President Trump’s First 100 Days

Sunday April 30 marked the 100th day of Donald Trump’s presidency. Much has elapsed since the 45th US president was sworn in on January 20, entering office with a vow to put “America First.” All throughout his campaign, he reiterated that our country could no longer stand to be the world’s policeman. He even dismissed crucial alliances in Europe and Asia, scoffed at major international organizations like the UN, put down trade pacts, and, perhaps most memorably, spoke ill of both allies and competitors (including Mexico and China, respectively).

But ever since his inauguration, as CNN writes, he “steadily reversed course on those fronts and a host of others.” On the flip side, as NBC News puts it, Trump’s first 100 days were characterized by a lot of “sound and fury, but not much action.”

Even more dismal? Trump’s approval rating, as of April 29, rested at 43%, the lowest in modern history (an outlier from the trend of presidents enjoying “higher approval ratings at the start of their terms following successful presidential campaigns” (Business Insider).

The following are just some of the highlights of the eventful first 100 days of Trump’s presidency.

• Trump leaned toward torture before his election. After his inauguration, he seems more willing to defer to his “deeply experienced advisors” (CNN).
• One of the many notable things said by Trump during his campaign was, “We need to build a wall.” So far, no walls have been built, nor laws changed, but Trump managed to send “a powerful message that undocumented immigrants are no longer welcome here” (Politico). Arrests of noncriminal aliens in the US by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has more than doubled.
• While Trump initially considered an executive order pulling us out of “the single worst trade deal (NAFTA),” the White House said on April 26 that “Trump agreed not to terminate NAFTA at this time.” Canadian and Mexican leaders “said they would work to renegotiate the treaty” (NBC).
• The battle of the unreleased tax returns raged as on April 15, tens of thousands across the country marched in protest. A good number of people in the weeks and months prior have voiced their disapproval for the president’s refusal to release his tax returns, which Steven Mnuchin says Trump has “no intention” of releasing.
• The United States dropped the biggest non-nuclear bomb used in combat, the Massive Ordnance Air Blast, more commonly referred to as the Mother of All Bombs. The bomb was dropped over ISIS caves in Afghanistan, killing dozens of terrorists in the blast.
• Current Supreme Court justice Neil Gorsuch was sworn in in early April after being picked by Trump. Considered “the biggest political victory of [Trump’s] presidency” (AOL), Gorsuch’s swearing in followed a lengthy period of displeasure and opposition from Democrats.
  
• Trump oversaw the launch of 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Syria in the wake of the horrific chemical attack that claimed more than 100 lives.
• Ivanka Trump decided to assist her father as an unpaid White House  employee. This followed concerns about whether her assistance would breach ethics rules, but according to CNN, she “will be an ‘adviser’ to the President, and will file her own Form 278, which means she is legally bound by the ethics rule.”
• Trump has “signed the most executive orders of any president in their first 100 days since World War II” (Fortune). In total, he has signed off on a whopping 29 executive orders, 22 of which were passed in the first 22 days of his presidency.
• National security adviser Michael Flynn resigned after controversy over dealings with Russia. It was believed Flynn had been subject to blackmail.
• Trump tried and failed to repeal Obamacare. This was a major defeat for Trump, who’d promised throughout his campaign to get rid of this “horrible healthcare” plan. Said House speaker Paul Ryan of the defeat, “We’re going to be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future.”
• The Republicans aren’t finished just yet. Despite this defeat, they plan to continue their efforts to repeal Obamacare.

The above are just some of the few events that lapsed in the first 100 days of President Trump’s time in office. View this timeline for a more complete and comprehensive view of the events in the months after Trump’s inauguration.