What to know about his policy platforms

Former President Donald Trump laid out a list of 20 campaign promises on Tuesday in a Truth Social post and a takeover of his website’s landing page.

While Vice President Kamala Harris didn’t begin revealing the details of her agenda until Friday, Trump has been associated with multiple platforms this election cycle alone.

In 2022, he began releasing videos and statements titled Agenda47. As Democrats began to drum up fear around Project 2025, the Republican National Committee released its official platform, which Trump presented along with “20 core promises to make America great again.” That doesn’t include tangents on the campaign trail, such as teasing a 20 percent universal tariff, which he mentioned in North Carolina this week.

Policy platform and messaging shifts are common during presidential elections, says Northeastern University political science professor Costas Panagopoulos. He explained that today’s platforms tend to be a model for the kinds of things the party would like to do, but should be taken with a grain of salt.

“I think the pared-down nature of the Republican platform reflects, in part, that Donald Trump himself seems to think that these documents are essentially toothless, and that voters might not be that interested in the complexity of policy substance, so the message of been distilled and simplified in many ways,” he said.

Here’s what you need to know about the evolution of Trump’s platforms:

More: More than Donald Trump’s opponent: Here are some of Kamala Harris’ campaign promises

Agenda47

Trump began releasing videos and statements detailing his 2022 policy plans during a primary season in which he faced quickly defeated challengers including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

The plans include many proposals in the form of executive actions to fight crime, education, health immigration, the economy and more.

Some of these ideas have attracted attention, such as the death penalty for drug dealers or the creation of an accreditation body to certify teachers in patriotism. However, several problem areas, such as healthcare, were still not comprehensive.

The Agenda47 landing pages on Trump’s campaign websites were later replaced by the RNC platform, but remain online.

Project 2025

Project 2025, also known as the 2025 Presidential Transition Project, was published by the conservative Heritage Foundation in April 2023.

As Democrats have sounded the alarm about some of the extreme policy proposals included in the document, Trump has tried to distance himself from it, but many of those involved in the game’s creations have ties to Trump and his first administration.

While the 900-page proposal goes into much more detail than the other platforms, it includes some similar themes, including border security, limiting transgender rights and energy dominance.

RNC “Make America Great Again”

Ahead of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July, the committee endorsed a platform that mirrored Trump’s top-to-bottom campaign talking points, with a “Make America Great Again” tagline.

The preamble leaned heavily into “America First” policies, arguing to secure the southern border, bring manufacturing back to the US, boost domestic energy production, and have a strong military.

Abortion was largely left out of the document, suggesting that policy decisions should be left to the states, as Trump avoided calling for a nationwide abortion ban earlier this year.

President Trump’s 20 Core Promises to Make AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

Trump’s 20 core promises are included in the larger RNC “Make America Great Again” platform. The GOP introduces the platform as “a visionary agenda that begins with the next twenty promises that we will deliver very quickly when we win the White House and Republican majorities in the House and Senate.”

Trump promoted the list after an interview with Elon Musk on Monday.

Seal the border and stop the migrant invasion
Carry out the largest deportation operation in American history
Stop inflation and make America affordable again
Make America the world’s dominant energy producer, by far!
Stop outsourcing and turn the United States into a manufacturing superpower
Big tax breaks for workers and no tax on tips
To defend our Constitution, our bill of rights and our fundamental freedoms, including freedom of speech, freedom of religion and the right to keep and bear arms
Prevent World War III, restore peace to Europe and the Middle East, and build a great Iron Dome missile defense shield over our entire country – all made in America
End the alignment of government against the American people
Stop the migrant crime epidemic, dismantle foreign drug cartels, crush gang violence and lock up violent criminals
Rebuild our cities, including Washington DC, making them safe, clean and beautiful again.
Strengthen and upgrade our army, making it undoubtedly the strongest and most powerful in the world
Keep the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency
Fight for and protect Social Security and Medicare without cuts, including without changes to the retirement age
Repeal the electric vehicle mandate and reduce costly and burdensome regulations
Cut federal funding to any school that promotes critical race theory, radical gender ideology, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content on our children
Keep men out of women’s sports
Deport pro-Hamas radicals and make college campuses safe and patriotic again
Secure our elections, including same-day voting, voter ID, paper ballots and proof of citizenship
Unite our country, bringing it to new levels and record of success

Kamala Harris kicks off the platform launch with an economic plan

Trump has used many of his policy speeches criticizing the Biden administration and launching personal attacks on Harris, even as some GOP leaders try to focus on her policies.

Harris began detailing his political agenda, starting with an economic plan ahead of a rally in North Carolina on Friday. She proposed a federal ban on food and grocery price increases, assistance of up to $25,000 for first-time home buyers and a tax incentive for builders to build more starter homes.

Panagopoulos said the rest of the Democratic platform has yet to be released because they are usually adopted at the convention (although Republicans have laid out their platforms before their convention).

The Democratic National Convention is scheduled to take place in Chicago from Monday August 19th to Thursday August 22nd.