It’s official: Donald Trump will be returning to the White House for a second term as president of the United States, after securing a triumphant victory against Vice President Kamala Harris.
From policies on immigration, the climate crisis, foreign wars and tariffs, the impact will be felt in all aspects of American life and across the globe.
While some of his proposals would require congressional approval, many wouldn’t. Here is a summary of the key policies he has said he would pursue during his second term in office.
Immigration, the border and mass deportations
Mr Trump has vowed to reinstate his first-term policies targeting illegal border crossings and to implement the most sweeping mass deportation effort in American history.
He has pledged to limit access to asylum at the US-Mexico border and has said he would end “catch-and-release” – the release of migrants into the community while they await their immigration court hearings. He would also reinstate Remain in Mexico, a policy from his first term that required asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their cases were processed.
Mr Trump has said he will employ the National Guard and, if necessary, federal troops, to achieve his objectives, and he has pledged to build huge detention camps to intern migrants.
The president-elect has also said he would seek to end automatic citizenship for children born to immigrants, a move that would run counter to the long-running interpretation of the US Constitution's 14th Amendment.
He has indicated he may revoke protected legal status for certain groups, such as Haitians and Venezuelans, and has pledged to reinstate the "travel ban”, which limits entry from several predominantly Muslim countries – a policy that led to numerous legal battles during his first term.
Abortion and healthcare
Mr Trump’s policies and rhetoric on reproductive healthcare are somewhat contradictory. He appointed three justices to the Supreme Court who were part of the majority who overturned Roe v Wade's constitutional protection for abortion. He likely would continue to appoint federal judges who would uphold abortion limits.
On the other hand, he has said a federal abortion ban is unnecessary and that the issue should be left to each state (weeks before that, he refused to say whether he would veto such a ban). He has also commented that a ban on abortions after six weeks of gestation is “too short”, but has held conflicting views on the subject. Many Republicans have said that a ban after six weeks is overly harsh and that any legislation should include exceptions for rape, incest and the health of the mother.
Mr Trump has suggested he would not seek to limit access to the abortion drug mifepristone after the Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the government's approach to regulating it. However Project 2025, the 900-page conservative blueprint for the next Republican president, suggested using a 19th-century law to ban the mailing of abortion pills. He has also said he would make IVF free for women, despite Republicans in Congress repeatedly blocking legislation that would protect the treatment.
On healthcare in general, the president-elect has promised to let vaccine sceptic Robert F Kennedy Jr “go wild” with health during his administration, in a radical shake-up. Mr Kennedy has repeatedly peddled the debunked claim that vaccines cause autism, and called for eliminating “toxic additives and pesticide residues” in food, promoting alternative medicine and ending fluoridation of public water.
Climate change and energy policies
Mr Trump vowed to increase US production of fossil fuels by easing the permission process for drilling on federal land and would encourage new natural gas pipelines. He has said he would reauthorise oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. On the campaign trail, he has summarised his policy with the declaration: “Drill, baby, drill”.
He has previously dismissed the climate crisis as an “expensive hoax”, and described it as “mythical”. He has said he will again pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Accords, a framework for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, and would support increased nuclear energy production. During his first term, he rolled back many environmental policies. He is especially opposed to wind power, falsely claiming wind turbines cause cancer, kill birds and “drive the whales crazy”.
He would also roll back Biden's electric-vehicle mandates and other policies aimed at reducing auto emissions.
Foreign policy – Gaza, Ukraine and NATO
Mr Trump has been critical of American aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia, and has vowed to “fundamentally re-evaluate” the country’s approach. He has said he could end the war in 24 hours if elected – although he has not said how he would achieve this and, during the presidential debate, he refused to say whether he wanted Ukraine to win the war. He has suggested Ukraine may have to yield some of its territory if a peace deal is to be achieved, an idea Ukraine has consistently rejected.
The president-elect has backed Israel’s mission in Gaza, and has previously pushed a plan that would allow Israel to gain greater control over the Palestinians. But he has also urged Israel to wrap up its offensive. Mr Trump can be expected to continue the Biden administration's policy of arming Israel.
On the domestic front, he has advocated for an aggressive response to pro-Palestinian protests, suggesting he would strip foreign students of their visas if they express antisemitic or anti-American views. he has said that, if he becomes president, he will "stop the suffering and destruction in Lebanon”, but has not elaborated.
Mr Trump’s first administration took a firm stance against Iran, campaigning to heavily sanction Tehran. This will likely influence how he approaches the wider Middle East, and the wars raging in Gaza and Lebanon.
Trump is notoriously sceptical of global alliances – he has said that, under his presidency, the US would fundamentally rethink "Nato’s purpose and Nato’s mission”.
Trade and tariffs
Mr Trump has said that “tariff” is his favourite word in the dictionary, and has said that he will impose between a 10 and 20 per cent across-the-board tariff on all imports of US goods worth $3tn (£2.4tn). He has said the plans would eliminate the trade deficit, but critics say it would result in higher prices for American consumers and cause global economic instability.
He has targeted China in particular, implementing a 60 per cent tariff on all Chinese goods and proposing phasing out Chinese imports of goods such as electronics, steel and pharmaceuticals over four years. He plans to prohibit Chinese companies from owning US real estate and infrastructure in the energy and tech sectors.
He has also stated that he should have the power to impose higher tariffs on countries that have levied tariffs on US imports. He has warned of a potential 200 per cent tariff on certain imported cars, specifically targeting vehicles from Mexico. Additionally, he has hinted that even close allies, like the European Union, could face increased duties on their products.
The economy and taxes
Along with his trade and energy agendas, Mr Trump has promised to slash federal regulations that he says limit job creation. In a second term, he has vowed to keep in place many 2017 tax cuts that he signed while in office. The cuts are set to expire at the end of 2025, but he has pledged to make them permanent.
He has also vowed to lower the corporate tax rate from 21 per cent to 15 per cent for companies that manufacture their products in the US.
Mr Trump has proposed to seek legislation to eliminate taxes on tips and overtime pay, aiming to support waiters and other service workers. He has also promised not to tax or reduce Social Security benefits.
Additionally, Mr Trump has said that, as president, he would pressure the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, though he would stop short of directly demanding it.
Most, if not all, of his tax proposals would require approval from Congress. Budget analysts have cautioned that such widespread tax cuts could significantly increase the federal debt.
Race and LGBTQ+ rights
Trump has threatened to withhold federal funds from schools teaching certain race-related curricula, by instructing the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights to investigate these programmes and potentially revoke their funding.
His administration previously took similar actions. Under former education secretary Betsy DeVos, the civil rights office determined that allowing transgender women to compete on women’s sports teams violated Title IX, a federal anti-discrimination law. She used this interpretation to threaten local school boards with legal action or funding cuts.
Mr Trump has vowed to direct all federal agencies to eliminate programmes that "promote gender transition at any age”, cut funding to hospitals providing gender-affirming care, and push for a federal law that would not legally recognise transgender individuals. He has also promised to rescind federal LGBTQ+ non-discrimination policies and has previously banned transgender people from serving in the military.
He has pledged to require US colleges and universities to uphold "American tradition and Western civilisation" by eliminating diversity programmes and to direct the Justice Department to pursue civil rights cases against schools practising racial discrimination. For K-12 schools (schools that offer education from kindergarten through to 12th grade), he supports programmes that allow parents to use public funds for private or religious education.
Additionally, Project 2025 proposes replacing the Biden-Harris administration's policies with those that promote "heterosexual, intact marriage”.
Press freedom, democracy and purging federal bureaucracy
Mr Trump has at times pledged to use federal law-enforcement agencies to investigate his political opponents, including election officials, attorneys, and party donors. In this context, he has suggested he might appoint a special prosecutor to investigate President Biden, although he has not specified the grounds for such an inquiry.
He has also indicated that he would consider firing a US attorney who did not comply with his directives, marking a departure from the longstanding policy of maintaining an independent federal law-enforcement system.
Mr Trump has expressed that he could pardon those convicted of crimes related to the January 6 Capitol insurrection.
Additionally, he has proposed using the government’s regulatory powers to target his critics, such as television networks. He regularly calls the press “fake news” and the “enemy of the people”, and recently demanded that CBS News lose its broadcast licence.
The president-elect has vowed to dismantle what he calls the “deep state”, referring to career federal employees whom he claims are secretly advancing their own agendas. He has suggested issuing an executive order to reclassify thousands of federal workers, making it easier to fire them, though this move would likely face legal challenges.
He also aims to create an independent government efficiency panel, led by billionaire X owner Elon Musk, to identify and eliminate waste in the federal government. However, the specific functioning of this panel remains unclear, given that agencies like the Office of Management and Budget and various inspectors general already perform similar oversight.
Mr Trump has signalled that he would crack down on federal whistle-blowers, who are typically protected by law, and establish an independent body to “monitor” US intelligence agencies.
