President Trump boarded Air Force One in February. He reached the 100-day mark for the presidency this week. I Curtis/AP Closed subtitles
This week marks the 100th day of President Trump's second term, a benchmark that is widely regarded as the first impression of any administration.
The artificial but lasting milestone originated from Franklin Roosevelt's president. Within the months after taking office in 1933, he signed dozens of bills and executive orders that helped alleviate the financial crisis in the United States and sparked new deals.
Roosevelt's first 100 days were so productive that the president's early achievements and mistakes had been evaluated at that time. But the first 100 days can only tell us so much.
Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, told NPR, “Look at Abraham Lincoln… the union did collapse during that period and today he is considered one of our greatest presidents.” Now and now In 2021.
While the initial 100 days do not necessarily determine the rest of the presidency, they may foreshadow future priorities, achievements and issues. It could be a useful boarding point to see the president's early actions compared to his predecessor and his own campaign commitments.
Trump hit multiple records in the first 100 days of his tenure, but his speed of action also highlights the vulnerability of relying on presidential actions to address core core policies.
One hundred days, this is the second place where the Trump administration stands on 10 key benchmarks.
President Trump has signed 142 executive orders since January 20, according to the Federal Register and the U.S. Presidential Office Program.
Trump was running and signed 37 executive orders in the first week of his office alone (excluding other executive actions such as memorandums and announcements). He released his 100th order in late March, surpassing Roosevelt's 99 records in 100 days.
Under the U.S. Presidency program, most of Trump's orders fall into several major categories: narrowing the federal government, foreign policy and defense, immigration and border security, energy and natural resources, and tariffs.
Several Trump's executive orders, including those that freeze foreign aid and ban transgender forces from serving in the military - the court temporarily blocked as the lawsuit kicked off. The Supreme Court will hear arguments in May about his orders seeking to revoke his birthright citizenship.
Executive orders can be overturned or modified by a future president. Many of Trump's early executive actions focused on the removal of his former former President Joe Biden.
Within hours after the inauguration, Trump canceled 78 Biden's executive actions, which are mainly related to climate change, the common 19th pandemic with diversity, equity and inclusion. He has since revoked additional Biden orders regarding voter registration and census allocation, etc.
According to the U.S. Presidency Program, as of mid-April, Trump had ordered the revocation of 111 previous presidential orders, all except for five of them during the Biden period.
This is worth noting, as Biden was prolific in the first Trump administration’s overturn order. "Recently, there has been no orders from the ex as Biden has reversed, but 76 examples have been counted," the project said at Biden's 100-day mark in 2021.
It reads: "Biden's record creation is easily surpassed by Trump 2.0.
For future presidents, contrary to executing orders, it is a way to measure the long-term impact of the president on the country.
Trump started with the Lake Riley bill, with only five bills signed into law, and Congress passed it just before taking office. The others are a Fixed-Finding Act, three Congressional Review Acts that overturn Biden-era rules.
According to historical records, he broke George W. Bush.
By comparison, Trump signed 28 laws in the first 100 days of his first semester in 2017. Biden signed 11 bills in his first 100 days, most notably his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package.
Many of the Trump administration’s actions, not just executive orders, have been challenged in court, especially those related to efforts to suppress immigration and reduce federal workforce.
As the rulings and appeals play out, many are in trouble and therefore it is difficult to provide a clear number of cases.
The lawsuit tracker from Just Security challenged 210 legal challenges, including four closed, while the legal database lists at least 258.
Trump's approval rate was 42%, down 45% from 45% in March, according to a survey released by NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist on Tuesday.
In his first semester, Trump's approval rate never rose by more than 44%. According to an NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist survey, he left the office in 2021 with an approval rate of 38%. Nearly half of respondents (47%) said Trump will be remembered as one of the worst presidents in history.
By comparison, Biden limited his first 100 days with a 53% approval rate, the highest since taking office.
But that support is entirely on the partisan line - 93% of Democrats endorsed his performance, while Republicans only had 12% and gradually decreased during his presidency. Biden's approval rate is 42%, according to the January 2025 NPR/PBS News/Marist poll.
According to the Justice Department, Trump has issued pardons to 39 designated individuals and entities since taking office.
One of Trump's initial actions as president was to issue "full, complete and unconditional pardons" to anyone convicted of crimes attacked by the U.S. Capitol on January 6.
The move pardoned about 1,500 defendants, dozens of whom had criminal records.
The announcement also linked to the sentences of 14 people prosecuted on January 6 to the swearing guardians and the proud boy, extremist groups planning to attack elements.
That pardon entered Trump's second term for several hours. During his first semester, Trump did not pardon until about half a year after taking office in August 2017. Biden issued his first pardon in April 2022 for more than one year in office as president.
One sign of Trump’s second term was his focus on simplifying the federal workforce by creating the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The White House office, led by Elon Musk, effectively removed multiple agencies, allowed itself to access multiple sensitive data systems, and designed shootings from thousands of federal workers.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in February that 75,000 federal workers received the first of two "forks" acquisition offers.
However, it is difficult to point out how many federal workers have left their jobs by laying off workers or choosing to.
The massive layoffs were so casual that some employees were later restored or the termination was reversed through various legal challenges. And, as NPR reported, within 100 days, there was little evidence to support the official’s claim that Doge was saving agents a lot of money.
Trump’s crackdown on immigration has so far been another decisive feature of his tenure as he strengthened border law enforcement and mass deportations.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it recorded only 7,180 Southwest border crossings in March, with the lowest and sharp decline in historical numbers, compared with an average of 155,000 in the previous four years.
When Trump took office in January, the transit trend on the southwest border was already on a downward trend, falling throughout 2024 after a surge in 2023.
Immigration is a major focus of Trump's campaign, and he vows to implement the largest deportation plan in U.S. history. His administration has since arrested immigrants with or without legal status, detained and deported, although not without any retracement, including the Supreme Court.
Trump also threatened to issue and postpone a series of tariffs on goods from countries around the world, with uncertainty shaking global markets and raising concerns about a recession at home.
The Trump administration imposed a 10% benchmark tariff on all imported goods and a 25% tariff on steel, aluminum, automobiles and auto parts. It also signed tariffs on specific countries on China, Canada and Mexico and must negotiate "mutual" tariffs with dozens of other countries until early July.
Yale University's Budget Laboratory said that as of mid-April, the average effective tariff rate for U.S. consumers was 28%, the highest since 1901.
During the campaign, Trump promised to "end inflation" from day 1. This is a problem throughout the Biden administration, with a 40-year high of 9% in June 2022, which intensified the supply chain issues that are related to the Russian-Russia-Ukraine war.
However, a hundred days of inflation remains a problem. The annual inflation rate fell to 2.4% in March, reaching a six-month low. But economists warn that relief could be short-lived as the impact of Trump's trade war is expected to drive prices in the coming months.