Trump's domestic agenda: what has the promised 'Golden Age' delivered?
Since returning to the White House in January 2025, US President Donald Trump has pursued a sweeping domestic programme of spending cuts, mass deportations and a campaign against diversity initiatives. Results are mixed, and several figures cannot be independently verified.
US President Donald Trump, who returned to the White House in January 2025 promising Americans a "Golden Age", has pursued a sweeping domestic agenda. It covers cuts to federal spending, tougher immigration enforcement, and a campaign against diversity programmes and transgender rights. The promises were large, but the results are contested, and some official figures cannot be independently verified.
Cutting government spending
On his first day, Trump signed a series of executive orders, including one withdrawing the US from the Paris climate agreement and reversing nearly 80 Biden-era policies. To drive spending cuts, he created the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by billionaire Elon Musk, with an initial target of saving $2 trillion.
The US Agency for International Development (USAID) was shut down and thousands of jobs were lost. Musk left in May 2025, after about four months, and the initiative lost momentum. A senior official told Reuters that DOGE "no longer existed as a centralised entity". The department claimed $215 billion in savings, but in August the US Government Accountability Office found that some entries were incorrect or lacked evidence. No reliable, independently verified total exists. DOGE formally ended on July 4, 2026.
Immigration
On day one, Trump declared a national emergency at the US-Mexico border. Deportation flights increased, including to third countries: El Salvador received millions of dollars to detain more than 200 Venezuelan men Trump accused of gang membership. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) expanded raids in cities including Los Angeles, Minneapolis and New Orleans, prompting widespread protests. Six people have been killed in shootings involving ICE agents since 2025, three of them US citizens.
The Migration Policy Institute estimates about 980,000 people were deported in the first 18 months, below the administration's goal of one million per year. The Department of Homeland Security says more than three million unauthorised immigrants have left, but this cannot be independently verified.
The campaign against 'wokeness'
Trump has targeted diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes, arguing they amount to illegal discrimination. Federal agencies, including NASA and the Pentagon, were told to review or remove material relating to women, minorities and LGBTQ+ people. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth reshaped senior military leadership; Senator Jack Reed said nearly 60 per cent of those dismissed were Black or women, which the Pentagon denies. Transgender people have been banned from military service, federal funding for gender-affirming care for minors has been restricted, and transgender women's participation in women's sports has been limited.
