Trump boasts of 'fun' 100 days as ratings dive

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 30 ------ After 100 days of political chaos and economic shock that have sent his approval ratings tumbling, United States President Donald Trump hopes to regain the unqualified adulation of his supporters on Tuesday at one of his bread-and-butter events: a public rally. 

To mark the symbolic milestone in his second term, the Republican is visiting the site of one of his last campaign events, in Michigan, a battleground state that swung his way in November's election. "The first time, I had two things to do: run the country and survive. I had all these crooked guys," he said in an interview with The Atlantic magazine, referring to advisers and Cabinet members whom he considered incompetent or disloyal lieutenants in his first term. "And the second time, I run the country and the world," he crowed, adding, "I'm having a lot of fun." 

Many of the former real estate tycoon's voters remain behind Trump. "He knows what he's doing," Karen Miner, a 57-year-old wine store owner in Reno, Nevada, told Agence France-Presse (AFP). "So far, I'm very satisfied with the job he's doing," said Frank Tuoti, a 72-year-old retired machinist from New Hampshire. But he concedes that the tariff instability has made him "a little concerned about the economy." 

'Not even close' 

Trump on Monday railed against predecessor Joe Biden's economic policy, boasting on his Truth Social platform that he would reverse the country's fortunes. "The USA lost Billions of Dollars A DAY in International Trade under Sleepy Joe Biden. I have now stemmed that tide, and will be making a fortune, very soon," the president wrote. 

Trump's chief spokesman Karoline Leavitt said a Tuesday morning press briefing would focus on the economy, after the one on Monday that addressed the administration's migration policies. "No one does it better than President Trump. There is no equal; it's not even close," Tom Homan, who oversees the mass deportation program fiercely criticized by opponents and rights groups, told reporters at the White House. Now surrounded exclusively by loyalists, Trump, since Jan. 20, has unleashed radical changes in terms of tariffs, foreign policy — and political revenge. 

In the grand entrance hallway of the White House, he has moved a portrait of Barack Obama, America's first Black president, to make way for a painting of himself surviving his assassination attempt. And in the Oval Office, the Republican with notoriously brash style and taste has filled the historic room with golden ornaments. 

Sinking approval rating 

Pushing the limits of presidential power, the Republican has already signed over 140 executive orders (EOs). In the process, he has called birthright citizenship into question, attacked universities and law firms, rolled back environmental policies, entrusted his mega-billionaire ally Elon Musk with dismantling large parts of the federal bureaucracy, and launched a protectionist trade offensive against much of the world — before partially retracting it. Many of the EOs have been blocked by judges, with whom the executive branch has engaged in an unprecedented bout of arm wrestling. 

Trump, whose political career was built on deepening divisions, cannot claim the high approval ratings that generally accompany the first 100 days of a US president. Opinion polls have been unanimous in noting a particularly sharp slide in his approval ratings, fueled by concern about tariffs and his attacks on the institutional order. According to a poll published by the Washington Post and ABC News on Sunday, only 39 percent of Americans approve of how Trump is conducting his presidency. 

With the exception of Bill Clinton and now Trump, US presidents dating back to Ronald Reagan have had an approval rating topping 50 percent after their first 100 days in office, according to the Pew Research Center. Trump called the polls "Fake News" in a Truth Social post on Monday. "We are doing GREAT, better than ever before," he boasted. 

Source: manilatimes.net