Trump’s Second Term Marks Year of Tariffs, Tax Cuts, and Diplomatic Deals

Ian D’Amato

Staff Writer

As President Donald Trump gets closer to concluding his first year in office for his second term, many have mixed feelings regarding his accomplishments.

On Tuesday, Nov. 24, just a little under a year ago, Trump won in a historic victory. He won every swing state, giving him 312 electoral votes, and also won the popular vote with 49.8%, compared to Democratic nominee Kamala Harris’s 48%.

Trump also notoriously won Harris’s Vice Presidential nominee, Tim Walz’s own county in Minnesota, and flipped a few other predominantly blue counties throughout the nation.

Trump’s first executive orders included heavily increasing funding for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), declaring the southern border crisis a “national emergency,” increasing the presence of ICE agents throughout the nation, establishing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to cut what he feels is unnecessary funding in the government, and stopping the TikTok ban.

After his first week, many other notorious events have occurred. On April 1, Trump labeled the day as Liberation Day, where he unveiled tariffs on 100 countries, all of which have tariffs on the U.S.

According to Forbes,  “The tariffs Trump announced mark his most sweeping tariff package yet, though he has made tariffs a key point of his administration thus far. In his first three months, Trump announced a 25% tariff on auto imports.”

These tariffs initially caused the worst two days in stock market history as $5 trillion evaporated between April 2 and April 4. This is “…the largest two-day loss on record,” according to Forbes.

Fast forwarding to July, Trump and the Republican led Senate passed the Big Beautiful Bill. This bill aggressively cut more of what Trump deemed unnecessary government funding, ended electric vehicle mandates, eliminated taxes on tips and overtime, and presented other tax benefits for middle-class Americans. This ultimately aggravated Elon Musk, who left DOGE immediately after due to his disagreements on the bill.

According to USA Today, “In addition to extending the tax cuts from the 2017 tax bill, Americans who live in high-tax states such as California, New York and New Jersey will get a bigger income tax deduction for state and local taxes, known as SALT. That tax break will last only through 2028.”

There will also be an increased spending to the U.S. military and border security, which means tax adjustments elsewhere, according to USA Today.

After the Big Beautiful Bill was passed on July 4, Trump’s presidency has been marked by the Epstein list conspiracies, increased fossil fuel drilling, holding a massive memorial service for the late Charlie Kirk, and, most recently, a historic Peace deal between Hamas and Israel in which Israeli captives were returned home safely.

As Trump enters his second year in his second term, he looks to build on the policies he implemented this year.