President Trump’s first 100 days are in the history book. I’ve watched and listened for a week (as I’m sure you have) as the various pundits have analyzed, critiqued, laughed and applauded his first 100 day accomplishments or failures, whichever perspective they used for their analysis. (By the way: isn’t it odd that if you listen to 10 conservatives for his grade, there’ll be an A+ grade but none lower than an A-. But if you listen to 10 liberals, they all give him an F.)
I’ll weigh in simply by saying this: he signed 28 bills into law, signed more Executive Orders (almost all of which overturned Obama E.O.’s) than any President since Truman, he interfaced with a couple of dozen foreign leaders included President Xi of China, nominated and saw the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, reduced illegal alien apprehensions at our southern border by 71%, watched the largest increase on the stock market by percentage in U.S. history, saw almost 1 million new jobs reported by the Labor Department, rolled back dozens of superfluous regulations on numerous businesses to immediately spur growth, launched a missile strike against Syria because of their chemical weapon attacks, and dropped the MOAB bomb in Afghanistan killing approximately 100 ISIS fighters. He did all of this with the Liberal Left and the Leftist Media reporting continually of his first 100 day failure while a majority of Americans think he’s done OK in spite of getting no credit for anything he accomplished.
What grade do I give him for the first 100 days? A solid A, but not an A+. Why not an A+? The great negotiator and 
businessman who has a record for being one of the best deal makers on Earth lost his touch at negotiating and getting deals done that he said he would get done in the first 100 days. But there’s a reason for that — Congress.
During his campaign he promised he’d build a wall across our southern border; he promised massive tax cuts for the middle class; he promised the repeal and replacement of Obamacare; he promised that he would stop immigration from countries that harbor terrorists and are known for sending them worldwide until we could be guaranteed complete and accurate vetting of those coming to the U.S.; he promised he’d institute policies that would put more people back to work than we’ve ever had. All of those promises that HE could initiate by himself (and did initiate) are listed above. The ones listed two sentences ago he CANNOT do by himself — Congress has to initiate them. And even though Congress told Americans and him they had a repeal/replace Obamacare plan for 6 years, they did NOT put it forward in his first 100 days nor agree on any repeal/replacement in his first 100 days. They did NOT appropriate money to build the wall between Mexico and the U.S. That cannot happen without Congress. He issued two Executive Orders temporarily halting immigrants from 5-6 different of these know terrorist countries, but the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals halted both. (It is interesting to know that Congress could have passed a law stating the exact same things as his E.O.’s that would have effected the desire results and that the 9th Circuit could not have stopped. Congress failed to act.)
In short, President Trump has far exceeded what most in America thought humanly possible for him to accomplish in his first 100 days. And he would have completed much more if it was not for Congress. He had a great first 100 days. Congress? A resounding “F.”
What happens now? Read what follows very carefully. It will bubble beneath the nightly television news headlines, the morning front page newspaper headlines, and will at most be whispered about on the radio shows of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Glen Beck. One of the following WILL happen:
- Congress — specifically the GOP members of both the House and Senate — will finally step in line with this President, work with him on an honest basis to craft bills for the promises he made to Americans for which they elected him, then join him for a signing ceremony for each of those laws;
- Congress (including House Speaker Ryan and Senate Majority Leader McConnell) will continue to stall and delay any substantive actions on all of the above as the President continues to keep his promises to voters. If/when this happens, this President will declare war on the GOP, and will personally open a massive attack on them all that will result in a “fruit-basket turnover” in the 2018 mid-term elections, starting with the Republican primaries. His campaign will find REAL Americans who will only commit to enact what Americans want enacted, they will follow through when elected. If you think the Tea Party tore up the GOP in 2010 and 2012, if the GOP Establishment forces this action, re-election pursuing Republicans will come face to face with the Goliath of deal making, and most of will fall by the wayside.
Here’s what both the Democrats and Establishment Republicans seem to be missing: this is something he does NOT want to do. His actions demonstrate that he much prefers to peacefully negotiate mutually beneficial results in every deal in which he engages. But his actions also show he is all-in on getting done what needs to be done.
None of this is about him or about his winning. It is genuinely about fulfilling the promises he made (all with the concurrence of the GOP at the time) to Americans for which they gave him their vote. And he genuinely believes all of these things when implemented in U.S. policy both domestically and internationally will accomplish all that Americans hope for.
His detractors do NOT understand the basis of negotiations and the fallout that comes with failed negotiations. He promised to get all these things done that led voters to elect him. Voters know that no President can get legislation passed without Congress. Mr. Trump can already simply say to GOP voters, “I promised repeal/replacement of Obamacare and the Republican Congress told us all they had the plan and would do it. They failed. That’s all I could do…the fault lies at the steps of the Capitol.” He would be telling the truth! He promised to build the southern border wall. But he cannot do that without Congress. “IF” these are not accomplished he can honestly say the fault for not doing so belongs to Congress, not the President.
Am I sure of this? Absolutely. Why? I’ve been in sales my entire life and know how to sell and who is and who is not a good sales person. I acknowledge the one thing that gives him an immense edge in these negotiations: he is a far better salesman than almost any Republican or Democrat in Congress thinks. That gives him a huge edge in dealing. The fact that GOP Establishment members either do not understand that or believe that gives him a huge opening in negotiating with them. And they do not understand that.
What happens if the GOP balks? Make no mistake: he does not care who comes on board as long as about 215 in the House and about 60 in the Senate are willing to vote “yes” on these important issues. In his case it matters not if they bray out their vote or snort it through their trunk. If you didn’t know this you should: Party means NOTHING to him. A vote is a vote.
