SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
President Donald Trump marks 100 days in office next week, a period that's included dramatic shifts in domestic policy and international relations, as well as uncertainty for many Americans. NPR's senior contributor, Ron Elving, joins us on. Ron, thanks so much for being with us.
RON ELVING, BYLINE: Good to be with you, Scott.
SIMON: And the president began his new term with some of his highest approval ratings ever. How has he spent that political capital?
ELVING: He spent it aggressively and with few of the restraints he had in his first term, the generals and government veterans of his first term have been replaced by loyalists, and the Congress that shaped much of his first term now takes direction from the White House. So we are seeing far less filtered Trump, and he is willing to spend down that supply of political capital. He's gone after his top policy targets such as border security and the larger issues of immigration, but he's also touted historic increases in tariffs on imports, a policy he insists will bring back an earlier era of U.S. manufacturing dominance, but one that consumers fear will bring back a more recent era of higher inflation. He has also moved to realign the United States in international relations, including in its relations with Europe and Russia.
SIMON: And realigning the federal government, specifically with Elon Musk and his chainsaw and the DOGE king (ph).
ELVING: Yes, perhaps the most enduring image of the first 100 days, Musk in his black hat and dark shades and the chainsaw, showing how he'll cut federal spending. He threw out a figure of $2 trillion in savings over 10 years. This week, though, when he announced he would be spending less time in government and more with his car company, Musk spoke of his team being on track to find a hundred and fifty billion in savings and not 2 trillion.
SIMON: And how does - has all of this so far affected Donald Trump's popularity?
ELVING: His polls have softened since January. A Fox News poll this week showed Trump still had majority approval on border security, but on no other issue. Other major national polls have found Trump falling back down to the low to mid-40s in overall approval and also on the economy, which had been his strongest issue in November's election.
SIMON: And, Ron, as you read those figures, are the doubts about President Trump in this moment more about his policies or how he has implemented them?
ELVING: Substance matters, but so does style. Trump tends to rely on a pattern of negotiation. He issues an ultimatum, then delays its effects, then restates his support for the ultimatum, then modifies it. Now, that does tend to keep adversaries off balance, as he has in mind. But what many people want from government is predictability. They want to know their benefit check will be on time, or the government policy affecting their job or their business will be consistent. They want to know the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board will be in place for a given period of time. Now, certainly trading partners want to know what to expect from the United States. Trump says there's a mega deal in the works with China and something like 200 other trade deals getting done, but a lot of people are waiting to see the goods.
SIMON: Isn't that what a lot of people who voted for Donald Trump wanted, a president who was going to shake things up?
ELVING: Yes, that's right. Move fast and break things, as they say. Don't worry about consistency with the past. A new poll last night from the New York Times and Siena College found 42% said they found Trump's style of governing, quote, "exciting." But the same poll found 53% saying they found it scary and 66% saying it was chaotic. People like certain aspects of their lives to be exciting, but not so much the things they depend on, such as affordable health care or veterans' benefits or educational programs.
SIMON: And in public opinion surveys, any concern for many that seems to be the seeming lack of respect that the president's had for other branches of government, such as the courts?
ELVING: That's right, and we've seen dozens of federal judges rule against Trump already this year. These rulings from appointees of both parties have prompted some grudging compliance, some borderline defiance, and some lawyerly workarounds that allow Trump to proceed. This week brought an escalation on this front, as FBI agents in Milwaukee arrested a county judge. Now, this judge, Hannah Dugan, had a dispute with immigration officers who tried to arrest a defendant in her courtroom. Now, the judge was booked and released and faces arraignment next month. And yesterday, Trump's attorney general, Pam Bondi, warned that there will be more of this if judges resist what she called lawful orders.
SIMON: NPR's Ron Elving. Thanks so much for being with us.
ELVING: Thank you, Scott. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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