Trump touts 100-day record in Michigan amid concern about economy

WARREN, Michigan – US President Donald Trump touted what he described as a series of major economic wins and forcefully attacked Democrats, including former president Joe Biden, during a rally in Michigan on April 29, as polling showed Americans growing more sceptical of his hardline approaches on trade and immigration.

During a campaign-style rally meant to commemorate his first 100 days in office, Mr Trump said his moves to impose tariffs on the trading partners of the US could lead to a resurgence in domestic manufacturing.

“We had the greatest economy in the history of our country,” he said of his first presidency, from 2017 to 2021. “We did great, and we’re doing better now.”

Americans have cooled on aspects of Mr Trump’s performance in recent weeks. In particular, people are fretting about his economic stewardship amid stubborn inflation.

Mr Trump renewed his criticisms of Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell, saying the head of the central bank was not doing a good job.

He doubled down on calls for Congress to slash taxes, a plan that non-partisan budget analysts said could add trillions to the nation’s US$36.6 trillion (S$47.8 trillion) debt.

“In the coming weeks and months, we will pass the largest tax cuts in American history, and that will include no tax on tips, no tax on social security, no tax on overtime,” Mr Trump told the crowd in Warren, which is home to the General Motors Technical Centre and located about a dozen miles from downtown Detroit.

He slammed “radical left lunatics”, briefly sparred verbally with a heckler, and polled the crowd for their favourite nicknames for his predecessor, Mr Biden.

Mr Trump, who spoke in front of a banner that read “The Golden Age”, paused to show supporters a slickly produced video montage highlighting the results of his administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration: alleged gang members getting their heads shaved and put in prison. The crowd cheered.

Speaking briefly at a National Guard base before the rally, he touted his administration’s investments in defence.

“I’ll be supporting a record-setting US$1 trillion investment in our national defence,” said the US President, speaking before dozens of troops, as well as his Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Democratic Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

He told the crowd at the military base in Selfridge that the base would get 21 Boeing F-15EX jets.

Ms Whitmer said in a statement that the move secured the base’s mission and was a “huge, bipartisan win for Michigan” that will protect jobs.

Economic concerns

Earlier on April 29, Mr Trump signed an order to soften the blow of his auto tariffs with a mix of credits and relief from other levies.

At the Warren rally, he cast his tariffs as an economic lifeline for Michigan.

“With my China tariffs, we’re ending the greatest job theft in the history of the world,” he said to cheers. “China has taken more jobs from us than any country has ever taken from another country.”

Mr Trump added that he thought a trade deal with China was on the horizon. “But it’s going to be a fair deal,” he said.

Polls show Americans are not convinced of his economic vision.

In a three-day Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on April 27, 42 per cent of respondents approved of Mr Trump’s performance so far, while 53 per cent disapproved. That is down from 47 per cent approval in the Reuters/Ipsos poll in January.

Just 36 per cent of respondents approved of Mr Trump’s economic stewardship, the lowest level in his current term or in his prior term.

Fears of a recession have surged in recent weeks as he has launched a global trade war, hiking tariffs to a level that economists warn can cause trade with some countries – notably China – to grind nearly to a halt. The moves have shaken both investors and companies.

Still, the audience in Michigan was largely unconcerned.

Mr Paul Ruggeri, 65, a retired steelworker, said he was fine with experiencing some short-term economic pain to support Mr Trump’s policies.

“I don’t want the economy to tank, but we can’t continue down the road we’re going,” he said.

“We’ve got to make changes. It’s going to be painful for a little while. We’re going to see some price increases, probably. But it’s got to change.”

Democrats push back

Democrats railed against Mr Trump’s presidency on the Senate floor on the evening of April 29 under the counter-programming banner “100 days of chaos”, with multiple speeches expected to stretch well into the night.

Some described Senate Republicans as “co-conspirators” who secretly oppose Mr Trump’s agenda but refuse to voice full-throated criticism.

“The President is testing and violating the bounds of our Constitution, amassing power for himself as the economy tanks, violating the rights of Americans and destroying our image abroad,” said Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois, the Chamber’s No. 2 Democrat.

“But it seems the ambition of the Republican-controlled legislative branch is all but absent as Donald Trump’s government goes out of control... It is, in fact, ‘The Silence of the Lambs’.”

Outside the community college where Mr Trump’s rally was held, protesters lined a busy street, carrying upside-down American flags and waving signs that read: “I dissent”. REUTERS