When it comes to the campaign trail, many promises are made, but in some cases, when candidates become office-holders, those promises fade into the background.

With the 2016 presidential election now behind us, our partners at PolitiFact Florida have assembled a list of promises made by President Donald Trump while he was a candidate.  During the next four years, PolitiFact will break out the Trump-O-Meter to periodically update the status of a promise to see if it's being fulfilled or if it's been forgotten about.

One such promise is this one:

"Place lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying for foreign government."

PolitiFact reporter Allison Graves says that this promise rates as PROMISE KEPT on the Trump-O-Meter. Graves says that President Trump put this into motion a little over a week after he was sworn into office.

"President Trump signed this Executive Order on January 28th," said Graves.  "The promise was an ethics pledge that had nine commitments for White House officials to take, and the fourth pledge was indeed a lifetime ban on lobbying on behalf of a foreign government."

Graves says that ethics pledges like this are relatively common among presidents.  "In 2009, President Barack Obama signed that pledge," said Graves.  "Bill Clinton also signed it, as did other presidents when presented with the opportunity."

Graves notes that the president does have the power to make exceptions if he deems it necessary.  "Section Trhee of the pledge gives the President the ability to issue waivers to certain people he would like excluded from the pledge," said Graves.  "However, President Trump has not issued any waivers, at least through the middle of February."

If President Trump does issue excepctions, Graves says that the campaign promise will be updated accordingly, but for right now, President Trump's campaign pledge is rated as PROMISE KEPT on PolitiFact's Trump-O-Meter.

 

SOURCES: Status of campaign promise regarding lobbying

  • PolitiFact ruling
  • Donald J. Trump, Contract with the American Voter
  • PolitiFact, Obameter: "Tougher rules against revolving door for lobbyists and former officials," last updated on June 12, 2009.
  • WhiteHouse.gov, " Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Appointees," Jan. 28, 2017.
  • The American Presidency Project, Barack Obama's Executive Order 13490—"Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel," signed Jan. 21, 2009.
  • Email to Steven Cheung, White House spokesperson, Jan. 30, 2017.