Recently, America passed the milestone of 100 days of Donald Trump’s second administration. The idea of assessing a president’s leadership at the 100-day milestone comes from the Franklin Roosevelt administration when, because of the genuine and global crisis of the Great Depression, FDR entered office with the stated goal of taking quick action. In his inaugural address, he said:

“This nation asks for action, and action now. Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. I am prepared under my constitutional duty to recommend the measures that a stricken nation in the midst of a stricken world may require.”

What are some of the differences between FDR’s 100 days and Trump’s second term 100 days, and what are some of the perspectives on Trump’s latest milestone?

He then proceeded to work with the Congress to enact 77 laws, including 15 pieces of landmark legislation such as the Emergency Banking Act, the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Federal Emergency Relief Act (later replaced by the Works Projects Administration), the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the Glass-Steagall Act (which established the FDIC, among other things).

Historians have generally seen Roosevelt’s first 100 days as a standard of creativity and effective action unmatched by any other president. The first hundred days of Trump’s second term have been marked by few cooperative actions with Congress. There is no financial crisis and the US is not directly involved in a war, yet through a series of Executive Orders, he has:

• declared numerous emergencies,
• used presidential power without Congressional oversight,
• deployed the American military to the border,
• imposed, revoked, then partially imposed again a variety of tariffs,
• reneged on promises the federal government has made to workers, other nations, and contractors, and
• done everything he can to dismantle federal programs in science, the humanities, healthcare, and benefits for seniors, the poor and working class, LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, veterans, and women.

The sheer blistering pace of the norm-breaking and illegality is the point. The president is engaged in a catch-me-if-you-can attempt to break the government and unleash a dystopian and anarchic notion envisioned by his billionaire friends. Trump’s second 100 days is the opposite of FDR’s. Roosevelt worked to rebuild the economy, build a safety net for the working class, and provide opportunities for all. Trump’s 100 days were self-dealing, designed to let the wealthy keep their loot, and aimed at delivering fewer opportunities, lower pay, and less help to the working class.

I don’t have the space here to outline all the outrages of the Trump Administration’s first 100 days, but I have assembled a list of several articles and reports that lay out the assaults on workers, the environment, our allies, the economy, healthcare, among other issues.

Additional Reading

• “Trump’s first 100 days, in 10 charts: Executive orders are up, while the S&P 500 and Trump’s approval rating are down,” The Washington Post (gift link; no subscription required)
• “In His First 100 Days, Trump Launched an ‘All-Out Assault’ on the Environment,” Inside Climate News
• “The most surprising things from Trump’s first 100 days,” Vox
• “In First 100 Days, Trump Waged ‘Relentless Assault on Working People’” (Common Dreams)
• “A First Draft of a New America,” The New York Times (gift link; no subscription required)
• “In first 100 days, Trump tells migrants ‘leave the United States,’” Reuters
  “100 ways Trump has hurt workers in his first 100 days,” Economic Policy Institute
• “100 Days of Trump’s Healthcare Reversals: Employees fired, then reinstated; leadership nominations withdrawn; and more,” MedPage Today
• “Trump’s First 100 Days: Steamrolling Government, Strong-Arming Allies and Igniting Trade Wars,” Military.com, reprinting The Associated Press
• “[Sen. Chris] Murphy Slams Trump’s First 100 Days: This Is A Story Of Incompetence, Theft, And Mind-Blowing Corruption,” murphy.senate.gov
• “30 years of environmental justice, dismantled in 100 days,” Grist
  “The First 100 Days: Franklin Roosevelt Pioneered the 100-Day Concept,” US News and World Report
• “Trump’s First 100 Days Leave Native American Healthcare in Turmoil,” NativeNewsOnline.net
• “Trump’s first 100 days: What stands out. What’s surprising. What’s next.” The 19th