Donald Trump’s (Second) First 100-Days

Remarkably enough we have already reached that first milestone in any presidency, the first 100-days. Technically, of course, this is Donald Trump’s second 100-days, but who’s counting? Whatever one makes of his administration, and the jury will doubtless remain stubbornly divided regardless of events, it has surely done more in its first 100 days than any other since the concept was first introduced during FDR’s first term.

Unlike eight years ago, when the Trump team had not anticipated winning the election, the current incarnation entered the White House with a clear plan of action, a series of initiatives to address, and a determination to prevail. Its ability to do so was aided by Republican victories across the country, ensuring that the Trump White House is dealing with receptive majorities in the Congress and the Senate. It appreciates, however, that time is short, that the Mid-term elections get closer every day, and that once they are out of the way all eyes will turn to the presidential election campaign of 2028. Hence the need to move fast….

President Trump marked his first 100 days in settings that may have appeared unlikely. He granted interviews not to Fox News, which would have been expected, but instead to The Atlantic and ABC News. Neither outlet has been supportive of his policies and their market audience will likely have been repelled by much of what he articulated. Regardless, it was an interesting stance to adopt, and one that was in stark contrast to approach adopted by his predecessor who spent much of his presidency being deliberately kept form the press by his family members and various acolytes. The ABC News interview was particularly intriguing considering that the network had only recently been forced to pay $15 million in a settlement having defamed Donald Trump. The ABC News employee at the heart of that incident, former Clinton aide George Stephanopoulos, was nowhere to be seen, with the interview being conducted instead by Terry Moran.

The interview was remarkably combative, and it would be hard to imagine Moran taking such a stance with either Barack Obama or Joe Biden. Indeed, the interview perfectly conveyed the results of a poll that revealed only 8% of media reporting on the administration was positive. This was encapsulated in Moran’s questioning on the state of illegal border crossings, which appear to have ground to a complete halt. Despite this, Moran chose instead to focus upon the methods adopted, rather than the results. The president touted the reduction in border crossings by some 98% as perhaps his most significant achievement, but in a move that reflected not only media coverage but also the position adopted by Democrats across the country, Moran demonstrated far more sympathy for the plight of deported illegal immigrants than of American citizens and the communitas that have bene blighted by attending crime and drug abuse. Remarkably, the Trump White House finds itself blocked at every turn by Democratically appointed judges who take issue with his effort to deport illegal immigrants, despite having been appointed to the bench, in many cases, by Barack Obama who deported some 3 million such individuals during his eight years in office, or by Joe Biden who deported them at a far faster rate than Donald Trump has managed this far. Michelle Obama has said that Trump’s deportation efforts “keep her awake at night” but she appeared to sleep just fine when her husband, The Deporter in Chief, was enacting the same policy during her eight years as First Lady.

Having spoken with ABC News the president departed for events in Michigan, hardly an obvious place for a Republican president to celebrate such an important milestone. However, Donald Trump carried the state in November 2024, along with the other key swing states, decimating Kamala Harris in the process and returning his to the White House. This, then, was a chance to thank the electorate and take a victory lap in a state that is also the traditional home of the American car industry, which Donald Trump is aiming to rebuild by repatriating the manufacturing industries lost over the past several decades of globalization.

Michigan is also home to Gretchen Whitmer. As one of the nation’s most prominent Democrats, she should have figured strongly in efforts to replace Joe Biden and is an obvious candidate for the party’s nomination in 2028. As governor she could not avoid greeting Donald Trump and could certainly not avoid accompanying him to Selfridge Air National Guard Base, which had been at risk of closure, but has now been saved due to her work with the White House. In a move reminiscent of Barack Obama’s engagement with Governor Chris Christie in the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy in 2012, President Trump lavished praise on Governor Whitmer and invited her to the podium to say a few words. The backlash from her own party has already begun, just as Trump will no doubt have anticipated…