In the first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s second term, Americans have seen a lot happen. From his first day of signing executive orders to his embarrassing interview with ABC, I believe the President has been doing a poor job of running the nation. In this article, I will look at some of Trump’s largest actions so far and voice my interpretation and opinions on these actions.
On the campaign trail, President Trump constantly promised secure borders, low-cost goods, peace in Ukraine, and free speech, among many other campaign pledges. However, as President, it seems that a lot of these key issues have been put on the back burner. President Trump has an approval rating of 42% according to NPR and PBS, despite a majority of Republicans still supporting his efforts.
The Border:
Border control has been a massive issue for this President and his supporters. According to NPR, the President has delivered, with illegal border crossings down to around 7,180 in March, well below the monthly average of 155,000 crossings. It cannot be disputed that this is one promise the President has been able to keep, at the cost of large controversy and compromising the ethical integrity of the people represented. Using executive orders as a primary tool to speed up his political agenda, the President has cast aside (or at least attempted to) a large number of rights guaranteed in the Constitution.
Constitutional Crisis:
The rights of numerous minority groups are under attack by the current President. This includes the birthright citizenship, due process, the rights of trans and other LGBTQIA+ citizens, opening private records to DOGE and billionaire Elon Musk, and countless other examples. The President has even deported multiple U.S. citizens under the age of 10 due to his administration’s constant failure to remain competent and, frankly, to do the bare minimum outlined in the Constitution. His orders consistently contradict the central document of our democracy, and consistently fails to take responsibility for his actions.
The President has frequently attempted to defund the press, including recent budget cuts to PBS and NPR, which are both publicly funded and committed to facts. In his first few weeks he banned the Associated Press from his briefings, verbally attacked ABC, NBC, AP, CNN, calling them fake news. Additionally, in an oval office interview with Terry Moran, the President contradicted his own words numerous times and attacked Moran for disputing the photoshopping of an image of the hand of Kilmar Abrego Garcia claiming that the labeling put onto the photo was tattooed on his hand, which is completely false. His supporters have called the interview a complete win despite it portraying Trump as incompetent, disrespectful, and incapable of accepting when he is wrong — blaming most problems on the Biden administration, and shifting blame away from himself.
Division Across The Globe:
This President has been criticized by the Democratic Party, his own former Administration members, and world leaders across the globe. The President has frequently taken to Truth Social to blame “radical left lunatics” for national issues and continued divisive rhetoric, which can be dangerous for our society. The President is not attempting to bring together the nation and has shown time after time that he has no interest in finding middle ground with anyone. The President has made our country look foolish across the globe, and has damaged our relationship with a lot of allied nations — including Canada and Greenland, two nations we rarely have any issues with.
Executive Orders:
So far, President Trump has signed over 140 executive orders, including one freeing violent criminals convicted of breaking into the Capitol building on January 6, 2021. Many of the orders have been criticized for going against the Constitution and violating the rights of Americans. Some orders were even taken to court, resulting in over 200 lawsuits against his administration.
Tariff War and our Economy:
Trump’s promise of a great economy and prices going down on day one has been reality checked by his trade war, which economists estimate could cost Americans thousands more each year. Furthermore, he actively crashed the stock market and caused complete panic on Wall Street, falling far from his campaign motto of making America great.
Irresponsible Administration:
With signal group chat leaks on attack plans to the press, to “administrative errors” such as wrongfully deporting protected people within the USA. He has forked over plenty of power to one of the richest men in the world, with no thought to the oligarchic implications of his actions.
A majority of his administration, including the President himself, are completely unqualified. RFK Jr. being in charge of health and being anti-vax, Pete Hegseth being a former news anchor and now Secretary of Defence, and WWE’s Linda McMahon being in charge of education are just a few bizarre picks in his cabinet. The President is “hard on crime” except when it comes to his felonies, violations of the Constitution, and potential threats to national security within his administration.
This is only a sliver of the things I could say about the current administration’s frequent errors. In such a hectic and fast-moving administration, it is hard to even keep track of all of the things the President is trying to change. Thankfully, the United States is built upon our ability to disagree with the people who govern us. The entire point of the United States is to be free and guarantee the same rights for every single American. Soon enough, we will be able to vote for a new administration. Until then, we have the right to speak for what we believe in.
