100 days in, Trump’s proud of his work
U.S. president spoke of achievements, attacked media, tweeted on N. Korea
HARRISBURG, PA.— U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday marked his 100th day in office by claiming historic action on his agenda, renewing promises on health care and taxes, and attacking the news media for misleading Americans.
In his morning radio address, Trump issued an assurance: “My only allegiance is to you, our wonderful citizens.” To supporters at an evening rally in Pennsylvania, he promoted American power and patriotism while emphasizing such priorities as American manufacturing, better trade deals, a border wall with Mexico and a still-to-be defined tax cut plan.
“We are not going to let other countries take advantage of us anymore,” he said in Harrisburg at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex and Expo Center. “From now on it’s going to be America first.”
Trump’s 100th day events were set in a politically important state that he won with 48 per cent of the vote. It was the first time Pennsylvania voted for a Republican presidential candidate since George H.W. Bush in 1988.
He signed an executive order directing the Commerce Department and the U.S. trade representative to study U.S. trade agreements. The goal is to determine whether America is being treated fairly by its trading partners and the 164-nation World Trade Organization.
Trump’s rally Saturday night in Harrisburg offered a familiar recapitulation of what he and aides have argued for days are administration successes, including the successful nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, his cabinet choices and the approval of construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.
But the president began the rally on a sour note, pointing out that he was not attending that night’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner before a scathing attack on the news media. To cheers, he accused the news media of “fake news” and said if their job was to be honest and tell the truth, then they deserved “a big, fat failing grade.”
Meanwhile, North Korea’s missile launch Saturday signalled its continued defiance against the U.S., China and other nations, on which Trump tweeted: “Bad!” Asked during an interview for CBS’ Face the Nation if military action would follow a nuclear test by the North, Trump respond- ed: “I don’t know. I mean, we’ll see.”
At the 100-day mark, polls show that Trump’s supporters during the campaign remain largely in his corner.
“It’s a false standard, 100 days,” Trump said while signing an executive order on Friday, “but I have to tell you, I don’t think anybody has done what we’ve been able to do in 100 days, so we’re very happy.”
He said in his remarks, “In just 14 weeks, my administration has brought profound change to Washington.” Executive orders in line to be signed Saturday would be the 31st and 32nd since Trump took office, the most of any president in his first 100 days since the Second World War.