What Trump's first 100 days in office looked like

What Trump's first 100 days in office looked like

SAY what you will about Donald Trump, but his first 100 days in office have been a riveting ride.

He’s made job creation central to his agenda, picked a fight with North Korea and had his campaign’s alleged links to Russia be put under the FBI’s microscope.

While the media has heaped scorn on him, the President gave himself an A+, saying “I truly believe that the first 100 days of my administration has been just about the most successful in our country’s history”.

As divergent as their appraisals may be, it is not up to the media or President himself to judge how he has fared since taking office. It is up to the people.

Mr Trump chose the historical city of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in the US’s northeast, to celebrate his 100th day with a massive rally.

Pennsylvania is a notable feather in the President’s cap because the pundits did not believe he could win the state, which usually leans towards the Democrats.

The people at the Harrisburg rally couldn’t speak highly enough of their leader, but away from the bright lights and the cameras, a more nuanced picture emerges.

News.com.au chose to approach Harrisburg residents in a food court 4km south of where the rally was being held to get a sense of how everyday Americans rate Mr Trump on his 100th day.

“I think he is doing all right,” Harrisburg painter Clarence Davis said.

“I think we needed a change from Obama, that’s for sure. All he did was travel and meet celebrities. He didn’t do nothing for the people.”

Mr Davis said that now Mr Trump was elected, it was time for the country to embrace him, warts and all.

“He is in now, give him a chance; maybe it will turn out better than we thought,” he told news.com.au.

“A lot of people don’t care for him because of his arrogance, but his attitude isn’t important. It’s what you do for America that counts.”

Diamond Knier, a mother to a four-year-old boy, says she represents many of the difficulties Harrisburg people face everyday.

She grew up in foster care and admits to having poor English and maths skills because she didn’t graduate high school.

She works multiple jobs as a cleaner that pay minimum wage to make ends meet.

A Hillary Clinton supporter, Miss Knier believes Mr Trump is out of touch with these hardships.

“It’s a lot of struggle and with him coming from a good, wealthy family, I don’t think he knows about struggle,” she told news.com.au.

“One job is not enough.

“We’re settling, but at the same time we don’t want to settle. We want to be what we see on TV. We think, one day that will be us.”

She acknowledged that Donald Trump was trying to create new jobs, but said he needed to focus on low-skilled positions and adequate training.

“We are not all educated like Trump’s kids,” she said.

“Jobs are important but we all don’t get family that we can get money from.”

John Mears, who works at a church-run food bank in the city, agreed that the President wasn’t doing enough to help out the county’s poor.

“If he is visiting, I think he should go to where the poor people are,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s increasingly aggressive rhetoric towards North Korea has some Harrisburg locals on edge.

“We should mind our own business,” waitress Tori Collier, 25, said of the growing tensions between the US and the rogue state.

“I like that he’s tough and that he’s not backing down, but it’s life and death. We don’t want to start another war, especially not with North Korea.”

Security guard Alex Smith, 25, was also concerned about America’s reputation overseas under a Trump presidency.

“He wants to do the right thing, but how he is executing it is not the ideal way,” he told news.com.au.

“You have to think about how people look at our country at the same time.”

Mr Smith also cautioned Mr Trump against biting off more than he could chew with his ambitious agenda.

“Yes, we need reform, but he’s forcing everything to get it at once.

“He started from a company, he is good at companies, but a whole country is not a company.”