When we asked readers for their thoughts on President Donald Trump's first 100 days, we received hundreds of responses from many political persuasions - including from the president's own supporters.
Those who voted for Trump did so for myriad reasons. For some, the president is making good on his campaign promises, while others remain hopeful of a payoff of a new Golden Age to come. What do readers think should come from Trump's next 100 days? From the rest of his term? We've published a collection of their responses below. Want to participate in our next Forum? Visit usatoday.com/forum to see what we're talking about next week.
I voted for President Donald Trump because I assumed he'd grab the bull by the horns like he always does - and on some things he has - but if I'm being honest, what he's done on Social Security is a real letdown. I can't say I feel hopeful on that, so that part bothers me.
Everyone is saying "Social Security is going to go away" or "it might get cut," but tell me this: How can that happen? We've been paying into it for years and now they're saying it may not be there? It's not an entitlement - we the people paid for it!
The administration is pointing to all this waste and all this money we've spent on this and that - and we can afford to send billions of dollars to other countries to "help" even when it's not clear we're even helping - but we can't fix Social Security? It makes no sense.
If anything, Social Security benefits should be doubled, but no one wants to touch it.
I think the man's crazy, but Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, had a very valid point about expanding Social Security benefits. If Trump could get that done, he'd be a real hero. I thought maybe once he got in office, in these first 100 days, he'd add it in as a priority but it seems like it's just going to take a back seat again.
I don't have second thoughts about my vote. At least someone's in there finally doing something, and we knew it would be a bumpy ride to get done what has to be done. We have to ride it out, and we knew that going in.
If he can fix everything else in the economy and get this tariffs thing done, open our trade back up and open up our energy, then in the long run that will help. But I know people who are retired and I see what they're getting, and I just can't understand why that isn't a priority. I haven't heard anyone saying anything other than "we're working on it" - and I think we all know what that means.
- Brian Bullerman, Ridgeway, Iowa
The news media is playing up the fact that on various polls, Trump has the lowest approval rating of his first 100 days than any president of this century. Some pundits are actually downright giddy over it. I'm watching this media circus and wondering if these people have ever heard the sports axiom, "It's not how you start, it's how you finish."
Trump has on his professional and political résumé the gargantuan duo of accomplishments of the greatest comeback in American business history and the greatest comeback in U.S. political history. In fact, the man even cowrote the book entitled "The Art of the Comeback!"
To anyone taking glee in his rough start over trying to solve a generations-long problem of America being taken advantage of in trade, does anyone really think that dancing on his grave now is going to age well?
As President Ronald Reagan said about his strategy on the Cold War, "We win, they lose." I predict President Trump will come out on top in the trade war and, by ushering in the Golden Age, will go down in history as the greatest president of all time.
- Eugene R. Dunn, Medford, New York
What have I seen in Trump's first 100 days? I've seen the chaos created in firing government employees; the on-again, off-again approach to tariffs; the appointing of Cabinet members who are clearly, based on behavior, not qualified to be in the role; deporting individuals without due process; and using illegal importation of drugs and drug components from Mexico and Canada as a premise for onerous tariffs.
I support the effort to manage our borders, especially with regard to illegal drugs. I support seeking to force China into fair practice behaviors.
But what Trump has accomplished the most is sowing chaos. I expect us to go into a recession due to his practices with tariffs.
What I hope he'll do next? Actually pay attention to reality.
- Pierre Dube, Chattanooga, Tennessee
Trump is dismantling and destroying the things that made America great. Our Founding Fathers created America to be a constitutional republic. That is specifically what elevated America's glory above other countries and gave a unified pride to its citizens.
I can't support anything that Trump has done or is doing because now I understand that his agenda is self-serving.
The government he wants is not for the good of every person in America. I'm very concerned because he is trying hard to change the laws. He is actively working on removing the checks and balances that are in our Constitution in order to gain complete power. I am also concerned about his cruel treatment of others.
Trump wants to be a great global leader, but he lacks the true strength to be a great leader. He's arrogant and has no compassion for people. He refuses to take responsibility for things he has done wrong. Instead, he casts the blame on someone else.
I voted for him, but I'm very worried now. Trump is ruining our economy. He's too irrational and radical in his actions for anyone with a brain to ignore. It is him and him alone who is crashing our economy.
- Rebecca King, Eustace, Texas
Trump has been most successful at securing the border and removing people who are in the United States illegally, despite the efforts by his opponents to stop him.
It will take time for his economic policies to kick in. The market turmoil is due to emotional investors who react in the short term rather than the long term. If we stay the course, we will see a better trade balance, a migration of businesses back to America, and lower unemployment.
The problem with politics is that it is always in the best interest of a politician to do things that will have a short-term gain, regardless of the long-term implications. Trump is not a politician. His economic policies are designed to make things better in the long run, rather than the short run. Regardless of what anybody thinks about Trump, it should be painfully obvious that we cannot continue down the economic road that we have been on for my entire life.
We have to cut spending. I want these public programs to be available for my children, and unless something is done today to change course, these benefits won't be around for much longer. Trump's Department of Government Efficiency is a start, but unfortunately, it is going to take more than getting rid of waste and fraud to solve our debt problem. My concern is that we will continue to kick this can down the road.
If he can accomplish half of what he's working on, he will have achieved more than any president in my lifetime (which is a pretty long time).