Some Big League Things Donald Trump Promised to Do This Campaign That He Didn't Do

By Gabrielle Bluestone | November 8, 2016 | 7:00pm

Politics

It’s election day, which means our long national nightmare of a Trump campaign is over. But what of all those things Trump promised he’d get done by today? Do you mean to tell me he was full of hot air the whole time? Let’s look at the evidence.

Here are a few things Trump promised to do before election day but never did.

1. Sue The New York Times

Trump threatened several times during the campaign to sue the paper of record—first in September for the nonexistent claim of “irresponsible intent”; again in October, when the Times published his 1995 tax returns; and again less than two weeks later, when the paper published the accounts of two women who said that Trump groped them without consent.

When a woman reporter called Trump to fact check the groping allegations, Trump called her “disgusting” and told her he would sue. In a followup letter dated October 12, Trump’s attorneys threatened legal action against the paper if the article was not retracted.

Not only did the Times decline to retract the article, it had its attorneys openly mock Trump in a response letter. And if you can even believe it, Trump never filed suit.

2. Release his taxes

Is Donald Trump really a “billionaire”? Hard to say—he’s really gone out of his way to hide any documentation of it. Trump promised for months to release his taxes at the appropriate time, saying repeatedly that the campaign was “working on it.” In February, Trump told NBC News he’d release them at some point in “the next few months,” before abruptly insisting that he couldn’t release them, even if he wanted to, because they’re currently under audit—which is not a legal bar.

Then, apparently contradicting himself just for the thrill of it, he said in September he’d release them if and when Hillary Clinton released her deleted emails. Around the same time, Donald Trump Jr. also suggested his father was hiding his tax returns because releasing them would in some way “distract” from his message. Whatever the reason, Trump somehow just… never did anything, making him the first presidential candidate in decades to run an entire campaign without releasing a single return.

3. Out Ted Cruz’s wife for…something

In March, Donald Trump threatened to “spill the beans” on Ted Cruz’s current wife, Heidi.

He ultimately spilled no beans.

4. Go to CPAC

Trump was supposed to speak at CPAC, the annual conference for blonde Republican women wearing red dresses and the horrible men who support them, but ultimately dropped out after a particularly rough primary debate that saw him promise America he has a big dick.

Hard to fault him for this one, though.

5. Pay legal fees for his supporters

Also way back in February—which was this year if you can even believe it—Trump asked his supporters to “knock the crap” out of protesters who showed up at his rallies.

“So if you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of ‘em, would you? Seriously. Okay? Just knock the hell — I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees. I promise. I promise,” Trump said.

Then, in February, when a 78-year-old man sucker punched a protester, Trump initially said he’d honor his promise.

“I’ve actually instructed my people to look into it, yes,” Trump said, before denying he said it.

“I didn’t say that. I haven’t looked at it yet. And nobody’s asked me to pay for fees,” Trump said. “I never said I was going to pay for fees.”

And true to one of his words, he didn’t pay a cent.

6. Donate $6 million to veterans

In January, Trump skipped a GOP primary debate because he wanted to hold a fundraiser for veterans (mostly because he felt slighted by the party and wanted to stick it to them.) He declared the fundraiser a great success, claiming he’d raised close to $6 million.

“We just cracked $6 million, right? Six million,” Trump said, in a declaration caught on video. A million of that, his then-campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said, came from Trump’s own pocket.

But over the ensuing months, those numbers shifted a little, depending who was asking. From the Washington Post:

In the same interview, Trump said the fundraiser had raised about $5.5 million for veterans overall. He said he was not sure how much of it remained to be given away.

That also contrasted with the account last week from Lewandowski, who said that about $4.5 million had been raised and that Trump’s effort had fallen short of the promised $6 million because some unnamed big donors had backed out.

In the same interview, Trump said the fundraiser had raised about $5.5 million for veterans overall. He said he was not sure how much of it remained to be given away.

That also contrasted with the account last week from Lewandowski, who said that about $4.5 million had been raised and that Trump’s effort had fallen short of the promised $6 million because some unnamed big donors had backed out.

Then Trump denied saying six million (here’s video of him saying six million), telling the Washington Post, “I didn’t say six.”

By April, only $2.4 million had been disbursed, though Trump deliberately suggested more than half had been donated, saying “the money we raised for veterans has been mostly distributed.” More importantly, his much-touted $1 million personal donation was no where to be found—until May, when the Washington Post demanded answers on Twitter. According to the Post, the same day reporter David Farenthold started tweeting about the missing donation, Trump contacted James K. Kallstrom, chairman of the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, and expressed an interest in donating—you guessed it—$1 million.

According to the Post, Kallstrom’s wife, Sue, said she was not sure whether the money had been transferred yet. (It hadn’t.)

The campaign then promised the rest of the money would be disbursed by Memorial Day, which it mostly was. In a press conference, Trump claimed that he kept the list of charities secret because he “wanted to respect their privacy,” a major concern for charities these days.

The final tally came to about $5.6 million—a little less than the more than “six million” Trump testified to on TV.

8. Give evidence showing the women who accused him of assault were lying

In October, more than a dozen women came forward to accuse Trump of sexual assault, allegations that ultimately shifted the polls approximately zero percent—is this a great country or what? But at the height of the controversy, which lasted about a week, Trump confidently declared that not only would he sue the women into oblivion once the campaign was over, evidence that they were lying would be forthcoming.

If you can even believe it, Trump has still failed to provide evidence they were lying.

9. Be more presidential

“I’m gonna be so presidential that you people will be so bored,” Trump claimed in April. “People will say, ‘Boy he really looks presidential.’”