This is how Trump arrives at the first 100 days of his second term

More Americans say that, compared to the Joe Biden administration, the policies of President Donald Trump's administration have weakened the U.S. economy (49%) rather than strengthened it (37%).

Another 13% say there isn't much difference. They even point out that Trump's policies put the US in a weaker position internationally (49%) rather than strengthening it (39%).

Trump's approval rating has dropped 7 percentage points since February. Today, 40% of Americans approve of him, compared to 47% two months ago.

His approval rating has declined across most subgroups, but the decline is slightly steeper among his least enthusiastic supporters in last year's election, as well as among those who didn't vote in 2024.

This is according to a survey released recently by the Pew Research Center, which coincides with other polls released over the past week, indicating that Trump's approval ratings are very low.

In fact, the lowest approval ratings for an American president in at least seven decades.

Other interesting findings from this survey indicate that less than half of Americans trust Trump to handle most issues, from trade to foreign policy to abortion.

Across all 10 issues asked about in the survey—ranging from immigration, trade deals, and public health emergencies to taxes and foreign policy, among others— adults are more likely to say they have little or no confidence in Trump than they are to say they have a lot or some confidence.

The public has slightly more confidence in his ability to make good decisions on immigration (48% have a lot or some confidence) than in his handling of trade (45%), a potential public health emergency (45%), and other issues.

THE KEYS

• On the first day of his second term, Donald Trump signed a total of 26 executive orders, far from the 100 announced a few days earlier, but more than during his first term (one). Joe Biden, in 2021, signed nine on his first day in the White House.

• Trump has signed at least 135 executive orders during his first 100 days in office during his second term, up from 33 during the first 100 days of his first term, and up from 99 during that period under Roosevelt.

• The number of executive orders indicates a shift in strategy around power away from the legislative branches, indicating that Trump has a clear set of priorities he wants to achieve during this term, according to experts.

To delve deeper into the first 100 days of Donald Trump's second term, we spoke with political analyst William Becker.

1. How would you describe Donald Trump's first 100 days as POTUS 47?

–It's been a disastrous 100 days, that's the best way to describe it. Trump has done more in three months than any other president in history to dismantle the government, fire public officials, appoint incompetent people to the highest offices, create economic turmoil in the United States and around the world, jeopardize U.S. alliances, and undermine the rest of the world's confidence in the United States, among other blunders.

While pretending to free America from government interference in its lives, he uses the real or invented powers of the presidency to modify the behavior of individuals and institutions far beyond his administration.

It is a strategy designed to intimidate its critics and extort society's institutions and governments into adhering to the rigid ideologies of the far right.

2. Will the remainder of your term continue to be marked by what appears to be unlimited power?

–His strategy is to amass unprecedented power over federal and state governments, cherished cultural institutions, law firms, universities, and other sectors of American society.

He repeatedly declares crises where none exist, in order to grant himself extraordinary powers that Congress, the courts, and the Constitution permit a president to exercise during real crises.

At some point, Congress and the courts might find the courage to rein in Trump's excesses. Meanwhile, Trump is pursuing a particularly destructive strategy whose damage will be lasting, if not permanent, for the United States and the world. Indeed, he has already faced some setbacks in US courts, including the Supreme Court.

3. Among their many insights, initiatives, and actions, is there anything you find very worrying?

Trump is obsessed with the energy mix of the last century: oil, coal, and natural gas. Leaders of other nations agree that we must transition to energy resources that don't cause lung disease or climate change. They are available, clean, inexhaustible, indigenous, and affordable.

However, Trump has distorted markets to favor polluting energy, suppressed the transition to clean energy, and thwarted government programs that help people cope with the damage he and fossil fuels are causing.

He justifies these irrational actions by pretending that climate change is a hoax and that fossil fuels can be clean. Neither is true.

This is coming to you from someone who worked for the Department of Energy for a long time.