PRESIDENT TRUMP is set to address the first 100 days of his second term Wednesday night, as a former rival gears up to deliver her own punches.
Trump will call into a NewsNation town hall event with Chris Cuomo, the latest stop in his weeklong media blitz to mark his 100th day in office.
Also Wednesday night, former Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver a speech in which she’s slated to critique her 2024 opponent’s administration.
Harris, who is considering running for governor of California, will address the Emerge gala, which supports women who run for office. She’s expected to go hard after Trump, five months after losing to him in the general election.
Harris’s first major speech since leaving office will be shadowed by new polls showing a tarnished Democratic brand. As Democrats seek new leaders, public opinion surveys find the Democratic Party polling at historic lows.
The latest Fox News survey finds Democratic approval at its lowest point ever and trailing Republican approval for the first time since 2014.
A new NBC poll finds only 40 percent have a favorable view of the Democratic Party, with nearly a quarter of all Democrats holding a negative view of their own party. Nearly 90 percent of Democrats expressed a desire for a new generation of leadership.
|
DEM CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS UNDER PRESSURE
|
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has been a magnet for left-wing criticism in Trump’s second term, dismissed a question about his 17 percent approval rating Wednesday.
“Polls come and go. Our party is united. We’re on our front foot, we’re stepping forward, going after Trump and having real success,” he responded.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday teased a new “blueprint for a better America” that he says will primarily focus on new Democratic ideas, rather than on Trump.
“Over these next 100 days, House Democrats are going to lay out a blueprint for a better America,” Jeffries said. “And you will see a vision for this country’s future that isn’t about Donald Trump. It’s all about you. How can we make your life better? How can we put more money in your pocket? How can we lower your costs?”
Three House Democrats on Wednesday asked to have their names removed as cosponsors on articles of impeachment against Trump, a sign the party is not ready to go down that road.
|
DEMS SURVEY THE NATIONAL LANDSCAPE
|
With Democrats leaderless at the national level, a pile-up of potential new contenders are surveying the landscape.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), 35, has drawn renewed interest with her “anti-oligarchy” national tour with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
Ocasio-Cortez dodged a question about her presidential aspirations when asked by Fox News about a glossy, campaign-style video she released from the tour.
“It’s a video,” she responded. “And frankly, I think what people should be most concerned about is the fact that Republicans are trying to cut Medicaid right now and people’s health care is in danger.”
Ocasio-Cortez’s future will come into sharp relief in the coming weeks, as Democrats move to replace Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), the ranking member on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Centrist Democrats chafe at talk of Ocasio-Cortez leading the party, with strategist James Carville telling Fox News Channel’s “The Will Cain Show” they have “staggeringly more talented” options than Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez.
Meanwhile, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) was in the spotlight for Trump’s 100th day, joining him at the Selfridge National Guard base to announce new fighter jets that will effectively guarantee the base’s future.
Whitmer hugged Trump at the event, less than one month after she was photographed hiding her face at an Oval Office meeting with the president.
“For decades, they’ve been trying to save this facility … including your governor, who has done a very good job,” Trump said at the Michigan rally.
“She came to see me,” he added. “That’s the reason she came to see me, by the way, to save Selfridge. She was very effective.”
Elsewhere, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) has thrilled Democrats with his tough talk on Trump.
Some unexpected names could be in the mix too, with former President Biden’s Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo saying she’s considering a presidential bid.
Meidas Touch will host a town hall event this evening with Democratic governors, including Pritzker and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who was Harris’s running mate.
|
TRUMP CASTS BLAME AMID ABYSMAL POLLING
|
Trump on Wednesday kept his entire Cabinet meeting open to the press, where he and his senior officials talked up their work on the economy and immigration, while blaming the media and Democrats for public perceptions of chaos.
“The reason the media attacks this administration as chaotic is because the president is solving the problems the American people set about to solve,” Vice President Vance said during the Cabinet meeting.
Earlier in the day, Trump blamed Biden for the latest stock market drop.
“This is Biden’s Stock Market, not Trump’s,” the president posted on Truth Social. “I didn’t take over until January 20th. Tariffs will soon start kicking in, and companies are starting to move into the USA in record numbers. Our Country will boom, but we have to get rid of the Biden ‘Overhang.’ This will take a while, has NOTHING TO DO WITH TARIFFS, only that he left us with bad numbers, but when the boom begins, it will be like no other. BE PATIENT!!!”
Last year, Trump claimed credit for the stock market rising while Biden was still in office, saying it was a sign investors were predicting he’d win the White House.
The new DDHQ/NewsNation survey released Wednesday found Trump at 44 percent positive and 56 percent negative, putting him “in a considerably weaker position than most of his recent predecessors have been at this stage of his term,” according to The Hill’s Jared Gans.
Republican lawmakers are taking note of Trump’s sagging poll numbers, which could be a problem for the president as he faces the difficult task of advancing his agenda through the GOP’s slim majorities in Congress.
|
💡Perspectives:
• The Hill: Democrats have fallen into a narrative trap with Abrego Garcia.
• The Nation: Why Democrats need an opposition and proposition agenda.
• The Liberal Patriot: Lessons from Canada’s liberals.
• The Hill: Trump’s first 100 days is a blast from the dark past.
• The Guardian: Why is America sleepwalking as autocracy approaches?
|
Read more:
• Trump’s first 100 days: A timeline.
• GOP lawmakers unnerved by Trump’s intensifying fight with judiciary.
• 5 takeaways from Trump’s contentious 100-day interview with ABC.
• Youngkin sparks GOP firestorm after wading into Va. election controversy.
• House GOP campaign arm touts ‘clear path to victory’ in midterms.
|
|
|
© Charly Triballeau, AFP via Getty Images
|
Mixed economic data as tariffs increase uncertainty
|
U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) shrank during the first quarter of 2025 due to a surge of imports ahead of the implementation of President Trump’s tariffs.
The Hill’s Sylvan Lane writes:
“Economists had expected U.S. GDP to fall amid a steep increase in orders of foreign products, which could be far more expensive once Trump’s full slate of tariffs take effect.”
Inflation cooled, and there was a surge in new car purchases, as consumers bought automobiles before a potential spike in prices from tariffs.
Still, the negative GDP number — the first in three years — is a tough headline for the Trump administration as it asks for patience during the trade war with China and uncertainty around tariffs.
Trump said Wednesday companies were investing trillions of dollars in new manufacturing plants in the U.S. but that it would take some time for the plants to get up and running.
“It takes a little while to get those facilities built but they’re coming in with big, big numbers,” he said.
Trump continued to rail against Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell during his rally in Michigan on Tuesday night, accusing him of refusing to further cut interest rates for political purposes.
In his interview with ABC News, Trump said his supporters “did sign up” for the volatility of trade war because “this is what I campaigned on.”
A new Reuters survey finds Trump’s approval on the economy is at the lowest it’s been in either his first or second term.
A liberal group is organizing nationwide protests for Thursday and expects thousands to turn out against what they describe as Trump’s “war on working people.”
|
💡Perspectives:
• The Hill: America loses no matter how many tariff deals Trump cuts.
• The Free Press: Thought leaders weigh in on Trump’s first 100 days.
• The Atlantic: The polls are sending Trump a message.
• New York Post: Trump decisive, bold and in a hurry.
|
Read more:
• Senate GOP faces key test over Trump tariff policy.
• Companies sharply slow hiring in April: ADP.
• 5 ways Trump has changed the economy in his first 100 days.
• Americans locked on inflation as top financial concern: Gallup.
• Trump invites Musk to stay at White House as long as he wants.
|
GOP divisions emerge as budget negotiations start
|
Republicans are divided over several key issues as they begin hashing out the details for what to include in the budget bill containing President Trump’s agenda.
Democrats will be watching closely for any cuts to social safety net programs that make up the bulk of the federal budget, as Republicans hunt for significant spending cuts to reduce the deficit.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee has been charged with finding $880 billion in savings over the next 10 years, with most of it expected to come from health programs.
The question the committee faces: What to do about states that expanded Medicaid to include people with slightly higher incomes under the Affordable Care Act?
The Hill’s Nathaniel Weixel reports:
“Republicans have been looking for ways to roll back that extra spending to save billions of dollars. Cutting those enhanced payments would bring significant savings, but it would represent a major cost shift to states, something that moderate and swing district Republicans have balked at.”
There’s also the matter of state and local tax (SALT) deduction caps.
Republicans who represent high-tax blue states, such as New York, New Jersey and California, insist they won’t support a Trump agenda bill unless it includes a significant increase in the deduction cap.
“This is a top priority for me,” said Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.). “So it is imperative that there be a SALT fix in the bill. Either it’s going to be fixed or it’s not. And if it’s not, I ain’t voting for the bill.”
Several members of the GOP’s SALT caucus will meet with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Ways and Means Committee chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) on Wednesday, The Hill’s Mychael Schnell reports.
And while most Republicans are down to defund NPR and PBS, some swing-district Republicans are skeptical.
At his Michigan rally Tuesday night, Trump had a message for GOP lawmakers that might seek to torpedo the bill.
“Every once in a while, you have a grandstander Republican,” Trump said. “We have some grandstanders. Not many, not many — but remember who those grandstanders are and vote them the hell out of office.”
Still, Republicans are mostly aligned on several big-ticket items.
The House GOP will allocate billions of dollars toward Trump’s deportation and border security efforts, including a controversial new provision that will charge $1,000 for migrants seeking asylum in the U.S.
|
💡Perspectives:
• The Bulwark: Five big questions about Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’.
• The Harvard Crimson: Harvard fights in court but retreats on campus.
• City Journal: Trump will win his fight with universities.
• The Wall Street Journal: Judge Dugan, the migrant and the law.
• John Kass: Democrat judges spit on the rule of law.
|
Read more:
• Ukraine ready to sign Trump’s minerals deal.
• Dems take aim at Hegseth in $150B defense budget debate.
• How Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda shook the world in first 100 days.
|
|
|
Someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up to get your own copy: TheHill.com/Evening. See you next time!
|
|
|
|
