“We’ve accomplished more in three months than most administrations accomplished in four years or eight years.” With these words, Donald Trump celebrated the milestone of the first 100 days of his presidency in Michigan on Tuesday.
The second Trump administration began its term with a wave of conservative policies focused on deportations, drastic cuts to federal agencies and global tariffs on imports. A recent New York Times/Siena College poll found that a majority of Americans today disapprove of the administration by the U.S leader, with only 43 percent approving.
At Tuesday’s rally in Warren, Trump staunchly defended his efforts on tariffs and immigration, while also again supporting the work of DOGE. “We’re just getting started,” the president said.
Trump’s handling of the economy is of particular concern to many Americans. Major stock indexes have fallen sharply since he took office, and experts say the likelihood of a recession has increased because of impending trade wars triggered by tariffs. However, in Michigan, the president promised those in attendance that the policies he has adopted will give a new future to local automakers, which have been hit hard by globalization, adding: “This is going to create more jobs in this state and this country”.
During his speech, the MAGA leader also talked about DOGE, headed by Elon Musk, his main supporter, and funder, on the campaign trail. The department, in recent months, has laid off tens of thousands of federal employees and dismantled entire agencies in an effort to reduce federal spending.
The enormous latitude Trump has given Musk has also drawn criticism from Democrats who claim that Musk is actually running the government. “You know they all say, oh, well, Trump is under the thumb of Elon,” the president joked, “On day one I created that very successful Department of Government Efficiency, that was a big thing doing that”.
Before greeting those in attendance, Trump finally spoke about what has probably been the most talked about topic of these first three months in office, namely the fight against illegal immigration. Trump extolled his administration’s efforts to ramp up deportations and also defended the use of the Alien Enemies Act against alleged foreign gang members. “They’ve been designated the highest level of terrorists”, Trump said, “and that lets us do a lot of things that you wouldn’t be able to do.”
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, illegal crossings decreased by 95 percent at the Southwest border in March, from more than 137,000 last year to less than 7,200.
