026 review because the sweeping 'expanded' ban — including the promised ideological screening and country list Trump described on the trail — was never fully implemented and parts have been narrowed in litigation.
“A Large, Complex, Detailed but Irrefutable REPORT on the Presidential Election Fraud which took place in Georgia... will be presented at a major News Conference on Monday.”
· Truth Social, two days after his Fulton County indictment; the conference was to be held at Bedminster, New Jersey
· ×2
Deadline Aug 21, 2023 · 3 years, 1 month overdue
He cancelled on August 20, 2023, writing that his lawyers would prefer to put the evidence in 'formal Legal Filings' and that 'the News Conference is no longer necessary!' No such report was ever released, publicly or in any court filing. As late as a July 2026 primetime speech on election security, experts said the documents he cited still showed no evidence of the fraud he alleges.
“I will sign an executive order on day one of my new term in office making clear to federal agencies that under the correct interpretation of the law, going forward, the future children of illegal aliens will not receive automatic US citizenship.”
· Campaign policy video released by the Trump campaign
· ×4
Deadline May 31, 2023 · 3 years, 3 months overdue
Trump did sign the order on January 20, 2025, but a federal judge blocked it three days later on January 23, 2025, calling it 'blatantly unconstitutional.' The policy remained enjoined through subsequent litigation and no child was denied citizenship under it.
“If I'm president, I will have that war settled in one day, 24 hours.”
· CNN town hall, Goffstown, New Hampshire
· ×53
Deadline May 11, 2023 · 3 years, 4 months overdue
CNN counted at least 53 occasions on which Trump said he would end the war within 24 hours or before taking office. The war was still going on when he was inaugurated on January 20, 2025, and continued through 2025 and into 2026 despite repeated two-week deadlines, a 50-day ultimatum, the August 2025 Alaska summit and the cancelled Budapest summit. On March 14, 2025 Trump said the 24-hour pledge had been 'a little bit sarcastic.'
“AMERICA NEEDS A SUPERHERO!... I will be making a MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT TOMORROW.”
· Truth Social video post
Deadline Dec 15, 2022 · 3 years, 9 months overdue
He met the one-day deadline, but the 'major announcement' on December 15, 2022 — three weeks after launching his 2024 campaign — was a $99 line of 45,000 digital trading cards depicting him as an astronaut, cowboy and superhero, with fine print noting they had 'no inherent monetary value.' The run sold out in roughly twelve hours for about $4.45 million and secondary-market volume collapsed by January 2023.
“[paraphrase] Trump told advisers he wanted to start a new party — the Patriot Party — to punish Republicans who blamed him for January 6.”
· Reported conversations with advisers in his final days in office; first reported by The Wall Street Journal
Deadline Jan 25, 2021 · 5 years, 7 months overdue
The idea lasted less than a week. On January 25, 2021 Trump's own campaign committee formally disavowed groups using the Patriot Party name, and adviser Jason Miller told CNN Trump was not considering a third party. Supporters filed their own FEC paperwork and built Telegram groups around a party that never existed. Trump stayed inside the Republican Party and took it over instead.
“[paraphrase] The $600 payments are ridiculously low. Congress must raise them to $2,000 — the House votes Monday and the Senate will start the process.”
· Video statement posted to Twitter, repeated in his December 27 signing statement
· ×2
Deadline Dec 25, 2020 · 5 years, 8 months overdue
His six-day delay in signing lapsed unemployment benefits for millions. He signed on December 27, 2020. The House did pass the $2,000 increase on December 28 by 275-134, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked a standalone vote and the increase died. Americans received $600, not $2,000.
“[paraphrase] Within 24 hours of the FDA's emergency authorization, tens of millions of doses will be distributed.”
· Operation Warp Speed Vaccine Summit at the White House
· ×2
Deadline Dec 9, 2020 · 5 years, 9 months overdue
Within 24 hours of Pfizer's December 11, 2020 authorization the government began releasing 6.4 million doses in two stages, not tens of millions. Pfizer had already cut its 2020 manufacturing projection from 100 million to 50 million doses. About 2.8 million people had been vaccinated in the US by December 31, 2020, against a stated goal of 20 million.
“[paraphrase] Big news coming. We have tremendous evidence and you'll see it very soon. / Sidney Powell: 'I'm going to release the Kraken.'”
· Trump tweets and campaign statements; Sidney Powell on Fox Business's 'Lou Dobbs Tonight'
· ×8
Deadline Nov 8, 2020 · 5 years, 10 months overdue
The evidence never materialised. A promised fraud press conference was cancelled on his attorneys' advice. Attorney General Bill Barr said on December 1, 2020 that the Justice Department had found no fraud on a scale that would change the outcome. Trump and his allies lost or withdrew roughly 60 of 62 post-election lawsuits, and the Supreme Court rejected the Texas case on December 11, 2020. Powell's 'Kraken' suits in Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and Arizona were all dismissed; she pleaded guilty to misdemeanour conspiracy charges in Fulton County in October 2023.
“I have fully authorized the total Declassification of any & all documents pertaining to the single greatest political CRIME in American History, the Russia Hoax. Likewise, the Hillary Clinton Email Scandal. No redactions!”
· Twitter
· ×3
Deadline Oct 7, 2020 · 5 years, 11 months overdue
The blanket release never happened. DNI John Ratcliffe declassified a handful of selected items but no unredacted dump followed. In mid-January 2021, days before leaving office, Trump again ordered 'Obamagate' material declassified with reporting that it would be out within days; the promised material was not publicly released before January 20, 2021.
“I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election when, immediately after I win, we will pass a major Stimulus Bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and Small Business.”
· Twitter
· ×2
Deadline Oct 7, 2020 · 5 years, 11 months overdue
The tweet killed relief talks and the Dow fell 376 points that day. Trump reversed within about 24 hours and began demanding piecemeal relief, but nothing passed before the election, and he lost. No further relief became law until the $900 billion package Congress approved on December 21, 2020, more than eleven weeks later.
“[paraphrase] Over the next two weeks I'll be pursuing a major executive order requiring health insurance companies to cover all pre-existing conditions for all customers.”
· News conference at Trump National Golf Club, Bedminster, New Jersey
· ×3
Pre-existing conditions were already covered by the Affordable Care Act, which Trump's administration was simultaneously asking the Supreme Court to strike down. The order finally came on September 24, 2020 — seven weeks late — and PolitiFact and other fact-checkers found it created no enforceable protection, merely declaring it 'the policy of the United States.'
“We're signing a health care plan within two weeks, a full and complete health care plan.”
· Fox News Sunday interview with Chris Wallace
· ×12
Deadline Aug 2, 2020 · 6 years, 1 month overdue
The two weeks expired on August 2, 2020 with nothing signed. On July 31 Trump said it was coming 'sometime very soon'; on August 3 'hopefully, prior to the end of the month'; on August 7 he promised a major executive order 'in two weeks.' What eventually appeared on September 24, 2020 was the 'America First Healthcare Plan' executive order that fact-checkers described as largely symbolic. No comprehensive replacement plan was ever signed.
“We're going to be there very soon... [capacity] will increase by much more than that in the very near future.”
· Oval Office remarks
Deadline May 12, 2020 · 6 years, 4 months overdue
Hours earlier testing czar Adm. Brett Giroir had said there was 'absolutely no way on Earth, on this planet or any other planet' the US could run 5 million tests a day. Trump reversed within a day, denying he had said it and blaming a 'media trap.' The single-day peak at that point was 314,182 tests, and the US never reached 5 million tests a day.
“We're going to be able to make that drug available almost immediately.”
· White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing
· ×4
Deadline Mar 20, 2020 · 6 years, 6 months overdue
FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn corrected Trump at the same briefing, saying more study was needed. The FDA issued a narrow emergency use authorization on March 28, 2020 for stockpiled product in certain hospitalized patients, then revoked it on June 15, 2020 after trials showed no benefit and possible cardiac harm. The promotion caused shortages for lupus and rheumatoid arthritis patients.
“[paraphrase] The IRS will ensure that within two weeks the first money will be in people's accounts.”
· White House briefing announcing the $1.2 trillion stimulus proposal (Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, alongside Trump)
· ×2
The CARES Act was not signed until March 27, 2020. On March 29 Mnuchin revised the estimate to 'within three weeks.' The first roughly 60 million direct deposits landed around the week of April 13 — about four weeks after the promise — and paper checks began going out the week of May 4 at roughly 5 million a week, with an internal memo warning some Americans might wait until August.
“Google is helping to develop a website. It's going to be very quickly done... Google has 1,700 engineers working on this right now. They've made tremendous progress.”
· Rose Garden national emergency declaration
Deadline Mar 16, 2020 · 6 years, 6 months overdue
Google publicly corrected the record the same day. The project belonged to Alphabet's Verily, not Google, and launched March 15-16, 2020 as a pilot limited to two San Francisco Bay Area counties, with appointment slots filling almost immediately. Verily ultimately helped about 1.6 million people get tested in 2020 — under 1% of all US tests that year.
“We'll have 1.4 million tests on board next week and 5 million within a month.”
· Rose Garden national emergency declaration
· ×2
Deadline Mar 20, 2020 · 6 years, 6 months overdue
Roughly 894,000 tests in total had been run nationwide by March 29-30, 2020, well behind the promised weekly volumes. Asked about the gap between tests 'distributed' and tests actually performed, Trump replied, 'I cannot explain the gap.'
“Over a million tests have been distributed... Before the end of this week, another 4 million tests will be distributed.”
· White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing (statement by Vice President Mike Pence)
Deadline Mar 16, 2020 · 6 years, 6 months overdue
By March 29-30, 2020 roughly 894,000 tests had actually been performed nationwide according to testing coordinator Adm. Brett Giroir — a small fraction of the millions described. In late April Pence said the public had 'misunderstood' him and that he had meant tests available rather than tests completed.
“Anybody that wants a test can get a test. That's what the bottom line is.”
· Remarks to reporters during a tour of the CDC, Atlanta
· ×2
Deadline Mar 7, 2020 · 6 years, 6 months overdue
PolitiFact rated the claim Pants on Fire. Under CDC criteria providers, not patients, decided who was tested, and on March 9, 2020 the Association of Public Health Laboratories said demand far exceeded supply. Texas's largest public health lab could run 26 tests a day. Testing on demand did not exist for months.
“It's going to disappear. One day — it's like a miracle — it will disappear.”
· White House meeting with African American leaders
· ×22
Deadline Mar 12, 2020 · 6 years, 6 months overdue
Rolling Stone counted at least 22 separate occasions on which Trump predicted the virus would simply go away, including earlier claims that heat would kill it 'in April.' The US passed 100,000 deaths by late May 2020 and roughly 400,000 by the time he left office in January 2021.
“And again, when you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that's a pretty good job we've done.”
· White House press conference with the Coronavirus Task Force
Deadline Feb 28, 2020 · 6 years, 6 months overdue
Cases did not fall to zero. The first US community-transmission case was confirmed the same day and the first reported US death came on February 29, 2020. By late March the US had the most confirmed cases in the world, and by the first anniversary of the remark the American death toll had passed 500,000.
“I'll release that too, if it's important to you.”
· News conference at the UN General Assembly, the day the White House released the July 25 Zelensky call memo
It took 51 days. The April 21, 2019 call memo was finally released on November 15, 2019, timed to land on the second day of the public impeachment hearings and read into the record by Devin Nunes. Adam Schiff noted the White House was still refusing all subpoenaed documents and records.
“[paraphrase] We're going to have very meaningful background checks. There is a great appetite for background checks.”
· Early-morning tweet on August 5, then remarks to reporters on August 7 before visiting El Paso and Dayton
· ×3
Deadline Aug 19, 2019 · 7 years, 1 month overdue
Reversed inside two weeks. After an August 20, 2019 phone call with NRA chief Wayne LaPierre, Trump said on August 20-21 that 'we have very, very strong background checks right now' and warned of a 'slippery slope,' pivoting to mental health and noting that 'a lot of the people that put me where I am are strong believers in the Second Amendment.' No background-check legislation was ever advanced; House-passed bills died in the Senate. He had made and abandoned a near-identical promise after Parkland in February 2018.
“At the request of Democrats, I have delayed the Illegal Immigration Removal Process (Deportation) for two weeks to see if the Democrats and Republicans can get together and work out a solution to the Asylum and Loophole problems at the Southern Border. If not, Deportations start!”
· Twitter, the day before nationwide ICE raids were to begin in about ten cities
· ×2
Deadline Jul 6, 2019 · 7 years, 2 months overdue
Congress did not change asylum law; it passed a $4.5 billion humanitarian border supplemental instead. The two weeks lapsed in early July with no raids and no enforcement of the ultimatum. The operation finally launched on July 14, 2019 and produced only about 35 arrests nationwide, against the 'millions' Trump had advertised on June 17.
“[paraphrase] We'll have a full report on Khashoggi's death Monday or Tuesday — what we think the overall impact was, who caused it and who did it.”
· Remarks to reporters on the South Lawn before boarding Marine One en route to California
Deadline Nov 20, 2018 · 7 years, 10 months overdue
No report was released on the promised day. On November 20, 2018 the White House instead issued Trump's 'Standing with Saudi Arabia' statement, which declined to blame Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — 'maybe he did and maybe he didn't!' — and emphasised arms sales. The intelligence assessment naming the crown prince was not declassified until February 2021, under Biden.
“We're putting in a resolution some time in the next week and a half to two weeks [and] we're giving a middle-income tax reduction of about 10 percent.”
· Remarks to reporters at the White House, two weeks before the midterm elections
· ×3
Deadline Nov 3, 2018 · 7 years, 10 months overdue
The resolution did not exist. Congress was in recess until after the November 6 election and never returned before it; Paul Ryan's office referred questions back to the White House and congressional leaders said they knew nothing about it. CNBC noted it was 'unclear what type of resolution Trump was talking about.' No such resolution was ever introduced and no 10% middle-class cut was ever enacted.
“Subject to the receipt of further information, I will be allowing, as President, the long blocked and classified JFK FILES to be opened.”
· Twitter, five days before the statutory October 26, 2017 deadline
· ×2
Deadline Oct 26, 2017 · 8 years, 10 months overdue
On October 26, 2017, hours before the statutory deadline, about 2,800 records were released but roughly 300 were withheld at the request of the CIA and FBI. Trump's memo said he had 'no choice — today — but to accept those redactions rather than allow potentially irreversible harm to our nation's security,' and ordered a review to release as much as possible by April 26, 2018. Further batches trickled out for years and full release never happened in his first term.
“We are going to be doing that next week. By the way, you know that's a big step... It's a very important step, and to get to that step, a lot of work has to be done.”
· Remarks to reporters at the White House, asked about declaring a written national emergency
· ×2
Deadline Oct 23, 2017 · 8 years, 10 months overdue
Ten days later, on October 26, 2017, he did not declare a national emergency. He directed HHS to declare a narrower 90-day public health emergency under the Public Health Service Act, a tool with no new money attached. USA TODAY tallied 77 days of repeated promises. It followed an August 10, 2017 pledge in which he said 'I'm saying officially right now, it is an emergency' and nothing was signed.
“The opioid crisis is an emergency, and I'm saying officially right now, it is an emergency. It's a national emergency. We're going to draw it up and we're going to make it a national emergency.”
· Impromptu remarks to reporters at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club, ten days after his opioid commission urged a declaration
· ×3
Deadline Aug 17, 2017 · 9 years, 1 month overdue
Nothing was signed. NPR reported on October 17, 2017 that 'in the more than two months since Trump made that pronouncement, no emergency declaration has been signed.' Senators Murkowski and Warren pressed him in writing on October 12. What eventually came on October 26 was a narrower 90-day public health emergency with no new money attached.
“I am not hinting at anything. I will tell you about it over a very short period of time.”
· Rose Garden news conference with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis
· ×2
He twice refused to elaborate and told reporters 'you're going to be very disappointed.' The House Intelligence Committee set a June 23 deadline for the White House to say whether tapes existed. Thirteen days later, on June 22, 2017, Trump tweeted that he had 'no idea' whether tapes existed 'but I did not make, and do not have, any such recordings.' The White House response to Congress the next day simply pasted the tweet.
“[paraphrase] The infrastructure plan is coming in the next two or three weeks / this is Infrastructure Week.”
· White House 'Infrastructure Week' rollout, first announced by NEC director Gary Cohn
· ×7
Deadline Jun 19, 2017 · 9 years, 3 months overdue
The White House declared an 'Infrastructure Week' at least seven separate times between June 2017 and May 2019, each derailed — the June 2017 launch by the Comey testimony, the August 2017 permitting push by Trump's 'very fine people on both sides' remarks after Charlottesville, the February 2018 rollout of a $1.3 trillion public-private plan by the Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels payment story, and the spring 2019 effort by Trump walking out of a meeting with Pelosi and Schumer. No infrastructure bill ever passed under Trump, and 'Infrastructure Week' became a Washington punchline for something permanently two weeks away.
“We're going to be having a news conference in about two weeks to let everybody know how well we're doing.”
· Remarks during the Middle East trip on May 21, 2017, repeated at a televised Cabinet meeting on June 12, 2017
· ×2
Deadline Jun 4, 2017 · 9 years, 3 months overdue
No news conference was ever held. Vox tracked it: the first deadline passed, Trump repeated the promise at his June 12 Cabinet meeting, and the second deadline passed on June 26 without the administration organising or even scheduling one.
“And I'll be making a big decision on the Paris accord over the next two weeks.”
· 100-days rally, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
· ×2
Two weeks passed with no decision. At the G7 in Taormina on May 26-27 Trump refused to endorse the accord and tweeted that he would announce his decision 'next week.' He announced withdrawal on June 1, 2017, roughly a month after the two-week pledge. Formal withdrawal notice did not come until November 4, 2019 and took effect November 4, 2020.
“I shouldn't tell you this, but we're going to be announcing, probably on Wednesday, tax reform... it'll be a massive tax cut.”
· Oval Office interview with the Associated Press and remarks at the Treasury Department the same day
· ×2
Deadline Apr 26, 2017 · 9 years, 4 months overdue
Partly kept and heavily deflated. By April 24 the White House was saying Trump would be 'outlining principles' and Mick Mulvaney said there would be no bill language. What arrived on April 26, 2017 was a one-page outline presented by Steven Mnuchin and Gary Cohn, not a plan or a bill. Legislation did not pass until December 2017.
“We're going to make an announcement in two weeks. It's going to be good.”
· Interview with The New York Times, asked his position on the Davis-Bacon Act
Deadline Apr 19, 2017 · 9 years, 5 months overdue
Two months later Bloomberg reported that 'the Trump administration has made no announcement on the Davis-Bacon law.' No announcement was ever made, and prevailing-wage rules on federally funded construction were left untouched for the rest of the term.
“I think you're going to find some very interesting items coming to the forefront over the next two weeks.”
· Fox News interview with Tucker Carlson
· ×2
Deadline Mar 29, 2017 · 9 years, 5 months overdue
Nothing was ever submitted. On March 20, 2017 FBI Director James Comey and NSA Director Mike Rogers told the House Intelligence Committee there was no evidence supporting the claim. A Justice Department court filing on September 1, 2017 said both the FBI and the National Security Division 'have no records related to wiretaps as described by the March 4, 2017 tweets.' In an April 2019 Hannity call Trump said he had made the claim 'just on a little bit of a hunch and a little bit of wisdom maybe.'
“We'll be doing something very rapidly having to do with additional security for our country. You'll be seeing that sometime next week.”
· Joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe; repeated on February 16 at his first solo press conference
· ×3
Nothing was signed the following week. A senior official then said 'later in the week'; on February 21 Sean Spicer said the order was 'finalized' and 'awaiting implementation.' A March 1 signing was scrapped so the February 28 joint address to Congress could 'breathe.' Executive Order 13780 was finally signed on March 6, 2017, about three weeks after the deadline.
“I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and... even, those registered to vote who are dead.”
· Twitter, two days after telling congressional leaders that 3 to 5 million illegal votes cost him the popular vote
· ×4
Deadline Feb 8, 2017 · 9 years, 7 months overdue
The commission was not created until May 11, 2017 and was disbanded on January 3, 2018 without ever issuing a report. Documents later obtained in litigation showed it had found no evidence of widespread fraud. Evidence for the 3 to 5 million claim was never produced by Trump, Sean Spicer or anyone else.
“I also know things that other people don't know, and so they cannot be sure of the situation... You'll find out on Tuesday or Wednesday.”
· Remarks to reporters before his New Year's Eve party at Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach
Deadline Jan 4, 2017 · 9 years, 8 months overdue
Nothing was revealed on that Tuesday or Wednesday. Trump was briefed by intelligence chiefs on January 6, 2017 and at his January 11 press conference conceded 'I think it was Russia' — the opposite of the inside-knowledge tease. No separate disclosure was ever made.
“On the first day of my term of office, my administration will immediately pursue the following six measures to clean up the corruption and special interest collusion in Washington, DC.”
· Gettysburg, Pennsylvania speech releasing the written 'Contract with the American Voter'
· ×18
Deadline Oct 23, 2016 · 9 years, 10 months overdue
Mostly late or never. The federal hiring freeze and TPP withdrawal were signed on day four, January 23, 2017, not day one. The constitutional amendment imposing congressional term limits was never proposed. China was not labelled a currency manipulator on day one; the administration reversed that pledge in April 2017, briefly applied the label in August 2019 and removed it in January 2020. Sanctuary-city defunding was ordered but repeatedly blocked in court.
“[paraphrase] A five-year ban on executive branch officials lobbying the government after they leave, and a lifetime ban on lobbying for a foreign government.”
· "Contract with the American Voter," Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
· ×50
Deadline Oct 23, 2016 · 9 years, 10 months overdue
Executive Order 13770, signed January 28, 2017, contained the pledge but with exemptions, and the lifetime foreign-lobbying ban applied only to lobbying registered under FARA, not to broader foreign consulting. Trump revoked the order entirely on January 19-20, 2021, hours before leaving office, releasing all appointees from the pledge.
“[paraphrase] I will direct the Treasury Secretary to label China a currency manipulator on day one.”
· "Contract with the American Voter," Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
· ×15
Treasury declined to make the designation through 2017, 2018 and most of 2019. It finally labeled China a currency manipulator on August 5, 2019, then reversed the designation on January 13, 2020, ahead of the Phase One signing. PolitiFact rated the promise a compromise.
“[paraphrase] A hiring freeze on all federal employees to reduce the federal workforce through attrition, exempting military, public safety and public health.”
· "Contract with the American Voter," Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
· ×4
Deadline Oct 23, 2016 · 9 years, 10 months overdue
A hiring freeze was imposed on January 23, 2017 but lifted on April 12, 2017, replaced by agency-by-agency workforce plans. Federal civilian employment was higher at the end of the term than at the start. PolitiFact rated the promise broken, noting no movement since April 2017.
“[paraphrase] On day one I will cancel every unconstitutional executive action, memorandum and order issued by President Obama.”
· "Contract with the American Voter," Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
· ×10
Deadline Oct 23, 2016 · 9 years, 10 months overdue
Many Obama-era regulations were rolled back, but the central immigration target, DACA, survived. The Supreme Court blocked its rescission in June 2020 and a federal court ordered full reinstatement of the program in December 2020. PolitiFact rated the promise a compromise on January 4, 2021.
“[paraphrase] A requirement that for every new federal regulation, two existing regulations must be eliminated, and a temporary moratorium on new regulations.”
· "Contract with the American Voter," Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
· ×6
Deadline Oct 23, 2016 · 9 years, 10 months overdue
A January 20, 2017 memo froze pending rules and Executive Order 13771 of January 30, 2017 imposed the two-for-one requirement, but no blanket moratorium on new regulations was maintained and agencies continued issuing rules. PolitiFact rated the promise a compromise, finding Trump essentially held the line.
“[paraphrase] A lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government.”
· Campaign rally, Green Bay, Wisconsin; restated in the Gettysburg contract
· ×8
Deadline Oct 18, 2016 · 9 years, 11 months overdue
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.
“I'm under a routine audit and it'll be released, and as soon as the audit is finished it will be released.”
· First 2016 presidential debate, Hofstra University
· ×6
Deadline Oct 10, 2016 · 9 years, 11 months overdue
Trump repeated the 'after the audit' line from 2015 onward and abandoned it once in office. Nothing in law bars releasing returns under audit. A 2022 House Ways and Means report found the mandatory presidential audit was not even started until 2019. Six years of returns became public only in December 2022 after the House Ways and Means Committee forced their release.
“She'll be holding a press conference over the next couple of weeks... she came in totally legally.”
· Campaign remarks / interviews after reports questioned Melania Trump's early US work visas
· ×2
Deadline Aug 23, 2016 · 10 years overdue
Trump promised his wife would hold a news conference to produce documents proving she entered the US legally. The press conference never happened. In September 2016 her lawyer released a letter instead, and reporting later showed she had worked on a visitor visa before receiving a work visa.
“[paraphrase] We raised $6 million for the veterans, including $1 million of my own money, and it's going out to veterans' charities right away.”
· Televised veterans' benefit at Drake University, Des Moines, held instead of a Fox News primary debate
· ×2
By March 2016 the Washington Post found much of the money unaccounted for and charities said they had not received it. Trump only wrote his own $1 million cheque on May 24, 2016 — nearly four months later, and only after Post reporter David Fahrenthold pressed him publicly. The related Trump Foundation reporting contributed to the foundation's court-ordered dissolution and a $2 million payment in 2019.
“[paraphrase] My first day, gun-free zones on military bases and in schools — they're gone.”
· Campaign rally, Burlington, Vermont
· ×8
Deadline Jan 9, 2016 · 10 years, 8 months overdue
No order or law eliminating gun-free school zones was issued. The Pentagon issued limited 2016 guidance allowing some service members to carry on base, which predated the term. PolitiFact found scant progress and rated the promise broken.
“If Barack Obama opens up and gives his college records and applications, and if he gives his passport applications and records, I will give to a charity of his choice ... a check immediately for five million dollars.”
· Video posted to Trump's Twitter account, billed all week as a "major announcement"
· ×2
Deadline Oct 31, 2012 · 13 years, 10 months overdue
Trump had spent the week teasing an election "bombshell" that would be "very big" and "possibly bad for the President." The announcement turned out to be a publicity stunt: a conditional charity offer with a one-week deadline. Obama ignored it, the October 31, 2012 deadline passed, no money was ever paid, and the stunt produced nothing. Trump has never substantiated any claim about Obama's college or passport records.
“I have people that actually have been studying it and they cannot believe what they're finding.”
· NBC 'Today' show interview with Meredith Vieira
· ×3
Deadline Apr 21, 2011 · 15 years, 5 months overdue
Trump said he had dispatched private investigators to Honolulu who were about to reveal shocking findings about Barack Obama's birth certificate. Obama released his long-form birth certificate on April 27, 2011, and no findings were ever produced. Hawaii's state registrar said he had no record of Trump or any representative requesting the records, and in 2021 Michael Cohen said on MSNBC that Trump had simply made the investigators up.