PD Editorial: A chaotic first 100 days for President Trump

Donald Trump’s presidency reaches the 100-day mark Saturday, and he doesn’t have a lot to brag about.

Trump’s major legislative initiatives are stalled, federal courts have limited his use of executive authority, hundreds of top administration jobs remain unfilled, the FBI and Congress continue to investigate Russian meddling in the 2016 election, and, depending on what transpires today in Congress, a government shutdown could begin on Day 100.

It’s been a messy start for the 45th president of the United States.

But it’s only a start - the first 100 days of a four-year term. Assessments such as this one are in many ways arbitrary, but they’re also a measure of a president’s progress on promises made during the campaign.

Trump offered a detailed set of 28 promises for his first 100 days.

In conjunction with a speech in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on Oct. 22, he issued a “100-day plan to make America great again - for everyone.” His campaign called the plan “a groundbreaking contract with the American voter,” with another release describing it as “the kind of change that only arrives once in a lifetime.”

Chances are, no president could live up to all that hyperbole - even with his party in control of both houses of Congress, as is presently the case.

Trump did deliver a Supreme Court justice, though Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did the heavy lifting between his steadfast refusal to consider President Barack Obama’s nominee for the vacancy and his willingness to rewrite Senate rules to prevent Democrats from blocking the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch.

Trump fulfilled promises to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and to approve the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines.

But the man who boasted “I alone can fix it” has discovered the limits of executive authority in a government with three co-equal branches and 50 states, each with its own legal authority and political priorities, when he tried to exclude visitors and immigrants from several predominantly Muslim countries and when he tried to punish cities that don’t cooperate with immigration authorities. His own party remains stalemated on health care, and it’s unclear whether Republicans will go along with his tax plan.

Trump reversed course on NATO (no longer obsolete) and China (not a currency manipulator after all) and, to quote conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, he appears to be “caving” on a border wall rather than forcing Mexico (or congressional Democrats) to pay for it.

Ever the showman, Trump plans to mark his 100th day in office with a campaign-style rally in Pennsylvania, a state crucial to his victory. Expect to hear claims of unprecedented political victories and some potshots at partisan rivals and the news media.

Trump’s critics, and there are many, probably won’t take any of it very seriously. But there’s likely to be a large and enthusiastic audience, and it would be a mistake to overlook the fact that, low poll ratings aside, Trump remains popular with his base, an all-too-often overlooked group of people who have lost faith in mainstream political leaders.

Trump’s challenge is to deliver on his promises. His opponents also have a challenge: convincing the people who elected Trump that, given another chance, they would deliver on their own promises.