In a rally Tuesday to mark the first 100 days of his second term, Donald Trump defended his record. How does he compare himself to the first months of old administrations? THE New York Times compiled the striking data.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
More presidential decrees …
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Immigration, environment, customs duties: Trump has signed more decrees in 100 days than all other presidents, on a host of subjects. “The key element is that, rather than working with Congress, Trump tries to govern unilaterally,” says George C. Edwards III, professor emeritus at Oxford and Texas A&M University. The Republicans have obtained a majority of seats in the congress, but it remains thin and requires time and compromise. The decrees also allowed the president to declare the state of emergency for various challenges – immigration, saving, energy -, in order to impose his program quickly.
… and prosecution
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“Many presidential decrees are very questionable, and that is why we see a large number of judicial disputes,” says Edwards. More than 200 proceedings were launched against the government. Dated April 30, judges had at least temporary suspension of decisions in 131 cases, according to the New York Times. The administration seems to be hoping that the majority conservative Supreme Court will rank to its arguments for certain causes. The technique adopted by the entourage of the president has often been illustrated with the image of cooked spaghetti launched on the wall: how many will remain in place and how much will fall?
Income of customs duties increasing
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-Customs duties have caused a lot of a stir. But the revenues generated cannot be interpreted as a measure of their success, says Michael Stanaitis, lecturer at the American University. “It’s more like a justification after the fact, because the other objectives of the administration have not been achieved,” he said, since Trump said he wanted to negotiate. This increase in income is not likely to last, he adds, and the administration maintains its contradictory speeches about customs duties. “You cannot both derive more imports from imports and limit imports,” said Stanaitis.
Fall of the US dollar
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“I think that is something that the Trump administration had not planned,” said Stanaitis. And it could well become the start of the end of the US dollar as a global reserve currency. The theory would have wanted customs duties to increase the value of the currency and the exchange rate, he explains. “This is not what happened, because the rights were so disruptive and the investors have left the bond market,” he said. By ignoring the uncertainty and its effect on the economy, this drop in value could theoretically help American exporters to become more competitive.
The markets plunged
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“It’s Biden’s scholarship, not Trump’s,” wrote the president on his Truth Social network on April 30. “The scholarship is not at all a delay indicator, it represents on the contrary a collective of investors who tries to determine what will happen tomorrow, next week, in the next quarter, next year, to see where the money should go,” said Stanaitis. Many media have stressed the importance of the stock exchange for Donald Trump, and how much he had allocated the increases – even before his post, in January – in the past.
Decrease popularity
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“During its first 100 days, the economy suffered, and people voted on the basis of what it promised to lower prices,” said Edwards. Trump began his mandate with a higher approval rate than in 2016, but which quickly declined. “He also challenges a fundamental notion concerning the rule of law in a democratic country, and I think it is a problem for many people,” he adds. His base remains faithful to him, regardless of his actions. “My impression on a good part of the policies – economic and other – of Trump is that it is political theater to please its base,” says Stanaitis.
