Donald Trump’s policy positions, where he stands on key issues

A: While he calls himself the most "pro-life president" in history, Trump has also waffled considerably over the years on abortion policy. His latest position is that abortion policy should be set by the states and his vice-presidential nominee, JD Vance, has said he would veto a national abortion ban. He promised his administration would be "great for women and their reproductive rights" and called for the government or private insurers to pay for IVF treatment.

A: Trump believes human activity is just one cause of climate change, not necessarily the dominant factor. Pressed in a 2020 debate about whether human pollution contributes to warming, Trump said, “I think a lot of things do, but I think to an extent, yes.” Trump told The Washington Post’s editorial board in 2016 that he is “not a great believer in man-made climate change.” He has also long rejected climate science, sometimes calling global warming a “hoax.”

A: The Trump administration approved the First Step Act in 2018, which reduced some prison sentences and allowed some prisoners early release, after it passed Congress, and the former president has repeatedly played up his role in the legislation.

A: Trump has promised to protect Social Security and Medicare, which are the biggest drivers of the national debt. “Under no circumstances should Republicans vote to cut a single penny from Medicare or Social Security,” Trump said in a January 2023 video message distributed by his campaign. The national debt increased by $7.8 trillion during Trump’s presidency, the third-biggest increase relative to the U.S. economy’s size, ProPublica reported.

A: At the June 2023 convention for the right-wing group Moms for Liberty, Trump praised the Supreme Court for halting Biden’s student loan debt forgiveness plan, saying it would have been “very, very unfair to the millions and millions of people who have paid their debt through hard work." Trump spent much of his tenure in the White House trying to weaken a 1995 law known as “borrower defense to repayment.” The law called for the federal government to forgive loans of students who attended schools that deceived them to entice enrollment — for example, lying about how many graduates had jobs. However, in March 2020, Trump waived interest on all federal student loans to reduce the financial burden on borrowers during the coronavirus pandemic.

A: Trump has long said he does not believe Joe Biden is the legitimate winner of the 2020 election and waged attempts to overturn his defeat. In response to questions from The Post, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung referred to a May 2023 CNN town hall, in which Trump repeated his false claim of “a rigged election.” Trump faces federal and state criminal charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election. He has pleaded not guilty in federal court.

A: At a rally in March 2023, Trump told a crowd that U.S. politicians are the greatest threat to the United States, as opposed to geopolitical adversaries like China and Russia. He has also said that nuclear weapons present the single biggest threat to the United States, rather than one particular country.

A: Trump stated in September 2023 that if reelected, he intends to implement the largest mass deportation of undocumented immigrants in American history, referencing a 1950s operation to deport undocumented immigrants under President Eisenhower known as "Operation Wetback." According to the New York Times, he would round up undocumented immigrants in mass migrant camps and employ a speedier way to deport them known as "expedited removal," though that could face legal challenges. At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in March 2023, Trump said he would hire more officers and agents to carry out mass deportations. “Under my leadership, we will use all necessary state, local, federal and military resources to carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history," he said. In his 2024 campaign Trump has promised mass deportations in his second term and has indicated that he could deploy the military as part of the effort.