Trump’s first 100 days

REALITY SETTING IN FOR BILLIONAIRE BUSINESSMAN

From the resounding setbacks in Congress to the stunning policy flip-flops, Donald Trump has certainly been confronted with a steep learning curve in his opening months at the White House.

While the new US president has shown a capacity to change both his tone and his positions, Trump has struggled to convey a clearly articulated worldview.

As the symbolic milestone of his 100th day in power, which falls on Saturday, draws near, a cold, hard reality is setting in for the billionaire businessman who promised Americans he would “win, win, win” for them.

At this stage of his presidency, Trump is the least popular US leader in modern history (even if his core supporters still fully support him).

The 70-year-old Trump, whose election victory unleashed a political shockwave around the world, is still clinging to the take-no-prisoners, unpredictable, impulsive style that made him a property mogul and reality TV star.

But the onetime anti-establishment candidate who promised to “drain the swamp” in Washington appears to have recognised – with a mix of naivete and craftiness – that he has one of the most difficult jobs in the world.

In just his first few weeks in office Trump suffered some crippling blows – the federal courts halted his proposed travel ban, and Congress failed to move ahead on health care reform.

“Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated,” Trump said during his efforts to see Obamacare – his Democratic predecessor’s signature domestic policy achievement – repealed and replaced.

“After listening for 10 minutes, I realised it’s not so easy,” Trump said after talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping about North Korea.

The demands and constraints of the Oval Office – where every word uttered counts – are quite different from the daily stump speeches Trump made on the campaign trail.

Who to turn to for advice? Whose advice to heed? What kind of relationship to build with Congress, even when it’s nominally controlled by one’s own party? How much latitude to afford the usually powerful State and Defense Departments?

All of his predecessors have said it: moving into the mansion at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is a shock to the system.

“There’s something about this job every president faces – that you think one thing going in and then the pressures of the job or the realities of the world are different than you thought,” George W Bush said recently.

Aside from his unwavering penchant for morning tweetstorms, Trump has changed.

In the choice of his teams, as well as in some negotiations, a sort of “presidentialisation” seems to be unfolding – albeit haltingly. – AFP