President Donald Trump marked his first 100 days in office with a campaign-style speech to a crowd of fired-up supporters at a rally in Macomb County, Michigan, after recording a tense interview with ABC News.
At the rally, he touched on many of his greatest hits from the 2024 campaign and touted what he deems his successes from the past three months, dismissing abysmal approval rating polls as “fake” and “not legit.”
In a particularly dark moment, a propaganda-style video of deportees being taken into an El Salvador mega prison and having their heads shaved before being locked up, drew chants of “USA! USA!” from the crowd.
In the confrontational interview with reporter Terry Moran, the president doubled down on his China trade war plan, claiming the Chinese will “eat those tariffs,” when it is widely acknowledged that price hikes will be passed on to American consumers.
In the pre-recorded interview, broadcast by ABC on Tuesday evening, there were testy moments regarding the legality of deportations, the work of DOGE, whether Trump 100 percent trusted Pete Hegseth, and the weaponization of the Justice Department.
A flustered and angry president lashed out at both the network and Moran.
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Here’s some of our key reporting as President Donald Trump marks his 100th day in office.
Full story: Trump tells ABC interviewer he has ‘never heard of him’ in testy White House exchange
Mike Bedigan reports.
Stephen A Smith claims Trump’s poor approval rating actually hurts Dems
A recent Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll captured that more than half of Americans — 55 percent — disapprove of Trump’s policies while just 39 percent approve. But the survey offered little relief for Democrats; 7 in 10 Americans said the party was “out of touch” compared to 6 in 10 who said the same about Trump.
Kelly Rissman looks at the numbers.
White House calls ABC ‘openly hostile’ after 100th day interview broadcast
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called ABC “openly hostile” after the network aired its tense interview with President Donald Trump to mark his 100th day in office.
Leavitt praised the president for not being afraid about “taking them to task.”
Trump purges Holocaust Memorial Museum board – including Doug Emhoff
Former second gentleman Doug Emhoff has been removed by the Trump administration from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, he announced in a statement Tuesday.
The museum welcomed Emhoff, who is Jewish, and 11 other President Joe Biden appointees just months ago in January. They were all supposed to serve five-year terms.
“Let me be clear: Holocaust remembrance and education should never be politicized,” Emhoff, the husband of former Vice President Kamala Harris, wrote in a statement announcing his removal.
Michelle Del Rey reports.
Full story: Trump says Americans ‘signed up’ for his trade war with China
Mike Bedigan reports.
ABC interview: Trump responds to accusation he is ‘an authoritarian president’
As the tense ABC interview with the president reached its conclusion, Terry Moran asked Donald Trump what he would say to people who think he is seizing too much power and becoming an authoritarian president like we haven’t had before.
The president said he would hate for people to think that, adding: “I’m doing one thing: I’m making America great again.”
ABC interview: Trump pressed on weaponizing DOJ
Moran asked President Trump whether he was using his powers as president to get personal revenge against law firms — specifically those who have settled with him.
The president responded: “There has never been a president in this country, in the history, that was persecuted like I was persecuted by really crooked people… when you say I’m treating people rough, I was treated rough.”
Trump continued to say that he was not going after people because he didn’t like them, but because he believes they are dishonest.
Source: independent.co.uk