The primary 100 days of a presidency has, in fashionable occasions, develop into a significant benchmark –– permitting the general public to gauge how the following 4 years will go. President Donald Trump has raced to signal govt orders, elevate tariffs, deport immigrants with out due course of, and slash federal jobs in his second time period.
Based on intensive evaluation from the Heart for American Progress (CAP), Trump’s administration has adversely affected the financial system, areas of immigration, and the construction of the federal authorities with the creation of the Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE) and affect from enterprise mogul Elon Musk.
A lot of his “transfer quick and break issues” angle to governing had been coverage objects outlined within the far-right Mission 2025 agenda. An agenda tracker signifies that he’s fulfilled about 312 objects up to now, together with eliminating civil rights and variety places of work, ending knowledge assortment on gender identification, rescinding legal guidelines that helped to prosecute sexual assault and discrimination instances, and prohibiting the U.S. authorities from combating the unfold of misinformation and disinformation.
Different agenda objects which might be on the checklist, like defunding Nationwide Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), weakening laws on child formulation, or ending money grants to small companies, haven’t been accomplished but.
Inflation and Tariffs
The most important promise Trump made to his loyal followers was to make groceries cheaper, move tax cuts for staff, enhance American manufacturing, and finish inflation nationwide. Nevertheless, Trump’s grift has taken regarding steps away from undertaking these targets.
“Core inflation” didn’t improve by a lot final month, reported PBS NewsHour. However meals costs are nonetheless spiking, most notably the value of primary objects, like eggs.
Apart from climbing up individuals’s grocery payments, Trump and far-right Republicans furiously pushed to chop enormous swaths of funding to Social Safety, Medicare, Supplemental Diet Help Program (SNAP), and intestine Medicaid within the newest finances. All of that are nonpartisan applications that residents in pink and blue states alike depend upon. The administration has additionally frozen funding to many humanitarian applications, like international meals help and Head Begin, which is a nationwide baby care program for kids aged 3 to 4.
Trump’s rampant tariffs have been “economically jarring” at finest, reported PBS NewsHour. The tariffs at the moment embrace steep 145% tariffs on China, and 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican items that aren’t coated beneath the North American commerce pact. The preliminary outcomes of those tariffs have meant turmoil within the inventory market, a mortgage fee surge, retaliation from different nations, and a steep lack of confidence from voters. PBS’ polling signifies about 49% of U.S. adults have both delayed or sped up shopping for issues whereas they will. These figures are larger for Black (70%) and Latino (71%) adults, mentioned PBS.
Threats to immigrants and residents
Trump has issued a flurry of anti-immigrant orders that use federal businesses, just like the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS), the Inside Income Service (IRS), and Customs and Border Safety (CBP), to detain and strip authorized standing from Black, Latino, and Muslim immigrants with visas and inexperienced playing cards. Beneath the outdated Alien Enemies Act, immigrants from Venezuela, aged 14 and older who’re suspected of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang, are shipped to Guantánamo Bay with out due course of.
They’ve additionally attacked native “sanctuary jurisdictions” like church buildings, courthouses, and colleges to search out immigrants to deport.
“The Trump administration, all through their complete practically three months and at this level, has been saying that they’re taking these actions for the security and safety of the nation,” mentioned New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) President and CEO Murad Awawdeh in a debrief about Trump’s presidency up to now. “What we’re saying is that this isn’t in truth about security and safety, it’s about creating chaos, panic, and worry throughout communities, and cruelty is their level.”
Trump’s mass deportation agenda has hit particularly arduous in New York Metropolis, beneath the compliance of incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, and all through the state. Amongst different issues, Federal Emergency Administration Company (FEMA) funding for migrant shelters and providers was revoked, federal mortgage forgiveness for individuals who work within the immigration subject was restricted, authorized illustration for unaccompanied kids dealing with deportation was lower, and Adams introduced an govt order to return an ICE hub to Rikers Island (which was technically issued by his First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro).
Worldwide school college students, like former Columbia College college students Mahmoud Khalil, Yunseo Chung, and Mohsen Mahdawi, with inexperienced playing cards, had been focused and detained by ICE due to their involvement in pro-Palestinian protests. Nationally, greater than 1,700 college students have misplaced their pupil standing due to alleged antisemitism, mentioned NYIC. There’s additionally been a motion towards a “silent ban” on pupil visas from some nations within the Center East, Africa, and Asia. And, a restriction on visas from South Sudan and Chad.
These anti-immigrant efforts have culminated in an outright assault on birthright citizenship, which was first launched within the U.S. Structure beneath the 14th Modification and ratified in 1868. This modification gave former slaves and free Black people birthright citizenship, making them “complete” individuals within the eyes of the regulation. Trump ordered federal businesses to not acknowledge the U.S. citizenship of kids born within the U.S. when one mum or dad doesn’t have everlasting standing. The Supreme Courtroom is scheduled to argue the case this Could.
Constitutional Disaster
Trump has been accused of hiring “sycophants” into key positions, like Kash Patel on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Scott Bessent at Division of the Treasury, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the U.S. Division of Well being and Human Providers (HHS), and maliciously slashing jobs to shrink the federal workforce.
Tens of 1000’s of workers throughout the federal authorities have been fired, positioned on go away, or taken voluntary buyouts, mentioned PBS. Trump has additionally tried reclassifying giant teams of staff as “Schedule F,” so that they’re extra simply fired, and focused the buildings that defend federal workers and staff’ unions general.
The thought is to reshape the federal authorities as Trump sees match by eliminating businesses and firing any non-loyal workers. CAP described this as “authoritarianism” and a broader motion towards the manager department of presidency seizing unprecedented energy as a way to create an oligarchy that mirrors a kingship.
This was additionally detailed in Mission 2025’s far-right playbook, and depends closely on the “misguided” concept that Article II of the Structure provides presidents just about unchecked authority and lessens the facility of Congress (Article I) and the judiciary (Article III) branches of the federal authorities, reported CAP, deeply upsetting the ‘checks and balances’ that’s supposed to maintain the U.S. from changing into a monarchy.
In CAP’s report, researchers mentioned that Trump’s presidency extra carefully resembles a political system run by a small group of highly effective individuals and “self-dealing” elected officers in locations like Turkey, El Salvador, Serbia, and Hungary. Musk and DOGE skirt the legal guidelines. Trump and his allies ignore courts, threaten judges, thwart process, and deform the Structure.
The Response
There’s a lightweight on the finish of the tunnel, although.
At first, there was a way of shock and exhaustion after final yr’s presidential election concluded. Black ladies voters had particularly come out in droves to help former Vice President Kamala Harris in her presidential marketing campaign. When she misplaced, many Democrats dreaded that Trump’s wanton show of disregard for the nation would imply the top.
Trump’s actions up to now have enraged Democrats and at last reached a portion of Republican voters and electeds –– lots of whom are equally impacted by program cuts, job losses, a flailing financial system, and immigration profiling.
The federal courts seem like slowly standing as much as Trump the place constitutional energy grabs are a priority, whereas at decrease ranges, advocacy teams and a few elected officers have been constantly difficult the administration’s unlawful or unconstitutional orders, mentioned CAP.
Lawsuits have been filed during the last three months in opposition to DOGE for not complying to Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) transparency guidelines and illegally sharing non-public residents financial institution info, HHS for deleting of important well being info from authorities web sites, the dismantling the U.S. Company for Worldwide Improvement (USAID), and for trying to dismantle the Shopper Monetary Safety Bureau (CFPB), and in opposition to the IRS for unlawfully sharing tax knowledge with ICE, and for eradicating local weather and environmental justice knowledge from federal web sites.
In New York State, Lawyer Normal Letitia James has filed and joined 15 lawsuits and 22 amicus briefs with state attorneys normal throughout the nation.
They’ve pushed again on Trump’s efforts to finish birthright citizenship and received a preliminary injunction upheld by the courts. They’ve additionally sued to cease the freezing of federal funding, block the Trump administration from canceling $600 million in instructor grants, for firing 1000’s of federal staff with out trigger, for interfering in native elections, to revive states’ entry to high school grants, for imposing unlawful tariffs, to cease the dismantling of Institute of Museum and Library Providers (IMLS) and the U.S. Division of Training (DEP), and to defend the apply of Variety, Fairness, Inclusion. and Accessibility (DEIA) in colleges.
“We won’t enable this administration to trample our Structure, strip People of their basic rights, and dismantle important providers that tens of millions of individuals depend on daily,” mentioned James in an announcement. “We stopped a few of their most unconstitutional insurance policies lifeless of their tracks, and we’re not slowing down. If this administration continues to bulldoze the Structure and ignore the regulation, they are going to discover all of us standing in the best way each single time.”
And in New York Metropolis, along with protesters taking to the streets, Metropolis Council and mayoral hopefuls have pushed again in opposition to Mayor Adams’ subservience to the Trump administration.
On April 15, the Metropolis Council filed a lawsuit to dam Adams’ govt order for ICE to function on Rikers Island based mostly on a regulation from 2014 that bans federal immigration authorities, like ICE, from organising places of work or quarters on NYC Division of Corrections (DOC) property for civil issues, like deportations. 5 of town’s authorized protection organizations — The Authorized Support Society, New York County Defender Providers (NDS), The Bronx Defenders, Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, and Queens Defenders — additionally protested the order by invoking the constitutional rights of each consumer current and future in DOC custody.
Moreover, the Metropolis Council handed Decision 836, which provides Metropolis Council Speaker Adrienne Adams –– a candidate for Mayor this yr –– the facility to defend in opposition to the violation of immigration sanctuary legal guidelines.
