In recent years, there have been few politicians who follow through on most of what they promise in their campaign. As President Trump’s one year anniversary of winning the 2016 election comes up in November, people across the globe have started to evaluate his success and failures in keeping promises and maintaining leadership.

During his campaign, President Trump’s most famous declaration was his promise to construct a wall on the border of Mexico and the United States. According to NPR, the Federal Government hired six contractors who broke ground for a prototype construction on Sept. 26. Thirty days later, the Department of Homeland Security began testing said prototypes. While no official Congressional funding has been put in place for the wall, the Department of Homeland Security did fund the prototypes. Each prototype costs around $500,000.

“He’s promised a lot, so he has his work cut out for him. We’ll have to see if he can continue staying on task through the future years,” Thomas Z. ‘19 said

Trump made another move back in January when he issued an executive order (EO-1) to put restrictions on immigration from several Middle Eastern countries. EO-1 was quickly enjoined by the ninth circuit and withdrawn by the White House, so Trump issued a second executive order (EO-2) as it’s successor on March 6.  However, EO-2 was set to expire before Supreme Court review, so no final decision will ever be made. According to The Guardian, the administration was set to issue a revised third plan, but a Hawaiian judge blocked the President’s plan just hours before it was initiated. As of Oct. 24, Trump ended his pursuit of another travel ban, and ordered a 90-day plan to review 11 countries deemed as “high risk” for terrorism. As of now, the White House has not disclosed an official list of said countries.

“He’s definitely experiencing checks and balances,” government teacher Gaven Jones said. “I think there’s some learning on the fly for him, but we have to wait and see and then determine whether the moves he’s made are effective.”

Another famous promise of Trump’s campaign was to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Back in July, Republican senators attempted to force a vote to abolish the healthcare act; however, they did not receive enough support for the vote to pass. This was due to a divide in the Republican party between hardcore right-wingers calling for full repeal, and centrists who wish to modify the repeal criteria. Trump announced his plan of action was to “Let Obamacare fail,” in hopes that once it does, Democrats will then seek Republican assistance in establishing a new plan, according to CNN. Since then, there has been another attempt by Republicans to try to abolish Obamacare. In September, another vote was attempted, but it failed yet again when there was still obvious disagreement within the Senate. The fate of the Affordable Care Act is now in a “wait and see” position.

“Whether you’re a fan or not, it’s interesting to see how his promises hold up,” Cameron C. ‘19 said. “We can only hope for the best for the future.”