He defied expectations not just once, but twice. Now, Donald Trump has wrapped up the first 100 days of his second term, despite the doubters who said it wouldn’t happen.
“I think many of us know that it is impossible for him to be the president again with what he is proposing,” Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in January 2024 on CNN.
Shrinking the federal government
President Trump is quickly making many of his proposals a reality with the help of the Department of Government Efficiency led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
In 2016, Trump said he was going to “drain the swamp.” Now he’s trying to soak up any remaining moisture.
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Even his own judges are pushing back — Trump’s second term faces 17 injunctions, with appointees like Amy Coney Barrett siding against him on key rulings.
Trump’s second administration has shrunk the federal workforce by 260,000 employees, cancelled more than 12,000 contracts and significantly reduced agencies like USAID and even the Department of Education.
In his first term, President Trump had to learn the intricacies of the presidency and federal government. Now, not only does he have four years experience under this belt, he’s had four years in between to prepare.
He got right to work, signing 137 executive orders, compared to 55 in all of 2017.
The executive orders cover pretty much everything — defense, trade, tariffs, government administration, social issues, foreign policy, education, health care and immigration.
Trump’s actions align with Project 2025
Many align with the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 — a 900-page all-encompassing playbook for a conservative administration.
Trump distanced himself from the project when it was released in 2023.
“I don’t know what the hell it is. It’s Project 25,” Trump told a crowd in Michigan in July 2024.
Despite the denial, the parallels are clear.
Project 2025 said there should be a biological binary meaning of sex. Trump signed an executive order on day one making it federal government policy that there are only two sexes — male and female.
Project 2025 called for a hiring freeze of career government officials — he did that on his first day too.
Project 2025 called for new offshore oil and gas leases; the Interior Department is holding a lease sale for petroleum deposits in the newly renamed Gulf of America.
In addition, the project’s architects have prominent jobs in the White House.
Lead author Russell Vought is the director of the Office of Management and Budget. Peter Navarro wrote the section on tariffs and is now director of trade and manufacturing policy
Brendon Carr wrote a chapter on reforms to the FCC — he now chairs the FCC.
Project 2025 said the administration must “dismantle the administrative state.” Cabinet secretaries and the Department of Government Efficiency are working on that.
The courts have blocked many of the president’s efforts. That includes at least 17 nationwide injunctions.
Blocked by his own judicial appointees
In key cases, judges Trump appointed in his first term have ruled against him. For instance, Judge Trevor McFadden said the White House removing The Associated Press from the press pool is a “brazen” First Amendment violation.
Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the high courts’ liberals in requiring the administration to make good on $2 billion in payments to USAID contractors.
That has been a point of frustration for Trump because he prioritized reshaping the federal judiciary during his first term. From 2017 to 2020, Senate Republicans confirmed 234 judges to lifetime appointments on the federal bench, including 3 Supreme Court justices.
Promises made, promises kept. Even those that are controversial
Trump promised to appoint conservative judges and followed through, which has been a theme of his presidencies. He makes big statements that are controversial, questioned and sometimes doubted, but he seems to find a way to pull them off.
- In 2016 Trump said he was going to build a wall — he built 458 miles.
- In 2024 he said he’d secure the border — illegal crossings are down more than 90% from this time last year.
- In 2024, Trump said he would pardon Jan. 6 rioters, and he pardoned all of them, nearly 1,600, including those who assaulted police officers.
- In 2016, Trump said he would end NAFTA, the free trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. He replaced it with a new trade deal — the USMCA.
- In 2024, he said he’d close the Department of Education, which is in progress.
- In 2016 and 2024 he said he’d raise tariffs on goods imported into the United States — the stock market in April reacted to Trump’s various announced, then often stalled, tariffs.
Efforts to bring peace
He also told voters during both campaigns that he would broker world peace by ending foreign conflicts and pulling American troops out of combat.
During his first term, he negotiated a deal with the Taliban to get all U.S. troops out of Afghanistan by May 1, 2021. The withdrawal, which left 13 U.S. servicemembers dead, was overseen by the Biden administration after Trump left office.
In his second term, President Trump is vowing to end the war in Ukraine but that has been at times contentious.
Still the White House has top administration officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, negotiating with both Russia and Ukraine to reach a permanent ceasefire. Despite the effort, fighting and air strikes continue.
