The first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s second term have been a whirlwind of activity, punctuated by action at the border, tariffs, turbulent markets, the Department of Government Efficiency, multiple lawsuits, and constant headlines.
From White House celebrations to the Washington Examiner’s report card for Trump’s initial months in office, here is the latest coverage on the second Trump administration’s first 100 days.
White House celebrations
The White House is hosting several events this week to commemorate Trump’s first 100 days in office. His 100th day is on Wednesday, April 30.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt held court with social media influencers on Monday as part of a special new media briefing. Among those in attendance was Sean Spicer, Trump’s first-ever White House press secretary, who now hosts a YouTube show.
Trump also held a rally in Macomb County, Michigan, on Tuesday, marking the president’s first visit to the state since he won it in the 2024 election.
After 100 days, can Trump pull off a second great political comeback?
“We’re here tonight in the heartland of our nation to celebrate the most successful first 100 days of any administration in the history of our country, and that’s according to many, many people,” Trump told the mostly full rally. “This is the best, they say, 100-day start of any president in history, and everyone is saying it. We’ve just gotten started. You haven’t even seen anything yet.”
Meanwhile, another celebration marking the 100th day of Trump’s return to the White House found a new venue following its initial cancellation at the Kennedy Center.
The celebration, scheduled for Tuesday evening, had its reservation canceled last week due to “contract violations,” prompting event host Alysia McMillan to search for a new venue. McMillan confirmed to the Washington Examiner that the event’s new location will be in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C.
Read more from the Washington Examiner.
Trump’s approval rating at 100 days
Trump’s approval ratings have plummeted to the lowest of any president this early in his presidency.
New polling found that Trump’s approval rating has dropped below 40% — the lowest for any president at the 100-day mark of their first or second terms in office in about 80 years.
A Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll conducted among more than 2,500 people showed that only 39% approved of the way Trump is doing his job. Roughly 55% said they disapproved, including a massive 44% who said they “strongly” disapproved.
Stephen Miller sticks it to the press during 100-day victory lap
Meanwhile, a CNN poll conducted by SSRS was slightly more favorable to the president, with 41% saying they approved of the job Trump is doing.
But confidence drops further when looking at specific issues. The poll, conducted among 1,678 people, found that 35% approve of Trump’s handling of inflation and only 39% approve of his handling of the economy. On tariffs specifically, only 35% still offer their approval.
Read more from the Washington Examiner.
Trump’s fiery ABC News interview
Trump defended Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and himself during a fiery sit-down interview with ABC News for his first 100 days.
ABC News anchor and senior national correspondent Terry Moran promised the interview, surprisingly granted to a mainstream news outlet, would be combative, and he and the president delivered.
“I picked you because, frankly, I never heard of you,” Trump told the reporter.
TRUMP REVEALS WHAT HE FINDS MOST DIFFERENT SECOND TIME AROUND: ‘I RUN THE COUNTRY AND THE WORLD’
The defensive posture comes as Trump’s approval rating, even regarding immigration, once his highest performing polling issue, is in net negative territory.
From defending his defense secretary to disagreeing over deported alleged criminal illegal immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia, four key takeaways emerge from the interview.
Read more from the Washington Examiner.
Grading Trump’s first 100 days
Trump tariffs: Rollout gets failing grade
Trump came into office promising sweeping tariffs, but the rollout of his trade policy has roiled markets and hurt his approval ratings.
Trump surprised some voters by not imposing tariffs on Inauguration Day. Instead, he waited a few weeks while his administration crafted a plan. But now, 100 days into the second Trump presidency, U.S. trade policy has been reworked, and dozens of allies and adversaries face steep tariffs.
The rollout has gotten poor marks from most economists. The markets have sunk in response to the tariffs, and Trump’s approval rating among voters has dipped.
In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Ryan Young, a senior economist at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said Trump’s tariff rollout has been disastrous.
“It’s the biggest unforced error in American economic history — I really think it deserves that title,” Young said.
Read more from the Washington Examiner.
Immigration: Trump tackles border but hits setbacks on deportations
Trump took office in January and quickly moved on his campaign vow to seal off the southern border, but he faces an uphill battle carrying out the “largest-ever” deportation operation of illegal immigrants.
On Day One, the Trump administration began to wipe out policies of the Biden era that Republicans claimed triggered the most significant influx of immigrants at the border in national history.
Trump declared a national emergency at the border and surged federalized troops there, ended “catch and release,” ordered the continuation of border wall projects, designated cartels and foreign gangs as foreign terrorists, suspended refugee resettlement, ended birthright citizenship, and barred migrants from seeking asylum at the southern border — all of which occurred in his first few days in office.
Although the number of immigrants arrested by Border Patrol while attempting to enter the U.S. illegally from Mexico has dropped precipitously under Trump, the Trump administration has struggled to carry out its interior immigration operation.
Read more from the Washington Examiner.
DEI: Trump makes good on pledge to restore ‘common sense’
President Donald Trump won the White House partly thanks to his pledge to restore “common sense” to the everyday American ethos. Part of his “common sense revolution” has been to eliminate the political touchstone that is diversity, equity, and inclusion.
This “war on woke” has been particularly prominent in the military, with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth being one of Trump’s most zealous acolytes. The battle has also expanded beyond the Pentagon as educational institutions and businesses are being held accountable.
In Trump’s first 100 days, there have been successes and missteps in the battle to root DEI out of everyday life and restore “common sense.”
Read more from the Washington Examiner.
DOGE: Grading Elon Musk’s cost-cutting efforts
The Department of Government Efficiency, a novel initiative led by tech titan Elon Musk to take a chainsaw to the federal bureaucracy, championed cost-cutting measures but also cost Trump politically.
At the 100-day mark of Trump’s second presidency, Musk’s efforts led to the ouster of thousands of federal workers, the end of government contracts deemed wasteful, and the uncovering of $160 billion in estimated cost savings.
DOGE DWINDLES AFTER TRUMP’S FIRST 100 DAYS IN OFFICE
But despite the transparency of a rolling social media feed of government waste and a tracker of saving taxpayers money, the public has soured on the Trump-Musk effort.
And though it looks like DOGE’s actual cuts to the federal budget will come in far short of the trillions once touted, both critics and supporters agree that the pace with which Trump and DOGE are transforming Washington is nothing short of unprecedented.
Read more from the Washington Examiner.
Legislative wins: Few and far between
President Donald Trump is boasting of the strongest 100-day start in presidential history, but his transformation of the U.S. economy and immigration policy has come via executive action and with historically few legislative victories.
Trump has signed only five bills into law in his first 100 days, breaking former President George W. Bush’s record low of seven in 2001. The president has, however, bypassed congressional authority to implement sweeping policy changes through executive actions.
Since Jan. 20, Trump has signed 145 executive orders, a record high for any president since former President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, with 99.
The five bills passed out of Congress and sent to Trump’s desk were the Laken Riley Act, three Congressional Review Act bills overturning Biden-era policies, and a stopgap spending bill to keep the government open.
Read more from the Washington Examiner.
Energy and environment
In his first 100 days, Trump shifted the government’s agenda to prioritize energy dominance to strengthen national security, while reducing or ending initiatives aimed at addressing climate change.
Trump set his sights on boosting fossil fuel industries on day one, removing regulations and opening federal land to energy projects. The administration has since left many international climate discussions, including the United Nations’ Paris Climate Agreement. A number of agencies acted to deliver on the president’s agenda, with the Environmental Protection Agency having announced it would also roll back and revisit several key climate regulations.
At the same time, Trump has moved to limit aid to renewable energy industries, most notably by pulling federal support for offshore wind. He’s also proposed sweeping tariffs that will have major consequences for the solar and automotive industries.
Read more from the Washington Examiner.
What conservative analysts say
During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump loudly broadcast his plans to hit the ground running, making sure not to waste any time.
In Trump’s first administration, Paul Bedard’s Washington Secrets compiled an annual list of achievements that totaled hundreds of promises kept at the end of the first term. In just 100 days, Trump has already topped that.
Trump’s first 100 days mark a turning point for Republicans with Hispanics
But by delivering quickly, Trump has increased America’s appetite for more, especially on overhyped trade deals and improvement in the economy. His recent polls have shown some signs of skepticism from supporters, though he remains in a better position than he was at this point in his first term.
Conservative analyst Jed Babbin and Democratic pollster John Zogby offer up two very different views of the first 100 days.
Read more from the Washington Examiner.
Republican officials weigh in on Trump’s second term
Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer
Trump once said, “No dream is too big. No challenge is too great. Nothing we want for our future is beyond our reach.”
At 100 days of his second term, the president is proving that’s true.
The greatest visions we could have for our country are being realized every day. This milestone is only the beginning for our new Golden Age of America, yet where we stand today as a country already presents a stark contrast from where we were less than a year ago.
Our nation was fully immersed in an identity crisis — and a leadership crisis. If it weren’t for those dark days, however, we might not truly appreciate this new dawn of American exceptionalism.
One hundred days in, the president is rolling out the mandate that the people handed him in November.
Read more of Chavez-DeRemer’s analysis here.
Illinois Rep. Mary Miller
As we reach the first 100 days of Trump‘s second term in the White House, it is abundantly clear: Christians across America once again have a powerful, unapologetic advocate in the Oval Office.
As 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
The president understands that America doesn’t just need policy change — it needs a heart change, which starts by turning back to God and seeking His help. Scripture reminds us in James 4:6, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
Over the last four years, the Biden White House embraced every radical anti-Christian agenda imaginable. From the blasphemous declaration of “Transgender Day of Visibility” on Easter Sunday to the weaponization of the FBI to surveil and persecute Christians to the targeting of innocent pro-life advocates, American Christians were under attack.
But now, after just 100 days in office, the president has inspired a spiritual revival in our nation. He’s reminding Americans that our rights come from God, not government, and he’s unafraid to lead with biblical truth.
Read more of Miller’s analysis here.
Democrats’ counter-messaging
Congressional Democrats’ PR blitz
Congressional Democrats are preparing to mount their latest acts of resistance to show frustrated progressive voters they’re using what limited powers they have to combat a Republican Congress from advancing Trump’s agenda.
Back from a two-week congressional recess for Easter, Democrats will use a series of speeches and events this week that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said will highlight the “100 days of hell for American families, for our economy, and for our democracy” in Trump’s second term.
Senate Democrats held the floor late into Tuesday night with marathon speeches to mark Trump’s first “disastrous 100 days” of his second administration and Republicans’ efforts to craft a budget reconciliation bill to enact the president’s priorities on energy, the border, and tax cuts. Progressive House Democrats will hold a press conference to highlight Trump’s first 100 days as well.
House and Senate Democrats will have a rare joint press availability on Wednesday as a show of cross-chamber unity to “decry in one voice” how Trump “has already failed our country in his second term,” according to Schumer.
The headline-grabbing demonstrations are part of Democrats’ evolving efforts to resist Trump as the party struggles to temper expectations from an angry and anxious progressive base.
Read more from the Washington Examiner.
Leftist politicians and celebrities take to social media to blast Trump
Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was among the multitude of leftist politicians and celebrities to complain publicly about President Donald Trump and his second term’s first 100 days back in the Oval Office.
The former Democratic presidential nominee, who lost her bid for the White House in 2016 against Trump, wrote that Trump “alienated us from our allies” since Jan. 20, likely referring to the president’s use of tariffs.
“In Trump’s first 100 days, he alienated us from our allies, crashed the stock market, decimated U.S. cancer research, expelled American toddlers, lost the Canadian election by proxy, and threatened your Social Security checks,” Clinton wrote on X. “But at least he focused on the important stuff.”
The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg took a moment on Tuesday to note that the day marked Trump’s 100th day in office, claiming that it actually “feels like a hundred years.” She also took a jab at Trump’s low approval ratings, stating that it is the lowest of any president in the last 70 years.
Read more from the Washington Examiner.
Other coverage of Trump’s first 100 days — and beyond
Project 2025: Is Trump running the playbook?
Democrats frequently pointed to Project 2025 last year as a Day One playbook for how a second Trump administration would upend the federal government.
Former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris repeatedly levied attacks linking Trump to policies outlined in the 900-page blueprint published by the Heritage Foundation. Trump, for his part, distanced himself from the project during the campaign.
But now, nearly 100 days into Trump’s term, the country is getting a sense of where Trump’s platform intersects with the controversial document and where he’s chosen new policy paths entirely.
Trump has signed 129 executive orders since January, some of which seem to be lifted wholesale from Heritage’s mandate. That list includes the dissolution of federal diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, purging the government of transgender-friendly policies, regressing Biden’s clean energy agenda, prioritizing school choice options while simultaneously dismantling the Department of Education, and actively shrinking the federal government’s budget and workforce, installing loyal, prevetted political appointees in their stead.
Read more from the Washington Examiner.
Trump’s 100-day executive blitz shifts to land mines ahead
As the glow of President Donald Trump‘s election victory and return to the White House dims, the nation’s 45th and 47th president now faces several challenges, including many of his own making, in his quest to realize his governing vision.
Trump’s first 100 days were a shock-and-awe campaign that left Democrats and federal workers reeling, but he now finds himself embroiled in multiple battles and with polling numbers that are declining.
One will be whether or not he can muscle the “one big, beautiful” reconciliation bill through a closely divided Congress. Others include working to secure an incredible 90 foreign trade deals in 90 days, battling court challenges to his immigration and economic plans, and heading off brewing foreign relations crises with China, Russia, and Iran.
“He’s got a lot of balls in the air,” conservative commentator Scott Jennings told the Washington Examiner in an interview. “We’ve got a lot of foreign interactions going on, whether it’s the war in Ukraine or the situation in the Middle East. They’re still in the air 100 days in, and 100 days is kind of an arbitrary deadline for solving some of these things.”
