WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Saturday marked his 100th day in office by saying he had brought “profound change” to Washington and reaffirming that “my only allegiance” is to those he governs.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Saturday marked his 100th day in office by saying he had brought “profound change” to Washington and reaffirming that “my only allegiance” is to those he governs.
On a threshold that Trump has both derided and tried to define, the president also said he is putting Americans first even as he learns on the job.
“My only allegiance is to you, our wonderful citizens,” Trump said in his weekly radio address.
It was a preview of a day on which Trump traveled to Pennsylvania to emphasize such priorities as American manufacturing, better trade deals for the U.S. and his underdog victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton in November. He also was promoting a still-to-be defined tax cut plan and the nation’s strong economy, on which many of his political fortunes rest.
Meanwhile, North Korea’s missile launch Saturday signaled its continued defiance against the U.S., China and other nations, on which Trump tweeted: “Bad!” Asked on CBS’ “Face the Nation” if military action would follow a nuclear test by the North, Trump responded: “I don’t know. I mean, we’ll see.”
Trump’s 100th day events were set in politically important Pennsylvania, which he won with 48 percent of the vote. It was the first time the state had voted for a Republican presidential candidate since George H.W. Bush in 1988.
In Pennsylvania, Trump was visiting a shovel company when he signed an executive order directing the Commerce Department and the U.S. trade representative to conduct a study of U.S. trade agreements. The goal is to determine whether America is being treated fairly by its trading partners and the 164-nation World Trade Organization.
The AMES Companies in Pennsylvania’s Cumberland County has manufactured shovels since 1774. After Trump’s visit there, he was to hold a campaign-style rally in Harrisburg, the state capital. Democrats planned their own rally nearby.
Trump’s 100-day rally was a bit of counterprogramming from the former reality television star.
Back in Washington, media organizations and a few stars were gathering on Saturday for the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. Trump, who has derided journalists as “dishonest” and even enemies of the American people, is the first president since 1981 to stay away from the event. That year, Ronald Reagan was recovering from an assassination attempt.
At the 100-day mark, Trump chose instead to spend the evening with people who helped elect him and, polls show, remain largely in his corner. Though the White House created a website touting its accomplishments of the first hundred days, Trump has tried to downplay the importance of the marker, perhaps out of recognition that many of his campaign promises have gone unfulfilled.
“It’s a false standard, 100 days,” Trump said while signing an executive order on Friday, “but I have to tell you, I don’t think anybody has done what we’ve been able to do in 100 days, so we’re very happy.”