Trump, 100 days without damage control inside the White House

WashingtonThe first 100 days of Donald Trump's return to the White House are proof of the lack of checks and balances against the new president of the United States. It only took the Republican 100 days to shake the foundations of a democracy with more than 200 years of history, global markets, and the post-World War II international system.

Trump has made clear his desire to radically transform the United States while pushing the country into an unknown dimension with the arrest of a judge, ideological persecution in universities, the deportation of people without respect for due process, and open warfare within the judiciary. All of this has now been made possible thanks to the loyalists the president has surrounded himself with.

Unlike the first 100 days of his first term, when Trump was unable to unleash his full potential as an agent of chaos, this time he sits in the Oval Office without any "damage control," says Benjamin Waterhouse, professor of contemporary history at the University of North Carolina. He argues that, during his first four years as president, "there was still an inner circle that was trying to stop him and was critical." "It was also an inner circle of experienced people within the administration. What he has now are people who are not traditional members of the Republican Party. They are Trump people," says the expert. He adds: "The relationship between experience and loyalty has gone in the opposite direction than it typically does in other presidential administrations."

In the comparison between the two beginnings of his mandate, Waterhouse highlights that the crucial element has been this lack of internal opposition that has allowed Trump to take such radical actions as dynamite free trade upon which the United States has built its wealth. That one hundred days after taking office, the only obstacle that has forced Trump to back down has been the markets is a symptom of the "fragility" of the American democratic system.

It hasn't been the demonstrations, the criticism, or the legal challenges that have slowed the president's agenda, but rather the yields on Treasury bonds and the executives of large retailers. Last week, Trump lowered his tone with China and announced a future tax cut after a meeting with senior executives from Target and Walmart, in which they warned him of the consequences of the 145% tariffs on products imported from Beijing.

"Trump has demonstrated what we've learned over the past ten years: the integrity of the American political system depends on the will of the people to defend it; it has no internal strength of its own," Waterhouse notes, referring to this lack of countervailing powers from within the executive branch and Congress, where Republicans hold the majority. "What we're seeing with Trump is unprecedented," the analyst insists. The United States is witnessing Trump's 100th day without yet being able to discern whether its president has already crossed all the red lines of the democratic system. "We don't yet know what the fall of the American constitutional system looks like. We're seeing that Trump has already crossed many lines that raise a red flag, but it's difficult to say what the turning point will be," the professor reasons.

The transfer of a court to the White House that barely dares to contradict the new leader has also resulted in a Trump. the ruling on presidential immunity issued by the Supreme Court last summer. Just as he did in his speech before Congress, where he celebrated the relentless advance of his agenda, Trump now sees the 100-day milestone as yet another demonstration of the absolute power he aspires to. "I run the country and the world," the president told the magazine The Atlantic in a recent interview.

Popularity drop

About his first hundred days, he commented in Time: "I believe what I'm doing is exactly what I've advocated throughout my campaign." This sense of having no limits has allowed Trump to openly fantasize about running for a third term, despite the Constitution's prohibition. Last week, his official store already put a new hat on sale with the slogan "Trump 2028."

The lack of guardrails has not only resulted in executive actions that are already causing a constitutional crisis, but also in measures that are sinking the president's popularity. Trump plans to celebrate his 100th day in office this Tuesday at an event in Michigan, north of Detroit. Like his speech before both houses of Congress, today's appearance is expected to be more like a campaign rally than a presidential appearance.

Trump's first 100 days have also been enough to disillusion many of those who voted for him on November 5. Many voters who decided to vote for the Republican again, thinking he would improve the economy, now face the possibility of a recession and the feeling that their economic situation has worsened. A new CNN poll on Monday showed how 59% of Americans believe Trump has worsened the economy since he took office. In total, 6 in 10 respondents already say their living costs have become more expensive, and only 12% believe the Republican's policies will help lower prices. Furthermore, 69% of citizens already see the possibility of an economic recession in this first year.