Schumer Floor Remarks on President Trump’s Unfulfilled Day One Promises

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today spoke on the Senate floor outlining President Trump’s most significant unfulfilled Day One promises. Below are his remarks:

Mr. President, according to President Trump’s words, yesterday – not Friday -- was his first official day in office.

It’s an important distinction, because throughout the campaign, President Trump made numerous promises about what he would do on his first day.                                

So we went through them. Turns out, he made upwards of 30 promises of executive actions or plans that he would announce on Day One. Even by a generous count, the President fulfilled only 2 or 3 of them.

Let me just mention a few of the important omissions.

The President campaigned against both establishments; promising to oppose elites and the powerful in Washington -- to “drain the swamp.” He campaigned against the Democratic establishment, but he also campaigned against the Republican establishment. So, he explicitly promised to introduce an 18-point plan for ethics reform on Day One. How did he do on that?

• He promised to sign a five-year ban on lobbying after officials worked in Congress or the White House…but he did not deliver.

• He promised to institute a lifetime ban on White House officials from lobbying on behalf of a foreign government…but did not deliver.

• And he promised to put in place a complete ban on foreign lobbyists raising money for American elections…but did not deliver.

On Day One, did President Trump fulfill his pledge to bring ethics reform to Washington? Nope.

In fact, looking at his Swamp Cabinet – stacked with billionaires and bankers with myriad conflicts-of-interest – he may have already lowered the ethical standards in our government.

Now, Mr. President, on trade, an issue where I am probably closer to the President than either President Obama or President Bush, it seems President Trump is again failing to deliver on his “day one” promises.

• He promised to label China a currency manipulator on Day one…but he did not deliver. Instead, he issued a meaningless executive action withdrawing from the TPP, which everyone already knew was dead in the water.

Leader McConnell would not bring it up on the floor of the Senate because he didn't have the votes. And furthermore, saying we won't do TPP, which is not in effect anyway, isn't creating a single new job. So there's something else he could have done: his promise to, on day one, label China a currency manipulator.

Even though China is propping their currency up at the moment, they do whatever is best for China, even if it hurts American jobs and American workers. You can be sure that they’ll continue manipulating their currency when it’s in their best interest to do so.

Guess who I worked with on the issue of currency manipulation? Attorney General nominee, then-senator Jeff Sessions. He and I were partners in this along with many others. On our side, Senator Brown and Senator Stabenow were allies. On their side Senator Graham, Senator Collins were allies.

We were opposed frankly by both President Bush and President Obama. But here we have President Trump. He's promised to label China a currency manipulator on his first day in office. We're still waiting. Last night at the White House I mentioned this to the President. He didn't say no. I'm not going to say what he said. He didn't say no. Maybe he'll do it. I hope and pray he does.

We await real action on trade, one of the President’s signature campaign issues.

Mr. President, there are many promises that President Trump made during the campaign that we’re glad he is not keeping.

But the bottom line is: there is this giant gulf between what the President says he’s going to do, and what he actually does.

His rhetoric does not match reality and it’s becoming clearer and clearer each day.

Just look at what happened on Friday, Inauguration Day, which perfectly sums up my point. The President gave an inaugural address arguing that, for too long, Washington has reaped the rewards of government while the people suffered.

Then, an hour later, the President took executive action that made it harder for Americans to afford a mortgage, even though Washington could certainly afford to give them a break.

We’re seeing a pattern emerge. President Trump is using populist rhetoric to cover up a hard right agenda.

Mr. President, actions speak louder than words. If Day One is any indication, the grandiose promises this President made to the working men and women of America were just a hall of mirrors.