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In Trump they trust. While pundits and protesters have called it 100 days of hell, talk to Donald Trump’s most faithful supporters and you will hear them use words such as “amazing”, “fantastic” and “ecstatic” about his presidency.
The Trump base, that amorphous group that has long intrigued pollsters, remains rock solid in its support for the 78-year-old and quite ingenious in finding new ways to eulogise his leadership.
Interviews with 10 Trump fans at a campaign-style rally in Warren, Michigan, on Tuesday seemed to occupy a different planet from opinion polls that give him the lowest 100-day job approval rating of any president in the past 80 years.
Seen through the lens of Maga, Trump is steering the economy to a new golden age, making streets safer by expelling illegal immigrants and protecting rather than undermining democracy. Short-term pain, his supporters insist, is a price worth paying for long-term gain.
“The first 100 days have been fantastic,” said Dave Bono, a construction manager. “He’s gotten so much done in that amount of time, more than any other president for sure. I know there’s differences on his policy positions but overall, as somebody who’s supported him, I think he’s spot on.”
The 60-year-old added: “He’s done what he promised he’d do in the campaign, which is far and away different from most politicians. Like it or not, he’s doing what he said he would do and that’s all anybody can ask for.”
Elsewhere at the rally Matt Ball, 53, a commercial driver, was wearing a red “Make America great again” cap and a “Fight, fight, fight” T-shirt showing Trump with fist raised after last year’s assassination attempt. He said: “A lot of things I don’t think can be accomplished in a hundred days but what I’ve seen the first hundred days is what I voted for.”
The US economy shrank in the first three months of the year, according to official data. Despite acknowledging the potential for short-term price increases, Trump’s supporters generally back his use of tariffs as necessary for the return of manufacturing jobs to the US in general and Michigan in particular.
Ball commented: “It can’t be any worse than the chaos we lived through with Joe Biden for four years so I’m willing to take a chance.”
Suzanne Jennings, 65, wearing a “Trump 2024 The Sequel” cap, agreed. “I trust him and I totally trust his cabinet,” she said. “People just need to have a bit of patience. Our country was ruined over the past four years. I totally believe he loves America. He loves us and he’s doing it.”
Jennings described Trump’s first 100 days as “fantastic because he’s delivered everything he said he would and he’s making our country great again”.
All those interviewed by the Guardian expressed admiration for Trump’s billionaire ally Elon Musk and his “department of government efficiency”, or Doge, which has taken a chainsaw to federal departments.
Lynn Mills, 70, said: “Find the waste. Cut it out. I’m not allowed to run my house with money flying out the windows. Close the window. Turn down the air conditioning. Do you have a budget in your household? We have to adhere to the budget and let’s run this country efficiently.”
Trump’s personality cult endures. He is no longer running for office yet Tuesday’s rally came with the familiar paraphernalia. A truck parked outside Macomb Community College proclaimed “Trump won” and “Make America great again” and was adorned with a motorbike, mini Statue of Liberty and signs such as “Build the wall” and “I’m voting for the convicted felon”.
Blake Marnell, 60, known as “Brick Suit”, from San Diego, California, has attended numerous Trump campaign events and wore his distinctive brick suit again at Tuesday’s rally. He described himself as “ecstatic” about Trump’s first 100 days.
“He’s done an excellent job under the limitations that have been placed upon him. And by that I mean if you look at an area in which he has had unfettered ability to implement his policy, such as reducing the influx across the border, the results are night and day versus the Biden administration, with up to 95% fewer people crossing.”
Trump has been widely condemned for a draconian immigration policy that has seen alleged gang members snatched off the streets and sent to a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador without due process. The president has suffered a series of rebukes and setbacks from judges. But followers such as Marnell are willing to accept this as collateral damage.
He added: “The concerns about due process and deportations are largely coming from the political left and what I would consider to be judicial overreach and unnecessary injunctions. But let’s be realistic. We’ve got 10 million people top end and 8 million people low end that probably should be deported who are here illegally. Statistically, there will be people where there are problems. To expect absolute 100% perfection in 8 million people leaving United States is probably unrealistic.”
More than one interviewee contended that the standard of due process is lower for noncitizens. And support for Trump’s approach to border security and immigration was overwhelming. That included Amy Lee, an immigrant from Vietnam who works in insurance and was wearing a Maga hat, a Trump badge and a Stars and Stripes dress that said: “Big tech fake media are the virus.”
The 63-year-old said: “Of course you want to vet those people that come in. You want to welcome everyone but then do you want criminals, do you want terrorists to be in your country? You want them to be in your home? Do you want them to be taking over? The crime rate is unbelievable.”
Trump has sought to expand presidential power at the expense of Congress and the courts and hinted that he could seek a third term in violation of the constitution. This week the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) released a survey of more than 5,000 Americans that found 52% agree Trump is “a dangerous dictator whose power should be limited before he destroys American democracy”.
Attenders at the rally scoff at such criticism. RJ Fishman, 26, who works for a property acquisitions and advisory firm and rates Trump’s start as “amazing”, said: “A dictator doesn’t tell you what he’s going to do and then do it. President Trump said everything he planned to do, from using the Alien Enemies Act, tariffs, down the list, you name it, so to suddenly be surprised?
“What dictators do is lock up their political opponents. One party’s been locking up their political opponents. I don’t see President Trump – as much as they accuse him of wanting to – locking up people other than federal judges and state judges who are harbouring illegal aliens. He’s not locking up political opponents.”
Ball, the commercial driver, concurred. He said: “I know Donald Trump didn’t force anyone to get a vaccine so, if you’re going to talk about a dictator, then I would say he didn’t force me to get a vaccine when he was president. I haven’t seen any dictatorship.”
And noting the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam war, Lee recalled her family’s experiences under communism to contend that such comparisons are misplaced. “How could people call him a dictator? Look at Mao Zedong from China. Look at Hitler and Fidel Castro. If people lived in a communist country then they would know what dictatorship is. I escaped communism and I know what communism is like.
“They dictate how you live your life, where you can go, what you can eat. Rice, sugar and salt: you are limited to buy so much in a month. That’s dictatorship. Here President Trump is wanting to get freedom for the people to live the American dream. If we don’t fight to restore it we’re going to lose it and, once we lose it, kiss it goodbye.”
