Trump’s first 100 days, but who is counting?

IT APPEARS US President Donald Trump has the capacity to slow down time. The end of April marked 100 days since Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States but boy, have those 100 days felt like a lifetime.

Whichever side of the political aisle you occupy, it’s not hyperbole to suggest the global rule book has been well and truly torn up, political norms circumvented and the globe on edge about what the next stroke of Trump’s presidential pen might bring.

If you are a Trump supporter or an international fan of his abrasive, no-holds-barred, guns blazing political style you could argue that a fresh way of doing things was needed and the niceties and previous etiquette only resulted in the status quo being upheld. Well, perhaps that could be the argument if the results, thus far, had been more positive than negative. Alas, Trump’s domestic report card should make tough reading for the White House with ABC reporting an approval record of 39 per cent, the lowest recorded since the White House battled to stem the effects of the Great Depression in the 1930s.

In terms of an overarching policy, it seems Trump 2.0 has decided on protectionism as a cornerstone of his administration’s global remit with a distinctly ‘America First’ ethos. A burgeoning sense of nationalism feeds into the strategy. We have seen the president so far attempt to use his executive powers in a fashion that is extraordinary, impacting everything from race and inclusion policies under the DEI umbrella. For true MAGA acolytes, there are no insults as frequently thrown as accusing someone of being a ‘DEI hire’ despite the fact that the biggest beneficiary of the policy has been white women.

REMINISCENT OF TOTALITARIAN REGIMES

The dismantling of the federal government as we know it specifically under the Elon Musk-led DOGE initiative will have wide ranging consequences for American government departments and the people they serve for years to come (even if the next administration is minded to reverse some of these edicts). The irony is that while the White House attempts to cut down on what it calls ‘federal waste’, in the same breath Trump is using the federal government as a battering ram to push back against institutions and policies that run contrary to his agenda.

In a letter to the academic and wider community, on April 21, Harvard University’s president, Alan Garber, laid bare the scale of the battle with the White House. He announced a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s move to freeze billions of dollars in federal grants, blasting it as an illegal attempt to ‘impose unprecedented and improper control’ over Harvard’s operations.

Now you might not care what an Ivy League institution with billions in the bank has to say about the president of the United States, but the wider issue is the attempt to control the very essence of knowledge and learning; the ability of institutions to serve their students, and generate ideas and independent thought. The concept that ‘you teach exactly what we’d like, how we’d like and to whom we’d like or we slash your funding’ is reminiscent of totalitarian regimes and if America does not want to be tarred with this brush then there must be a sustained challenge to the White House on this.

Many of these seemingly internal moves have hit America’s reputation on the global scene with some countries offering travel advice to their citizens wanting to visit, warning of potential detention and unrest. In the last quarter, tourism in the United States is down by an estimated 12 per cent against this time last year. If money truly talks, it’s speaking very clearly here. Betting on the US is not a sure thing these days.

REALISTIC REFLECTION

Many in the Caribbean have been quietly watching and hoping that the US pulls back from some of the more dangerous rhetoric, especially as it pertains to economics and immigration, points that I’ve covered in previous columns. With leisure, politics and economics closely intertwined between Caribbean nations and the United States, there is a right to be concerned.

If President Trump‘s first 100 days have taught us anything it is that his administration is not particularly inclined to worry about collateral damage and overachieving consequences when making sweeping decisions that can end up ensnaring innocent parties in its net. This isn’t the Caribbean going to Washington with a begging bowl it’s simply a realistic reflection of the power that the US can wield when it comes to the internal matters of CARICOM nations. Washington coughs, the Caribbean catches a cold

The stock market index is down 15 per cent thanks to the confusing – and some argue misguided –tariffs strategy. Many Caribbean portfolios are invested in the US and a dip of this magnitude will hurt retirement funds, pension pots, savings and a lot more besides. On a wider scale, the impact on Caribbean economies could be catastrophic if a full blown trade war erupts. Take the current 145 per cent tariffs on all imports from China. This figure includes a 10 per cent baseline tariff introduced in early April, 2025, and an additional 125 per cent ‘reciprocal’ tariff effective from April 9.

UNEXPECTED IMPACT

Addressing the region in her capacity as Chair of the Caribbean community, Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, issued a stark warning:

‘My brothers and sisters, our Caribbean economies are not very large. So, we are, and have always been, at the whims of global prices. If Europe and China and the US and Canada and Mexico are all putting tariffs on each other, that is going to disrupt supply chains, that is going to raise the cost of producing everything, from the food you eat, to the clothes on your back, to the phone in your pocket, to the car you drive down the road, to the spare parts that you need for critical infrastructure. That means higher prices for all of us to pay, and sadly, yes, this will impact all of us, regardless of what any of our Caribbean governments will do.’

The message was a rallying cry to brace ourselves for impact but also to unite and recognise the power we still have by supporting our own and looking to the rest of that global community to increase trade and political ties.

Trump’s first 100 days has had the unexpected impact of uniting – to some extent – the rest of the global community who have recognised that a diversification of power and prestige is long overdue. The United States is not the only show in town and by throwing Washington’s weight around, this administration has reminded us of that pertinent fact. One hundred days has felt like a lifetime in politics but there are still 1,361 more days of the Donald left to go, but who’s counting, right?

Amina Taylor is a journalist and broadcaster. She is the former editor of Pride magazine and works as producer, presenter and correspondent with Press TV in London.