Trump 100 Days: Victory Lap on Economy and Border

President Donald Trump is now at the finish line of his first 100 days of his second term in the White House, as of Tuesday.

Key tenants of Trump’s first 100 days include imposing harsh tariffs on Chinese imports, starting and continuing peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, unveiling plans to dismantle organizations like the Education Department and cracking down on border security amid a mass deportation initiative.

The period also marked a steep increase in executive orders in comparison to previous presidents. Altogether, Trump has signed over 140 executive orders during his first 100 days in office during his second term. That is an increase from the 33 he signed during the first 100 days of his first term, and up from the previous record of 99 that former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed during that same timeframe.

The Trump administration’s mass deportation effort is in full force, and border czar Tom Homan told reporters Monday that border crossings were down by 96% under the Trump administration.

Additionally, the White House said earlier in April it has deported more than 100,000 illegal immigrants in 2025. The administration’s handling of these deportations has attracted scrutiny in certain high-profile cases, including one involving El Salvador native Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who the Trump administration claimed in court filings was deported by mistake.

However, the Trump administration has since said Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang and has released protective order documents from his wife.

Following through on another campaign promise, the Trump administration unveiled sweeping tariffs against a host of countries on April 2, after historically lambasting other countries' trade practices and accusing them of engaging in unfair trade practices against the U.S.

"For decades, our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike," Trump said April 2 at the White House.

The administration later walked back its initial proposal, and announced April 9 it would immediately hike tariffs on Chinese goods to 145% but scale back reciprocal tariffs on other countries for 90 days to a baseline of 10%. In response, China proceeded to boost its tariffs on U.S. goods to 125%.

Additionally, Trump signed an executive order on March 20 to overhaul the Education Department — following through on a campaign promise he made to eliminate the federal government’s influence over education and "stop the abuse of your taxpayer dollars to indoctrinate America’s youth."

A White House fact sheet on the executive order said the directive aims to "turn over education to families instead of bureaucracies" and instructs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to "take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the States, while continuing to ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely."

Still, Trump revealed that functions of the department overseeing Pell Grants, student loans and others that provide services for those with special needs would continue at other agencies.

Likewise, Trump has long called for an end to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and promised to end the conflict between the two within 24 hours during his time on the campaign trail.

Still, he has continued to advance negotiations during his first 100 days in office — including hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the White House in February. Trump said Sunday that he is aiming to end the war in the next two weeks or so and that he wants Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop launching strikes against Kyiv.

"I want him to stop shooting, sit down and sign a deal," Trump told reporters Sunday on the way back from Italy for Pope Francis’ funeral. "We have the confines of a deal I believe and I want him to sign it and be done with it and just go back to life."