April 26, 2025
Trump’s First 100 Days: A Scorecard of Wins, Waits, and Wobbles
By M. Ray Evans
As President Donald Trump’s second term barrels past the 100-day mark (April 30th, 2025), conservatives across America are taking stock of a presidency that’s hit the ground running with bold moves, yet left some promises on the sidelines and sparked a few head-scratching moments.
The Good: A Conservative Comeback in Full SwingTrump’s return to the White House on January 20, 2025, kicked off with the same fire that got him elected. He’s unleashed a wave of executive actions -- 130 executive orders, 35 proclamations, and 36 memorandums by mid-April -- that show he’s serious about reshaping the out-of-control federal government and keeping one of his core campaign promises.
First, immigration enforcement is back with a vengeance. The Laken Riley Act, signed into law on January 29, 2025, requires ICE to detain illegal immigrants accused of theft-related crimes or assaulting police officers. It also lets states sue the Department of Homeland Security for failing to enforce immigration laws -- a big win for state rights and accountability. ICE arrests have surged 627% compared to the Biden years, with over 20,000 illegal migrants detained in February alone, and border crossings have dropped by 95%. Trump has gone after high-priority targets, including suspected members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua under the Alien Enemies Act. Despite critics like Ezra Klein claiming Trump is “disappearing” people, the reality is he’s lawfully deporting illegal immigrant-criminals to their home countries, others to nations willing to accept them -- often with safer, more dignified transportation than the dangerous routes they took to get here.
On the economic front, Trump’s fight to extend the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) has conservatives fired up. With the TCJA set to expire at the end of 2025, Trump’s team is pushing to keep lower tax rates, bigger deductions, and the child tax credit -- policies that let working families and businesses hold onto more of their hard-earned cash.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), spearheaded by Elon Musk and his team, is a standout victory, delivering on Trump’s promise to gut the federal bureaucracy. DOGE has slashed tens of thousands of federal jobs. On top of that, around 75,000 employees, including over 20,000 at the IRS, have taken deferred resignation offers, opting for paid leave through September in exchange for leaving their posts. These cuts, targeting probationary workers and agencies seen as bloated, are a conservative dream come true, trimming waste and reining in a government conservatives view as out of control.
Trump’s foreign policy has also scored points with the America First crowd. His brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, led by special envoy Steve Witkoff, shows he can still close tough deals on the world stage.
Perhaps the most powerful win is Trump’s pardon of January 6 defendants. Keeping a campaign promise, he granted clemency to those convicted for their actions at the Capitol, a move that’s energized conservatives who see these prosecutions as politically motivated attacks. Pair that with the firing of federal prosecutors and FBI agents tied to those cases, and it’s obvious Trump is committed to dismantling what many conservatives view as a biased justice system.
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https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2025/04/trump_s_first_100_days_a_scorecard_of_wins_waits_and_wobbles.html
