White House touts ‘50 days of action’
Administration promotes accomplishments, which Democrats label a national disaster
WASHINGTON The Trump administration marks a milestone this weekend: 50 days in office.
Administration officials plan to hit social media and use interviews in the coming days to promote what they call “50 days of action,” from the planned wall along the U.S.-Mexican border to a $54 billion increase in the defense budget.
Trump mentioned the 50-day mark in a weekly address Friday otherwise devoted to Women’s History Month and health care.
Throughout the morning, Trump aides and associates tweeted and posted statements and videos about the administration, using the White House website and other social media channels. Citing a new report showing that the economy added 235,000 jobs last month, White House spokesman Sean Spicer tweeted, “Not a bad way to start day 50 of this Administration.”
The first two months of the Trump administration have generated protests, lawsuits and intense political opposition. The Democratic National Committee plans a “turnaround tour” to respond to what it calls the administration’s “corporate handouts and broken promises to America’s working families.”
The White House list of 50-day accomplishments includes a series of Trump executive actions designed to reduce government regulations, tighten the nation’s borders, roll back President Obama’s health care law and increase military spending.
On the jobs front, the administration touts decisions to withdraw from the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership with Asian nations and authorize construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines. On trade, the administration has discussed the possibility of tariffs and border taxes.
Trump’s anti-regulation agenda includes a rule requiring that “for every new federal regulation, two existing regulations be eliminated” and establishing a task force to identify “costly and unnecessary regulations,” the White House said. The president has instituted a federal hiring freeze.
“President Trump has quickly taken steps to get the government out of the way of job creation,” the White House statement said.
The administration has endorsed a House Republican plan to replace and repeal Obamacare, though some conservatives say it doesn’t go far enough.
A budget proposal is scheduled for release next week. Trump has called for a $54 billion increase in defense spending, to be offset by the same amount of cuts in domestic programs.
Immigration is a big part of the 50-day push. In addition to the border wall, the administration has called for a crackdown on “sanctuary cities” and emphasized deportation of migrants with criminal records.
Trump has nominated appeals court Judge Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court.
It has been among the busiest periods in presidential history, and it has not lacked controversy.
The administration’s initial plan to suspend entry into the USA from specifically listed Muslim countries drew protests and lawsuits, forcing changes.
Trump and aides have faced questions about Russian activity during last year’s presidential election. The president, who said neither he nor his aides had anything to do with the Russians, accused predecessor Barack Obama of having him wiretapped in the run-up to the election in November.
In planning the Democrats’ “turnaround tour,” DNC Deputy Chairman Keith Ellison, a Minnesota congressman, said party members will develop alternatives to the new administration.
“Progressives are hungry to fight back against the disaster that has been Donald Trump’s first two months in the White House,” Ellison said.
“President Trump has quickly taken steps to get the government out of the way of job creation.” White House statement