--- title: President Donald Trump's 5 Biggest Policy Changes in 2017 description: President Trump often brags that he's the most successful President in history. That's debatable, but he has brought along major changes. canonical: https://time.com/5075771/donald-trump-policy-changes/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-12-21T16:45:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-30T12:30:54.867Z article:section: Politics og:title: These Were President Trump's 5 Biggest Policy Changes in 2017 og:description: From tax reform to environmental protections og:url: https://time.com/5075771/donald-trump-policy-changes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt87c47c4385a3ea37/6988f632db2987442925e32a/president-trump-policy-changes.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: President Trump Policy Changes og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: These Were President Trump's 5 Biggest Policy Changes in 2017 twitter:description: From tax reform to environmental protections twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt87c47c4385a3ea37/6988f632db2987442925e32a/president-trump-policy-changes.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # These Were President Trump's 5 Biggest Policy Changes in 2017 by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/), [Haley Sweetland Edwards](https://time.com/author/haley-sweetland-edwards/) and [Ang Li](https://time.com/author/ang-li/) Dec 21, 2017 4:45 PM UTC  U.S. President Donald Trump smile while speaking during a national security strategy speech at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, Dec. 18, 2017. U.S. President Donald Trump smile while speaking during a national security strategy speech at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, Dec. 18, 2017.Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/), [Haley Sweetland Edwards](https://time.com/author/haley-sweetland-edwards/) and [Ang Li](https://time.com/author/ang-li/) Dec 21, 2017 4:45 PM UTC President Trump often brags that he’s the most successful President in modern history. His detractors, however, argue that he doesn’t yet have much to show for his first year in office. The truth lies somewhere in the middle. As 2017 draws to a close, President Trump can lay claim to at least two concrete victories: The confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, and the passage of the biggest tax reform plan in decades (though he has yet to sign that plan into law.) Still, despite the Republican majority in Congress, President Trump largely failed to bring about two major promises of his campaign: The repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act, also called Obamacare, and the construction of a wall along the United States’ border with Mexico. But all told, the Trump Administration has brought about changes that, while perhaps not as sweeping as dismantling his predecessor’s health care overhaul, impact the daily lives of everyday Americans in significant ways. As TIME’s Massimo Calabresi [reported in October,](http://time.com/4998276/demolition-crew/) “the Administration has taken thousands of actions, affecting everyone from the poorest day laborer to the richest investment banker.” Above, see the five biggest policy changes of 2017, following Trump’s inauguration in early January. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5075771/donald-trump-policy-changes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5075771/donald-trump-policy-changes/"},"headline":"These Were President Trump's 5 Biggest Policy Changes in 2017","datePublished":"2017-12-21T16:45:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-30T12:30:54.867Z","description":"From tax reform to environmental protections","url":"https://time.com/5075771/donald-trump-policy-changes/","keywords":["policy","Congress","White House","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt87c47c4385a3ea37/6988f632db2987442925e32a/president-trump-policy-changes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alana Abramson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Haley Sweetland Edwards","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/haley-sweetland-edwards/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Ang Li","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ang-li/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt87c47c4385a3ea37/6988f632db2987442925e32a/president-trump-policy-changes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Trump Policy Changes","caption":"President Trump Policy Changes","creditText":"Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/policy/","name":"policy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5075771/donald-trump-policy-changes/","name":"These Were President Trump's 5 Biggest Policy Changes in 2017"}}]}] ```