Based on a spirited effort but patchy results, I give President Donald Trump’s first 100 days a B+.
Crossings at the southern border are markedly down. The U.S. DOGE Service has promised, but not yet delivered, significant declines in waste, fraud and abuse. Superfluous federal jobs are being eliminated. A razor-edge margin in the House and the Senate will make Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” challenging to write and enact.
Internationally, Russia is the new twinkle in the president’s eye and might prevail on the core issues in Ukraine. Direct talks with Iran will remain a battle of will and wit, but the hope is that given weak cards, Iran will yield and major regional players will be more amenable to some version of the U.S. offer to resettle and redevelop Gaza.
Trump also made good on his promise to impose far-reaching tariffs. The public fears that a tariff gridlock will spike prices. Business leaders worry that seismic shocks from it will bring an economic downturn. The president has asked for intestinal fortitude, which he, too, will need since results might be slow to emerge.
The GOP base remains supportive of the president’s agenda. But he must be mindful about the public mood turning wary and weary if the messaging behind its rollout is muddled or its results are elusive. The president’s art of the deal might not be a smooth or linear path to desired outcomes, either globally or at home.
It is one thing to lead the horses to water, and quite another to make them drink.
Anil Bhalla, New York
I voted for Donald Trump without regrets, but I’m somewhat afraid to say anything negative about him. So I ask myself: How can I support a president of whom I am somewhat afraid? The answer is that I believe the U.S. needs fundamental structural change and only Trump (if anyone) can deliver it.
But history is now Trump’s crucial constituency. He should ask himself: To which historical figures do I want to be compared? Only three months in, I’m seeing comparisons that no sensible person would want.
I understand that Trump is playing the long game, as a fundamental structural shift takes time, but Americans are notoriously impatient. So my message is: Aim for stability.
For example, Trump’s tariff strategy could be used to increase revenue and encourage manufacturing to come home to the U.S. or to gain leverage in negotiations over issues such as reciprocal tariffs and the terms of foreign-owned U.S. debt. It could also be used as a pretext for a trade war that will make U.S. Treasury bonds less attractive to foreign investors. In my mind, the second approach is the best bet but the effect of his keep-’em-guessin’ strategy has been destabilizing.
Critics say Trump’s policies are chaotic, that there’s no plan. Watching his initiatives unfold in rapid succession, I suspect he’s ticking off a checklist he and his allies spent four years — if not longer — writing, but the wildcard risk to any success is uncertainty. In this great gamble, the stakes are our nation’s — and possibly the world’s — stability.
In considering the next hundred days, I hope Trump will ask himself whether his actions could be destabilizing, and whether the public lacks the patience and vision to see his changes through. If the answer to either question is yes, please adjust. And if the answer to both questions is yes, the strategy is probably doomed and the aftermath could plunge the nation into a very dark and possibly inescapable place. History will blame Trump for it.
John Hornick, Phoenix
My one-word verdict on President Donald Trump’s first 100 days: Spectacular!
His agenda, and the speed with which he has pursued it, is like nothing I’ve seen in my lifetime. I’m cheering his focus on immigration reforms, including deportations; noninterventionist foreign policies; expansion of domestic oil production; and above all, reversing the shadow Biden presidency. Perhaps Trump will endeavor to find out who ran our country during Biden’s four-year nap.
But that’s not all. The genius establishment of the U.S. DOGE Service, his pardons of Jan. 6 political prisoners, his elimination of racist diversity, equity and inclusion policies, and his efforts to protect women’s sports will make this country better. Hopefully, he will get around to cutting taxes on Americans next.
The very qualified people Trump has surrounded himself with for this term are certainly a highlight. To a person, they are laser-focused on Trump’s agenda to Make America Great Again, something that didn’t happen in his first term.
There is no doubt the imposition of tariffs around the world is creating short-term pain for some Americans; I see it in my own 401(k). But tariffs are greatly needed to protect Americans and their jobs. Already, countries are lining up to negotiate with Trump, yet another win for America.
After the disastrous 2023-2024 economic years, which affected my transportation business, we can finally see the economy roaring back as we’re busy with shipments again. The stock market will come back as tariffs settle in. It’s not an issue of timing the market; it’s time in the market.
My single biggest delight in the Trump presidency is seeing what he’s going to do tomorrow.
Alan N. Webber, Cave Creek, Arizona
As an extreme conservative and devout Christian, I am without a party. Every day reminds us that President Donald Trump is a bully. Not a conservative but, in my view, a megalomaniac. He is not for America; he fawns over himself. I knew that when I voted for him. But I grudgingly accept this toxic chemotherapy to undo some of the damage of Joe Biden’s presidency. I am remorseful for my 2020 vote for Biden.
I am pro-immigrant and believe America should be home to refugees. But the chaos Biden crafted by encouraging illegal immigration dwarfs the chaos and pain of Trump’s actions. Alas, our nation’s soul is at risk if we spurn true refugees and fail to increase legal immigration.
In the same way, the DEI extremes Biden encouraged had to be reversed. I also support most, but not all, of the administration’s actions against the arrogance of many major universities. Schools such as the University of Chicago, the University of Notre Dame and even Hillsdale College can do great research, while cherishing actual diversity of thought.
Union-protected bureaucrats should not defy or impede the chief executive. For two generations, we have needed someone willing to drastically reduce the inertia and size of the federal workforce. This change will create some mistakes, but is the legacy bureaucracy so mistake-free? Cutting the size of the bureaucracy reduces those opposing the new administration, cuts their wages from the budget and, most importantly, reduces how much the government can do — all very good things in my view.
And Trump is correct that Democratic and Republican administrations have allowed our trading partners to cheat us with trade barriers of all types. As a conservative, I want free and fair trade, but it has not been fair for a long time. Spending decades in General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs negotiations has not worked. Again, I reluctantly support the excesses and incompetence of Trump’s tariff actions because of the need to un-Biden our country.
But I strongly depart from Trump in foreign affairs. Israel and Ukraine are in the right and need complete U.S. support. Trump’s equivocating on Russia is as bad as the left’s embrace of Hamas under the guise of being pro-Palestine.
Canada is our best friend! Mexico is a vital trading partner! Europe is a critical market and a key security partner. Yes, they have done unfair things economically, and Europe must pay for its own defense. But our role in NATO is the main reason we have not seen World War III. Isolationism is very bad for America and will result in our fighting a major war. There are better ways to make things right with our allies.
Overall, both the things that excite and bother me about Trump’s first hundred days point a bright light at the failures of Congress. We’ve had no major immigration legislation since 1990. Congress has not seriously sought to balance the budget since 2001, the last time the U.S. ran a surplus. Major civil service reform hasn’t been attempted since 1978.
In Congress, extreme progressives control Democratic Party. Fringe populists hijacked the Republican Party. My faith tells me to be hopeful for the future. But I see no basis for that hope.
Jay Sultan, Bogart, Georgia
If you’re like me — 23, working-class and born into a country already on fire — President Donald Trump’s first 100 days feel less like chaos and more like clarity.
For the first time in years, there’s motion. Bureaucracies that seemed untouchable are getting streamlined. Energy policy is shifting. Agencies that operated without accountability are being challenged. The tone in Washington is sharp, confrontational and direct.
The generational split here is obvious. Older Americans, especially those with pensions and property, are panicked by any shake-up. They’ve spent decades benefiting from inflated assets and cheap debt. For them, even a modest dip in the markets feels like a threat to their way of life.
But for my generation, disruption is normal. We graduated into an economy that felt rigged, got smacked by a pandemic, drowned in inflation and watched every institution, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the Ivy League, burn through credibility like kindling. We’ve been priced out of homes, overregulated at entry-level jobs and gaslighted into thinking we’re lazy for questioning it all.
This is what makes Trump’s second term feel different. It’s not just about remaking policy; it’s about recalibrating reality. Now, we’re watching someone bulldoze the mess and start re-laying the foundation. Yes, people are screaming. They’re calling it dangerous, reckless, authoritarian. But if you grew up watching your generation get crushed by the consequences of bipartisan cowardice, this doesn’t feel like tyranny. It feels like someone finally picking up the shovel.
Jordan P. Manning, Arvada, Colorado