100 Days of Empty Promises

Demonstrators rally in Washington DC last month, during a nationwide day of protests against the Trump administration’s policies. Photograph: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

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A steadily decreasing approval rating and opposed protests of thousands are not two attributes that a country would expect or hope for their leader to have, especially when he or she originally won by a margin of over two million. Yet, that is the reality of the state of America’s current leadership. 

President Donald J. Trump has just passed the 100-day milestone of his second term, but people are at a loss of what consequence of his decision making to celebrate. Trump is known for publicly announcing a copious amount of grievances that he assures he can remedy. This time around, he has bitten off even more than he can chew, leaving the American people hungry for real change. 

The commander-in-chief boasted his vision to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of being elected, a claim he promptly and ever-so-honorably walked back on. Instead, he has left Ukrainian citizens reeling with fear and betrayal, a stark deviation from how our politicians have treated U.S. allies in the past. 

Looking domestically, one of Trump’s most popular pledges that gained him major support in the 2024 election also seems to have backfired. While he claimed he could lower soaring prices by day one, no significant price deflation has been witnessed. In fact, quite the opposite seems to have persisted since his time in office.

Both of these issues are no day-one-and-done feats, so one could perhaps grant someone with grace in taking more time to accomplish these aspirational goals. But, Trump is not just someone; he is the president of the United States. Not only has he not followed through on his self-prescribed time limit, but he seems to be achieving only the converse of what he originally said. A person in such a position should not so flippantly make these vows and get away with it.

Luckily, Americans are starting to catch on and hold Trump more accountable for his actions. One of the most notable outcomes of the 100 day review is the analysis of the president’s approval ratings. Reflecting the disgruntled attitude of the country, the percentages of people who do and don’t approve of Trump seem to have swapped places from the beginning of his term to now. 

At present, those who disapprove now outweigh those who do, with 52% of Americans deeming Trump’s performance as not satisfactory. 

This pendulum swing opens up doors for the future of Congress with the 2026 midterm elections coming up next year. Trump won big with the swing states in the presidential elections, but the polls that dictate his approval rating in each of those states are now plummeting, carving out an opportunity for Democrats to sway the vote their way in the midterms. 

To no one’s surprise, Trump has done nothing but deny these conclusive statistics, posting on Truth Social, “The Polls from the Fake News are, like the News itself, FAKE! We are doing GREAT, better than ever before.”

Whether or not the news is fake, the efforts by Democrats to impeach Trump are real enough for Trump to start targeting them. The president has made comments to his Republican companions to go after Democrats, going so far as to suggest expelling them from their positions. 

In the world of democracy that America is founded upon and based in, it is never a comforting thought to know that an elected official who is the figurehead for fairness and justice is seeking to silence anyone who opposes him. Autocratic is an extreme word and one that I won’t necessarily be using, but one would be hard pressed to find another term befitting Trump’s behavior. 

Though the prospect of impeachment always causes a stir of excitement in the world of government, goals of follow through or any substantial change resulting from it are lofty. For the time being, the beacon of hope for change will take form in the midterm elections. While it feels like a broken record to say, the power is in the hands of the people, so get registered, get to researching, and get voting.