Trump’s First and Next 100 Days

On with Kara Swisher

New York Magazine

News Commentary, News, Society & Culture

4.2 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 8 May 2025

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The first few months of President Trump’s second term have been chaotic, to say the least. There have been an unprecedented number of executive actions that have triggered an equally impressive number lawsuits; a new government “department,” headed by the world's richest man and launched via executive order, that ousted nearly a quarter of a million government workers; and a global trade war. Trump and his cabinet have been crowing about these achievements, but his approval ratings for the first 100 days are abysmal — tied for last place, with himself. Kara speaks to three Washington insiders about what this all means for the next 100 days, whether we'll see rollbacks or more full steam ahead, what role Congress will play, and what the potential long-term fallout could be. Our guests are: Carol Leonnig, an investigative reporter at The Washington Post. She’s written three best-selling books, including two she co-authored about the first Trump presidency: A Very Stable Genius and I Alone Can Fix It. Ashley Parker, a staff writer at The Atlantic. Previously, Ashley spent eight years at The Washington Post, where she covered Trump’s first presidency, President Biden’s first two years in office, and the 2024 presidential campaign. Ben Terris, a Washington correspondent for New York Magazine. He is the author of The Big Break: The Gamblers, Party Animals, and True Believers Trying to Win in Washington While America Loses Its Mind and a former feature reporter covering national politics for The Washington Post. Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Are you all exhausted? You must be.
0:02.0	Like you, we also have kids, though. So it's hard. Like, is it Trump? Is it kids? Like, what is it?
0:06.0	It's on.
0:07.0	It's on.
0:08.0	It's on.
0:09.0	And I'm Carol Swisher. This is on with Kara Swisher,
0:22.5	and I'm Kara Swisher. President Trump has been on a media tour for the past week, talking up his first 100 days in office.
0:29.1	I say talking them up, but he and his Republican accolades are basically the only ones doing that.
0:34.6	Trump's approval rates are in the toilet. On average, he's polling at about 43%. Compare that to the
0:40.6	first 100-day rating for all U.S. presidents dating back to Reagan. Trump is tied for last place with
0:46.3	himself. Unfortunately, the reason is that he has spent the time unleashing chaos on the country.
0:52.0	He signed an unprecedented slew of executive actions,
0:55.5	immediately triggering multiple lawsuits. He sent Elon Musk and his Doge Boys to run roughshod
1:01.1	through government agencies, ousting nearly a quarter of a million government workers. He's launched a
1:06.2	global trade war that has thrown the economy into a spiral, And he said he doesn't know if he really needs
1:11.8	to uphold the Constitution. Also, nobody gets a doll. It's been a lot. Republicans have been sitting
1:18.8	mostly on the sidelines while Democrats have been wringing their hands, but unable to do much.
1:23.6	Dems are also not polling well. So what does this mean for the next 100 days? Will we see
1:29.1	rollbacks or more full steam ahead? And what will the fallout be? My guest today are three
1:34.8	Washington insiders who collectively have decades of experience reporting on national politics
1:39.1	and the White House. Carol Lenig is an investigative reporter at the Washington Post. She's written three best-selling books, including two she co-authored about the first Trump presidency, and she's currently working on a book about Trump and the DOJ, which is coming out this fall. Ashley Parker is a staff raider at the Atlantic. Previously, Ashley spent eight years at the Washington Post where she covered Trump's first presidency.
2:01.7	She and her colleagues Michael Scherer and Jeff Goldberg had a face-to-face interview with Trump in April after a very strange phone call.
	...

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