White House focuses on border crackdown as it marks 100 days for Trump's
second term
[April 29, 2025]
By MICHELLE L. PRICE and CHRIS MEGERIAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Monday opened a weeklong
celebration of Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office by focusing on
his border crackdown, an area of relative strength for the president at
a time when there are red flags for him in the latest round of polling.
Yard signs with mugshots of immigrants who have been accused of crimes
like rape and murder were posted across the White House lawn, positioned
so they would be in the background of television broadcasts outside the
West Wing. Tom Homan, Trump's top border adviser, told reporters there
has been “unprecedented success" on the border effort and "we’re going
to keep doing it, full speed ahead.”
Immigration is Trump's leading issue in public opinion surveys, and
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a morning briefing
the administration is in "the beginning stages of carrying out the
largest deportation campaign in American history.”
About 139,000 people have been removed so far, according to the White
House. Deportations have occasionally lagged behind Democratic President
Joe Biden’s numbers, but Trump officials reject the comparison as not
“apples to apples” because so many fewer people are crossing the border
now.
Later Monday, Leavitt held a second briefing exclusively for “new
media,” where Trump-aligned social media influencers asked friendly
questions and applauded at the end.
Tuesday will be Trump's 100th day in office, and the Republican
president plans to mark the day in Michigan, where he will hold a rally
in Macomb County, an automotive hub north of Detroit. After relatively
little travel so far in his term, Trump will also deliver a commencement
address Thursday at the University of Alabama.
Trump is also doing a number of interviews timed to the 100-day mark,
including an Oval Office interview with ABC News that is to air Tuesday
night. He also talked with journalists from The Atlantic magazine, a
publication he has frequently attacked for its critical reporting.
Trump told The Atlantic he feels more powerful in his second turn in the
White House. His administration is stocked with loyalists, and he's
become even more confrontational with a judicial system that at times
serves as a check on his agenda.
“The first time, I had two things to do — run the country and survive; I
had all these crooked guys,” he said. “And the second time, I run the
country and the world.”
Presidents have marked the initial 100 days of their terms since
Franklin Delano Roosevelt moved swiftly to counter the Great Depression
after taking office in 1933.
Trump wasn't so bullish about the idea during his first term, when he
was plagued by setbacks, investigations and turnover in his ranks, at
that time calling the 100-day mark " an artificial barrier."
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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, with White House
border czar Tom Homan, speaks with reporters in the James Brady
Press Briefing Room at the White House, Monday, April 28, 2025, in
Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
But now he's trying to harness the moment to mark the ambitious
agenda he's pursued in his first months. Leavitt said Trump had
already signed almost as many executive orders as Biden did during
his entire term.
But many Americans believe Trump has mostly been focused on the
wrong issues.
Americans are nearly twice as likely to say Trump has been mostly
focusing on the wrong priorities as to say he has been focusing on
the right ones, according to an AP-NORC survey, and only about half
of Republicans say he’s mostly had the right focus. Another
one-quarter of Republicans say it’s been about an even mix of right
and wrong priorities, and about 1 in 10 say he’s focusing on the
wrong things.
And among Trump's own supporters, the share of Republicans who say
he has been at least a “good” president has fallen about 10
percentage points since January.
Other polls conducted in recent weeks have found similar levels of
dissatisfaction with Trump’s first few months, particularly with his
economic policies and approach to tariffs.
Trump lashed out at the results on social media as “FAKE POLLS FROM
FAKE NEWS ORGANIZATIONS.”
As he's pushed to crack down on illegal immigration, Trump has drawn
criticism as he has strained the limits of executive power, attacked
judges who've ruled against him, sent hundreds of alleged Venezuelan
gang members to a mega-prison in El Salvador in defiance of a court
order and balked at a Supreme Court order that his administration
must facilitate the return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly
deported to El Salvador.
His plans to carry out a mass deportation have not yet shaped up,
but the White House is ramping up efforts to encourage people who
are in the country illegally to “self-deport,” with actions that
include stiffer fines and incentives to leave, including airfare and
stipends.
His administration has pointed to the steep drop in the number of
illegal border crossings as an early and significant sign of
success.
Trump signed two executive orders later Monday related to
immigration, including one directing state and federal officials to
publish a list of “sanctuary city” jurisdictions.
___
Associated Press writer Linley Sanders contributed to this report.
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