Despite what President Donald J. Trump says,
the first 100 days of an administration are important. That's when a new president makes clear their priorities, proclivities and, perhaps most importantly, their character.
Mr. Trump is no exception, nor has he revealed himself to be exceptional. At least not so far.
Not since President William J. Clinton, has a new president gotten off to such a rocky start. Mr. Trump's approval rating is the lowest of any president since the advent of modern polling. He's made no progress on major legislation.
His promise to "immediately" repeal and replace Obamacare — his most significant attempt at passing legislation — failed miserably on Day 64. His
much-ballyhooed tax plan — which was introduced on Day 97 and would apply a 15% business tax to large corporations and pass-through entities — is also likely to face significant headwinds in Congress. That's because Mr. Trump has yet to reveal his plans for replacing lost revenue, assuming he has them.
TRUMP'S VICTORIES
Most of Mr. Trump's victories over the past 100 days were achieved through executive orders, memoranda or proclamations that entailed minimal discussion, or consensus building, on his part. Even then, his most significant executive order — a travel ban on a group of predominately Muslim countries — crashed and burned when put to the test of our country's judicial system.
He has done little to bring unity to his own political party, let alone the American people. Of course, undoing divisions spawned by past administrations would take more than 100 days. But we had hoped to at least see it emerge as a priority — and it clearly has not.
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Instead, Mr. Trump spent much of his first 100 days in office obsessing over his treatment by the media, defending himself against unsubstantiated claims that he colluded with the Russians to defeat Hillary Clinton and tweeting allegations that President Barack H. Obama ordered electronic surveillance of Trump Tower during the election campaign.
To be sure, Mr. Trump has made some notable achievements. He put the kibosh on the Trans-Pacific Partnership that was a hallmark of Mr. Obama's presidency. He also lifted Obama-era restrictions on mining for coal and drilling for oil and natural gas.
Indeed, he has quietly begun scaling back what he, and many readers of this publication, perceive as an overly aggressive regulatory regime.
That scale back may ultimately lead to revisions to the more-contentious provisions of Dodd-Frank and, even, the
Labor Department's fiduciary rule. He also appears to have done an admirable job of laying the groundwork for a decent relationship with China's president, Xi Jinping.
Mr. Trump's decision last month to launch 59 cruise missiles aimed at a Syrian air base in retaliation for the use of chemical weapons by dictator Bashar al-Assad also could be interpreted as a success. Not necessarily because of its display of military might, but because it suggests Mr. Trump is serious about restoring America's credibility in the region — something that has been seriously undermined by his predecessor.
The most significant win for Mr. Trump was getting conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court amid widespread Democratic opposition. In doing so, Mr. Trump deserves credit for returning the high court to the 5-4 conservative majority that reigned for nearly 50 years until Antonin Scalia died in February 2016.
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That alone is a huge accomplishment to achieve during his first one hundred days, and one that cannot be dismissed by Mr. Trump's many detractors.
But while acknowledging their importance as a historic marker, one should not divine too much from Mr. Trump's first 100 days.
In the end, Mr. Trump's presidency will be measured by whether he can transform himself from the reality TV star and bombastic entrepreneur who won the vote of the Electoral College, into a serious, measured leader capable of bringing about policy change that earns the approval — or, at least, begrudging respect — of the electorate.
That will require more diplomatic skill and compromise than Mr. Trump has demonstrated during his first 100 days as president of the United States.
