Trump's 'unprecedented show of power' in first 100 days: Decisions that changed the course of politics in Washington

 

Trump's 'unprecedented show of power' in first 100 days: Decisions that changed the course of politics in Washington

During his presidential campaign last year, Donald Trump repeatedly expressed his intentions to bring dramatic change to the country as soon as he took office.

But few expected it to happen so quickly.

Within three months of being sworn in as the 47th President of the United States, he has exercised his powers in a way that few other American presidents have done before.

His decisions, signatures, and policy announcements have made headlines on social media. His executive orders have affected every aspect of American life.

Even President Trump’s supporters are surprised and concerned by his decisions, as he emerges as a president who is delivering on his promises and implementing long-awaited reforms.

But his critics fear he is causing irreparable harm to the country and overstepping his authority - crippling key government agencies or sectors and perhaps permanently changing the American presidency in the process.

Let's take a look at six key actions President Trump has taken in his recent first 100 days in office.

Day 20 and Presidential Powers: A Social Media Post That Sparked a Constitutional Storm

Trump was only three weeks into his new term when US Vice President JD Vance posted a nine-word tweet on Sunday morning that hinted at the Trump administration's second-term strategy.

He wrote on social media platform X that "judges are not allowed to take executive powers into their own hands."

This led to a media outcry as legal experts lined up to challenge the claim, pointing to a 220-year-old principle of American history that is considered central to American democracy.

Accordingly, the courts have the authority to review any government action, law, or executive order that they believe violates the U.S. Constitution.

J.D. Vance's words were an open challenge to the powers of the judiciary and, at first glance, a challenge to the three main and equal branches of government of the American system, which were founded by the Founding Fathers of the United States.

But Trump and his team not only stood by their statement of challenging the separation of powers between Congress, the judiciary, and the presidency and the interference of the other two branches in presidential decisions, but they did not apologize for it.

The White House has aggressively tried to gain control over spending from Congress, cutting funding for various projects, programs, and even several institutions.

Trump’s aggressive moves have been met with silence on Capitol Hill, even though his Republican Party holds a slim majority in both houses.

The courts have been the most resistant to all of this, according to a New York Times review, with more than 100 rulings so far blocking presidential actions they say are unconstitutional.

Trump’s immigration crackdown has been the most contentious. In March, more than 200 Venezuelans deemed a threat to the United States were deported to El Salvador, many of them under war powers and without due process.

A Republican-appointed judge on the federal appeals courts said he was “shocked” by the steps the White House has taken.

Judge J. Harvey Wilkinson wrote that “the two institutions (the judiciary and the presidency) have gone so far in a conflict against each other that it will not only cause irreparable harm but may undermine the authority and power of both.”

Trump and White House officials have said they will comply with court decisions. Meanwhile, President Trump criticizes many of the judges who issue those decisions, and the administration has sometimes slowed down the implementation of those decisions.

All of this amounts to a unique test of a constitutional system that has been operating under a certain method for centuries. While Trump has been at the center of it.

The real driver of this chaos is himself, a man who was not born in America, but who built a business empire there.

Day 32, government spending cuts and a man in black waving a saw

Clad in head-to-toe black and wearing dark glasses, Elon Musk stood on stage to the crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference, praising Trump. The world's richest man made a surprise announcement, saying he wanted to cut trillions of dollars in federal government spending.

At that moment, Argentine President Javier Mellí, known for his budget cuts, appeared from behind the stage and handed Elon Musk a shiny saw.

"This is a saw that runs on bureaucracy," Musk said excitedly.

It was not only a dramatic display of the work being done under the Department of Government Efficiency, a department given to him under the Trump administration, but also a testament to the South African-born technologist's loyalty to Trump.

Since then, Musk has issued various orders to the federal government, including urging the government to obtain sensitive government information and identifying projects that should be eliminated.

While he has not yet come close to delivering on his pledge to save trillions of dollars, he has made cuts to several government agencies and departments, including the U.S. Department of Education and the USAID program.

While promises to reduce “waste, fraud, and waste” in government and reduce the growing federal deficit generally appeal to a broad audience, the way Musk brandished his saw has sparked controversy with top government officials and angered some Americans.

While some Trump supporters have praised his administration’s spending cuts, Republicans in some quarters have faced criticism from the public at town halls.

Critics have expressed concern that it could severely impact the government's Social Security retirement plan, veterans' benefits, and health insurance.

Their concerns are not unfounded, as these government schemes account for a large portion of federal spending.

If these programs are not cut, Trump's massive tax cuts would further increase the US government's debt and jeopardize his biggest campaign promise of "economic prosperity."

Day 72 and the economy: ‘Trillions were lost before my eyes’

 

When businessman Richard McDonald saw Trump holding up a list of countries on the White House lawn that were being hit with new US tariffs, he knew he had to do something fast.

“I jumped because I was just expecting an announcement, I wasn’t expecting a list written on a board,” he says.

He had expected a 10 to 20 percent tariff, but he says “nobody expected that much.”

He had to quickly identify which companies would be most affected and then sell them.

“Billions of dollars were being lost every minute as the value of companies’ shares fluctuated, so you had to make quick decisions.”

He is one of many traders who have been hit hard by the plunge in global stock markets since Trump announced his so-called "Independence Day" tariffs.

The S&P 500 index, which includes large companies, has been the worst hit in the US stock market, and even now the Trump administration has withdrawn some of its decisions on high tax tariffs, but the market has not yet recovered.

The economy was the biggest concern for American voters in the November election, and Trump reached the White House only after criticizing Biden's policy on combating inflation.

His promise to reduce prices, simplify government regulations and promote domestic industry was welcomed by Wall Street and many American companies.

But now that Trump is fulfilling his new tariff promises, it has had a clear impact on the prices of goods and this is hurting the public, at least in the short term.

 

The stock market is plunging, interest rates and home loan rates are rising, and American consumer confidence is waning. Unemployment is also a problem in the country, and some have been laid off there as the number of federal employees has increased.

The US Federal Reserve and some other economists have warned that Trump's plan will affect the country's economic growth and could lead to a recession.

While President Trump's popularity has declined over his measures to manage the economy, many of his supporters still support him. And in former industrial areas that were emptied by the loss of manufacturing, there is now hope that the newly imposed tariffs will restore global balance.

Referring to the tariffs on China, Pennsylvania truck driver Ben Maurer says, "Trump has earned respect. We are still a force to be reckoned with."

Concerns over economic issues have had an overall impact on Trump's polls, but there is another key issue where he has greater public support, and that is immigration.

Day 58, Immigration: ‘The young man in the handcuffs is my son’

‘That’s him! That’s him! I recognize him.’ That’s what Mairellis Cacique López says, pointing to a photo of men shackled and handcuffed on the floor of one of the world’s most notorious prisons.

She has identified her son in the photo. The photo is taken from above and shows bald men sitting in a row in white T-shirts.

She was shown the photo by a BBC reporter at her home in Venezuela and the photo was officially released by El Salvadoran authorities.

When she last heard from her son, he was in the US and was being deported back to Venezuela, but now he is 1,430 miles away in a notorious prison in El Salvador, sent there by US authorities.

The Trump administration says they are members of the powerful international mafia gang Trait de Aragón, while Mairelis Cacique says his son is innocent.

A tough stance on immigration was a central plank of Trump’s re-election campaign, and the president has used his sweeping powers to make good on that pledge.

Illegal border crossings were falling toward the end of Biden’s presidency but are now at their lowest in more than four years.

The crackdown is widely supported by the American public, but it is having a devastating impact on international students.

Some of those who had permanent residency have been detained, while others have been deported because they were involved in pro-Palestinian protests. They have denied accusations that they are Hamas supporters.

Civil rights advocates have warned that some immigrants are being deported without any action.

While there have been no mass deportations so far, as some had hoped and others feared, newly empowered immigration enforcement agents have raided businesses, homes, and churches across the United States.

They have also been active at universities, which have become prominent targets of President Trump in many other ways.

Day 91: Confrontation with academia, media, and corporations

On April 21, Harvard University President Alan Garber decided to take on the White House.

In a letter to the university community, he announced a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s move to freeze billions of dollars in federal grants.

He said it was an illegal move and an “unprecedented exercise of undue authority” in Harvard’s affairs.

The White House has said it had to take action because Harvard has failed to address anti-Semitic sentiment on campus. Garber says it is an issue the university is taking steps to address.

But the Ivy League college’s move was the most significant show of resistance to Trump’s use of presidential powers to target American higher education.

The president and his officials have threatened to cut off billions of dollars in funding to higher education institutions like Harvard, which the president and his supporters believe foster liberal thought among students.

This month, Columbia University in New York City agreed to some of the White House’s demands, including changes to its protest policy, campus security practices, and Middle East departments.

Trump has tried to do the same in the media and corporate world.

Trump has used the blocking of federal contracts to pressure law firms to hire and represent more conservatives.

Some firms have responded to the Trump administration by offering millions of dollars in free legal services, while two firms have filed lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the administration’s sanctions.

Trump sued ABC News for defamation, prompting the media company to donate $15 million to the Trump Presidential Foundation.

Similarly, CBC is in talks to settle a lawsuit with Trump over an interview with Kamala Harris, as its parent company Paramount needs federal approval to merge with Skydance Media.

The Associated Press, by contrast, has resisted the president's proposal to rename it "Gulf of America."

During the campaign, Trump warned about the power of the federal government. Now in office, he is wielding that power in a way no previous president has attempted.

But the impact of his actions has been felt no further than in the federal agencies and departments he now controls.

Attack on diversity programs and the question of future political legacy

The White House press conference began with a moment of silence for the victims of the plane-helicopter collision on the Potomac River.

Within moments, the silence was broken and Trump was being heavily criticized.

The president had claimed that diversity and ethnic diversity at the Federal Aviation Agency were to blame for the crash because the agency hires people with various cognitive disabilities as air traffic controllers. However, he provided no evidence for this.

It was a shocking moment that symbolized the attack that his presidency has launched on social diversity programs that have spread throughout the US government and the corporate world in recent years.

Trump has directed the federal government to end its diversity and equity projects or programs and investigate private companies and educational institutions that are thought to be engaged in "illegal social diversity promotion."

His directive has sparked moves to reduce or eliminate these programs among leading global companies like Meta and Goldman. The first was an attempt to expand opportunities for black Americans in a cultural diversity initiative introduced in the 1960s during the civil rights movement. They later expanded to include women, LGBT rights, and other racial groups.

Much of corporate America has embraced the efforts and embraced them in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests following the death of George Floyd, a black man, at the hands of police officers in 2020.

But critics say the race-based opportunity movement prioritizes politics and race over ability, creating a divide that has no place in modern America.

While Trump’s orders have little support in society, many are concerned about their impact.

Arlington National Cemetery has removed all black service members from its website. Similarly, the Pentagon is being asked to remove the name of the Enola Gay from its records because it contains the word “gay,” which is associated with homosexuality. It was the ship that dropped the atomic bomb on Japan.

Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office have been a display of unilateral power that is unparalleled in recent American history.

His efforts to dismantle a large part of the federal government will take years, if not decades, for subsequent presidents to reverse.

In other ways, however, Trump’s efforts so far may be less permanent. Without the support of new laws passed by Congress, many of his sweeping reforms could be undone by future presidents.

The thin Republican majority in Congress will try to provide legislative support for Trump’s agenda later this year, but their success is not guaranteed.

And in next year’s midterm congressional elections, those majorities could be replaced by opposition Democrats bent on scrutinizing the Trump administration and reducing its authority.

In the meantime, further confrontations with the judiciary and conservatism on the Supreme Court could hinder Trump’s efforts.

The first 100 days of Trump’s second term have been dramatic, demonstrating his political strength, but the real challenge will be the next 1,361 days, in which he will see whether he can leave a political legacy.