By Dr. Brian C. Joondeph | Commentary, American Thinker
Businessman and T.V. personality Donald Trump descended the golden escalator at Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan on June 16, 2015 to announce his bid to become president of the United States.
Trump was seen as a novelty candidate, running mainly to boost his ego and promote The Apprentice or his next entertainment project.
His polling before the ride was weak. Monmouth University showed Trump at 2%, tied with Carly Fiorina and Lindsey Graham, ahead of only Bobby Jindal and John Kasich. He trailed the rest of the field, including Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, Jeb Bush, and Ben Carson.
But two months later, in August 2015, the same poll showed Trump with a 26% lead in the Republican field, more than twice the percentage of his nearest competitors, Scott Walker and Jeb Bush.
What did he say after his escalator ride that moved him from the back to the front of the GOP candidate field? And how are those campaign promises holding up today? Is the MAGA train still rolling smoothly, or is Trump taking some detours that could weaken the MAGA coalition?
Trump’s speech showcased his signature style of politics — emphasizing immigration control, trade reform, national revival, and deal-making power, all delivered with populist, confrontational language.
Here is a transcript of his speech outlining his MAGA promises and a list of Trump’s commitments.
1. Trump vowed to “build a great, great wall” and insisted Mexico would pay for it. He emphasized the wall would be real and effective, not symbolic.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump built 500 miles of wall along the 2,000-mile border during his first term.
In his second term, progress has slowed but continues. “DHS awards contract for 27 miles of new border wall in Arizona; issues waiver to accelerate construction in Texas.”
Red state Texas, surprisingly, is pulling back, “Texas has stopped providing new funding toward building a U.S.-Mexico border wall after lawmakers quietly approved a new budget that does not include funding for the project.”
2. Trump argued the U.S. was being “beaten” in trade, especially by China and other nations. Promised to renegotiate or confront trade deals to bring jobs back.
Trump is using tariffs as a means to an end, not an end in itself, to steer trade toward an America First policy rather than an America Last one, much to the concern of the Wall Street Journal editorial board.
Regarding China, Trump said he was “very happy” with a trade deal that restored a fragile truce in the U.S.-China trade war, as Reuters reported, a day after negotiators agreed on a framework covering tariff rates. The deal also removes Chinese export restrictions on rare earth minerals and allows Chinese students to attend U.S. universities.
3. Trump declared that the “American Dream is dead” but promised to restore the country to greatness — bigger, better, and stronger.
This sounds like a right/wrong direction question Rasmussen Reports often asks.
As of last week, “Forty-eight percent (48%) of Likely U.S. voters think the country is heading in the right direction.” By comparison, “A year ago at this time, 33% said the United States was heading in the right direction, while 60% said it was on the wrong track.”
4. Trump described the U.S. as a “dumping ground” for crime, drugs, and other “problems,” especially from Mexico. He vowed to aggressively crack down on illegal immigration.
Trump is keeping his promise. “In the last 24 hours, the Border Patrol encountered a total of 95 illegal aliens across the entire southern border,” per border czar Tom Homan last week. “That is the lowest number EVER recorded. Compare that to the Biden administration, which surpassed more than 10,000 per day.”
Or as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted, regarding illegal migrants released into the US, 62,000+ in May 2024, zero in May 2025.
After the Los Angeles riots, where Trump called in the National Guard and U.S. Marines, despite media and Democrat hysteria, he is not backing down. ABC News reported, “President Donald Trump on Monday doubled down on his goal to conduct mass deportations in some of the country’s biggest cities, specifically those run by Democrats.”
5. Trump said he would defeat ISIS and restore respect and strength to the American military and global posture.
I don’t have access to LexisNexis or Factiva databases, so I took the next best step and asked Chat GPT about media references to “ISIS” over the past ten years. My reasoning is that if ISIS isn’t in the news, it has been mostly defeated and is no longer relevant.
Media prominence peaked between 2014 and 2016, during ISIS’s territorial control and their use of sophisticated propaganda campaigns. Coverage dropped sharply after 2016 as the group lost territory, and ISIS became less prominent in global news cycles.
Who was president from 2014 to 2016, and who was president after 2016? I rest my case.
6. Trump promised to rebuild American infrastructure. He highlighted crumbling airports, roads, and rail systems and called for a major overhaul to modernize the country.
In 2021, infrastructure was rated C–, an improvement from D+ in 2017—the highest mark in 20 years. That progress is partly credited to Trump. By 2025, it had been upgraded to a C, the highest since the report began in 1998. Notably, no categories received a D– for the first time. Credit is due, either to the lingering effects of the first Trump administration or to the following Autopen administration.
7. Trump highlighted his business experience, personal wealth, and independence from political donors. He portrayed himself as a shrewd negotiator who would apply that skill to Washington.
The White House described Trump as our “Dealmaker-in-Chief.” Granted, that’s a biased source, but fat chance any corporate media outlet would admit such a thing.
But for actual numbers, here is a list of new U.S. investments during Trump’s second term, totaling nearly $3 trillion. How’s that for dealmaking?
8. Not mentioned in the above speech, but later during his first term, Trump reiterated his desire that, “the endless wars must end.”
Today, America is involved in an ongoing proxy war in Ukraine against Russia that has lasted over three years. Now, Israel is at war with Iran. Ironically, we have funded both sides of this conflict — supporting Israel’s military complex for decades and providing Iran with Obama’s “pallets of cash” funding.
Trump was unable to end the Ukrainian war in 24 hours, as he promised during his campaign last fall.
Trump is walking a fine line, supporting America’s longtime ally Israel while avoiding direct involvement of the U.S. military in this conflict. This will be Trump’s main challenge — balancing the demands of the MAGA coalition: supporting Israel and fighting Islamic extremism versus his promise to keep America out of endless foreign wars.
Can he keep American troops out of Iran and avoid another debacle like Iraq, Afghanistan, or Vietnam? Or promoting regime change in Iran that created a mess like in Libya? I am cautiously optimistic that he can achieve this and maintain support from his base of supporters.
His success in the second term may hinge on balancing this tightrope, uniting the MAGA coalition for the midterm elections and advancing the entire agenda mentioned above.
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