President Donald Trump did not fulfill his pledge to ban foreign lobbyists from raising money for American elections.

As a 2016 presidential candidate, Trump said that on his first day in office, his administration would seek to "clean up the corruption and special interest collusion in Washington, D.C." One way to achieve that would be a complete ban on foreign lobbyists raising money for American elections, his 100-day action plan said.

The promise came after a chain of Clinton campaign emails were hacked and released online in October 2016. Some emails showed campaign aides debating whether to accept donations from U.S. citizens who are registered foreign lobbyists. Ultimately, they agreed that the campaign would take the money and deal with possible public criticism.

Trump in his first week in office issued an executive order prohibiting executive branch appointees from lobbying for five years after their service. But that executive order did not include a ban on foreign lobbyists raising money for U.S. elections.

In December 2017, watchdog groups that advocate for government transparency told PolitiFact they had seen no action from Trump to advance his pledge. We asked again three years later. The answer was the same: no movement on that promise.

"Trump has made no effort at all to ban fundraising by lobbyists who represent foreign interests. No such restriction was included in Trump's ethics executive order — which is largely unenforced, anyway — and no such effort was offered in the form of legislation," said Craig Holman, Public Citizen's Capitol Hill lobbyist on ethics, lobbying and campaign finance rules.

It is already illegal for foreign nationals to donate in American elections. But U.S. citizens can lobby on behalf of a foreign entity (foreign governments, political parties, corporations, individuals, and nongovernmental organizations). They must disclose their relationships and financial activity under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

The Daily Beast in October reported that lobbyists representing foreign governments had bundled nearly $2 million for Trump's re-election campaign. An analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics said that political donations made by foreign agents acting on behalf of Saudi Arabian interests exceeded $1.6 million in the 2018 election cycle.

Trump pledged to place a lifetime ban on foreign lobbyists raising money for American elections. No efforts were made to satisfy this pledge.

We rate this a Promise Broken.