Trump’s Second Term A Look Back at the First Year

And today marks one year since the beginning of President Trump's second term. Leader of the free world took bold action to bring peace in places near and far and usher in what he calls the golden age of America. We put together the key highlights of this administration. NTD's Kevin Hogan is here to walk us through them. This year was marked by massive change. President Trump's economic moves, global tariffs, hardline immigration enforcement, and one aspect at the forefront, grappling with conflicts and geopolitical challenges across the globe. Let's start there with President Trump's peace through strength doctrine. Trump is not afraid to use military strength to achieve foreign policy goals and protect Americans. Back in March, he authorized airstrikes on Houthi terrorists in Yemen. Houthis were targeting ships believed to be linked to Israel, dealing a major blow to global shipping and done to stop threats to U.S. naval assets. In June, in Operation Midnight Hammer, Trump brought stability to the Middle East and the world through decisive military action using B-2 bombers flying across the Atlantic Ocean, striking Iran's nuclear sites. It prevented the Iranian regime from getting weapons-grade uranium. The Pentagon says it set their nuclear program back up to two years. Then, starting in early September, Trump ordered military strikes on boats deemed to be carrying illegal drugs from Venezuela to the U.S. Trump says these were, in part, Tren de Aragua gang members acting at the direction of Venezuela's socialist regime leader, Nicolas Maduro. They were on routes known to be used for trafficking drugs. All this building up to Maduro's capture and indictment on narco-terrorism charges. The Trump administration says Maduro is at the forefront of corruption, responsible for transporting thousands of tons of cocaine into the U.S. The socialist regime leader is now facing justice on American soil for allegedly harming Americans through addiction, crime, and thousands of deaths. So that's how President Trump used different branches of the military and law enforcement to bring about the so-called peace through strength agenda. But what does this non-military approach include? Here's how Trump used diplomacy over the past year. The president says he's resolved eight conflicts around the world using different forms of statecraft. These span three continents. In Africa, between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt and Ethiopia. And now in Europe, between Serbia and Kosovo. And in Asia, between Thailand and Cambodia, as well as Armenia and Azerbaijan, Israel and Iran, Israel and Hamas. At the end of September, President Trump unveiled a 20-point peace plan for Gaza. In October, Trump gathered world leaders at a peace summit in Egypt to make this deal official. This paved the way for the release of Israeli hostages and aid for the people of Gaza. And now the second phase of the peace plan is underway. That's diplomacy. But Trump had other ways to secure peace too. For example, when resolving the India-Pakistan conflict in May, the president says he used trade as leverage to bring about a resolution. And it's trade, tariffs and Trump's dealmaking that are a centerpiece of this administration's global agenda. Here's Trump. To me, the most beautiful word in the dictionary is tariff. The higher the tariff, the more likely it is that the company will come into the United States and build a factory in the United States so it doesn't have to pay the tariff. That would take many, many years. So just like we saw in that clip, many were skeptical of Trump's tariffs agenda. Let's see the results so far. Those tariffs raked in $265 billion last year. That's over a quarter trillion dollars, more than three times as much revenue in 2024. Another direct impact, President Trump has secured 16 trade deals with other nations, lowering tariffs, securing investment and helping American businesses to more easily sell their products in those markets. Taiwan was the most recent deal inked, bringing semiconductor investment. And 16, that does not include the temporary deal with China and the two deals, one with the Philippines and one with Pakistan, in which only one side has confirmed. So 19 total in the works. Now, back in April, President Trump declared America's massive trade deficit a national emergency. He credits his tariff policy with slashing that number. The latest monthly data, $74 billion in October 2024 to $29 billion in October 2025. That's down 60%. And the investments that Trump says are a result of the tariffs total over $9 trillion, according to White House numbers. On top of that is a new $250 billion investment pledge by the Taiwanese government. So that's about four and a half trillion from the private sector and over five trillion from investments by foreign nations. Now, investments aside, many economists said tariffs would stifle economic growth and cause runaway inflation. Did they? No. And here's why I say that. In 2025's fourth quarter, real GDP growth, real. That's adjusted for inflation. That's forecasted at 5.4%. If Trump keeps that pace up, you'd have to go back about 50 years to find another administration that did that. And inflation didn't change that much at all. Actually, it ticked down a bit down to 2.7% in January. Now, we just discussed how the country as a whole is doing with some macro numbers. What about real take home pay for workers? That's what you see right here. Americans are taking home about $800 more in 2025 than the year before it. Now, this is according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's extra money in your pocket. And of course, one of the biggest news stories in 2025, on his very first day of the year, President Trump established the Department of Government Efficiency led by Elon Musk. The goal was to root out waste, fraud and abuse. Doge estimates its total savings to date at $215 billion. That's over $1,300 per taxpayer. So the economy was a big cornerstone of Trump's reelection campaign, but perhaps the biggest one was immigration. Now, these are the monthly encounters at the Southwest border going from before January 2022 up until now. Under the Biden administration, border crossings were very high at sustained levels that you normally don't see because usually it peaks and troughs over the course of the year in different months. But what we saw was very high levels. And right here in December 2023, that's when it peaked. You saw about 300,000 in just one month alone. That's about the population of Pittsburgh. Under Trump, encounters are at about 10,000 per month. That's because on day one, Trump declared a national emergency at the border. And then in March, to give just one example, his enforcement efforts, striker units were deployed there. So now this whole thing that we're looking at encompasses what President Trump has done to secure the border. Now that's the border. What about the interior? Well, the Department of Homeland Security says that about two and a half million deportations have taken place since last January. 1.9 illegal immigrants have voluntarily self-deported and about 600,000 were removed by federal agents. The administration says they're targeting the worst of the worst criminals. On the campaign trail, Trump said he would launch the largest deportation operation of criminals in history. And the arrests by ICE are a very big part of that. In 2024, from January to September, there were around 85,000 arrests. But under Trump, that number skyrocketed to 209,000. That's about 150% increase. And it's brought a lot of protests and a lot of praise, especially from angel parents whose kids were killed by illegal immigrants. In January, Trump signed the Lakin-Riley Act that requires that illegal immigrants arrested for heinous crimes to be held for immigration authorities. So we've covered Trump's military and diplomatic means to bring about peace, tariffs, and the economy. What's on the horizon? The Supreme Court ruling on whether President Trump has the authority to impose tariffs could happen within the coming days. But the exact timeline is unclear. And if the high court doesn't strike them down, well, Trump says that middle to low-income Americans could get $2,000 checks by the end of the year as a tariff dividend. He also says this could be a year of big tax refunds. That's due to the standard deduction being increased and an increase in the state and local taxes cap. And on the security front, President Trump says that the U.S. military may soon start striking land in Mexico, attacking cartels. And overseas, the U.S. is in the second phase of the Gaza peace plan, and it expects that Hamas terrorists will go along with it. So as we said, a lot happened and a lot is ahead. Back to you.