Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States two years ago, standing in front of a crowd far smaller than that of Barack Obama, but with a slate of campaign promises arguably just as long as his predecessor’s was before taking office.

The first two years of Mr Trump’s tenure in the White House featured a learning curve for the president, who held zero political experience upon assuming the Oval Office in 2016. He would soon learn that promises are much easier to make along the campaign trail than they are to actually fulfil while serving in elected office.

For example, Mr Trump vowed to bring US forces home from the Middle East before becoming president, then sent thousands of additional forces to Afghanistan the year after his election; as a businessman, he said he’d be able to produce the best trade deals in history but has since become entrenched in a tit-for-tat trade war with Chinese president Xi Jinping; his plan was to repeal Mr Obama’s landmark healthcare initiative on his first day in office, and yet thousands of Americans have enrolled into the program since his presidency.

He’s revived the decades-old political slogan “promises made, promises kept”, and yet the truth surrounding Mr Trump’s campaign vows is more complicated than a four-word catchphrase.

Here’s where the president’s major campaign promises stand two years after his inauguration.

Promises kept

Nominating conservatives to the Supreme Court: The president doubled up on his promise of nominating a conservative justice, selecting both Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to serve on the nation’s highest court.

Both justices were confirmed despite contentious battles – especially for Mr Kavanaugh, who was accused of sexual assault by numerous women who came forward during his nomination process.

Now, as 85-year-old liberal justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg draws headlines over a cancer scare and three broken ribs, the White House has reportedly taken steps to begin reviewing a third potential conservative nominee to the Supreme Court.

Withdrawal from Paris Climate Accord: Despite outcry from Democrats, climate activists and world leaders, Mr Trump announced the US would withdraw from the agreement his predecessor helped broker a few short years before his election.

While the US has continued to attend negotiation meetings over the agreement, the nation remains officially withdrawn from the accord, which seeks to reduce the adverse impact global societies have on carbon emissions and climate change.

Delivering tax cuts: Besides his hardline stance on immigration issues and calls for Republican judges on the Supreme Court, Mr Trump’s campaign was buoyed by his vows to deliver tax cuts to America’s working class.

The corporate tax cuts the Republicans passed last year did in fact provide reductions for many Americans, though those are set to expire and will require another vote to be reinstated. The corporate cuts will remain in effect, however.

Promises abandoned

Mexican-funded border wall: Mr Trump kicked off his presidential campaign by railing against Mexican immigrants entering the United States and vowing to have the nation’s southern neighbour pay for a wall sprawling the entirety of the US-Mexico border.

His battle for border wall funding has spurred the longest government shutdown in American history – and Mexico has no plans on paying for the wall.

The story has changed in recently, with Mr Trump’s White House suggesting he never actually said Mexico would pay for the wall. To be clear, here is his statement from the launch of his campaign: “I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border and I’ll have Mexico pay for that wall.”

The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol Show all 15 1 /15 The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol Texas and Mexico are connected by entry points like these. US Border Patrol in Laredo, Texas conducts daily patrols throughout the Rio Grande, snaking between the US and Mexico, where it searches for migrants and drug traffickers. The legal entry point to Mexico can be seen above the riverines frequently used by cartels to funnel narcotics into the US. Chris Riotta The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol US Customs and Border Protection oversees its side of the entry point. US Customs and Border Protection officers oversee the processing of nearly two million trucks and three million pedestrians annually at the Laredo sector, which also processes the majority of trade between the US and Mexico. Chris Riotta The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol The Rio Grande snakes between Mexico and the United States. The US and Mexico have bordering coastlines in Laredo Texas, where the Rio Grande's occasionally rough currents splash onto both nations' shores. For migrants attempting to enter into either country, the swim is much more dangerous than it appears. Chris Riotta The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol Drug traffickers and migrants use "highways" to cross the border. US Border Patrol agents call worn pathways like these "highways," as they are frequently used by drug traffickers and migrants entering into the US. Chris Riotta The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol The journey is still far from over. If they're able to make it onto land, many obstacles still remain for migrants and drug traffickers. US Border Patrol agents are equipped with high-tech security, K-9 units and aerial camera footage surveilling 40 miles of borderlands. Chris Riotta The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol Border Patrol uses classic methods and high-tech to surveil the border. A control room at the Laredo sector headquarters is fully-manned 24/7 with a team of local employees who alert agents on the ground of border crossings in real-time. Their cameras live-stream 40 miles of the 170 mile territory the sector covers. Chris Riotta The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol The US provides trusted traveler programs on both its southern and northern borders. Officers lead the way to Sentri offices, which runs a trusted traveller program from US and Mexican local residents who regularly cross the border for work or leisure purposes. Chris Riotta The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol The pathway to freedom. Once travellers are processed, they walk up this ramp towards the US. Many Mexicans cross the border each day with collapsable shopping carts to buy goods while visiting the country. Chris Riotta The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol But first, the wait. A dog waits for their owner to go through processing with US Customs and Border Patrol. On a good day, processing can take under an hour. On a bad day, well, there's just no telling how long one might be stuck inside the Laredo sector field offices. Chris Riotta The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol The first lady of CBP. Inside the Laredo field offices, US Border Patrol agents keep a framed photo of Christine Davis, the first female agent to join the federal agency in 1975. Chris Riotta The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol "The hall of fame." US Border Patrol also honors those who have served in the agency for over thirty years. Chris Riotta The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol Officers inspect a vehicle in secondary processing. Outside, officers are conducting secondary inspection on a vehicle that's been pulled aside for further investigating. Chris Riotta The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol The waiting room for detained migrants. A US Customs and Border Protection officer shows the inside of a holding room where people requiring further questioning go through secondary processing. Chris Riotta The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol A man and his daughter go through processing. US Customs and Border Protection also regularly provides humanitarian visas and other temporary permissions for people with valid reasons seeking entry to the US. Here, a father and his daughter await to see whether they will be provided one of those visas. Chris Riotta The Independent goes on a ride-along with US Border Patrol Laredo processes over three million pedestrians annually. Thousands of legal asylum seekers, migrants and refugees seek entry to the US through the southern border annually, where they go through processing at offices like this after arriving at a legal port of entry. For many, the trip can take days, if not weeks or even months. Chris Riotta

The prosecution of Hillary Clinton: “Lock her up” was another infamous rallying cry from Mr Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign that failed to come to fruition.

Mr Trump quickly walked back his frequently repeated promises to incarcerate the former secretary of state upon taking office, though he has since nominated an attorney general pick who has said the Justice Department has a stronger legal basis to investigate her charity foundation that it did his alleged obstruction of justice.

So, for now, this is another promise abandoned.

Repealing and replacing Affordable Care Act: The president vowed to scrap Mr Obama’s healthcare legislation, otherwise known as Obamacare, on his first day in office.

Despite several attempts to repeal the law and additional attempts to replace it with a Republican substitute, the Republican-held House of Representatives and Senate failed to push through an alternative option. Lawmakers also decidedly voted against an all-out repeal of the bill without any substitute, leaving Mr Trump’s campaign promise all but shattered.

Labelling China “currency manipulator”: As president, Mr Trump also promised to begin labelling China a “currency manipulator” immediately after assuming the White House.

His administration has stopped short of doing that, however. In a 2018 interview, the president claimed Beijing actually was not a currency manipulator and had been actively working to prevent weakening its currency.

Mr Trump gained nationwide attention along the campaign trail by boldly stating China – one of the world’s largest economic powers – was “raping” the US economy.

Historic infrastructure improvement: The president demanded $1.5tn in infrastructure spending after winning his election, promising along the campaign trail that America’s infrastructure “will become, by the way second to none.”

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Instead, he received just $21bn for the initiatives in 2018, with little progress done on nationwide improvements to the country’s failing bridges and roadways, as well as major airports.

Approving the use of torture: Mr Trump made an unusual case throughout the 2016 election for something that isn’t typically a campaign promise, telling stadiums of supporters, “torture works”.