Reflecting on Trump’s first 100 days

76: the number that shocked the entire world on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016.

76: the number that led to protests and fights, marking the start of a new, unpredictable reign.

76: the number of Electoral College votes Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton by.

On Friday, Jan. 20, 2017, Trump was sworn into office as the 45th president of the United States of America. During the inauguration ceremony, Trump made a strong declaration, “America will start winning again, winning like never before. We will bring back our jobs. We will bring back our borders. We will bring back our wealth. And we will bring back our dreams.”

He went on to vow that he would reverse a national decline which he referred to as “the American Carnage.” Months later, a serious issue looms over America as the nation faces a possible government shutdown on Friday, April 28 due to a lack of funding and an inability to compromise on multiple fronts.

According to the New York Times, “While lawmakers seem eager to forge a deal before funding expires on Friday, the Trump administration wants to use the deadline as a point of leverage that Democrats — and at least a few Republicans — do not believe they have, raising the prospects of a shutdown that had seemed unlikely.” The last government shutdown was in 2013 under the Obama administration.

During Trump’s first day in office, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer released a semi-combative statement directed at the press, in which he scolded them for their “shameful” commentary on the crowd size at the Inauguration. Spicer’s first appearance to the public, along with the statement, established the tone of the administration’s relationship with the media.

The first 100 days of a president’s term are extremely significant. “The tradition of measuring a new presidency’s success in the first 100 days began after Franklin Delano Roosevelt set a high bar in 1933 with a string of big accomplishments at the beginning of his first term,” The Los Angeles Times said.

During his campaign, Trump made a plethora of promises. During a speech he gave at Gettysburg, just a couple weeks before his surprising victory, he made several, explicit promises to the American people. In fact, he made 28 promises, ones which he said he would accomplish within the first 100 days.

Some things he promised included, but were not limited to: a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress; a “one in, two out” rule that would mean federal deregulation; withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership; removing certain environmental and structural roadblocks to allow for the continuation of the Keystone XL and North Dakota Access Pipelines; the Offshoring Act; to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, etc.

Since being sworn in, he has strongly fought for some parts of his 100-day plan, while entirely neglecting others. A key thing he has fought for is a new healthcare bill, the American Health Care Act of 2017. This bill — which some have nicknamed “TrumpCare” — would have repealed and replaced the Affordable Care Act, — which is commonly referred to as “ObamaCare” — defunded Planned Parenthood, diminished the individual mandate, made multiple changes to the federal Medicaid program and several other modifications to the original healthcare bill.

Despite the attempts to get the piece of legislation passed, it crashed and burned due to the controversy surrounding it. Some members of the GOP believe the proposed bill did not do enough to replace the Affordable Care Act in some areas, while others thought it failed to do enough in other regards.

Along with this, Trump has picked a Supreme Court justice, placed a travel ban on a group of Muslim-majority nations that was later struck down by the courts, approved the Keystone XL and North Dakota Access Pipelines, successfully fulfilled another campaign promise by withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, signed an executive order in regards to federal deregulation, etc.

Previously, Trump had also made many promises to build a wall. The wall’s purpose would be to crack down on illegal immigration. What he proposed was a wall, one which would be designed to keep immigrants (specifically Mexicans) from crossing the American border illegally.

In his announcement speech, Trump confirmed, “I will build a great wall on our southern border, and I will have Mexico pay for that wall.” During an immigration policy speech, he went on to also add that the wall he envisioned would be an “impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful southern border wall.”

It was one of his most controversial, as well as explicit campaign promises. On Tuesday, April 25, Trump dropped his demand that funding for the wall be included in a short-term government funding bill that will need to be passed in Congress this week by midnight on Friday, otherwise the mere talk of a shutdown will become a reality.

At a briefing earlier this week, Spicer noted, “There will be a wall built.” However, when pressed for more information, such as when and how, he dodged those questions. Part of the opposition for the building of the wall comes from the GOP. Some believe an actual, physical wall is too extreme. Others disagree with the proposed plan because of the high price tag that the wall comes with: $21.6 billion.

 “By conventional standards, Trump has accomplished very little in his first 100 days, but, in the surreal new world of American politics, it feels as if he has changed everything overnight,” The Los Angeles Times said.

NBC News also commented, “President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office have been marked by almost daily controversies, questions and outrage. You can describe the start to Trump’s presidency in many different ways — but boring isn’t one of them.”