As President Trump looks to his next 100 days in office, White House officials said his focus can be summarized in five words: Trade deals and peace deals.
Trump’s first 100 days in office saw a flood of executive action to rapidly deliver on key campaign promises around immigration and culture war issues, as well as a blitz against major agencies to slash the scope and size of government staffing and spending.
Trump is expected to take additional deregulatory actions and sign more executive actions to enforce immigration and other aspects of his agenda, officials said.
But as Trump charts the path forward, the president and his aides are devoting significant time and resources to trying to negotiate trade deals to resolve tariff disputes and the potential economic fallout largely created by Trump’s own policies.
Trump is also expected to focus in the weeks ahead on foreign policy, where he has struggled to deliver on a pledge to end the war in Ukraine and has kept a close eye on the Middle East.
“I think we’re now entering this new era where we’ll now be able to focus on peace and prosperity,” a White House official said. “Peace in the world, prosperity at home by fixing our trade relationships and finding peace deals.”
White House officials indicated that trade deals would be at the center of Trump’s agenda and schedule in the coming weeks. The president announced earlier this month a 90-day pause on “reciprocal” tariffs for many countries to allow for talks, creating a deadline of July 8.
Senior trade adviser Peter Navarro has suggested there could be “90 deals in 90 days.”
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters last week that the administration had 18 proposals from other countries it was considering. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said the administration is prioritizing on coming to terms with 15 major global economies.
So far, there are no solid deals in place, and Trump himself has been vague when asked for specifics about negotiations. But administration officials have said they are in touch with India, South Korea, the European Union, Japan and other nations.
Completing any major trade deals by July 8 would be a significant feat. The U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement, which replaced NAFTA, took years to negotiate and finalize, though it required congressional approval. Trump’s “phase one” deal with China during his first term was also the product of months of discussions before it was finalized.
One White House official said there is “nothing the president is more resolute about” than tariffs and new trade deals. The official described Trump as “deeply involved” in negotiations, as evidenced by his meeting earlier this month with Japanese trade officials.
Trump’s ability to get a trade deal done could also be critical for his political prospects.
A Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll published Friday found 70 percent of Americans, including 47 percent of Republicans, said Trump’s tariffs will have a negative effect on inflation. The poll found 64 percent disapproved of how Trump has handled tariffs.
Foreign policy
Another area where Trump is expected to focus his energy is on foreign policy, where he has been trying to broker a ceasefire in one part of the world and stave off an escalation of tensions in another.
Trump pledged on the campaign trail that he would end the war in Ukraine before even taking office, or within 24 hours of taking the oath.
“Obviously, people know that when I said that, it was said in jest, but it was also said that it will be ended,” Trump told Time Magazine last week.
But Trump has expressed increasing frustration with both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin as the war drags on.
Democrats and some experts have argued Putin is dragging his feet and has continued firing missiles into Ukraine despite Trump’s efforts to broker peace. Trump officials have been outwardly bothered by Zelensky’s public declarations that ceding Ukrainian territory as part of a peace deal would not be acceptable.
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s envoy for Middle East affairs who has taken a leading role in Russia-Ukraine talks, was in Moscow on Friday to meet with Putin.
“I think Russia and Ukraine, I think they’re coming along. We hope. Very fragile,” Trump told reporters on Friday.
White House officials said Trump would also be focused on efforts to free the remaining hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza. And Trump has spoken in recent weeks about diplomatic efforts with Iran to avoid a wider conflict in the Middle East.
Trump traveled to Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday, but his first major foreign trip will come in mid-May when he travels to the Middle East for stops in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Who Trump meets with and the results of that trip will be a strong indication of where his foreign policy stands.
Reconciliation
While trade deals and peace deals are top of mind at the White House, the president and his team will also be keeping a close eye on Capitol Hill over the next 100 days.
Officials noted that Trump has only signed one major piece of legislation around his agenda, the Laken Riley Act, which mandated the federal detention of immigrants without legal status who are accused of theft and burglary, among other things.
Republicans are expected in the coming weeks to ramp up activity on passing a massive reconciliation bill that contains key aspects of Trump’s agenda, including border funding, an extension of the tax cuts Trump signed into law in 2017 and some new proposals Trump made last year, including to eliminate taxes on tipped wages, overtime wages and Social Security.
Republican lawmakers had previously set an ambitious goal of getting the reconciliation package to the president’s desk by Memorial Day, a timeline that appears unlikely.
One of the major questions looming over the bill is how GOP leadership will satisfy budget hawks who want to see spending cuts, even as Trump and other Republicans have warned against cutting Medicaid and other critical programs that do not fall under “waste, fraud and abuse.”
“I would veto it, yeah. But they’re not going to do that,” Trump said when asked about a potential bill that included cuts to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid.
Committees are set to begin the mark-ups when they return from recess, setting a May 9 deadline to complete their committee work, with an ambitious goal of getting the legislation to the president’s desk around Memorial Day.
A White House official acknowledged much of Trump’s agenda had so far been accomplished through executive power, but they said Trump’s outreach to Congress and involvement on Capitol Hill will increase as the reconciliation package gets closer to the finish line.
“Moving forward, we expect Congress to get their work done,” a White House official said.
