100-Day Report Card: Trump tornado shocked America — and the world – Washington Examiner

The article discusses the first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s second term, highlighting a mix of reactions from various observers. Many are astonished by the rapid and dramatic changes he and his administration have initiated, which have pleased his supporters while perplexing critics. A conservative analyst, Jed Babbin, gives Trump a grade of B, noting achievements such as significant taxpayer savings, a drastic reduction in illegal immigration, and the dismantling of certain diversity policies in government. However, he cautions about challenges, including ongoing legal battles and geopolitical tensions. Conversely, Democratic pollster John Zogby offers a more critical outlook, grading Trump a D-. He criticizes the administration’s chaotic approach and mixed messaging regarding tariffs and Ukraine, pointing to a lack of consumer confidence. despite differing opinions, both analysts suggest that a considerable portion of the public seems to endorse Trump’s unconventional style of governance. Both insights underscore the polarized landscape surrounding Trump’s presidency as he embarks on his second term.


100-Day Report Card: Trump tornado shocked America — and the world

As President Donald Trump nears his 100th day in office, America and the world are reacting with just one word: Wow.

During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump loudly broadcast his plans to hit the ground sprinting, making sure not to waste any time. We all heard that, but still few could have predicted the earthquake of changes he and his team have made.

Along the way, he has thrilled MAGA and dumbfounded the Democrats and his critics, who appear lost politically and without a leader to take Trump on.

In his first administration, Secrets compiled an annual list of achievements that totalled hundreds of promises kept at the end of the first term. In just 100 days, Trump has already topped that.

But in delivering quickly, Trump has increased America’s appetite for more, especially on over-hyped trade deals and improvement in the economy. His recent polls have shown some signs of skepticism by supporters, though he remains in a better position than he was at this point in his first term.

Our two graders, conservative analyst Jed Babbin and Democratic pollster John Zogby, offer up below two very different views of the first 100 days. The standout comment is at the end of Zogby’s critical write-up: “A majority seem to have wanted this.”

Jed Babbin
Grade: B

The first 100 Days of President Trump’s second term have gone very well, and there’s hope he will continue succeeding in many of his actions.

So far, DOGE says it has saved taxpayers more than $160 billion which ain’t chump change. Elon Musk is reportedly leaving DOGE soon but there’s no reason its success won’t continue. There are hundreds of billions more in government waste to cut.

Trump has managed to reduce the flow of illegal aliens into the U.S. by about 99% from the top numbers Biden let in. Deportations reportedly exceed 100,000, with millions more (we hope) to follow.

Trump has cleaned diversity, equity, and inclusion policies out of most of the government, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is cleaning wokeness out of the Pentagon.

Trump’s successes have been helped enormously by Democrats who just don’t get the message of the last election. They are stuck on stupid: they still support illegal aliens more than American victims, they want transgender men to play women’s sports, and they cling religiously to climate change policies — probably the biggest scam ever perpetrated on the human race — and wokeness politics.

Trump’s failures are twofold: failing to convince the courts that his policies are legal and justified (which, in large part, can’t be done with activist judges) and roiling the stock markets with tariff policies. This will be countered by trade agreements in the next 100 days that will, with the exception of China, make an enormous difference in world trade and help U.S. businesses and workers. On the other hand, judicial activism isn’t going to stop. If the Supreme Court bats down those judges the activism will stop. That’s a faint hope.

Trump must by now realize that Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn’t want peace in Ukraine and that further pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to concede territory won’t get Putin on board with any peace deal or ceasefire. He needs to continue aid to Ukraine, but should put a special inspector general on the job to make sure the money is going where it’s intended to go.

Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea are the new Axis of Evil in the world. Trump needs to deal with each of them accordingly. He can’t ever reach a nuclear weapons deal with Iran that they will live up to. Russia doesn’t want peace in Ukraine. China believes it is too strong to cave in to tariffs, and it may be. North Korea? Best to fall out of “love” with Kim Jong Un, as Trump said he was in his first term.

For the next 100 days, Trump will continue to suffer setbacks in litigation across the board. Many of his main initiatives will continue to be stalled for about a year. There will be dozens of trade deals that will free up trade and relieve U.S. exports of many tariffs which is good news for businesses and jobs.

There won’t be peace in Ukraine or in the Hamas war against Israel. Hamas still holds more than 50 hostages, including at least one American. It’s past time for Trump to up the ante with Hamas.

There will probably be a couple of departures from Trump’s Cabinet in the next three or four months. Hegseth, despite Trump’s stated confidence in him, seems to be hanging on by a thread. There will be others.

All in all, Trump is doing vastly better than the Democrats are or his 2024 opponent, former Vice President Kamala Harris, would have done.

John Zogby
Grade: D-

This report card is supposed to be a 100-day review of President Donald Trump’s job. I don’t have anywhere near the space I need to tell the whole story because each day brings new outrage and more confusion.

With his “Hatchet-Man-in-Chief” Elon Musk there have been mass firings followed by mass reinstatements. There have been huge cuts followed by record spending passed by the Republican Congress. Mass deportations are followed by court ordered halts. We have come to a point where the Justice Department has ordered an arrest of a federal judge for not following through on a deportation.

Refusal to obey the courts and the law is the rule of the day, and a wild, wild West atmosphere.

Regardless of one’s position on the war in Ukraine, the president has shown a stunning disrespect for a world leader, an unprecedented bow to Russia’s leader, and a complete disregard for diplomacy.

There have been new tariffs, then no tariffs, then new and smaller tariffs.

The administration has bullied major universities, threatening academic freedom and independent research.

Even while inflation’s sting may be subsiding, consumer confidence is near record lows.

Almost every poll, including a new John Zogby Strategies poll coming very soon, shows the president‘s job approval upside down. If you voted for disruption and chaos last November, you got it. If you did not vote for disruption and chaos, you still got it. The only reason the grade is not a failure is because a majority seem to have wanted this.

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Jed Babbin is a Washington Examiner contributor and former deputy undersecretary of defense in the administration of former President George H.W. Bush. Follow him on X @jedbabbin.

John Zogby is the founder of the Zogby Survey and senior partner at John Zogby Strategies. His latest book, Beyond the Horse Race: How to Read Polls and Why We Should, was just released. His podcast with son and managing partner and pollster Jeremy Zogby can be heard here. Follow him on X @ZogbyStrategies.



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