The full stories: 42 wins, told in full

Border & Immigration

The quietest border in half a century Border Patrol apprehensions at the southwest border have fallen to their lowest level since 1970, and fiscal 2026 is on pace to go lower still. Read the full story Catch-and-release is over Since May 2025, Border Patrol has not released a single person it apprehended at the southwest border into the country; they are held and removed instead. Read the full story More leaving than arriving For the first time in at least 50 years, more people likely left the United States than moved here, mostly because far fewer arrived. Read the full story Millions have left the country Through deportations and voluntary departures, the number of people living in the U.S. illegally has fallen by an estimated 2.3 million since January 2025. Read the full story Laken Riley's law The Laken Riley Act requires immigration authorities to detain illegal immigrants charged with theft, burglary, assaulting police or crimes that cause death or serious injury. Read the full story

Crime & Public Safety

All Crime & Public Safety wins

The biggest drop in murder on record The FBI's 2025 crime report shows the murder rate fell 18.5% in one year, the steepest drop in a record that goes back to 1936. Read the full story Crime keeps falling in 2026 After the record drop of 2025, murder and violent crime kept falling through the first half of 2026. Read the full story Fentanyl deaths keep falling Drug overdose deaths kept falling in 2025 and early 2026 as the Trump administration went after the cartels and the drug itself. Read the full story A safer capital for every family A federal surge into Washington, D.C., that began in August 2025 has taken thousands of offenders and illegal guns off the street while homicides kept falling. Read the full story

Economy & Jobs

All Economy & Jobs wins

Household income hits a new record The Census Bureau found that the typical household's income, adjusted for inflation, rose 2.6% in 2025 to the highest level ever recorded. Read the full story Poverty hits a record low The Census Bureau's official poverty rate fell to 10.2% in 2025, the lowest since it began measuring in 1959, and child poverty fell to a record low. Read the full story Businesses hire while Washington slims down Since January 2025, private payrolls have grown by about a million jobs while the federal payroll has shrunk to its smallest size since 1966. Read the full story Factories are humming again American factories have reported growth for nine straight months in 2026, and factory payrolls have grown by 72,000 since December. Read the full story Trillions in pledges, and the first shovels Companies and countries have promised more than $11 trillion in U.S. investment by the White House's count; a handful of big projects have already broken ground, and the rest are still promises. Read the full story The trade deals survived the Supreme Court When the Supreme Court ruled in February 2026 that the emergency-powers law could not be used for tariffs, the administration rebuilt its tariffs on other laws and kept its trade agreements. Read the full story

Affordability & Cost of Living

All Affordability & Cost of Living wins

The steepest drug-price drop since 1963 Prescription drug prices posted their steepest annual drop since 1963 this summer, helped by Medicare negotiation, cheaper generics and the President's deals on the costliest drugs. Read the full story America asks for the best price President Trump got 26 drugmakers to offer America their best international price, for Medicaid and for new medicines. Read the full story TrumpRx: GLP-1s from $149, insulin from $35 TrumpRx.gov puts the discounted cash price of popular brand-name drugs on one government website, from GLP-1s to insulin to inhalers. Read the full story Grocery prices are barely moving Groceries cost just 1.8% more than a year ago and core inflation is 2.6%, but a gasoline spike has pushed headline inflation to 3.7%. Read the full story

Taxes & Paychecks

All Taxes & Paychecks wins

No tax on tips, up to $25,000 The 2025 tax law lets workers in tipped jobs subtract up to $25,000 of tips from their federal taxable income each year from 2025 through 2028. Read the full story No tax on overtime From 2025 through 2028, workers can subtract the extra half of their time-and-a-half pay from federal taxable income, up to $12,500 a year or $25,000 for married couples. Read the full story An extra $6,000 deduction for seniors The 2025 tax law gives every taxpayer 65 and older a new $6,000 deduction, on top of the standard deduction, for tax years 2025 through 2028. Read the full story The refund that came back bigger The first filing season under the 2025 tax law produced the largest spring refund totals of the past six years, largely because the tax cuts reached back to January 2025. Read the full story The tax hike that never happened The July 2025 tax law made the 2017 tax cuts permanent, so the lower rates and larger standard deduction did not expire at the end of 2025. Read the full story

Family Life

All Family Life wins

Nearly 70 million kids, one account each Every eligible American child under 18 now has a Trump Account, a tax-advantaged investment account, and children born from 2025 through 2028 get $1,000 from Treasury to start it. Read the full story A $2,200 child tax credit, for good The July 2025 tax law raised the child tax credit to $2,200 per child, kept up to $1,700 of it refundable, and made it permanent with yearly inflation adjustments. Read the full story

Health (MAHA)

All Health (MAHA) wins

Petroleum dyes are leaving the pantry The Trump administration asked food makers to drop petroleum-based dyes, approved natural replacements and posted a public scorecard of who has followed through. Read the full story

Energy

All Energy wins

Record American oil and gas America pumped more crude oil in 2025 than any country ever has and set a record for natural gas, and in 2026 record exports helped replace the oil and gas the Iran war cut off. Read the full story

Military & Veterans

All Military & Veterans wins

Full ranks, two years running The Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force and Marine Corps all met their active-duty recruiting goals in fiscal 2025 and again in fiscal 2026, most of them months ahead of schedule. Read the full story Golden Dome takes shape Golden Dome is a layered system of satellites, sensors and interceptors meant to stop missiles aimed at the United States, and its first $25 billion is nearly all committed. Read the full story VA claims backlog cut by more than 70% The Department of Veterans Affairs has cut the number of disability claims stuck waiting more than 125 days by more than 70% since January 2025, and it now decides claims faster than ever recorded. Read the full story

Peace & Foreign Policy

All Peace & Foreign Policy wins

NATO allies finally pay their share President Trump got America's NATO allies to pledge 5% of their economies to defense by 2035, more than double the old 2% goal. Read the full story Every living hostage came home President Trump's 20-point Gaza plan produced a ceasefire and the release of every living hostage held by Hamas, followed by a Board of Peace to oversee what comes next. Read the full story Midnight Hammer hits Iran's nuclear sites In June 2025, U.S. bombers and a submarine struck Iran's three main nuclear sites, and President Trump then brokered the ceasefire that ended the 12-Day War between Israel and Iran. Read the full story Iran's war machine, broken at the factory The U.S. campaign against Iran that began in February wrecked most of Iran's capacity to build new missiles, drones and warships and cut its arms supply to Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, according to CENTCOM. Read the full story Maduro captured and facing trial U.S. forces captured Nicolás Maduro in a night raid in Caracas and brought him to New York to face the drug-trafficking indictment that had waited nearly six years. Read the full story More than 100 Americans brought home The Trump administration has secured the release of more than 100 Americans held hostage or detained in foreign countries since January 2025. Read the full story

Government Reform & Waste

All Government Reform & Waste wins

A real war on fraud President Trump put Vice President Vance in charge of a government-wide fraud task force and opened a public ledger at Fraud.gov, and the charges, suspensions and canceled enrollments are adding up. Read the full story

Freedom, Faith & Culture

All Freedom, Faith & Culture wins

Girls' sports, kept for girls A presidential order, a new NCAA rule, a Supreme Court ruling and a restored Title IX regulation have together put federal law on the side of keeping girls' and women's sports for female athletes. Read the full story Protecting kids from irreversible procedures President Trump moved to end federal funding for puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgery for minors, after evidence reviews here and abroad found the benefits very uncertain. Read the full story

Education

All Education wins

A $1,700 school-choice tax credit A new federal tax credit lets any taxpayer redirect up to $1,700 of federal income tax to nonprofit groups that give K-12 scholarships to children in states that opt in. Read the full story

Agriculture & Rural America

All Agriculture & Rural America wins

Keeping the family farm in the family The 2025 tax law raised the amount a person can leave to heirs free of federal estate tax to $15 million, or $30 million for a married couple, adjusted for inflation each year and with no expiration date. Read the full story