US President Donald Trump has celebrated 100 days of his second term in office with a campaign-style speech, touting his achievements and targeting political foes.
Hailing what he called a “revolution of common sense,” he told a crowd of supporters in Michigan that he was using his presidency to deliver “profound change.”
“We’ve just gotten started,” the president declared. “You haven’t even seen anything yet.” Over an hour and a half, Trump delivered familiar riffs about “Sleepy Joe,” a nod to former President Joe Biden. He drew applause from the crowd as he chided former Vice President Kamala Harris, whom he called a “great candidate.” And he repeated his claim about winning the 2020 election.
“I miss you guys,” Trump said. “I’ve missed the campaign.”
He also aimed fresh criticism at the US Federal Reserve’s chairman, while dismissing polls that show his own popularity slipping. He asserted that he knows “much more” than the chairman of the Federal Reserve, with whom he has sparred over interest rates. He said he was stopping the “gravy train” for “deep state bureaucrats,” but later told ABC he was considering reversing some of the cuts implemented by his Department of Government Efficiency.
Trump has delivered a dramatic fall in the number of migrants crossing illegally into the US. He hailed his hardline immigration policies as a signature accomplishment—one of the biggest “promises kept” from his campaign—and in an interview that aired later on ABC, he cast doubt on the idea that those alleged to be in the country illegally deserve due process.
“If people come into our country illegally, there’s a different standard . . . They get a process where we have to get them out,” he continued. “They get whatever my lawyers say.”
But the economy is a potential political vulnerability as he wages a global trade war.
Speaking at the hub of America’s automotive industry, Trump said car firms were “lining up” to open new manufacturing plants in the Midwestern state.
“You finally have a champion for workers in the White House,” Trump said. “Instead of putting China first, I’m putting Michigan first and I’m putting America first.”
Earlier in the day he softened a key element of his economic plan—tariffs on the import of foreign cars and car parts—after US carmakers warned of the danger of rising prices.
At his rally, Trump also said opinion polls indicating his popularity had fallen were “fake.”
According to Gallup, Trump is the only post-World War Two president to have less than half the public’s support after 100 days in office, with an approval rating of 44 percent. In another poll conducted by the Pew Research Center, 59 percent of respondents disapprove of Trump’s job as president while 40 percent approve. The anti-Trump sentiment is mainly due to the president’s tariff policy (59 percent disapprove, 39 percent approve).
At the conclusion of the rally, he seemed to relish being back in the aura that has dominated nearly a decade of political life, CNN reports.
“We will never back down. We will never surrender,” Trump said. “We will fight, fight, fight and we will win, win, win together. Together, we will make America powerful again.”
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