FIRST IS THE WORST
The reviews of Donald Trump’s first 100 days are in, and they ain’t pretty.
- You know the polls look grim for President Donald Trump when he starts furiously demanding that someone investigate the pollsters. That’s how he spent the eve of his 100th day in office, as fresh polls are painting a vivid new picture of Americans’ disillusionment with his job as president. Consider this: 59 percent of voters call his chaotic second term “scary,” according to the New York Times. This is the presidency, not “The Babadook!”
- That’s just one damning sign of just how far Trump has fallen in the eyes of Americans in his first 100 days. The Times general approval tracking poll has flipped since Inauguration Day. Back then, most Americans (52 percent) approved of him, while 43 percent disapproved. Now, most (53 percent) disapprove, and only 44 percent approve.
- Voters elected Trump, above all, to squash inflation. How’s that going? Well, nearly 90 percent now believe his tariff plan will raise prices. This helps explain why his CNN approval rating, 41 percent, is lower than any president’s early marks since at least the 1950s.
- Trump’s not the only one whose ratings are burning up in a metaphorical dumpster fire: A total of 57 percent disapprove of gazillionaire Elon Musk’s work with DOGE. Little wonder: One new estimate shows that DOGE may not end up saving any money at all, due to the firings and rehirings, dwindling productivity, paid leave for thousands of federal workers, and legal fees to defend lawsuits. Imagine, all that chaos and consternation… for nothing.
Inside the Trump administration, top officials insist the vibes are great.
- “Trump’s nailed it,” a senior State Department official texted me. “It has utterly broken Democrats to an extent I legitimately never imagined possible.” That’s one way to think about a successful presidency!
- Trump’s team is doubling down on his hyper-aggressive immigration strategy, even though only 43 percent now approve of how he’s handled deportations. They recently plastered mugshots of dozens of arrested immigrants all over the White House front lawn.
- “It feels very, very, very different from Trump 1, in a good way,” a top administration official, who works on foreign policy, told me. “Like, we don’t feel encumbered at all … There’s a sense that we’ve got to get as much of it done this year as we can. There’s also a sense of, like, you know what? They tried everything and failed against us. So, like, fuck it. Let’s go for it, right? They’ve tried everything and they failed, so we might as well swing for the rafters.”
- “It’s not just vibes,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai told What A Day, arguing Trump’s policies will both cool inflation and boost U.S. manufacturing (although many economists remain highly skeptical about both of those).
- Trump and his people seem unbothered by these falling opinion polls. After all, here he is, in the White House surrounded by Yes Men — and not behind bars, which is where this convicted felon might have ended up if he’d lost the last election.
- His sagging poll numbers do matter, whether he likes it or not. Pushing his agenda through Congress gets harder when Republicans sense he’s dragging them down, instead of buoying them up. Just look at Rep. Mike Lawler’s (R-NY) town hall over the weekend, when agitators drowned the swing-district Republican’s attempt to justify Trump’s tariffs by chanting, “Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.”
When a president’s numbers fall, the whole system stiffens against him, and fighting back becomes more popular.
VOTING DAY, EH?
Donald Trump’s repeated promise to turn Canada into the 51st state in America has united Canadians… against him.
Opinion surveys ahead of today’s Canadian election showed the Liberal Party, headed by Prime Minister Mark Carney, with a small lead over the Conservative Party, led by Pierre Poilievre. It’s a remarkable change in the race since three months ago, when Conservatives were leading by 25 percentage points.
After all, that was before Donald Trump barged in, angering Canadians with his nonsensical threats and straight-up disrespect. That’s proven a major disadvantage for Poilievre, who echoes many of Trump’s views on how to run the government.
Carney, however, is viewed as a steady handed centrist who could bring the country together, while under attack from an orange-tinted, Diet Coke-fueled madman. Carney’s background is impressive: He studied economics at Harvard and Oxford, and became the first non-Briton to lead the Bank of England since it was established in 1694.
Damn, it must be nice to be excited about a highly qualified, charismatic leader who’s only 60 years old!
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NEWS NEWS NEWS
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin announced a three-day ceasefire starting May 8. That’s the day before Moscow commemorates Victory Day, a major Russian holiday marking the defeat of Nazi Germany. Over the weekend, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Donald Trump will decide this week whether the U.S. will continue trying to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. So much for ending the war on Day 1!
Trump is expected to sign an executive order today aimed at creating a list of sanctuary cities and states that aren’t complying with his immigration policies. I’m assuming that politicians who don’t comply will be forced to do the most awkward TV interviews of their careers alongside border czar Tom Homan.
Food banks are struggling to provide meals to people in need after the Trump administration cut $1 billion in aid to anti-hunger groups, according to advocacy group Feeding America. The leader of one charity in West Virginia spent $10,000 of her group’s savings to keep the food coming: “It’s like being on ‘Chopped,’ every week,” she said. I don’t like the idea of food kitchens turning into challenging cooking shows, but that’s just me.
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) won’t be seeking reelection this year after his esophageal cancer returned, he announced today. He’s stepping down from his spot on the House Oversight Committee — a powerful post that he controversially won after beating out Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
“60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley rebuked Paramount, CBS’s parent company, during the show on Sunday. “Our parent company, Paramount, is trying to complete a merger. The Trump administration must approve it. Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways. None of our stories has been blocked, but Bill felt he lost the independence that honest journalism requires,” Pelley said, referring to executive producer Bill Owens’s recent departure. “No one here is happy about it. But in resigning, Bill proved one thing: He was the right person to lead ‘60 Minutes’ all along.”
Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) raised eyebrows during a speech last night, in which he came across awfully, dare we say it… presidential? He described Trump’s actions as “authoritarian power grabs” and criticized “do-nothing” Democrats. It’s “time to fight everywhere, all at once,” the billionaire told a crowd in New Hampshire. All right, I’ll say it… sure looks like he’s running.
Washington, D.C. and the Washington Commanders football team reached a $3.7 billion deal to rebuild the RFK Stadium site into a new base for the team. That includes a 177 waterfront-acre development with retail shops and housing on the Anacostia River.
The conclave that will pick Pope Francis’s replacement will convene on May 7, the Vatican announced today. The key to becoming pope is to act like you’re not gunning for the job, the New York Times writes. After watching “Conclave” three times, I feel like I know exactly how this is gonna go down.
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