Donald Trump's first 100 days: promise, management commands, legal challenges and cabinet prospects

Donald Trump signed an executive order restricting funding for “gain of function” research, which experiments with viruses and other pathogens. During his first term in office Mr Trump lifted a ban on funding research that could make viruses more dangerous. But the covid-19 pandemic made the discipline more controversial. The president has repeatedly alleged that the virus was engineered in a Chinese lab.

The president also signed an order to promote pharmaceutical manufacturing in America. It instructs the health secretary and the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration to review and slim down regulations pertaining to the industry. The head of the FDA must also strengthen the agency’s inspection regime for foreign factories that supply drugs to America, at the manufacturers’ expense.

Executive orders in first hundred days

In his first 100 days in office Mr Trump signed 143 executive orders, shattering the record for a modern presidency set by Franklin Roosevelt, who signed 99. The flurry of edicts, on everything from border security, to energy policy, to starting (and ending) trade wars, has unleashed a chaotic burst of activity as his subordinates try to implement his orders. Opponents have filed lawsuits to try and block many. Perhaps appropriately, the last order Mr Trump signed within his 100 days was designed to clear up confusion caused by previous orders about whether tariffs on auto imports “stacked” on top of other levies imposed.

Trump’s day-one priorities

Sources: The Federal Registry; The Economist

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