Trump's eventful first 100 days in office

In January this year Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. Even before he entered the White House this wealthy businessman created one controversy after another, which left liberal progressives in the US and leaders around the world rattled about what he would say or do next. His first 100 days in office have been littered with mess-ups. The world has witnessed with awe Trump's mannerisms, narcissism, demeanour, utterances, and unorthodox decisions. They wonder, who exactly is this man?

Psychologists who have studied Donald Trump's personality have identified a few traits. They classify him as a case of extroversion. Trump plays his extroversion role in an outgoing, exuberant, and socially dominant manner. He loves to interact with his supporters and has become a Twitter buff, using superlatives in almost everything he says. He is low in agreeableness, never seems to laugh, is arrogant and lacks empathy. His extroversion is always seeking big rewards but is very low on openness. No US president has been as overtly disagreeable as Donald Trump. 

Trump is a salesman and says what his supporters want to hear whether it is true or not. In his attempt to "drain the swamp" he has surrounded himself with an inexperienced team of neo-con advisers such as Mike Pence, Steve Bannon, Reince Priebus, Lt Gen HR McMaster, Sean Spicer, etc. He has already destroyed parts of the federal government to maximise his powers. He has turned around the presidency from its conventional structure and seems to be on top of the job. 

The most reckless thing Trump did was to make enemies with the media, calling major news channels "fake news". Except for one or two media outlets the mainstream media has become his sworn enemy. White House press secretary Sean Spicer has become a laughing stock for making all kinds of gaffes.

Trump has so far somersaulted on almost every policy he had announced during his campaign. Although he graduated from Wharton Business School his utterances reveal he is probably the least read person to have become president of the US. This appalling gap in his knowledge is reflected in his statements both on national and international issues. 

Unfortunately, Trump probably has not yet learned that as president he does not have unlimited powers. First, to get things done his way he has to get the two other branches of the government on board – Congress and the judiciary. Second, he has to listen to the functionaries of the different departments and understand the ramifications of his decisions.

But given his disdain for the administration and his reliance on his partisan advisers he merrily signed 30 executive orders, 20 proclamations, 28 bills, and 28 presidential memoranda. He was twice snubbed by the courts for his executive orders on travel bans on Muslim countries. In another serious setback Trump's bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or Obamacare collapsed as majority of Republican Congressmen did not support it. But early this week the House of Representatives voted to replace Obamacare with a thin majority which is a big win for Trump. Now, Trump's tax reform bill faces uncertainty as there are no federal savings. His USD 1 trillion infrastructure improvement plan also faces uncertainty as the national debt is expected to soar. Clearly, the deal-maker is not going anywhere with his deals.

One of the major defeats for Trump was the resignation of his national security adviser General Michael Flynn for his secret contact with the Russians before and after the November 2016 election. The dark shadow of Russian involvement in the presidential elections still looms ominously over Trump's presidency.  

On international affairs Trump has shown utter lack of understanding of ground realities and the extent of America's ability in sorting out global issues. His bombing of Syria, the dropping of a massive bomb on Afghanistan, military operations in Yemen, threatening North Korea with nuclear attack, his love-hate remarks on NATO, etc., all bear testimony to the fact that he understands very little about world affairs. 

As part of his 'America first' policy Trump walked out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal which indirectly was a boon for China. What is worrying for environmentalists is that Trump signed several executive orders including one to withdraw from the Clean Power Plan, which is contrary to the Paris climate accord. He believes that global warming and cooling of the planet is a natural phenomenon; thus there is no need to support the Paris Agreement. 

His most important achievement has been to get Neil Gorsuch appointed as Supreme Court justice. That was achieved after the Senate bent the rule of filibustering and allowed confirmation of Gorsuch by a simple majority vote. The US Supreme Court, with a conservative majority, is likely to have lasting impact on future American administrations.

When it comes to Trump's relations with other world leaders, they are at best rocky. He has met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, British Prime Minister Theresa May, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Not all the meetings were without disagreements. It was an insult to Trump when Mexico's President Enrique Peña Nieto cancelled his visit to Washington because the Trump administration wants to build a wall on the border with Mexico and tear up the NAFTA treaty.  

Trump's current approval rating—at around 41 percent according to Gallup—is the lowest for any US president (The Huffington Post, April 20, 2017). Talking about the presidency, Trump told Reuters, "This is more work than in my previous life. I thought it would be easier." There is no question that Trump's temperament is not fit for the US presidency. Alas, for the next four years the world can only wait and see what this unpredictable man has in store for us.

The writer is former Ambassador and Secretary.