This article first appeared in Volume 54, Issue 2 of our print edition of Index on Censorship, titled Land of the Free?: Trump’s war on speech at home and abroad, published on 21 July 2025. Read more about the issue here.
Ever since 1933 when Franklin D Roosevelt began to introduce the New Deal in response to the Great Depression, analysts and observers have carefully analysed the first few months of a new political leader’s tenure to gauge their impact. The concept of the “first 100 days” was coined to highlight the whirlwind of executive orders (EOs) and Congressional legislation that Roosevelt unleashed on the American public.
The first few months of President Donald Trump’s second term have certainly been eventful, with huge policy changes both at home and abroad. In this article, we visualise some of the figures that delineate the actions he has taken. If you are viewing the website on a computer, you can hover over the charts to enlarge them.
Trump has been busy flourishing his thick pen and signing a raft of EOs. In the first 100 days, he issued more than any other president on a pro rata basis, even Roosevelt who churned out a total of 1,707 EOs during his first term.
The word cloud above takes the text of Trump’s EOs and analyses it for common themes. We have removed several frequently occurring words that are essentially furniture to the broader themes, such as “department”, “administration” and so on. Trump’s focus on the war on drugs and immigration, and the trade war are hard to miss.
Roosevelt’s first 100 days also saw a flurry of legislation going through Congress. Some 76 pieces of legislation, including 15 major Acts, were passed. Typically, in each two-year period since 1973, Congress has enacted between 20 and 50 pieces of legislation per month. During Trump’s second presidency, Congress has only enacted 36 pieces of legislation in five months, the lowest activity in 50 years. However, just as we went to press, Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill (BBB) was passed. Omnibus spending bills like the BBB have become more common than traditional legislation as they are immune to the filibuster – a blocking tactic that has increased in use sharply in recent years.
Trump has attacked all of the major pillars of democracy. In the chart below, we see some of the actions he has taken which are challenging legal freedom and freedom of expression around diversity, equity and inclusion.
The freedom of the media to report on Trump's actions has also been challenged since the President took office. Universities are also under attack.
This tsunami of data shows that democracy in the USA is not merely being eroded but rather hacked away with a power drill.
