Newly Elected Trump on Whirlwind for the First 100 Days of his Second Term

By Genevieve Ndwiga, ’28

(This essay was originally published in the Spring 2025 issue of Dragon Tales.)

The second inauguration of Donald J. Trump took place on January 20th 2025. Trump is only the second President so far to have two non-consecutive terms as the President of the United States, and the most important thing after winning the election is being sworn in in  front of thousands of people. Every President goes through the process of swearing by their oath, just as their vice president and cabinet did. But what every President does after their inauguration differs significantly. In former President Biden’s case he spent the first 100 days of his presidency reversing many of Trump’s executive decisions, such as signing the American Rescue Plan to improve the economy after the effects of COVID-19. In the first 100 days of Biden’s Presidency he signed a total of 42 executive orders, in the 37 days Trump has been in office he has signed 73. 

In the months that Trump has taken office, he’s made it his priority to exclude intersex and transgender people from simply  existing in America and as of January 20th he signed an executive order that forces transgender individuals to state their sex from birth on their passports instead of their preferred gender identity. The White House website states that the executive order is “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism And Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government”, and goes on to say that men are trying to self identify as women to get into women-exclusive spaces, such as domestic shelters, bathrooms, and single-sex activities. The explanation of this executive order also says that transgender people are putting the dignity and safety of women at risk as well as “a corrosive impact not just on women but on the validity of the entire American system.” This executive order is extremely harmful to transgender people in America, and to say that they invalidate the federal system is absurd, considering that only 1% of the U.S population identifies as transgender. Trump has openly bragged about “stopping all government censorship” and bringing back free speech, but trans people in America cannot even express themselves freely without being at risk. 

On the topic of censorship under the Trump administration, the President requested that Associated Press (AP) reporters be removed from the Oval Office because they refused to recognize the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. The vice president of the AP stated “As a global news agency that disseminates news around the world, the AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences,” as justification for reporters not using the Gulf of Mexico’s new name, but Trump was offended by this and kicked the AP’s reporters out of presidential briefings that took place in the Oval Office. As a result, the AP sued 3 White House officials for blocking their access to the Oval Office, stating that it was an infringement of their First Amendment right of freedom and speech and Fifth Amendment rights to due process. In addition to this the  Trump administration is attempting to wipe images from military branches that are deemed as supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Among the flagged photos is an image of the Enola Gay plane that dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan in World War II. It’s very likely that this image was flagged as DEI because of the word “gay” that is printed on the front of the aircraft. Many of the flagged images also include Black and Hispanic men and women who were involved in the military. This just goes to show that Trump will continue to censor things that he disagrees with, including minority groups that he believes to be inferior. 

Trump is also costing many Americans their jobs, and has issued executive orders that encourage mass firing of federal employees. His reasoning; he believes a smaller federal government will hold more accountability towards Americans, and that there are several thousand unnecessary jobs that must be eliminated. The White House website announced that the following government agencies will be eliminated: the Presidio Trust, the Inter-American Foundation, the United States African Development Foundation, and the United States Institute of Peace. All of these entities have important jobs but the most notable one is the United States African Development Foundation, which donates to African countries and provides foreign aid. It has been active since 1980 and since then has invested 265 million dollars in grants to growing African enterprises, while also helping keep the peace between countries in Africa and the U.S. On March 6th the Department of Government Efficiency, better known as DOGE, which is run by Trump’s new right hand man Elon Musk, attempted to break into the USADF building. They tried this on two separate days, on the first day they were escorted out by U.S marshals but on the second they entered the building and attempted to gain access to the foundation’s computer systems and files. On top of Trump deciding that certain government entities aren’t needed, he has also deemed it necessary to place extreme budget cuts on USAID. USAID’s main focus is to eliminate global poverty and provide foreign aid. Forty percent of funding provided by USAID goes to family planning programs in over 30 countries. These funds supply contraceptives and medical services to over 47 million women, and have prevented high-risk abortions and unplanned pregnancies. The withdrawal of these funds could result in increased maternal deaths as well as increased poverty due to the expenses of an unwanted child. All these budget cuts will ultimately have a negative impact on America’s relationship with other countries, and also put people who rely on this funding at risk.

 Yet another of Trump’s beliefs is that placing reciprocal tariffs on imports from other countries will make Americans more wealthy, and increase productions in the U.S. This however, is not the case because tariffs on imports from places like China, Canada, and Mexico will make things more expensive for consumers in the country. Canada is responsible for a large amount of oil imports to the U.S, and with tariffs placed on Canada, gas prices will rise because it will cost more for Canada to export the oil. Many cheaper items that are imported to the U.S are from China, which Trump recently placed an additional 34% tariff on top of two 10% tariffs that were placed in February and March. This only means higher prices for the average American, which some might not be able to afford with their current salary. Trump has placed tariffs on 90 countries so far. As well as the European Union, and a majority of countries in East Asia, which take up a significant percentage in U.S imports. The cost of automobiles will also go up, as cars from well known brands such as Hyundai and Toyota are exported from East Asia. Tariffs have also affected Global Stocks, which have dropped a considerable amount since Trump’s inauguration. 

Donald Trump’s belief that the  Department of Education isn’t necessary for schools nationwide is damaging to the country. On March 20th Trump issued an executive order that is focused on “Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities” where he states that the funding given to schools from the Department of Education has “plainly failed our children, our teachers, and our families”. He has since pulled around 42 million dollars in COVID relief funds from schools in Michigan that were being saved for pre-approved projects that intended to improve air quality and enforce safety protocols following the pandemic. As for the effects on schools in Massachusetts, Senator Elizabeth Warren is starting a “Save Our Schools” campaign, working with parents, students, and teachers to spread awareness about the potential consequences that could come from the abolishment of the Department of Education. Warren has also stated that she will work with lawyers to file lawsuits against the Trump administration in order to defend public schools. Despite Elizabeth Warren’s efforts, harm will still come to funding that is given to our school, as Trump declared that he is closing the Department of Education and returning authority to the states. The issue with Trump’s executive decision to let the states take on more responsibility in their respective schools is that the majority of public schools nation-wide rely on government funding. For private schools the Department of Education does not provide any funding, but it’s very costly to attend a private school every year. The average tuition per year for a private school in the United States is around $12,000, which is unaffordable for many families. Public schools are significantly more accessible for all children, especially those who live in a below average salary household, but without the funds that the Department of Education provides it will be a struggle to give students an adequate education. 

The Trump administration’s executive orders so far are extremely harmful to a large majority of Americans, from censorship and discrimination to mass budget cuts. It’s clear that the country is on a downward spiral due to the extreme executive decisions that Trump has made. People all over the country are unhappy with Trump’s actions, and many protests have broken out in many different states. On April 5th there was a nationwide protest that pulled large crowds that disapproved of Trump, and the crowd of protesters at the Boston Common neared 100,000 people. Several Republicans are against the decisions Trump is making and the Senate passed a bill to revoke the tariffs on Canada. However, even if people are opposing Trump, there still needs  to be a real change in how conservative politics has gotten in recent years. Americans need progressive ideas in the government, which is the complete opposite of Trump’s agenda. All of the executive actions he is trying to enforce are only taking our country back in time.