No matter how much I accomplish during the ridiculous standard of the first 100 days, & it has been a lot (including S.C.), media will kill!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21, 2017
Well, in 2016 Trump didn't think it was a "rudiculous standard". In fact, he used it as a campaign ad called "Donald Trump’s Contract with the American Voter." In that "contract" he promised he would accomplish a lot of things that he clearly hasn't accomplished or even tried to do. And in some cases he has done the opposite of what he offered.
It's true. The ad, in PDF form, can still be found in Donald Trump's website. The description of the "contract" says:
What follows is my 100-day action plan to Make America Great Again. It is a contract between myself and the American voter — and begins with restoring honesty and accountability, and bringing change to Washington. On the fi rst day of my term of offi ce, my administration will immediately pursue the following:
The "contract" (it literally has Trump's signature and a line for the public to sign) contains the following promises for the first 100 days in office that has NOT happened:
- Propose a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress.
Didn't happen. Not only Trump has not sent Congress a single law (including Trumpcare, which was concocted by Paul Ryan) but it would be impossible for Trump to pass a constitutional amendment, as that type of amendment requires two thirds of the vote in Congress and approval in two thirds of the states.
- A five-year ban on White House and Congressional officials becoming lobbyists after they leave government service.
- A lifetime ban on White House offi cials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government.
Trump claims he made his people sign contracts with him accepting not to become lobbyists. Well, guess what? Remember Michael Flynn, the former Trump National Security Adviser who got fired for his contacts with Russia? Just weeks after he got fired for being living evidence that the Trump campaign did have contacts with Russia, Flynn signed up as a foreign agent representing Turkey. In other words, Flynn became the equivalent of a lobbyist for Turkey. According to Slate:
Just weeks after Flynn was ousted from the Trump administration, the early Trump supporter and campaign adviser registered with the Justice Department’s Foreign Agent Registration Unit for lobbying that his firm—Flynn Intel Group Inc.—did on behalf of Inovo BV, a Dutch consulting company owned by a Turkish businessman with ties to Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Yup. That's the same Erdogan who became a dictator during Trump's 100 days in office.
So either Michael Flynn didn't sign the contract or he did, but the contract is worthless and unenforceable. And that's right in the middle of the 100 days in office!
- A complete ban on foreign lobbyists raising money for American elections.
Oh really? Well, a whole bunch of lobbyists gave Trump record amounts of money for his inaguration. Does that count as lobbying?
Some more empty promises Trump made for the first 100 days:
- Direct the Secretary of the Treasury to label China a currency manipulator.
Trump did the exact opposite and then said China was helping with North Korea, which is, of course, a bullshit excuse.
- Direct the Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Trade Representative to identify all foreign trading abuses that unfairly impact American workers and direct them to use every tool under American and international law to end those abuses immediately.
So far, nothing has happened. And in fact, Ivanka Trump got a buttload of shipments from China with her Chinese-manufactures clothes.
- suspend immigration from terror-prone regions where vetting cannot safely occur. All vetting of people coming into our country will be considered “extreme vetting.”
That's the Muslim ban. But it got shot down twice by the judiciary for being unconstitutional.
And there's more. On the back of the page with those empty promises he printed even more empty promises like so:
I will work with Congress to introduce the following broader legislative measures and fight for their passage within the first 100 days of my Administration:
Work with Congress huh? Let's see what he promised to work with Congress:
- END THE OFFSHORING ACT. Establishes tariffs to discourage companies from laying off their workers in order to relocate in other countries and ship their products back to the U.S. tax-free.
As of day 91 it hasn't happened. It may happen next week, but it won't pass. And like I said, Ivanka got a lot of shipments from China since election day.
- REPEAL AND REPLACE OBAMACARE ACT. Fully repeals Obamacare and replaces it with Health Savings Accounts, the ability to purchase health insurance across state lines and lets states manage Medicaid funds. Reforms will also include cutting the red tape at the FDA: there are over 4,000 drugs awaiting approval, and we especially want to speed the approval of life-saving medications.
Not only Trump never introduced any legislation, but the one introduced by Paul Ryan failed even Trump threatened Republicans to force them to pass it. It failed. A Trumpcare 2.0 is supposed to be in the works and it may be introduced or voted in Congress, but it will NOT include health savings accounts, buying insurance across state lines, or doing anything to the FDA. Why? Because it0s a budget bill intended to avoid a filibuster.
Overall the "contract" mentions 10 differen "acts" that Trump promised to introduce in Congress within the first 100 days of his presidency. He hasn't introduced a single one.
So that's the contract Trump set for himself for his first 100 days in offoce. But since he hasn't accomplished anything, now he calls it "ridiculous."
Actually, let me amend that. He did accomplish the following items that were in his "contract".
1. Racist deportations and harassment of latinos and Dreamers.
2. Announce intention to renegotiate NAFTA. (Although that's pretty dumb: anyone can announce INTENTIONS any time. That doesn't make it real.)
3. Move on with the Keystone pipeline. (Although, technically, that was going to happen with ANY Republican in office).
4. Selecting a replacement for Antonin Scalia in the Supreme Court. (Although, technically, that would've been done by ANY President.)
So Trump hasn't really accomplished much in 100 days. He knows it. The press knows it. And now he's trying to fend off the criticism for doing nothing by saying the 100 days benchmark is a "ridiculous standard."
PS: An American-Ehyptian woman held in prison by Egyptian dictator Abdel Fattah el-Sisi for 3 years was released after Trump quietly negotiated her release. That could be considered an accomplishment. Except we don't know what Trump gave Egypt's dictator in return. We do know Trump gave him something el-Sisi really wanted: to be legitimized by an American president even though he's a ruthless dictator. If that's an "accomplishment", then Trump is a failure.
UPDATE: On April 23, Associated Press released the transcript of an interview one of their correspondents had with Trump on April 21, the day Trump bitched about the 100 day mark. The interview, which is a fine collection of Trump lies about what he has done in office so far, includes this exchange:
AP: You did put out though, as a candidate, you put out a 100-day plan. Do you feel like you should be held accountable to that plan?
TRUMP: Somebody, yeah, somebody put out the concept of a hundred-day plan. But yeah. Well, I'm mostly there on most items. Go over the items, and I'll talk to you ...
So Trump tried to blame his 100-day "contract" on somebody else. Not only he's a liar, but he's also a coward. But there's more. The there's this exchange:
AP: So in terms of the 100-day plan that you did put out during the campaign, do you feel, though, that people should hold you accountable to this in terms of judging success?
TRUMP: No, because much of the foundation's been laid. Things came up. I'll give you an example. I didn't put Supreme Court judge on the 100 (day) plan, and I got a Supreme Court judge.
AP: I think it's on there.
TRUMP: I don't know. ...
Okay, so Trump says he should be held accountable for what HE put out as his 100-day plan and then he says he doesn't even know what he put in his own plan.
So Trump is not just a liar and a coward; he's also an idiot.
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