It might be hard to believe with all the saga, but it has been just 100 days. The second term of US President Donald Trump has been the shock-and-awe style of expanded presidential powers he promised his supporters in ways that exceeded even his first term.
He asserted an authoritarian tendency at home with a nuanced approach abroad based on economic isolationism and a pacifist, if not dovish, foreign policy, except US airstrikes in Yemen.
It is too soon to call if Trump is altering the course of American politics or digging his own political demise, but he has spectacularly put America and the world on notice since returning to power.
On his 100-day benchmark, the 47th President has the lowest 100-day job approval rating in the past eight decades.
The White House strategy seems to believe that universal chaos will pave the way for a new reality to sink in, and that those who advocate for the existing status quo at home and abroad will ultimately cave in to pressure.
Trump signed more executive orders in his first 100 days than any president since Harry Truman; his administration laid off over 121,000 federal workers, granted clemency to nearly 1,600 supporters who had participated in the US Capitol attacks in 2021, and revoked the visa or legal status of more than 1,000 international students.
Incidentally, these international students are being deported partially for criticising how President Joe Biden handled the Israeli genocide in Gaza, which Trump himself denounced during his campaign, and has vowed to end the war.
Universities like Harvard are standing up for Trump, which has set up an unprecedented confrontation between the White House and renowned private higher learning institutions.
Trump is reshaping American politics and foreign policy through executive powers and the federal budget by ensuring policies are consistent with conservative views and values, which will have a long-term impact on US global influence.
He is using the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)’s whip to eliminate congressionally authorised government departments and programs.
Doubling down on chaos
In economics, it is no surprise that Trump believes a radical change was needed in what he perceives as an unfair international trading system, but it was not clear how far he is willing to go.
Peter Navarro, a protectionist trade adviser who was marginalised in the Trump administration’s first term and who served four months in prison last year for refusing to testify in an investigation of the US Capitol attack, has run the “Liberation Day” tariffs.
This full-court pressure on most US trading partners was meant to bring them to the table to renegotiate the trade imbalance and/or their tariff rates.
However, the economic cost has been too high for the US when it comes to employment and growth, as well as the plunge in the stock market and the looming potential of inflation, forcing Trump to make some embarrassing u-turns.
Trump is indeed gradually upending the two remaining mechanisms of the Bretton Woods system, international trade and multilateralism. After blocking new judicial appointments to the World Trade Organization (WTO) appeal courts in his first term in 2019, which paralysed the WTO dispute settlement mechanism that is crucial for such moments of trade disputes, the Trump administration has paused the US contribution to the WTO for 2024-2025.
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When it comes to national security, the situation remains unclear, giving the impression that there is room for improvisation. The National Security Council (NSC) faced scrutiny after a journalist was accidentally added to a chat on the Signal app in which officials discussed US air strikes in Yemen.
It is evident that Vice President JD Vance is emerging as a key figure on foreign policy in Trump’s inner circle, mainly because he has no legitimate rivals. Pete Hegseth is managing his own chaos at the Pentagon and Marco Rubio is playing it safe with Trump after barely surviving the DOGE onslaught on the State Department.
Trump has no foreign policy breakthrough yet after he promised to swiftly end ongoing conflicts at the outset of his presidency. After zigzagging between blaming Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin, Trump has now given two weeks’ notice for Ukraine and Russia to reach a deal.
Despite ongoing efforts, there is still no deal in Gaza, which might delay any Saudi-Israeli normalisation announcement during Trump’s visit to the Gulf next month.
The White House is also pushing for a nuclear agreement with the Iranian regime, which might strain Trump’s relationship with Benjamin Netanyahu. Given Trump’s urgency to resolve these three conflicts as soon as possible, the next few weeks are crucial, as the way these diplomatic attempts end might dictate his foreign policy in the remainder of his term.
How Trump made America authoritarian again
Trump has yet to face political opposition at home. Democrats are demoralised with no strategy or leader post Joe Biden’s presidency; congressional Republicans remain under Trump’s spell.
Incidentally, the primary challengers of Trumpism have been the federal judiciary at home and China abroad. The Trump administration is in a battle with the federal judiciary over the President’s overreach executive actions in immigration policies, and China is showing no indications of backing away from the tariff war. What happens next, though, largely depends on the inner battle among Trump’s advisers.
Indeed, his controversial policies are led by three white men: Elon Musk on federal spending cuts, Stephen Miller on immigration, and Peter Navarro on tariffs.
Musk has clashed with both Miller and Navarro because he supports bringing in skilled workers from abroad, especially in the tech sector, and wants Trump to abandon tariff wars since US manufacturers such as Tesla rely heavily on international suppliers, particularly from China.
Trump’s lack of a clear plan and endgame is leading to a clash of egos and policies in his inner circle. The question in the next 100 days is whether these three figures will preserve their influence or see their roles reduced or even eliminated.
Trump is already showing some indications of adaptability, a trend that will most likely continue. He has announced on April 9 a 90-days pause on reciprocal tariffs on nearly all US imports with a flat rate of 10%, but there is skepticism that there is willingness from all countries to actively negotiate and whether the Trump administration might have enough time to negotiate terms of trade deals with 90 countries over three months.
China was evidently excluded from this pause, and US tariffs on Chinese imports increased to 145%. This might be a tipping point in the US-Chinese economic competition.
Trump has won the election after a remarkable comeback in American history; hence, he has the mandate to enact significant changes through both executive powers and the Republican majority in Congress without rushing the process and twisting arms. Subverting the judiciary and engaging in questionable measures raises questions about the precedent it sets for authoritarian tendencies at the White House.
A reality check might or should kick in at some point in Trump’s world. His team, which lacks governance experience, will take some time to settle in, and those who couldn’t do so might exit; Trump is known to have a high staff turnover, which will be more likely if his poll number continues to decrease and as we approach the mid-term congressional elections. But the message has been unmistakably clear in the first 100 days. Trump wants America and the world to adapt to him, not the other way around.
Joe Macaron is a researcher and analyst in international relations and geopolitics with over two decades of experience with high-profile international organizations. He holds a Ph.D. in Politics and International Studies from the University of Bath in the United Kingdom.
Follow Joe on X: @macaronjoe
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Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The New Arab, its editorial board or staff.