Donald Trump marked the 100th day of his presidency on April 29, and, according to The Wall Street Journal, his administration is already in choppy waters.
In an opinion piece published on Monday, the Rupert Murdoch-owned publication suggested that the White House needs “a major reset” if it hopes to salvage Trump’s “final years from the economic and foreign-policy shocks he has unleashed.”
One of the shocks, The Journal notes, is the president’s fondness for tariffs, calling it a self-inflicted wound that “could sink his presidency.”
The Associated Press echoed this concern, observing that Trump seems constitutionally unable to stop contradicting himself on the subject.
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“Trump has said he will simply set new tariff rates negotiated internally within the U.S. government over the next few weeks — although he already did that on his April 2 ’Liberation Day,’ which caused the world economy to shudder,” the article noted. China, rather than folding under pressure, has formed new alliances to counter the Trump administration’s aggressive tariff policies.
“China has refused to seek talks, saying it would ‘fight to the end’ in a tariff war, prompting Trump to further jack up the tax rate on Chinese imports to 145%,” The AP reports.
Meanwhile, Trump’s other front — a war on higher education, hasn’t gone unnoticed. The Journal criticized his attacks on universities as a violation of free speech and academic independence.
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On April 22, Larry Jameson, dean of Trump’s alma mater, joined other academic leaders in a unified statement condemning the administration’s stances.
“As leaders of America’s colleges, universities, and scholarly societies, we speak with one voice against the unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education,” the letter stated.
Harvard University has also gone a step further, suing the administration for freezing billions of dollars in federal grants.
The Wall Street Journal’s editorial did acknowledge that “deportation of criminals is worthwhile,” but criticized the practice for denying individuals their right to “due process.”
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton begs to differ. The 2016 Democratic presidential candidate warned on April 17 in a post on X that there is “no safe haven under authoritarianism.”
