President Trump arrives to talk on his first 100 days at Macomb County Group Faculty Sports activities Expo Heart on April 29 in Warren, Mich.
Alex Brandon/AP
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Alex Brandon/AP
A lot has occurred within the first 100 days of President Trump’s second time period.
On Day 1, he signed a slew of govt orders geared toward, amongst different issues, creating DOGE, his government-slashing casual Division of Authorities Effectivity, erasing range, fairness and inclusion efforts, eliminating birthright citizenship for individuals born within the U.S. to folks with out everlasting authorized standing, declaring an emergency on the southern border and recognizing solely “two sexes – female and male.”
He is moved aggressively to implement tariffs on imported items, restructure the federal authorities and tighten his grip on energy, perform deportations, reposition the USA on the world stage, and punish perceived political enemies.
It hasn’t all gone easily. There was the Signalgate scandal that has engulfed a number of high members of his administration, some courts have pushed again on his deportation makes an attempt, there have been reversals in a number of the firings of federal employees and cuts to packages and companies, and the billionaire main his authorities restructuring effort, Elon Musk, has grown more and more unpopular.
The general public response towards Trump’s commerce wars, particularly, hasn’t been constructive, resulting in a plunge in his ballot numbers, based on a NPR/PBS Information/Marist ballot launched this week. A slim majority now even disapproves of his dealing with of immigration, which had been a relative energy.
Here is a have a look at a number of the main strikes Trump has made up to now 100 days:
Skip to a bit: DOGE, governmental overhaul and a tightening grip on energy | Immigration and deportations | Tariffs | International Coverage | Retribution | Concentrating on DEI and transgender rights | Signalgate
DOGE, governmental overhaul and a tightening grip on energy
Trump has moved aggressively to tighten his grip on energy and reduce accountability. He fired inspectors basic throughout varied companies, purged leaders perceived to not be “pro-Trump,” has moved in friendlier information media and decreased entry for conventional journalists and threatened them with lawsuits and subpoenas.
The Trump administration has additionally fired hundreds of federal employees throughout a number of companies, provided a type of a buyout to hundreds of others, lower or proposed slicing funding for congressionally licensed packages, for things like science analysis, Head Begin and low-income heating, amongst many others. It has dismantled or begun dismantling whole companies, such because the USAID, the Client Monetary Safety Bureau and the Division of Schooling.
The cuts symbolize a tiny fraction of the funds, however that is probably not the purpose. Russ Vought, Trump’s funds director and co-author of the Heritage Basis’s Challenge 2025, which the second-term Trump agenda has hewed intently to, mentioned earlier than Trump received that he needed federal employees to really feel “trauma.” That has actually been the case for a lot of, who have not identified what to anticipate from at some point to the subsequent — whether or not it is going to be a Discount in Power e-mail of their inbox or a cryptic request to write down about 5 issues they did at work up to now week.
The cuts have not been made with a scalpel, however an axe — or, reasonably a chainsaw. The person wielding that chainsaw — actually on stage at a conservative political convention in late February — has been Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, CEO of Tesla and founding father of SpaceX.
Musk ingratiated himself with Trump by donating thousands and thousands for his presidential marketing campaign. And Musk has been a fixture in these first few months of Trump’s second time period, main efforts to restructure the federal authorities by his casual Division of Authorities Effectivity, or DOGE.
Musk spoke within the Oval Workplace by Trump’s facet, wore a “Tech Help” T-shirt to a Cupboard assembly and appeared in a joint interview on Fox Information — with the president of the USA.
However Musk’s affect quickly appeared to reduce. Republicans confronted indignant constituents at city halls, upset with Musk and his “DOGE bros,” who’ve been inserted at many federal companies and accessed delicate private information of thousands and thousands of People, together with on the Social Safety Administration.
Musk grew to become a central determine in a Wisconsin judicial race, spending thousands and thousands on it, however the conservative candidate misplaced handily. Questions began to mount about whether or not Musk’s days had been numbered.
With Tesla dealing with a 71% revenue drop, Musk has mentioned he’ll step again from DOGE quickly, that means it is extra possible than not that he’ll take a backseat by the tip of subsequent month when his advisory position expires.
Immigration and deportations
Trump mentioned through the marketing campaign that he would concentrate on getting “criminals” in another country. However a lot of different immigrants with out authorized everlasting standing have been caught up in raids, detentions and deportations — from school college students on visas, who spoke out in opposition to the struggle in Gaza to folks of kids who’re U.S. residents, to individuals like Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
And so they’ve been despatched to a U.S. army jail at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a most safety jail in El Salvador, and detention facilities in Panama and Costa Rica with none due course of. Trump has even mused publicly about sending “homegrown” criminals, that means U.S. residents, to El Salvador, as properly.
Abrego Garcia’s case has gained tons of consideration in current weeks. He was born in El Salvador, has lived in Maryland for greater than a decade after crossing the border illegally when he was 16 due to gangs threatening him and attempting to recruit him. He had a standing order from 2019 to not be deported to El Salvador due to that.
The U.S. authorities admitted he was deported by mistake as a consequence of an “administrative error.” However the Trump administration has since doubled down, contending that he’s a gang member. A choose dealing with Abrego Garcia’s case says the proof in opposition to him is flimsy. He has no legal report within the U.S. or El Savador, is a father and is married to a U.S. citizen.
However the Trump administration is refusing to attempt to deliver him again regardless of a Supreme Courtroom order requiring the federal government to “facilitate” his return. The Trump administration argues that the Supreme Courtroom additionally mentioned the courts mustn’t intervene with the president’s overseas coverage and that El Salvador doesn’t need Abrego Garcia returned.
It is not the primary time that the Trump administration in these three months has come ever-so-close to a full-blown Constitutional disaster. It has walked traces with skinny justifications and reached deep with seldom-used legal guidelines and defying lower-court rulings with judges launching contempt investigations.
Trump is testing the bounds of his energy and banking on a pleasant, conservative-majority Supreme Courtroom to have his again. The subsequent a number of months will present simply how far the courts enable him to go in relation to deportations.
Tariffs
All presidents begin out with a level of political capital — some greater than others. And so they normally spend it early on of their presidency on one huge coverage precedence — and with a restricted period of time to get it completed.
Trump determined that will be making an attempt to restructure the world economic system.
He has lengthy believed that tariffs are an vital approach, if not the best way, to reclaim a obscure notion of what he considers American greatness.
“Lots of people are bored with watching the opposite nations ripping off the USA,” Trump mentioned in 1987 in an interview with then CNN host Larry King. He added, “They chortle at us. Behind our backs, they chortle at us due to our personal stupidity.”
That was a response to Japan and later China’s enhance in manufacturing and imports into the USA. Trump has been singing the identical tune for nearly 40 years on tariffs. However his effort to truly implement these has led to chaos and volatility – with buying and selling companions, allies and international markets.
Wall Road, actually, has had a traditionally dangerous efficiency to this point. Trump’s commerce wars have taken a toll on his political standing — and getting by one thing like tax cuts now shall be extra of a slog than it could have been if he selected to make use of his political capital to safe these first.
International Coverage
Internationally, Trump has repositioned the U.S. away from the long-held, post-World Conflict II bipartisan stance championing democracy and human rights overseas. As a substitute he is cozied as much as strongmen, like Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and Russia’s Vladimir Putin — or not less than within the case of Putin, to not take sides even when the entire U.S.’s allies are standing with Ukraine.
“You do not have the playing cards,” an irritated Trump, who’s attempting to strike a peace deal to finish the combating in Ukraine, advised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of their disastrous Oval Workplace assembly in February.
That is very totally different than any previous president would have acted towards a pro-Western, democratic ally that was invaded by a bigger, autocratic regime. Trump has parroted Russian speaking factors in blaming Ukraine for “beginning” the struggle and implied that Zelenskyy is not the rightful chief of the nation. He has publicly tried to persuade territorial and natural-resource concessions from Ukraine, whereas asking little of Russia besides to cease combating.
Trump has pushed to make a lot of different offers – unsuccessfully up to now – between Palestinians and Israelis over the struggle in Gaza and with Iran on nuclear weapons.
And that is to say nothing of Trump renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, his continued calls to accumulate Greenland, take the Panama Canal Zone again, make Canada the 51st state, take over Gaza to make it into the “Riviera of the Center East,” and browbeat allies over commerce.
Retribution
Throughout the presidential marketing campaign, Trump promised to hunt retribution in opposition to these he felt wronged him.
“WHEN I WIN, these people who CHEATED shall be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Legislation, which can embrace long run jail sentences in order that this Depravity of Justice doesn’t occur once more,” he wrote on his social media platform in October of final 12 months. “We can’t let our Nation additional devolve right into a Third World Nation, AND WE WON’T! Please beware that this authorized publicity extends to Legal professionals, Political Operatives, Donors, Unlawful Voters, & Corrupt Election Officers. These concerned in unscrupulous habits shall be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at ranges, sadly, by no means seen earlier than in our Nation.”
He made related threats and guarantees greater than 100 instances.
As president, he’s following by. He pardoned all of these convicted for his or her actions through the siege on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, even violent white nationalists, who plotted and deliberate for the day.
He has fired and is investigating those that investigated and indicted him. He stripped safety clearances from former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris, whom he ran in opposition to in 2024 for president. He additionally took them away from former Republican members of Congress Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, who’ve spoken out in opposition to him. And he additionally took them away from retired Gen. Mark Milley, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Workers who referred to as Trump a “fascist,” in addition to former nationwide safety council staffer Alexander Vindman who testified in opposition to Trump in his first impeachment and is now a member of Congress.
He is gone after regulation companies and the Related Press (for not going alongside together with his renaming of the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America) and stripped the safety clearance of his former head of cybersecurity, Chris Krebs, who mentioned the 2020 election was correctly performed, and of Krebs’ employer. He additionally referred to as for an investigation into his time as head of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Safety Company.
He additionally took away Secret Service safety for Biden’s youngsters – although Biden left it in place for Trump’s.
The worry of retaliation has silenced dissent amongst a lot of these in his personal occasion as properly.
“We’re in a time and place, the place, I do not know, I actually haven’t, I’ve not been right here earlier than,” mentioned Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski earlier this month. “And I am going to inform you, I am oftentimes very anxious myself about utilizing my voice, as a result of retaliation is actual – and that is not proper, however that is what you’ve got requested me to do, and so I will use my voice to the most effective of my capability.”
Concentrating on DEI and transgender rights
Moreover immigration, little has animated Trump and the MAGA motion’s tradition struggle greater than the focusing on of range, fairness and inclusion initiatives, in addition to the rights of people who find themselves transgender.
There have been a number of govt orders searching for to get rid of DEI or restrict or get rid of the rights of transgender and nonbinary individuals in authorities jobs and the army but additionally in non-public life, companies and colleges, together with universities, throughout the nation.
Trump has signed govt orders, and his administration has sued states and universities, taken down images of famend black historic figures from authorities buildings and web sites, scrubbed web sites of content material it opposes and banned sure books from company libraries, archives and army service academies. Trump took over the Kennedy Heart, as a result of he didn’t just like the kinds of artists who carried out there and mentioned that the venue was in “disrepair.”
Even the Smithsonian, residence to the free museums in Washington, D.C. that thousands and thousands go to yearly, are being reworked by govt actions. The Trump administration argues that historic reveals should not “inappropriately disparage People” and other people should not be made to really feel dangerous concerning the nation’s historical past.
Whereas Trump argues {that a} revisionist motion has solid the nation’s historical past in a “divisive, race-centered ideology,” the MAGA motion needs a white-washed model of historical past introduced.
Signalgate
Each president has scandals which are out of their management. And this presidency is not any totally different.
For the entire issues Trump himself has completed, this flashpoint started with high members of his administration’s dealing with of delicate army operation particulars — and including a journalist to a gaggle chat on the messaging app Sign. (NPR’s chief govt, Katherine Maher, is chairman of the nonprofit Sign basis that helps the messaging app.)
However the scandal was compounded by the administration’s response, particularly by his Protection secretary, Pete Hegseth, who shared probably the most delicate particulars. Hegseth lashed out on the media and denied that the data shared was “categorised.” It was later revealed that Hegseth was copy-pasting the small print from a safe authorities channel put in by the pinnacle of U.S. Central Command.
And he was sharing the army assault plans, not simply with key Trump administration officers, but additionally in a second group chat on his non-public telephone – together with his spouse, brother and private legal professional.
Trump has stood by Hegseth, even denying that he did something improper on the outset. Within the aftermath, Hegseth has grow to be more and more remoted on the Pentagon. A number of aides, who had been beforehand near him, left or had been fired. One even penned an op-ed – together with his identify on it – describing a month of chaos on the Protection Division.
The entire scandal has raised questions on how Trump’s staff handles this type of delicate data, record-keeping and for what precisely congressional Republicans would maintain the administration accountable. Reply: not a lot, if something.
One of many solely GOP members to talk out was Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, who mentioned, if he had been president, he wouldn’t tolerate Hegseth’s habits and mentioned it exhibits the Protection Secretary to be “an newbie particular person.”
Bacon is among the few congressional Republicans who represents a district Kamala Harris received final 12 months.
Heidi Glenn contributed to this story. It was designed and developed by Alyson Damage.
