President Trump’s first 100 days were unprecedented, from his vow to end “American carnage” to his continued promises to build a Mexican border wall. But if you thought those 100 days were action-packed, recall the outrageous tweets, Russia revelations and health-care squabbling since. Here’s what happened in Days 101 through 200, in the words of members of the Trump administration and Post Opinions contributors.
Revisit Days 1-100 of the Trump administration
President Trump entered office on Jan. 20 with a vow to end “American carnage.” Read a sampling of what Trump and others in his administration said and did in the 99 days that followed.
“If Trump, who only recently became Republican, wants to win until we’re tired of winning, there’s an obvious path to consensus. Alternatively, he and the members of the Freedom Caucus can celebrate the virtues of partisan polarity and ideological purity — in a very small room.”
“It is beyond sad that this is what passes for a ‘win’ for President Trump and the Republican majority in Congress.”
“It’s the people we love — our children, friends and neighbors — who are the inspiration behind our American Health Care Act, which we passed in the House on Thursday.”
“Given the bill’s many other controversial provisions, few in Congress or the media talk much about how the AHCA would cut Medicaid by $839 billion over 10 years.”
“Yates’s testimony is particularly damning because it shows she clearly tried to warn the White House that [former national security adviser Michael] Flynn had not only engaged in ‘problematic’ conduct but also that he had misled [Vice President] Pence, who unwittingly then transmitted those deceptions to the American public.”
“Think about this, the sitting president of the United States announcing that he is not a crook — well, in his telling, not a suspected crook — as he fires the man who has been leading the investigation of his presidential campaign’s possible involvement with Russia.”
“I know of no former senior Justice Department official — Democrat or Republican — who does not view [FBI Director James B.] Comey’s conduct in July to have been a grave usurpation of authority.”
“Historians will note that this is the first commission, paid for with taxpayer money, that flows directly from a president’s overheated tweets.”
“To wait for the results of the multiple investigations underway is to risk tying our nation’s fate to the whims of an authoritarian leader.”
“Presidential obsessions with ‘tapes’ are perilous.”
“By all accounts, the president is impatient with process and study, preternaturally confident in his own knowledge and instincts, and indifferent to, and perhaps contemptuous of, the institutions of government designed to help him succeed.”
“Ponder the irony: These geniuses were so appalled by Trump sharing sensitive intelligence with the Russians that they shared even more sensitive intelligence with the media — and thus the entire world — in order to demonstrate that Trump cannot be trusted with sensitive intelligence.”
“In other words, it’s appropriate for Trump to say anything he wants. If Trump says it, it’s by definition appropriate.”
“Today’s lesson in How Washington Really Works begins with the 11th Commandment: ‘Thou shalt retain documentation of all communications with the boss.’ ”
“As the appointment of a special counsel to investigate the Russia mess has Washington buzzing with nascent impeachment talk, 25th Amendment scenarios and rumors about resignation, it is worth remembering how tenaciously Trump pursued power, along with five key assets he has to maintain his grip on it.”
“[Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III] brings such credibility that if and when he says ‘there is no “there” there,’ responsible media will accept it.”
“President Trump’s journey to the Middle East illustrated yet again how the country central to the spread of this terrorism, Saudi Arabia, has managed to evade and deflect any responsibility for it.”
“When it comes to foreign affairs, [President Trump] is heedless of history, susceptible to blandishments and supremely gullible.”
“More interesting is the fact that Trump has had more to say about the Manchester monster than Portland’s homegrown right-wing terrorism.”
“President Trump’s budget demonstrates the costs of accepting lies as a normal currency in politics, broken promises as a customary way of doing business, false claims of being ‘populist’ as the equivalent of the real thing and sloppiness as what we should expect from government.”
“Trump was the party guest whom no one really wants to deal with but has to — because he has more money than anyone else. The party guest who shows up and berates the hosts for not paying for their fair share of the defense spending cake.”
“Such back channels can add stability and predictability in foreign relations. What’s not okay is when an incoming administration seeks to undermine the policies of the incumbent.”
“Wrong. We don’t fabricate sources and these days we don’t have to look hard to find them. Right now they’re talking about Jared Kushner — and have nothing nice to say.”
“President Trump and his followers are stepping up their attacks on the press. In both word and deed, they have set out to challenge the very assumption that a free press is a crucial and indispensable part of our democracy.”
“A curious thing happened on President Trump’s way out of the Paris climate accord. American mayors, governors, corporate leaders and others immediately committed to meeting the agreement’s terms anyway.”
“Trump’s actions were mostly symbolic and political. They were grandstanding, intended to impress his core supporters.”
“This is vintage Trump — impulsive and cruel, without an ounce of class or human decency.”
“Here is the deal: Sometimes Trump will help the cause, and sometimes he will hurt the cause. Everybody wishes things were different, but here we are.”
“I don’t see political genius in the invective coming from Trump these days. I see an angry man lashing out at enemies real and imagined — a man dangerously overwhelmed.”
“Never before has a nominee for FBI director borne such a high burden to show that he will put the FBI’s independent application of the law above all other considerations.”
“None of these witnesses invoked executive privilege or national security. They just didn’t want to answer.”
“These details are red meat for a prosecutor.”
“Trump lives for loyalty but seems incapable of showing it.”
“There was a time when airing unproven allegations of coordinating with the Kremlin was seen as bad form. Now it is common practice in Washington.”
“In short, nothing Sessions said undercut the argument that the president fired his chief nemesis in the Russia scandal, in the ultimate act of obstruction.”
“Mr. Trump struck exactly the right tone.”
“Richard Nixon didn’t have Twitter, but Donald Trump does.”
“In our view, a little more impatience about democracy isn’t such a bad thing.”
“For its part, the United States is more interested in negotiating an end to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program than helping its captive millions.”
“Well, yes, there could have been tapes — just as there could have been a legitimate Trump University.”
“A grandmother who helped raise you is dying but you can’t go visit her? Pshaw, say the Trumpkins. You lived with your aunt and uncle when your parents were deployed overseas and now can’t go to their wedding anniversary party? Too bad!”
“The president’s unhealthy obsession with ‘Morning Joe’ does not serve the best interests of either his mental state or the country he runs. ”
“Trump’s persistent attacks on women affirm what feminists have been saying all along: that sexism is still pervasive at all levels of American society.”
“Trump has now called for total repeal of the Affordable Care Act, with no guarantee of any specific replacement later, or even a guarantee that any replacement would ever materialize at all.”
“Its goal is nothing less than the supercharging of recent Republican efforts to disenfranchise Democratic voters and permanently tip the scales of elections in the GOP’s favor.”
“If this sensitive data is to be collected and aggregated by the federal government, then the administration should honor its own recent cybersecurity executive order and ensure that the data is not stolen by hackers or insiders.”
“Trump has been hammering CNN for months and months, calling it ‘fake news’ and escalating his attacks after the network one week ago announced the resignations of three employees after a screwed-up story on a Trump ally. At the same time, CNN is the very network that has done the most to hire and pay commentators ... who’ll do anything to defend the president.”
“Unfortunately, when President Trump accuses the mainstream media of being ‘fake news,’ too often the journalists being targeted don’t ignore it or merely address it internally. Instead, they react with public outrage, their popping veins nearly bursting through their thin skins.”
“What is wise policy? Even as Trump ratchets up the pressure, he should quietly urge China to take the lead in a diplomatic solution.”
“In front of this monument to unfulfilled expectations of distant allies, this memorial to the horrors of a Europe riven by brutal nationalist struggle, Trump offered his support to a Polish government that is both the most nationalist in Europe and now the most isolated in Europe.”
“Trump’s words could have been delivered by almost any American president of either party in the past century.”
“All new American presidents desire a fresh start, regarding both domestic policies and foreign diplomacy. ... But applying this impulse to Russian-American relations today serves Putin’s interests, not ours.”
“After months of categorical denials, we now have an admission of attempted collusion, at least, involving three top-ranking figures in the Trump campaign.”
“No single event standing alone may prove the case. But when assembled together, those individual bricks may build a wall — a big, beautiful wall — that excludes any reasonable doubt about what happened.”
“The Russia scandal has entered a new phase, and there’s no going back.”
“An incriminating email chain has made it impossible for the administration to deploy its always flimsy argument of last resort — that the whole story is just ‘fake news.’ ”
“There is good reason to feel uneasy about having anyone appointed by Trump lead the FBI at this moment.”
“No. It. Isn’t.”
“All children, except two, grow up: Peter Pan and Donald Trump Jr.”
“Mounting opposition to civil asset forfeiture — and the extremely unfair and unjust way it works in practice — has caused legislatures across the country to implement reforms. … And Sessions wants to undo all of that.”
“Has there ever been a more cynical abdication of presidential responsibility?”
“A ‘watch it fail’ approach to Obamacare, when the crisis is real and the consequences for poor children are so enormous, is not just bad politics; it is also immoral.”
“It is vital that the good people who function as the anchors of the Trump administration stay in place and serve for as long as they can.”
“Trump has done no evident reflection on the obligations to the public that accompany the massive public authority that has been entrusted to him.”
Above: A cartoonist’s take on Spicer’s departure from the White House
“Scolding the media; lying and relying on bogus facts; stiffing legitimate questions: That inaugural moment in the briefing room said all that you needed to know about his tenure.”
“Can a president pardon himself? Four days before Richard Nixon resigned, his own Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel opined no, citing ‘the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case.’ ”
“If he really did pardon his aides, his family or himself to head off Robert Mueller’s inquiry, the move probably would be constitutional but ultimately self-defeating for the president.”
“That’s the trouble with Kushner’s defense in the Russia imbroglio. He’s essentially arguing that he isn’t corrupt — he’s just in over his head.”
“Hey, I get it. Financial assets — like meetings with Russian officials — can easily slip one’s mind.”
“Trump’s lesson for 30,000 young men was that the bullies are right and that humility and self-sacrifice are for suckers.”
“Tweet to your heart’s content, but stop the wildly inappropriate attacks on the attorney general.”
“What Trump did was especially galling because transgender Americans now in the military have displayed more courage than their commander in chief, who never served.”
“We don’t have to accept Scaramucci’s definition of service to the country, nor Trump’s understanding of what it means to act presidential.”
“Trained eyes foresaw something this cataclysmic.”
“It’s remarkable to consider that there was a time not too long ago when the Grand Old Party was known for being serious, sober, a little boring, but above all, responsible.”
“To the rescue ... rode two brave women and a war hero stricken with cancer.”
“Trump’s approach to crime is the same as his approach to just about everything else. He doesn’t have the patience or interest for nuance.”
“Kelly, who has rendered extraordinary service and sacrifice to the nation, just signed up for what may truly be an impossible mission: bringing discipline, order and strategic focus to the chaos that is the Trump White House.”
“Does President Trump think he needs to fire someone every week in order to maintain viewership?”
“Getting rid of ‘The Mooch’ was a fantastic way to begin. But here’s the problem. The person flooding oxygen into the inferno Kelly is tasked with bringing under control is the man who hired him.”
“There’s nothing clean about the slate that Kelly inherits. It has been sullied and poisoned and spat upon by aide after aide.”
Above: A cartoonist’s take on the Donald Trump Jr. statement
“The paternal invocation seeks to harness — it hijacks — the primal ferocity of parental love in the service of political self-preservation.”
“The idea that discrimination against whites is such a significant problem that it demands Justice Department action is positively ludicrous.”
“It’s heretical to say so, but he may be right. This legislation limits presidential flexibility at the very time it may be most needed to conduct delicate negotiations with these adversaries.”
“Once again, we see Trump’s inability to recognize the danger posed to us by Russia and, worse, his own conduct in forcing Congress to act on its own initiative.”
“Drastic cuts to legal immigration levels would hurt economic growth and result in fewer jobs for Americans.”
“If he were an immigrant, there’s a decent chance he’d get kicked out of the country.”
“Reports that special counsel Robert S. Mueller III has empaneled a grand jury in the ongoing investigation of the Trump campaign and potential Russian collusion are entirely unsurprising. This development isn’t a nothing-burger, but it doesn’t suggest anything we didn’t already know.”
More stories
President Trump’s first 100 days: In his words and ours
Here’s a sampling of what Trump and his administration did in the opening weeks of his term, and what Post Opinions columnists and contributors had to say about his record.
We asked you to describe President Trump’s first 100 days. Here’s what you said.
These were some common themes among nearly 3,800 reader reviews of the Trump presidency so far.
