By any standard, Donald Trump’s return to the White House has been a political hurricane. In just 100 days, he has rolled out an onslaught of executive actions, reshaped global trade, gutted federal agencies, and thrown decades of American foreign policy into chaos.
POLITICO pulled together a panel of seasoned journalists and editors to help make sense of what they called one of the most disruptive starts to a presidency in modern history. Their conclusion was blunt: this has been a wrecking ball presidency, aimed not just at political opponents but at the foundations of how America governs, trades, and operates on the world stage.
The most damaging action, according to nearly every expert, has been Trump’s aggressive push to reshape global trade through sweeping tariffs. “The tariffs,” said Ankush Khardori, senior writer and legal analyst at POLITICO, “encapsulate many of the most important features of Trump 2.0’s approach to the law.” Trump relied on obscure legal justifications, invented emergencies, and imposed a regime that may be illegal. The results have rattled global markets, triggered retaliation from major trade partners, and undermined the U.S. economy’s stability.
Megan Messerly, White House reporter, called it a “massive reshaping of the global trade order,” even as some tariffs are temporarily paused. “We’re still going to see a dramatic restructuring of U.S. trading relationships,” she warned. Trade reporter Camille Gijs agreed: “It’s sending shockwaves across the world,” she said, describing how the European Union is scrambling to form new alliances and considering closer ties to China.
But the trade war is only one front in what’s become a full-scale assault on the postwar international system. Stanton pointed to the effective dismantling of USAID and U.S. humanitarian aid. “The number of lives saved by U.S. aid per year is in the millions,” he said. Cutting it doesn’t just hurt vulnerable populations — it also wipes out decades of American soft power and leadership.
On the home front, Trump’s immigration crackdown has returned with more force and fewer legal guardrails. Tessa Rogers highlighted how the administration is now working to permanently weaken immigrant due process rights. “A senior White House official told Myah Ward ‘most Americans’ would be ‘shocked’ and ‘appalled at just how much due process an alien can receive.’” The plan isn’t just to deport faster — it’s to remove the legal pathways that make challenging those deportations possible.
Experts also pointed to Trump’s direct hits on the structure of the federal government itself. Stanton warned that the dismantling of key agencies won’t be easy to reverse. “The vast architecture of projects has been disassembled,” he said. “Restaffing the so-called ‘administrative state’ would be a gargantuan undertaking.” Programs have been stripped, jobs wiped out, and oversight gutted.
Some actions came as genuine surprises, even to seasoned political watchers. Khardori singled out Trump’s executive orders targeting major law firms — actions that led to quiet settlements and ongoing legal fights. “I did not see it coming,” he admitted. What shocked others even more was the way firms cooperated. “The great grovel,” Rogers called it, referencing how little pushback there was from the legal establishment.
Yet much of what Trump has done was entirely expected. Pardoning January 6 rioters, for example, came quickly and without apology. “He telegraphed it from the beginning,” Stanton said. What has surprised some is his close alliance with Elon Musk. “Trump loves the idea of the world’s richest man working for him,” Stanton added. That partnership has turned Musk into a governing figure — a move that, while energizing to some, is already becoming a political liability.
Another familiar play from Trump’s book: dismantling the Department of Education. Messerly called this “a longstanding conservative priority,” and one that fits squarely into Trump’s broader effort to concentrate control and remove federal oversight from areas Republicans see as ideological battlegrounds.
And then there’s the money. From Trump family cryptocurrencies to reported multi-million-dollar payments from Amazon for a Melania Trump documentary, Rogers pointed out how Trump has normalized “using the office to try to enrich himself and his allies.”
Some actions got outsized media attention despite having little real-world impact. Multiple experts pointed to Trump’s push to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.” It dominated news cycles for days but did nothing — except, as Messerly noted, get the Associated Press kicked out of the press pool.
What might hurt Trump politically, though, isn’t the theatrics — it’s the fallout. Gijs warned that Trump’s trade war risks isolating the U.S. while driving Europe and China closer together. “This is going to lead the EU to deepen ties with Beijing,” she said, noting a summit between the two already on the books. Stanton agreed, warning that inflation caused by tariffs could be the issue that sinks Trump with working-class voters. “Unless he gets that under control,” he said, “it’ll block out the sun.”
Even Democrats, in some corners, quietly support parts of Trump’s economic policy. “Democrats should be supportive of the president’s moves on reshoring,” said Messerly. Stanton added that leaders like Gov. Gretchen Whitmer have voiced agreement on tariffs aimed at China. That doesn’t mean they back Trump — but it does complicate the political math.
Trump has had his so-called wins. Picking Susie Wiles as chief of staff has kept the White House relatively calm compared to the chaos of his first term. “It’s a tight ship,” Messerly noted. And he’s succeeded in surrounding himself with loyalists who will execute even his most extreme plans without resistance.
But his missteps have been costly. The tariffs may also be his biggest failure — inflicting pain on American consumers, businesses, and trade partners alike. And the nomination of Pete Hegseth as defense secretary, followed by the ongoing “Signalgate” scandal, has exposed serious cracks in Trump’s management of national security. “There are real problems with his lack of experience and management style,” Rogers said.
Some of the damage may still be under the radar. Khardori pointed to the administration’s quiet pullback on white-collar crime enforcement, even as internet fraud skyrockets. “It’s not good for Americans,” he said. “And it’s going to get worse.”
Looking ahead, the next 100 days could bring even more upheaval. Tax cuts, Supreme Court battles, and further international backlash are all on the table. Messerly warned that failure to extend Trump’s tax cuts would be a “huge political problem” for Republicans. Stanton drew a darker comparison: “In his first administration, he fired James Comey and had Charlottesville just after Day 200. Who knows what’s in store this time around?”
What’s clear is this: Trump’s first 100 days have not just been chaotic — they’ve been deeply consequential. The damage has already been done, and the shockwaves are still spreading.
Read the full analysis on Politico.
