Made America: what Trump has achieved and failed at in 100 days
Although Donald Trump, as head of the White House, did not resolve the Ukrainian conflict during his first 100 days in power, relations between Russia and the United States have improved significantly. The conflict settlement process in Ukraine has also moved forward. During this period, Trump has achieved some success in resolving the contradictions between Hamas and Israel, ordered the bombing of the Houthis and began contacts with Iran. The American leader even managed to start a trade war by imposing record tariffs on foreign goods. At the same time, the economic situation in the United States itself leaves much to be desired: falling GDP, increased inflation and unemployment, losses on the stock market and a large trade deficit. In 100 days, Trump signed a record number of presidential decrees — 139. And although he himself called this period very successful, the approval rating of the US leader fell to an all-time low.
Trump and the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict
Donald Trump was heading into his second term with a resounding promise: "I will end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours." Then there were words about the possibility of ending the conflict in the first 90 and 100 days. However, by April 30, 2025, the conflict remains unresolved. The US president himself admitted that his words were a figure of speech, and the reality turned out to be more difficult than expected.
"Resolving the conflict in Ukraine will require the hard work of diplomacy," said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The Trump administration, despite its rhetoric, has failed to become a full-fledged arbiter of peace. At the moment, military assistance to Kiev was suspended, and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky received a rebuke from the White House for his unwillingness to follow the path of a peaceful settlement.
Now Trump's rhetoric looks like an emotional swing — the head of the White House is taking turns accusing Kiev and Moscow of slowing down the peace process. It is also increasingly being discussed the possibility of the United States withdrawing from the Ukrainian settlement. Although the conflict was not resolved in the first 100 days, this did not prevent Washington and Moscow from bringing the dialogue out of a dead end. The parties have made significant progress in normalizing bilateral relations.
It's very difficult to understand what Trump is thinking if you just look at what he posts on the Truth Social network, said Diana Sare, a former candidate for the U.S. Senate and president of the Larouche organization.
— I don't think that the president of the United States should conduct diplomacy in this way. It seems to me that this is a bit out of state. But I think there's an openness to it. I think he really doesn't want a war. He understands the aggression of NATO. I do not know what he said to Zelensky during the pope's funeral. But, most likely, it was the same thing that he had said earlier in the White House: "You don't have any cards." But at the same time, he turns around and blames Russia. Perhaps he's hiding something," Sarah said in an interview with Izvestia.
New contacts are underway at all levels, from bilateral meetings of delegations to regular telephone conversations between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have called each other several times, and their first face-to-face meeting is being prepared in the near future, which may take place in Saudi Arabia. The most promising of the achievements is an attempt to restore normal diplomatic relations between the United States and Russia, which will undoubtedly change the situation, since the Obama and Biden administrations have committed complete madness, says Sare.
President Donald Trump attends a bilateral meeting with President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin during the G20 summit in Japan on Friday, June 28, 2019, in Osaka, Japan
— The previous administration staged provocations that aggravated the conflict with the Russian Federation. And Trump's first term, of course, was hampered by the "Rashagate." I think if the United States and Russia can fully establish a dialogue, not only hoping to put an end to this very bloody puppet war in Ukraine, but also working to strengthen relations, the whole planet will benefit from this. It will be very useful to improve relations with China as well. But there is another side. The British, the French, and some hawks in the United States are very unhappy with this potential and are doing everything they can to make it difficult to realize," she says.
Progress in interstate contacts creates hope for agreeing on a framework for a full-fledged truce and the beginning of genuine negotiations (including bilateral ones between Moscow and Kiev). So far, we can only be satisfied with the potential for a full-scale restoration of bilateral relations, diplomatic corps and, possibly, air traffic.
US Foreign Policy under Trump
In addition to Ukraine, the Trump administration has stepped up its efforts on several key fronts of global politics. The issue of Hamas and Israel has received a new impetus: under pressure from the White House and with the participation of Arab mediators, a partial truce and the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip have been achieved, although a final political settlement remains remote. His early statements about the "purchase of Gaza" and the resettlement of Palestinians caused a scandal. They have been compared to "ethnic cleansing". Later, the White House changed its rhetoric, emphasizing that "no one is expelling the Palestinians," but the fallout remained.
Washington also began attacking Yemeni Houthi positions in response to their attacks on ships in the Red Sea, which only increased the degree of escalation in the region. At the same time, Trump resumed communication channels with Iran: through his special representatives, he offered Tehran to return to negotiations on the nuclear deal, subject to the "participation of all regional actors" and guarantees of non-interference in the Syrian and Iraqi conflicts. "Obviously, he will not allow Netanyahu to bomb Iran. At the same time, we are bombing the Houthis. This is a controversial policy," Diana emphasized to Sarah.
The Trump administration has also launched an active trade dialogue with China, accompanying the negotiations by imposing tariffs of up to 145% on a number of key product categories. The goal is to force Beijing to enter into new trade agreements and protect the intellectual property of American companies. However, so far, industry indices have fallen, and global trade has faced new barriers. According to experts, the imposed duties have already led to an increase in logistics costs and a redistribution of production chains, which complicates the harmonization of relations between Washington and Beijing. The United States itself has a serious trade deficit, which is already 1.5 times that of the time of Joe Biden.
Trump's relations with European partners have also worsened, against which he also imposed protective tariffs (he suspended some of them for 90 days). The parties especially disagreed on the issue of resolving the Ukrainian conflict — the Europeans continue to adhere to bellicose rhetoric and support Ukraine. Disagreements also arose on the basis of the White House's demands to increase defense spending. The Republican has repeatedly promised to withdraw from NATO due to the high US spending on the alliance and called on allies to increase spending to 5%. EU countries and the UK can hardly raise them to 2-3%. Relations have also worsened with Denmark over Trump's claims to Greenland.
US President Donald Trump delivers a speech on tariffs in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, April 2, 2025.
There is also no friendly atmosphere on the American continent. In the context of the migration crisis, relations with Mexico have worsened. Duties, illegal import of narcotic substances and Trump's claims to Canada, which he sees as the 51st US state, have spoiled the allied background with Ottawa. Trump also wanted to bring back the Panama Canal.
At the same time, Washington continued its sanctions policy against a number of states, including the Russian Federation, which hinders the full normalization, which has been discussed so much in the framework of the Russian-American dialogue.
Has the slogan "America first" been realized?
Domestically, a record 139 presidential decrees signed in the first 100 days of Trump's second term have become a key symbol of the "return of American priorities." They partially overturned the decisions of their predecessor, and partially introduced new measures, from a departure from the left—liberal paradigm and gender policy to the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the American One. Trump dissolved USAID and even regulated the water pressure in the shower under the slogan "Make the American shower great again."
The fight against the deep state has also become one of the priorities. Elon Musk, who headed the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), carried out mass layoffs, calling it a fight against the tyranny of bureaucracy. However, the American billionaire began to reduce his involvement in government affairs due to the drop in Tesla's profits.
Trump paid special attention to migration policy. Here, all the promises were even exceeded — the authorities deported 139 thousand migrants. For the first time since the beginning of 2019, the fullness of one-party power makes it possible for the Republican Party not only to declare, but also to translate its ideologems into the letter of the law, said Egor Toropov, an American researcher at the Higher School of Economics, Candidate of Political Sciences.
— The first 100 days of Trump demonstrate, on the one hand, the standard steps for a Republican in power to reduce the federal government while increasing the role of free market interactions. This primarily concerns large-scale deregulatory measures in the economy, energy, and education, restrictions on illegal immigration, and reductions in bureaucratic staff. On the other hand, Trump and his team are taking non-standard steps that are not typical of other Republican administrations of recent decades. Among them is the rejection of the status quo in international trade and the forced invitation of countries to dialogue through the introduction of protective tariffs. At the moment, the results of economic protectionism are purely negative," Egor Toropov told Izvestia.
The economic results of the first three months of the presidency turned out to be contradictory. The US labor market failed to show sustained improvement: in March, unemployment rose again to 4.2%, the highest since November last year. At the same time, the level of duties imposed by the administration turned out to be significantly higher than expected, which, according to representatives of the Federal Reserve System, entails an increase in inflation in the coming quarters.
Despite the White House's optimistic statements about "lower oil and food prices," Americans' real incomes have not returned to the levels at the end of last year, and the country's GDP has shown negative dynamics. The large trade deficit and the volatility of stock indices have only increased the anxiety in business circles. "Unfortunately, I don't think he or any of his team really understands the economics of the American system very well," Diana tells Sarah.
Why Trump should be afraid of 2026
Donald Trump ordered the declassification of the archives on the assassination of John F. Kennedy, but the released documents did not bring big sensations, but only complemented the picture of the work of the special services of that time. According to experts, "the new data hardly sheds light on the exact motivation of Lee Harvey Oswald" — the declassification did not meet journalistic expectations.
The main promise of the "American revolution" has remained unfulfilled: sustainable economic recovery has not begun, deep contradictions remain within the country, and foreign conflicts continue. All the failures are already reflected in the numbers. Trump is facing a record low approval rating, which is now only 39% (according to Ipsos). So far, Republicans have nothing to brag about in future congressional elections.
"Trump and his allies in Congress should be able to make all the key domestic policy decisions before 2027: during the November 2026 midterm elections, the Democrats will regain control of the House of Representatives and thus be able to block a significant share of the domestic policy initiatives of the last two years of Trump's presidency," said Egor Toropov.
Thus, the first hundred days of Donald Trump were marked by intense diplomacy, radical domestic reforms, and contradictory economic results. Estimates of his activities range from "the most successful" according to the White House to "the most historic" in the eyes of his supporters and "the most risky and chaotic" according to critics. The final conclusions about the fruits of these hundred days will become clear only later, when the results of the fulfillment of Trump's commitments are summed up and the long-term consequences of the announced initiatives are assessed.
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