Well, the fastest 100 days in modern presidential history have officially come to a close. In many ways, Elon Musk's signature "move fast and break things" quip has personified the entire second Trump administration thus far. Between signing hundreds of dynamic executive orders, beginning the process of cutting untold sums of dollars of bloated bureaucracy, rounding up and deporting thousands of illegal alien criminals, ramping up a trade war with Communist China, and issuing stern rhetorical rebukes to everyone from wayward federal judges to truculent foreign leaders, Trump has overseen a frenzied presidential tear out of the starting gate the likes of which we have never seen before.

Trump's immigration agenda, the centerpiece of his successful 2024 presidential campaign to recapture the White House, has not disappointed. "Border Czar" Tom Homan has exceeded expectations, overseeing and (largely) implementing a remarkably successful operation to identify, catch, and remove many of the more notorious illegal aliens out on the loose throughout the U.S. interior. But the administration has also faced massive resistance from rogue, recalcitrant lower-court judges, many of whom have themselves risked a full-on constitutional crisis—the very "crisis" the media erroneously ascribe to Trump himself—by arrogating unprecedented and illegitimate powers to themselves. The administration will need to work closely with its congressional allies to meaningfully check this judicial hubris posthaste—especially as it pertains to fully executing its immigration agenda. As of now, rogue lower-court judges and their so-called "nationwide injunctions" constitute the number one threat to the second-term Trump immigration agenda.

On the foreign stage, many of Trump's initiatives on the world stage are a work in progress. Trump has thus far been unsuccessful in brokering a Russia-Ukraine peace deal, although the latest signs are that such an accord could be in the offing. We shall see what happens. In the Middle East, Trump has correctly given Israel free rein with Hamas in Gaza, but he is also in the midst of negotiating a potentially catastrophic second Iran nuclear deal. Will the administration ensure that any negotiated Iran nuclear deal truly ensures zero uranium enrichment for the fanatical ruling mullahs? It's unclear. In Europe, meanwhile, Trump and Vice President JD Vance have nobly egged on our continental allies to get their acts together in terms of ceasing the censorship of free speech and pulling their own weight in military spending. In the Americas, Secretary of State Marco Rubio correctly seems intent on resuscitating the Latin American-centric "Monroe Doctrine" of American statecraft—but on the other hand, Trump himself also seems to have personally done all he could to toss Canada's recent federal election to the deeply hostile Liberal Party. Why? Who knows.

On the economy, many Americans have begun to sour on the administration due to Trump's at-times aggressive tariff policies—especially those on China. But Trump is a decades-long true believer on the issues of tariffs, reshoring manufacturing and strategic supply chains, and generally re-nationalizing as much of the economy as possible. His second-term tariff policies collectively amount to a massive economic and political wager, and it remains to be seen whether that wager will pay off. Aside from tariffs, inflation and unemployment numbers are generally stable, if not quite ideal. Trump's stance on Chinese tariffs is righteous and correct, but the thorny politics of the issue threaten to cause headaches for down-ballot Republicans next November. On the other hand, however, it is far too early to start hitting an electoral "panic" button. Congressional Republicans freaking out about the tariffs need to give the president a little more time—let him cook, as it's often said. The "Liberation Day" reciprocal tariff rollout earlier this month was a bit much, but the American people understand the stakes when it comes to China, in particular.

In sum, there are simply too many live balls up in the air right now to give President Trump a full "first 100 days" report card. We should have a better indication of where things stand after 100 more days. But if the economy doesn't completely tank from diminished overall trade volumes and potentially spiked retail prices for consumers, Trump should remain in broadly good political shape as we head toward the second half of 2025. Most important, Trump's immigration agenda removes massively popular with the American people—as does the laudable fat-trimming agenda of Elon Musk's DOGE, if not necessarily Musk himself. Trump and his Republican allies should talk about, and focus on, the immigration issue as much as possible.

And if nothing else, there is always the fact that however controversial a specific Trump policy or stance may be, there is a very high likelihood that Democrats and their own policies will be even more popular in comparison. That ought to be some serious solace!

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Our additional highlighted recent Newsweek op-eds include selections from Kevin Sabet, Sinan Ciddi and Jonathan Schanzer, and Joseph Epstein and Alex Grinberg.

Have a great rest of your week! We'll be back next week.