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WHAT HAS TRUMP DONE IN HIS FIRST 100 DAYS?
By Lisa Desjardins, @LisaDNews
Correspondent
 
Neither the Constitution nor U.S. law see a president’s first 100 days as particularly special.
 
But in modern politics, it is critical.  
 
A president’s power is generally strongest in the first year. And the first 100 days set the tone for an administration. Cabinets are born and presidents project how they intend to work with — or not work with — the other branches of government.
 
In these past 100 days, Trump worked feverishly to rewrite American policy on immigration, dismantle and restructure many government institutions and exert an amount of executive power that is unprecedented in recent times. 
 
It has been a blur of activity on nearly every major front in American government.
 
Let’s clear up the haze. Here is a look at what Trump has done in three key areas.

THE ECONOMY

• Core inflation last month saw its lowest increase in nearly four years. That is a big deal — economists see that as a key predictor on where inflation may be headed.
• But food prices are still steadily rising. Grocery prices were notably up last month, and spiking in some places. Moreover, the Agriculture Department predicts food costs will rise faster than the historical average this year.
• Voters have noticed. Although the president repeatedly promised to lower prices on Day 1, the higher grocery bills are eating into people’s household budgets.
• A key poll finding: 64 percent of Americans say they think grocery prices will rise in the next six months, including 64 percent of independents and 89 percent of Democrats.
• Spending cuts: Government spending cuts initially eased pressures in the bond market and led to February drops in mortgage rates. But his tariff policy wiped those out and now mortgage rates are up and down. 

• Trump’s tax cut plan is moving in Congress, where it is not yet clear which Americans will benefit and how.
• Republicans have an everyone-wins vision. They want to extend current cuts they say will benefit low- and middle-income households and add new tax cuts, especially for workers, too. (This includes Trump’s “no taxes on tips” promise.)
• Opponents say this vision will add to the debt, could lead to program cuts in Medicaid and could disproportionately benefit some groups more than others.

• Trump launched sweeping tariffs on his own, without Congress, contrary to a past stump speech where the idea was to pass legislation to do this. 
• Yet: There is debate over whether his cuts are in fact “reciprocal.” It’s too early to tell the full scope of the president’s actions on tariffs, but the initial results have been economically jarring.
• The tariffs currently include steep 145 percent tariffs on China, in place now, and 25 percent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods that are not covered under the North American trade pact currently in effect.
• Meanwhile, other initial results have included: retaliatory tariffs, stock market turmoil, warnings of empty shelves ahead, a massive drop in consumer confidence and turbulence in relationships with America’s greatest allies. The White House says it is negotiating new trade deals with scores of countries.
• Some Americans have changed their habits already. Nearly half of the U.S. adults in our poll — 49 percent — said they have either delayed or sped up purchases as a result. Those figures are far higher for Black (70 percent) and Latino (71 percent) adults.

• This is arguably Trump’s greatest success so far. Crossings at the U.S. southern border have plunged, per multiple independent news reports.
• Trump’s border czar Tom Homan told reporters Monday that border crossings in the previous 24 hours were down to 178. The Wall Street Journal wrote that illegal crossings at the southern border are at a near standstill, a big drop, but also part of a downward trend that started before the election. 
• Added difficulties for asylum seekers: Families waiting for the asylum process have been divided in some cases and cut off from options in others. Trump rolled back some Biden-era border policies, ending the use of the CBP One App for asylum seekers and reinstating some of his previous policies, including “Remain in Mexico.”
• A “national emergency.” Trump, who has repeatedly described an “invasion” at the U.S.-Mexico border, deployed military troops to the border to aid in immigration enforcement.

• On Day 1, Trump signed an executive order directing increased removal and detention of undocumented immigrants.
• About 139,000 people have been deported so far under this Trump administration, Homan told reporters Monday. The New York Times in March reported that deportations have not surged.
• Yet: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its allies have said they need more money to truly launch “mass deportations.”
• Meanwhile, Trump officials have strongly emphasized that people in the U.S. illegally should “self-deport.”
• The immigration crackdown has also faced court scrutiny. The Trump administration turned to the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act, used in times of war, to deport a group of people the administration described as members of a Venezuelan gang. The Supreme Court temporarily blocked this move, stopping some of these deportations.
• A high-profile case. The deportation of Marylander Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia to an El Salvador prison has raised questions about the administration’s moves to forego due process. Courts have ruled the White House must take steps to return him to the U.S., but they refuse.
• A key poll finding: In our poll, just 35 percent approved of how the Trump administration has handled the deportation of Abrego Garcia, with a clear divide along partisan lines.

• Trump has shut down access to asylum, refugee and other status programs for those fleeing threatening situations. He has indicated he wants a wider travel ban on some yet-to-be named countries. (A draft list of recommendations was reported in March.)
• On Day 1, Trump signed an executive order laying out a ban on travelers from nations where proper vetting is difficult. This could be more broad than the bans he attempted in his first term in office, The New York Times reported.
• Also: Trump suspended asylum indefinitely, virtually ended all new refugee settlements and revoked the temporary legal status of migrants from Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba who were granted humanitarian parole. All of those cases are working through the courts.

• Trump has taken unprecedented action, far exceeding any specific campaign pledge, to shrink the federal workforce.
• Tens of thousands of employees across the federal government have been fired, placed on leave or taken voluntary buyouts, led by the Department of Government Efficiency and its efforts to eliminate waste, fraud and inefficiency. Many more could be fired in the coming months.   
• Trump is also reclassifying large groups of workers as “Schedule F,” making them far more easy to dismiss. This is being challenged in court.
• Targeting worker protections. Trump has also targeted the structures that protect federal employees. He fired the chair of the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, a politically appointed position. When the three-member board lacks a quorum, it prevents the group from issuing decisions on appeals.

• Trump has frozen funding for a wide variety of programs across the government.
• Savings from these cuts are disputed. Elon Musk’s DOGE claims it has cut approximately $160 billion, though its figures have been hard to verify. PBS News and others found some claims of savings to be baseless.
• At the same time, these funding freezes have led to instability for programs in and out of government, including Head Start, foreign food aid and many others.
• Congressional Democrats are attempting to track this, estimating cuts or freezes on at least $430 billion in appropriated funds.

• Trump has moved to eliminate a few regional, outside-Washington offices for several agencies.
• Those include: Half of the regional offices for the Department of Health and Human Services, five Head Start regional offices, and the State Department is looking to close 10 embassies and 17 consulates.
• Also: Weeks after DOGE indicated that dozens of Social Security offices could close or end their leases, the agency put out a memo saying no offices are now slated to close permanently.
• The move by DOGE to end federal leases across the country has raised questions about scores of other offices potentially closing.