'Wrecking ball': Here are 7 ways Trump’s first 100 days may be 'judged an epic failure'

18 April

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Almost three months have passed since President Donald Trump's return to the White House. Many right-wing media outlets are applauding Trump's second presidency as "promises made, promises kept," but critics and detractors are slamming it as disastrous — from a tanking economy to human rights violations to plummeting tourism.

The Washington Post's Dana Milbank is among the critics.

In a scathing column published on April 18, Milbank argues that "by any reasonable measure," the "first 100 days" of Trump's second presidency "will be judged an epic failure."

Milbank is comprehensive, describing Trump's second term as: (1) "a legislative failure," (2) "an economic failure," (3) "a foreign policy failure," (4) "a failure in the eyes of friends," (5) a "failure in the eyes of foes," (6) "a constitutional failure" and (7) "a failure in public opinion."

"Hopes for cost-cutting under the U.S. DOGE Service, which Elon Musk originally projected at $1 trillion this year, have been scaled back to just $150 billion — and much of that appears to be based on made-up numbers," Milbank observes. "But Trump, whose 100th day in office is April 30, has achieved one thing that is truly remarkable: He has introduced a level of chaos and destruction so high that historians are hard-pressed to find its equal in our history."

Milbank continues, "He has upended global structures that kept the peace for generations. He has aligned America with the world's despots. He has slashed the federal workforce and impaired the government's ability to collect taxes, administer Social Security and fund medical research, among many other things. He has abused his power in startling ways, using the government for personal vengeance and retribution against perceived opponents, harassing law firms, universities and the free press with an authoritarian flourish."

The Post columnist notes that in order to "put this failure in context," he "called two of" his "favorite historians: David Greenberg of Rutgers University and Douglas Brinkley of Rice University."

Brinkley told Milbank that Trump "doesn't come in as a reformer as much as a wrecking ball,” adding, "What we're witnessing with Trump is just raw vengeance and belittling fellow Americans and creating a tinderbox situation that makes people feel we’re in a neo-civil war that could go sideways at any moment."

Dana Milbank's full Washington Post column is available at this link (subscription required).

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