WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 The White House on Monday opened a weeklong celebration of Donald Trump鈥檚 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 鈥渦nprecedented success” on the border effort and “we鈥檙e going to keep doing it, full speed ahead.鈥
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.鈥
The weeks since President Donald Trump returned to office have been a whirlwind of activity to show Americans his administration is relentlessly pursuing his promises. (AP Video: Mike Pesoli / April 28, 2025)
About 139,000 people have been removed so far, according to the White House. Deportations have occasionally lagged behind Democratic President Joe Biden鈥檚 numbers, but Trump officials reject the comparison as not 鈥渁pples to apples鈥 because are crossing the border now.
Later Monday, Leavitt held a second briefing exclusively for 鈥渘ew media,鈥 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 , 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.
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 on his agenda.
鈥淭he first time, I had two things to do 鈥 run the country and survive; I had all these crooked guys,鈥 he said. 鈥淎nd the second time, I run the country and the world.鈥
Presidents have marked 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 ” .”
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 , and only about half of Republicans say he鈥檚 mostly had the right focus. Another one-quarter of Republicans say it鈥檚 been about an even mix of right and wrong priorities, and about 1 in 10 say he鈥檚 focusing on the wrong things.
And among Trump’s own supporters, the share of Republicans who say he has been at least a 鈥済ood鈥 president has fallen about 10 percentage points since January.
Other polls conducted in recent weeks have found similar levels of dissatisfaction with Trump鈥檚 first few months, particularly with his economic policies and approach to tariffs.
Trump lashed out at the results on social media as 鈥淔AKE POLLS FROM FAKE NEWS ORGANIZATIONS.鈥
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 , 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 鈥渟elf-deport,鈥 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 鈥渟anctuary city鈥 jurisdictions.
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Associated Press writer Linley Sanders contributed to this report.
