BY
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
February 12, 2017
In three weeks, President Trump has gone from "build the wall" to hitting a wall.
After multiple guarantees that he'd rapidly remake American government Trump has gotten quickly bogged down in the mire of Washington.
His quick-strike executive orders have done little or gotten stymied court. Some of his international proclamations have had to be walked back. Congress plods along at its usual creeping pace on big-ticket legislation - and confirming his own cabinet.
The president of bold statements and big promises refused to admit on Friday that he's been stymied by the pace of Washington, while admitting that he's been frustrated by the city's pace.
"We are going to do whatever is necessary to keep our country safe. We have had decision which we think will be very successful with, it shouldn't have taken this much time because safety is a primary reason," he said.
The Trump administration has ratcheted up deportations of undocumented immigrants in a big way, according to reports. But on most other fronts, he's faced obstacles.
Here are some big things the president guaranteed to do immediately - and where the Trump administration stands three weeks after his inauguration.
'EXTREME VETTING'
PROMISE: Trump signed an executive order seeking to fulfill a major campaign promise of "extreme vetting," putting a temporary pause on all refugees and banning citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S., even if they have valid visas.
NOW: The 9th Circuit Court upheld a temporary suspension of Trump's executive order that banned new refugees and travel from citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries that Trump identified as particular threats.
Trump suggested Friday that they'd be issuing a new executive order on the topic very soon, while promising to keep fighting in the courts, though White House officials sent mixed signals on whether they'll be taking the case to the Supreme Court or not.
"We'll be doing something very rapidly having to do with additional security for our country,… You'll be seeing that sometime in the next week," he said Friday.
"We will win that battle. The unfortunate part is that it takes time statutorily, but we will win that battle. We also have a lot of other options, including just filing a brand new order," he said later.
OBAMACARE
PROMISE: Swiftly repeal and replace Obamacare. From his campaign website: "On day one of the Trump Administration, we will ask Congress to immediately deliver a full repeal of Obamacare." On January 10, Trump told the New York Times that "We have to get to business," because "Obamacare has been a catastrophic event."
NOW: Trump signed executive actions directing Congress to start working on a replacement plan in his first day in office. But Congressional Republicans can't agree on a way to replace the law, and Trump hasn't offered any ideas.
"We're going to end up with tremendous healthcare at a lower price and I think people are going to be extremely happy. Difficult process, but once we get going, and you know Tom Price was just approved a few hours ago, so we finally have our secretary and now we get down to the final strokes," Trump promised Friday.
ISRAEL
PROMISE: "We will move the American embassy to the eternal capital of the Jewish people, Jerusalem." March 2016 speech to AIPAC, repeated regularly during the campaign - including to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
NOW: "It's not an easy decision… I'm thinking about it. I'm learning the issue and we'll see what happens," Trump told an Israeli newspaper owned by Sheldon Adelson this week, backing off the promise.
PROMISE: The U.S. won't criticize Israel for building new settlements. "What President Obama gets wrong about deal-making is that he constantly applies pressure to our friends and rewards our enemies. We will send a clear signal that there is no daylight between America and our most reliable ally, the state of Israel." - March 2016 AIPAC speech.
NOW: "They don't help the process," Trump told Adelson's paper. "I am not somebody that believes that going forward with these settlements is a good thing for peace."
TERM LIMITS
PROMISE: "[I'LL] propose a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress." - from Trump's Contract with the American Voter.
NOW: So far, not a peep.
CHINA
PROMISE: "I will direct the Secretary of the Treasury to label China a currency manipulator" on day one - from Trump's Contract with the American Voter.
NOW: Not yet, and he didn't directly answer a question about it on Friday. " As far as the currency devaluations, I've been complaining about that for a long time. And I believe that we will all eventually and probably, very much sooner than a lot of people understand or think, we will be all at a level playing field, because that's the only way it's fair," he said during a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He's also walked back his earlier questioning of the longstanding 'One China' policy
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