By Nkiruka Nnorom

IN just 100 days, US President, Donald Trump, famed for his unpredictability, and impulsiveness, has turned the world order and the patterns of international cooperation on their heads in pursuit of his America First agenda.

In a whirlwind start to his presidency, Trump has shaken America’s executive branch, European security, the liberal international order and global economics.

His foreign policies have, inadvertently, thrown the world into a state of confusion, with both allies and foes grappling to come to terms with the developments.

Five key themes have so far dominated his administration’s foreign policy, including immigration reforms, deportation, ending what he termed unfair trade practices against the United States, which he is implementing through imposition of trade tariffs on other countries, focus on “restoring peace” by ending wars, especially the Russia war in Ukraine and Israeli, Hamas war as well as implementing a non-interventionist foreign policy, which has seen him gut foreign aids and exit from key international organisations\agreements.

This has also seen him backstep from NATO’s security funding, instead pushing the bulk of the responsibility to Europe.
Though these issues formed part of his electioneering campaign and were reinforced at his inauguration on January 20, the scale and speed of execution are taking the world by storm.

During the electioneering campaign, Trump had promised to sign an unprecedented number of executive orders even on his first day in office and his extensive use of executive orders have attracted criticism from across the world. At his inauguration, he pledged to repeal 10 legislations for any single legislation he would enact.

To date, he has signed 139 executive orders, 39 proclamations, and 42 memorandums, some of them pushing the limits of his executive powers, while others have met with resistance both on the domestic front and internationally.

Domestically, his drive to cut federal government’s spending has led to closure of some key federal institutions, resulting in mass job losses and has pitted him against voters who once supported him.

Immigration policy and deportations

Trump made immigration policy, particularly cracking down on the United States-Mexico border crisis, and illegal immigrants, center point of his campaign, and many of his early actions focused on this issue.

Upon taking office on January 20, 2025, Trump signed a raft of executive orders geared towards immigration reform and ending much of his predecessor’s policies on immigration.

Throughout the early days of his presidency, Trump signed executive orders that declared a second national emergency on the southern border; enabling the deployment of armed forces and addressing the fentanyl crisis.

In 100 days, the Trump’s administration claimed it had cumulatively deported 139,000 immigrants, a number some experts have disputed as exaggerated due to the successful closure of southern borders by the administration.

Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, had said on Monday in a news briefing that the administration was on track to deporting 139,000 immigrants in 100 days, saying “the numbers are looking great.”

Trump’s latest removal action has now turned on international students, who had at one time protested against Israel, Hamas war or spoken against the government, an action that is viewed as a clampdown on free speech.

Upturning global trade

On April 2, Trump announced mind boggling blanket 10 percent trade tariffs on 185 countries, and imposed additional reciprocal tariffs on countries he viewed as having substantial trade deficits with the US, thereby distorting global trade flow and setting off an unprecedented trade war, especially with China, the second biggest economy in the world.

Trump had argued that the US has as much as $1.2 trillion in trade deficit in goods with other countries, saying that it is unsustainable for the States. U.S. companies, according to him, pay over $200 billion per year in value-added taxes (VAT) to foreign governments, describing it as a “double-whammy” on U.S.

The trade tariffs, he said, would return jobs to the US, reposition the country as a manufacturing hub and increase its competitive edge.

Though the additional country-by-country tariffs have been suspended, the trade war with China has only intensified with 145 percent tariffs imposed on the country’s imports to the US. China has since responded with 125 percent counter tariffs.

The White House has said that the tariffs would remain in effect until “such a time as President Trump determines that the threat posed by the trade deficit and underlying non-reciprocal treatment is satisfied, resolved, or mitigated”.
This action, along with other measures taken by Trump’s administration in his quest to “Make America Great Again”, has been criticised as isolating the US from the world it helped to build.

“With such actions he has withdrawn the US from much of its accustomed role in the world and may well have surrendered his country’s prime advantages to China.

“He has been able to do all this because of an emphatic election victory and widespread support for his main campaign promises.

“Any judgement on his first 100 days has to acknowledge the popularity of some of what he is doing – whether seeking to reduce illegal migration, tackle China’s role in world trade, insist that Europe pay for its own defence, or slim down the federal government,” Bronwen Maddox, CEO,

Foreign aid discontinuation causing 103 deaths per hour — Boston University

One of Trump’s earliest actions and one that reverberated across the globe, and affected the most vulnerable and poorest of the poors, was the gutting of foreign aids, reinforcing his government’s non-interventionist policy.

America’s commitment to foreign assistance vanished after the Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, headed by billionaire businessman, Elon Musk, shut down the U.S Agency for International Development, USAID, over claims that most of the agency’s activities are antithetical to American belief and do not serve American interest.

This has sent a signal to the world that the United States’ eight decades of commitment to defence and diplomacy may soon be upended, and its spending on international development is all but over.

Already, treatment for HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health and food security face significant challenges in most economies, putting the lives of millions around the world in danger. Crisis-thorn countries like South Sudan, Gaza, Syria, Ethiopia, and DR Congo among others, that once depended on US aid face a serious humanitarian crisis.

A report by Boston University, BU, projected 103 deaths per hour as a result of foreign aid discontinuation, with expected 42,854 and 88,422 adults and children deaths respectively in 2025.

“If this foreign aid is not restored before the end of 2025, more than 176,000 additional adults and children around the world could die from HIV, according to excess death estimates from a new digital tracking initiative by Brooke Nichols, associate professor of global health.

“Her tracker also indicates that at least 62,000 additional people could die from tuberculosis (TB), roughly one death every 7.7 minutes, if foreign aid does not resume by the end of the year, and these figures are steadily increasing,” BU warned.

Additionally, an article on JusticeInfo.net noted that USAID funding cuts has also affected a project focused on documenting the 600,000 deaths in Ethiopia’s recent conflict.

“The US president’s decision has caused panic among organisations, and there is widespread confusion about how to proceed. This uncertainty is likely to persist for a long time,” said JiYí Škvor, Head of the Humanitarian Aid and Development Cooperation Department at Charity Czech Republic.

Ending two big wars,

Ending the two big international wars and resetting great power relations are also central to Trump’s reordering, but this of all he had pledged to do before and after his election is proving a hard nut to crack.

At his inauguration, he boasted of stopping the Israel, Hamas war from day one and bringing an end to the Russia war in Ukraine. “I want to be judged by the number of wars I am able to stop and wars I didn’t start,” Trump said.
But not only has the Israel, Hamas war resumed after about two months of ceasefire, the Russia, Ukraine war is far from over and has defied all diplomatic moves.

Consequently, President Trump, frustrated by this obvious failure, manifests the frustration in occasional outbursts. This has also forced him into almost blackmailing Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky into accepting Russia’s condition of ceding parts of Ukraine to the aggressor.

In an attempt to end the wars, he initially excluded Ukraine and Europe, and pursued peace talks directly with Russia. He has strengthened the US’s relationship with Israel and proposed to clear Gaza of Palestinians.
Analysts believe that the US under Trump has rejected the responsibilities for global leadership and logic of multilateralism, instead embracing unilateralism and isolationism.

“Since 1945, the United States has been the leading champion, underwriter, and guarantor of an open, rule-bound global system under international law. Now, it rejects the logic of multilateralism, including any self-restraints on the exercise of U.S. power and any responsibilities for global leadership and stability,” analysts at Chatham House Think Tank said.

“The US also appears to have lost its moral compass. Trump has attacked allies and befriended autocrats. He has disrupted the foundations of the liberal international order.

“The US commitment to multilateralism, the transatlantic partnership and even the norm of sovereignty have been broken. In so doing, Trump has rejected a gradual US retreat and attempted to force a radical reordering of international relations,” they said.

Expansionist agenda

Since taking office, President Trump has been threatening to annex Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal. He also suggested invading Venezuela, annexing Mexico and taking over Gaza. International policy analysts and others have weighed into the fallout of his 100 days in office and what is likely to come.

Trump’s next 100 days hard to determine – Chatham House CEO

Bronwen Maddox, Director and Chief Executive, Chatham House International Affairs Think Tank, harped on Trump’s unpredictability, said while much of his actions are withdrawing the US from its accustomed role in the world, they may well have surrendered his country’s prime advantages to China.

She stressed that the scale and shock of Trump’s policy making are threateningto undermine his primary foreign policy objective, which borders on maintaining an advantage over China.

“The defining contribution of Trump’s first 100 days has been the injection of uncertainty into international relations, into trade and at home, into whether the famed checks and balances of the US constitution can constrain a president.
“He has been able to do all these because of an emphatic election victory and widespread support for his main campaign promises.

“Any judgement on his first 100 days has to acknowledge the popularity of some of what he is doing – whether seeking to reduce illegal migration, tackle China’s role in world trade, insist that Europe pay for its own defence, or slim down the federal government,” Maddox said.

On his next 100 days, she said: “Much of what he does fulfils campaign pledges. Yet it is impossible to know what he will do next, as the improvised tariffs have shown.

“But the markets have served as a real constraint on Trump most directly by threatening to push up interest rates or the cost of government borrowing, forcing the president to back down.”

Nuisance from Trump not likely to end in next 100 days – David Adonri

For David Adonri, Vice Chairman, Highcap Securities, there is really no end in sight to the tumultuous Trump’s presidency.

“President Trump’s 100 days in office has been very chaotic and tumultuous. His belligerent policies and actions disrupted global trade harmony, and depressed capital markets worldwide.

“His anti immigrant measures sent many immigrants into hiding, causing labour shortages in the US.

“Despite his assertion that the Russian Ukraine war will be ended by him immediately after assuming office, the war continues to rage with undiminished intensity.

“Looking at his next 100 days in office, the nuisance from him is not likely to change,” Adonri posited.
Trump’s policy making process often chaotic, theatrical – Don

Writing on the subject, “Trump’s tariff and land grab threats signal U.S. expansionist ambitions”, llan Kapoor, Professor of Critical Development Studies at the York University, Canada, said: “Many obstacles could prevent Trump’s aggressive expansionism from fully taking shape. While the key ingredients may already be there, and some have begun to be deployed, that doesn’t mean they will come to fruition.

“The Trump administration’s policy making process is often chaotic and theatrical, prioritizing short-term political gains over long-term strategy. This instability undermines any consistent efforts at expansion.

“There is also the risk that Trump’s trade wars will backfire. They could end up causing hardship to U.S. companies and consumers through higher food and energy prices, job losses in key industries like agriculture and auto manufacturing, and increased stock market instability.

“Such consequences could negatively affect Trump’s corporate allies.”