Traditionally, the country has measured the success of presidents by the accomplishments of their first 100 days in office. On April 29, 2017, Donald Trump reached his 100th day. Across the country, the media and citizens alike judged his successes and his failures in order to guess how the rest of his term in office will play out.
Arguably the most noteworthy accomplishment of Trump’s presidency so far has been his nomination and confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the supreme court, despite a filibuster by Democrats. The position on the court had been empty since the death of Antonin Scalia in February of 2016. Although former president Barak Obama had nominated Merrick Garland for the court at the end of his presidency, House Republicans had stopped his nomination. With the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch, Trump succeeded in tilting the supreme court back towards more conservative ideologies.
Trump has also made efforts to put American workers first in government economic policies. In January he ordered the U.S. to withdraw from the Trans Pacific Partnership, a multinational trade agreement between countries in North and South America, and countries in Asia. However, many economic experts have predicted that this action will decrease the domination of the U.S. in the global economy and eventually hurt the country in the long run.
During his campaign, Trump also repeatedly denounced the Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as Obamacare. Although Republicans have not succeeded at repealing it, they have made advancements. Just last week, a new healthcare bill was pushed through the House, although it still has to pass in the senate. This will most likely prove more difficult because there are more democratic senators who will oppose it. Additionally, Trump authorized the Department of Homeland Security to hire 10,000 more Customs and Immigrations officers in addition to 5,000 more border control agents, in an attempt to crack down on immigration. However, congress has not set aside the funds to build a border wall between Mexico and the U.S., which was arguably the foremost promise of Trump’s campaign.
Additionally, Trump’s promise to ban Muslim immigrants from the U.S., another one of the largest promises of his campaign, has fallen short. Although he signed two executive orders banning immigrants from multiple majority Muslim countries, federal judges blocked both of the orders.
Like most other presidents throughout U.S. history, Trump has made large scale changes to the way the country operates in just the first few months of his presidency. Whether or not this trend continues, and how the country will change in the coming years, is yet to be seen.
