Trump touts record, orders review of trade deals
President marks his 100th day with a swing through Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG, Pa. — President Donald Trump on Saturday marked his 100th day in office by claiming historic action on his agenda and renewing promises on health care and taxes.
Declaring his “only allegiance is to you, our wonderful citizens,” Trump signed executive orders toughening the nation’s posture on trade deals.
“We are not going to let other countries take advantage of us anymore,” he said at a campaignstyle rally in Harrisburg at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex and Expo Center. “From now on, it’s going to be America first.”
But even as he appealed to Pennsylvania voters who helped elect him defeat Hillary Clinton, Trump seemed caught between his role as an outsider candidate and a now-elected negotiator still figuring out how to deal with the very insiders he vowed to drain from Washington’s “swamp.”
He’s now spent 100 days being educated on the slow grind of government even in a Republicandominated capital, and watching some of his promises — such as repealing former President Barack Obama’s health care law — run into roadblocks.
The state was critical to Trump’s victory. Trump won Pennsylvania with 48 percent of the vote, the first time the state had voted for a Republican presidential candidate since George H.W. Bush in 1988.
Trump visited the AMES Companies in Pennsylvania’s Cumberland County, a shovel manufacturer since 1774. With that backdrop he signed an executive order directing the Commerce Department and the U.S. trade representative to conduct a study of 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 held up for days as administration successes, including the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court and the approval of construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.
At the 100-day mark, polls show that Trump’s supporters during the campaign remain largely in his corner. Though the White House created a website touting its accomplishments during the first 100 days, Trump has downplayed the marker’s importance.
Trump said in his weekly radio and internet address, “In just 14 weeks, my administration has brought profound change to Washington.”