By Jake Traylor -
NBC News
At Donald Trump's campaign rallies it is usually the improvised phrases that make headlines.
Meanwhile, between speeches, the former president is deploying an ambitious and aggressive political agenda
for his long-awaited second term that makes the policies he adopted in the first look small.
Many of the points on his agenda are not new: on immigration and other issues, Trump is promising the same as in his 2016 campaign, which he later did not fulfill due to lack of support from Congress or due to limitations in his executive power, but there are some areas new ones, which point to tougher policies if he returns to office.
Trump mentions many plans and promises out of the blue, such as his recent statement that he would let Russia attack those NATO allies that do not pay enough for defense.
But here we tell you some of the campaign promises that he has repeated most frequently.
.
A “record” of deportations
Immigration was perhaps the biggest driving force, politically speaking, of Trump's 2016 campaign. Now, he unofficially considers it the top priority of his 2024 White House race and talks about it in all of his campaign speeches.
“On my first day back in the White House, I will end all of the Biden Administration’s open border policies, stop the invasion at our southern border, and begin the largest internal deportation operation in American history,” he said. at a campaign event in Iowa in December.
Trump made similar promises in 2016 that he failed to keep, deporting fewer people than former President Barack Obama in each of his two terms, according to federal government data.
In any case, Republican voters might be more focused on border and immigration policy now.
The latest NBC News poll showed that Trump's biggest political advantage over President Joe Biden was on the border issue.
Trump promised to revive his travel ban on certain Muslim-majority countries and extend it to refugees from the Gaza Strip and
institute certain “ideological controls” for all immigrants
.
“I blocked refugees from Syria, I blocked refugees from Somalia, very dangerous places, and all the most dangerous places in the world, I blocked them,” Trump said at a rally in Iowa in October.
“In my second term, we will expand each and every one of those bans.”
In 2016 he repeatedly pledged to build a 1,000-mile-long U.S.-Mexico border wall.
453 miles ended up being completed, the majority was reinforcement of already existing walls.
Trump said Mexico would cover the cost, which did not happen.
Now, with the same ambition, he promises to finish what he started.
“America First” Policy
The former president has projected a “my way or nothing” approach to international relations, proposing a universal 10% tax on all goods originating outside the United States, in an attempt to prioritize domestic production.
In campaign, he often generalizes his economic approach as “America First,” threatening to impose large tariffs on products from companies that decide to outsource labor and production outside the country.
[Trump's words about NATO put US credibility at stake]
Economists of all political affiliations have warned of his proposal.
American Action Forum, a center-right
think tank
, said Trump's suggested policy would "distort global trade, discourage economic activity, and have negative consequences for the U.S. economy."
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the plan would “raise the cost of a wide variety of goods that American businesses and consumers depend on.”
The former president's recent comments about Russia and NATO also prompted criticism from the NATO chief, who said it would endanger the lives of American and European soldiers.
Using the military to stop crime
Trump has suggested using the National Guard to address crime, which he says is worse than ever.
The former president also often refers to expanding the Army's presence in the country's cities to stop crime.
He has referred to Washington, DC, and Chicago as “dens of crime” and has insisted that he would intervene with military force without obtaining the necessary permits from local leaders.
[Possible immigrant deportation strategy revealed if Trump comes to power]
“It's something I'll do — you're not supposed to get involved in that, you just have to ask the governor or the mayor — next time, I won't wait,” Trump said.
Traditionally, there is a clear line of separation between the armed forces and national law enforcement authorities.
But far-right figures have advocated that Trump more aggressively use the Insurrection Act to deploy the military to the country for a second term.
He has also toughened his rhetoric on crime, suggesting the death penalty for certain minor crimes.
“Very simply, if you rob a store you can expect to be shot on the way out
,” Trump told a roaring crowd at the Republican Party convention in California last September.
He has also insisted that the death penalty should be applied to drug traffickers, depending on the severity of their crimes.
Eliminate the Department of Education
Trump plans to completely cut the federal department, a 4,400-person operation with a $68 billion budget, saying it would return all educational authority to the states, although the abolition will not directly transfer any new state power.
Another promise met with loud applause at every rally is to cut funding to any public school system that has a mask mandate for child safety, an increasingly rare measure.
The former president already proposed eliminating the Department of Education when he ran in 2016. In office, he unsuccessfully attempted to merge the Education and Labor departments into a single entity.
He also wanted to cut billions from the budget, which would have ended subsidized student loans and the public service loan forgiveness program.
Political retaliation against Biden
One of Trump's most recurring points if he returns to the White House is his intention to judge Biden.
“I will appoint a real special prosecutor to go after the most corrupt president in American history, Joe Biden, and the crimes of the Biden family,” Trump said in June at his residence in Bedminster, New Jersey.
His comments came just hours after he was charged in federal court in Miami, Florida, with intentional mishandling of classified documents.
Donald Trump has promised to prosecute Joe Biden if he returns to the White House.Win McNamee/Getty Images
Trump often points to the 91 felony charges he faces as evidence of a “two-track” system and “weaponized” justice that he says has opened “Pandora's box.”
During the rally in South Carolina last week, Trump appeared to sarcastically change that message, saying he no longer wanted to get back at Biden because he was too incompetent.
When he asked the audience, in an ironic tone, if they agreed, shouts of “no” and boos filled the stadium.