Skip to content

100 Days of Failure

   

It’s not actually been 100 days for Trump yet, but critics are happy to drop a tombstone on that pivotal period for Trump.

Articles like this one from the Washington Post deliver scathing reviews of his (not quite) 100 day performance.

They note that his approval rating is bad–in fact, it is the worst approval rating for a new President on record. WaPo suggests he show more humility and contrition and admit that he really doesn’t have everything under control–that he’s had to learn on the job. That wouldn’t be a very Trump thing to do, though!

Also noted, however, is that Obama’s first 100 days were pretty lackluster, too. It would be hard to say Obama was a do-nothing President now. So, just because Trump hasn’t accomplished much of what he set out to do at this point doesn’t mean the rest of his tenure will be characterized by failure.

Even so, it would be a mistake to think that Trump’s lack of a landmark achievement in his first 100 days indicates that he’s not had an effect as President. Obama was the harshest immigration enforcer in decades, and Trump has one-upped him at every turn. To cut through the euphemism: Trump’s administration has aggressively rounded up, detained, and deported undocumented immigrants at a terrifying rate. Families have been split up, lives have been irrevocably altered. It’s interesting how Trump seems uninterested in touting this “achievement,” as it would no doubt be regarded by his frothing base.

Not to mention, the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court may not have shown any real effects yet, but once the Court begins deciding important cases, his impact on the country will become more and more obvious.

Calling Trump’s first 100 days a failure may be useful as a tactic for irritating him–he is known to obsessively follow his poll numbers and media coverage–but it should not be taken seriously as a statement that he’s not actually done anything. The man has done plenty of damage, and will do much more unless he is actively opposed.