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A look at Donald Trump’s first 100 days

Donald Trump's first 100 days in office have been stymied by political missteps, an uncooperative Congress and a sceptical international community.

Donald Trump's first 100 days in office have been stymied by political missteps, an uncooperative Congress and a sceptical international community. Photo: Getty

Thrice-married Donald Trump didn’t get a fourth honeymoon as the 45th president of the United States.

Instead, the political newcomer will mark his 100th day in office as the most unpopular president in recent history, stymied by political missteps, an uncooperative Congress and a sceptical international community.

The president can point to a string of fulfilled campaign promises, from withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal to allowing the construction of a pipeline.

But his first 100 days also have seen a string of failures, including a botched ban on travellers from several Muslim-majority nations and the forced withdrawal of health care reform legislation.

Recently, Trump has shifted course on major foreign policy matters. In the last month alone, he bombed a Syrian military base, despite his expressed aversion to foreign military intervention, declined to declare China a currency manipulator and reiterated support for the NATO alliance he once declared superfluous.

An average of 87 per cent of Republicans approve of Trump’s performance, even as Trump has the lowest average job approval of any president since World War II, with an average of 41 per cent approval since taking office, according to pollster Gallup.

Trump is the first president to have an initial approval rating below 50 per cent and has not enjoyed a traditional “honeymoon period” where Americans of both parties give a new leader a chance.

The Trump administration now is looking to tout the president’s wins as he marks 100 days in office and continues to seek victories with the expected unveiling this week of a tax cut proposal.

“He is fulfilling his promises and doing it at breakneck speed,” White House chief of staff Reince Priebus said.

The fulfilment of campaign promises has kept Trump’s base happy, even as he remains broadly unpopular.

Trump’s struggles in the polls come as he suffered a rocky start, engaging in a war of words with the press over the size of his inaugural crowds and drawing massive protests on his second day in office.

Trump 100 days

People rally against Donald Trump’s election. Photo: Getty

Meanwhile, questions about the 2016 presidential election continue to swirl amid investigations into Russian meddling and possible collusion with Trump’s campaign.

Despite the bumps, Trump’s team has declared victory in the first 100 days with progress on a number of key campaign promises aimed at promoting American industry and job creation and has sought to downplay perceived failures.

The White House points to a flurry of activity, including 28 bills signed into law and 24 executive orders along with the filling of a long-standing Supreme Court vacancy.

“No matter how much I accomplish during the ridiculous standard of the first 100 days, & it has been a lot (including [the Supreme Court nomination]), media will kill!” Trump tweeted last week.

Trump’s first foray into a major legislative effort – repealing and replacing former president Barack Obama’s signature health care reforms – failed to even gather a vote in Congress, as members of his own Republican Party expressed qualms about the legislation.

Trump had promised a victory on the legislation, but congressional leadership was forced to pull it from consideration to avoid an embarrassing failure to secure enough votes.

The White House now says it will get the health care reform done, but will be patient until they can get the votes.

The development signalled a key challenge of the young administration: Trump’s lack of political experience, which had been a boon during his outsider campaign, left him without key support once he took office.

Trump visa

Trump with his Buy American, Hire American Executive Order. Photo: Getty

Trump now faces a potential roadblock on another promise as he insists Congress provide funding to begin work on a wall along the country’s southern border.

Lawmakers must pass a spending measure by Saturday, before money runs out under a previous short-term budget plan, and opposition Democrats are threatening to force the government to shut down if the measure includes wall funding.

Where the Trump administration’s initiatives have languished in Congress, despite Republican majorities, the White House already has got its way in international venues.

G20 finance ministers dropped their long-standing affirmations of free trade and open markets under US pressure at a meeting in March, agreeing only to work “to strengthen the contribution of trade to our economies”.

The International Monetary Fund’s steering committee issued identical language, and dropped any mention of climate change in its April communique.

The first 100 days are just a small part of an administration, Trump spokesman Sean Spicer noted.

“We feel very proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish,” he said.

“You’re going to continue to see a lot of action in next 100 days.”

– AAP

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