Trump 2.0 April 27 2025-

Mon, Jan 20 – Wed, Apr 30, 2025 The First 100 Days

29-30 April
Trump’s loyal footsoldiers doff their Maga caps at cabinet love-in
Red and navy hats were strategically placed as Trump’s cabinet gushed over 100 presidential days like no other
(The Guardian) …the unorthodox collection of headwear, embroidered with Donald Trump’s forced new name for the centuries-old Gulf of Mexico, was far from the most bizarre aspect of an extraordinary White House gathering hosted by the president on Wednesday.
The cabinet meeting to commemorate the first 100 days of Trump’s second term was, in the view of some social media commentators, something more akin to a gathering of Kim Jong-un loyalists in North Korea, each successive speaker trying to outshine the other in heaping lavish praise on their dear leader.
There was the sight of Elon Musk, the outgoing head of the unofficial “department of government efficiency”, placing one of the red Gulf of America hats on top of the Doge one he was already wearing.
Heather Cox Richardson Letters from an American April 29, 2025
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt popularized the idea that the first 100 days of a presidency established an administration’s direction. As soon as he took office on March 4, 1933, he called Congress into special session to meet on March 9 to address the emergency of the Great Depression. Congress responded to the crisis by quickly passing 15 major bills and 77 other measures first to stabilize the economy and then to rebuild it. …
Trump’s administration does parallel FDR’s in an odd way. Trump set out in his first hundred days to undo the government FDR established in his first hundred days. Trump has turned the nation away from 92 years of a government that sought to serve ordinary Americans by regulating business, providing a basic social safety net, promoting infrastructure, protecting civil rights, and stabilizing global security and trade. Instead, he is trying to recreate the nation of more than 100 years ago, in which the role of government was to protect the wealthy and enable them to make money from the country’s resources and its people.
Trump’s Astonishing 100 Days, in 8 Charts
The first 100 days of Donald J. Trump’s second presidency have been a study of extremes, especially when compared with the start of presidential terms over the last century.
Compared with other modern presidents, he has signed the most executive orders in this period, collected the most tariffs and had the most lawsuits filed against him. Markets have slumped, as have his approval ratings. …
The early results of his policy have included a large recent spike in the amount of money the federal government is collecting in customs duties. But amid the geopolitical and economic turmoil the tariffs have caused, critics have argued that the countries targeted by Mr. Trump will not bear all of the higher costs. Instead, the penalties may largely fall on the companies and American consumers who ultimately purchase the products that enter the country.
… One hundred days into his second term, Mr. Trump’s approval rating is underwater. Polls show that he has managed to turn long-term strengths on the economy and immigration into weaknesses.
An Unsustainable Presidency – Nothing about Donald Trump’s first 100 days has been ordinary.
By Jonathan Chait
… In just a few months, Trump has smashed democratic norms, crippled the federal bureaucracy, and realigned America against its traditional friends. Because Trump’s goals are so historically aberrant, the traditional measure of presidential achievement is of hardly any use. His Carter-esque record as legislator and economic steward stands in stark contrast to his Lenin-esque record in stamping out opposition.
Trump 100 days: delusions of monarchy coupled with fundamental ineptitude
Trump has wasted no time in trying to remake the US in his image – with results that are sweeping, vengeful and chaotic
(The Guardian) In three months Trump has shoved the world’s oldest continuous democracy towards authoritarianism at a pace that tyrants overseas would envy. He has used executive power to take aim at Congress, the law, the media, culture and public health. Still aggrieved by his 2020 election defeat and 2024 criminal conviction, his regime of retribution has targeted perceived enemies and proved that no grudge is too small.
Historically such strongmen have offered the populace a grand bargain: if they will surrender some liberties, he will make the trains run on time. But Trump’s delusions of monarchy have been coupled with a fundamental ineptitude.
His trade war injected chaos into the economy, undermining a campaign promise to lower prices and raising the spectre of recession; his ally Elon Musk wreaked havoc on the federal government, threatening health and welfare benefits for millions; his foreign policy turned the world upside down, making friends of adversaries and turning allies into foes.
Trump 100 days: tariffs, egg prices, Ice arrests and approval rating – in charts
The first few months have seen record-breaking use of executive powers – here are some of the outlying trends …
Trump Marks 100 Days by Vilifying Migrants and Attacking Opponents
(NYT) President Trump traveled to Michigan for events that were meant to demonstrate his commitment to American manufacturing. But his speech at a rally was dark and filled with grievance.
Trump hails achievements of first 100 days despite polls revealing American disapproval on economy – as it happened
President touts ‘most successful 100 days of any administration’ at rally in Warren, Michigan
(The Guardian) Trump inverts actual poll numbers to make false claim that Americans say country is headed in the right direction
Trump just made the entirely false claim that, “for the first time in modern history, more Americans believe that our country is headed in the right direction than the wrong direction”.
“For the first time ever, in, I think, ever, that they’re saying the country is headed in the right direction”, Trump added. “Has never happened before”.
It is not clear why the president thinks this is true, or indeed if he does, but it is very clearly not true.
In the latest nationwide poll, conducted from April 17-21 for the Associated Press by National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, the overwhelming majority of Americans said that the country is headed in the wrong direction (62% vs 37%)

28 April
100 Days In, This Is How Trump Is Upending American Government
President Trump has wielded his office as an instrument of blunt power, ignoring outrage from Democrats and daring Republicans to challenge his authority.

27 April
Trump approval sinks as Americans criticize his major policies, poll finds
After high expectations before he returned to office, most Americans say the president has made the economy worse.
(WaPo) As he nears the end of his first 100 days in office, President Donald Trump is facing growing opposition to his ambitious and controversial agenda, with his approval rating in decline, majority opposition to major initiatives, and perceptions that his administration is seeking to avoid complying with federal court orders, according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll.

Trump Promised ‘Big, Beautiful’ Deals. Delivering Has Been Tougher.
So far, the goals of many of President Trump’s negotiations have been unrealized, even those he said would be accomplished in a matter of days or weeks.
(NYT) He quickly opened a dizzying number of negotiations to, naming just a few of his aims, end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours, bring peace to the Middle East and usher in dozens of trade deals in record time. The war in Ukraine is still raging, and the president has floated the idea of abandoning peace talks altogether. Hamas is still holding hostages in Gaza despite Mr. Trump’s warning on social media that the terrorist group must release them all or “you are DEAD!” And while Mr. Trump insists that countries are racing to strike trade deals with the United States, the details are scant.