Trump's 100 days in power. Analysis
On April 30, 100 days will pass since the inauguration of US President Donald Trump. Traditionally, this date is used to summarize the first results of the next administration. During this period, Trump managed to solve the problem of the influx of illegal migrants and launched a foreign policy, but at the same time lost his rating. What were the first 100 days of Trump's second term — in the Izvestia article.
Trump in numbers
• If we evaluate the first 100 days of Trump in dry numbers, then first of all, the approval rating indicator is used for this. During the transition period and immediately after the inauguration, this indicator, like almost any president after the election, was positive — more than half of the participants in various polls approved of the program and the first steps of the head of the White House.
• However, within the first week after the start of the term, separate studies appeared in which the proportion of approving was less than disapproving. Gradually, there were more and more such polls, and in April there were almost no positive results for Trump. The worst for Trump was an Associated Press poll conducted on April 17-21. According to its results, the president not only received only 39% approval, but also brought the difference to 20% with those who critically evaluate his work.
• The average result of the main public opinion researchers shows that 44-46% of Americans approve of Trump's work, while 51-54% of US residents disapprove of him. These are the worst figures for the head of the White House in the 21st century compared to George W. Bush (63% approval), Barack Obama (62%) and Joe Biden (54%). The decline in Trump's ratings is recognized, among other things, by conservative services loyal to the Republican Party. However, in his first term, he also faced a falling rating.
• Experts believe that the perception of Trump's activities, which ultimately shapes ratings, is influenced by Trump's lack of a specific action plan and the looming anxiety in the country. He made a lot of promises, but did not specify a time frame in which he would fulfill them. Without concrete results, Trump's assessment will continue to fall, as it will be difficult for him to explain that the restructuring of American society he has begun has no deadlines and can continue even after the end of his presidency.
What has Trump achieved in 100 days
• In the United States, Trump's main achievement was overcoming the crisis on the US-Mexico border and limiting the influx of illegal migrants. In March 2025, 7.18 thousand illegal border crossings were recorded. This is 6.5 times less than in December 2024 and 35 times less than in December 2023. April polls showed that 55% of respondents approve of this direction of Trump's policy.
• Although Trump has managed to stop the flow of migrants to the United States, he has not yet reversed it. The deportations that began did not become widespread and did not receive positive dynamics, being, in fact, blocked. Despite the fact that US residents generally approve of this measure, fewer people were deported in the first months of the Trump administration than in the same period in 2024.
• Among Trump's most notable domestic actions was the de facto closure of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). In addition to cutting federal spending, which the president advocates, this was a symbolic step towards implementing the anti-globalization policy on the basis of which Trump was elected. Although some measures to reform the state apparatus were not widely approved, the closure of USAID also did not cause condemnation from the electorate (we discussed in detail what USAID was doing and what scandals the agency got into here).
• For the American conservative voter, it is important that Trump rapidly began to implement a right-wing agenda and did not deviate from most of his promises in this direction. The reduction of diversity programs, the ban on participation in women's sports after the gender transition, the restriction of the independence of universities — all this did not disappoint those who voted for Trump, but only strengthened his authority. At the same time, the head of the White House did not overdo it with a right-wing bias, without, for example, paying attention to the sensitive topic of abortion.
• As for the economy, there are negative developments in the United States right now. Despite the fact that they began during the reign of Democrat Joe Biden, Americans will blame Trump for them, and the polls confirm this. This is happening despite the fact that the measures he has taken, including the tariffs he has imposed, have not yet been able to affect the state of the economy in any way, either for the better or for the worse.
• Thus, most of the trade duties, called reciprocal tariffs, received a 90-day delay and did not enter into force. These measures were not only not supported by investors and ordinary citizens, but also criticized within the Republican Party and even in Trump's entourage. The US Congress has made it clear that they are ready to take on the definition of foreign economic activity if Trump takes too bold steps in this direction.
In this regard, it can be stated about the domestic political climate that Trump is losing allies outside his closest loyal circle. Even the Supreme Court, in which the majority belongs to conservatives, blocks some of the president's decisions. Trump has managed to show that he wants to strengthen his power and assume more powers than his predecessors, but this is met with some resistance from those who swore allegiance to him and received their current positions thanks to his patronage.
• Currently, Trump is implementing his policy virtually without the participation of the bureaucracy and the state apparatus, but with about 30 high-ranking employees who share his ideology and had no previous real management experience. This may explain some of his unsuccessful steps during the first 100 days of the term. Trump did not subjugate the bureaucracy with repressive measures, despite such a request from the most radical members of his MAGA movement.
Analysts conditionally refer to the ideology of Trumpism (or the MAGA movement, as they say in the United States):
• At the same time, having failed to fully mobilize the conservatives, he defeated opponents from among the Democrats. In all 100 days, they have not been able to loudly declare themselves and oppose Trump's actions in legal terms. The Democratic Party has not formed a new leader to replace Biden, who would lead the resistance and could organize preparations for the next election. The Democrats have not been in such a helpless state since the days of Ronald Reagan.
How has Trump influenced the rest of the world
• In foreign policy, Trump has made a decisive U-turn, abandoning many of the seemingly unshakable attitudes of previous administrations. In particular, he refused to demonize Russia and began to conduct a confidential dialogue with Moscow, which he intends to continue. Against the background of how relations between the two countries have been built in the past, this can be attributed to Trump's achievements. He followed a similar path with regard to Iran, resuming previously interrupted contacts.
• At the same time, Trump has not become a convenient president for most other countries. Relations between the United States and China have only gotten worse, although in this direction he has not gone far from the mainstream of American politics. Trump also began a confrontation with the European Union and the European bureaucracy in a broad sense, which was just a departure from tradition. In words, the head of the White House even voiced ideas about the annexation of Greenland, Canada and the Panama Canal, making it clear that he was not a peacemaker, which he is sometimes considered to be, but a defender of the interests of the United States. By the way, in the case of Panama, Trump's threats allowed him to get her to end her previous relations with China.
• Trump has also not yet been able to assume leadership roles in resolving conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. Although there were some positive trends in both cases, the US president nevertheless assured of the possibility of stopping the fighting and succeeding as a mediator.
What awaits Trump next
• The next event when Trump will need to present his successes and justify his failures to the voters will be the fall discussion of the federal budget for the next fiscal year. Traditionally, this issue has been the subject of heated discussions, and a lot depends on how confident the president feels and how much support he provides himself. He needs to show that he still holds the reins of power. It will be evaluated, among other things, by how it responds to the first challenges that have formed by the 100-day cutoff.
• Up to this point, Trump's position depends on whether the Democrats consolidate. If they do offer an attractive alternative program, they will be able to use the ambiguous results of 100 days to put pressure on Trump. Europe has not said its last word either, which would benefit from supporting the opposition within the United States and thus obtaining concessions from the current administration, and ideally a return to the previous configuration of relations.
• For Republicans who support Trump and those who are disappointed in him, it is also time to take stock and determine a strategy for the future. The falling rating of the president will inevitably hit them. They have time to fix the situation before the next congressional elections in 2026. It is quite traditional for American politics that an incumbent president loses support in the legislature in the middle of his term, and the current situation so far confirms that this scenario will come true again.
During the preparation of the material, Izvestia interviewed:
- Dmitry Drobnitsky, an American political scientist;
- Vladimir Mozhegov, an American political scientist;
- Senior Lecturer at the Department of American Studies at the Faculty of International Relations of St. Petersburg State University, Candidate of Political Sciences Yulia Boguslavskaya.
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