Given his first term, President Donald Trump’s second go-round in the White House was expected to be chaotic.
With Republican majorities in both houses of Congress — and the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority — the hard-right, war-on-woke agenda he promised to unleash was expected to strain the country’s political guardrails, if not smash through them.
But few experts anticipated Trump’s sweeping, rapid-fire attacks on institutions, policies, and laws that benefit or protect Black America to go this far, this fast. And the damage he’s done through 139 executive orders — and counting — in just 100 days could take decades to fix.
An early target of Trump’s was the Department of Education, which guarantees equal access to education for Black children.
President Trump and his billionaire allies have given us so much to worry about in the first 100 days — the lawlessness, the cruel deportations, attacking education, and whitewashing our history,” said Fredrick Ingram, American Federation of Teachers secretary treasurer.
“The reason I do not despair is because I remember that at every moment in American history, Black folks have created strategies for survival. And every strategy centers around one idea: community.”
Trump has slashed tens of thousands of federal jobs, which helped build the Black middle class; and fired a highly-decorated general and storied fighter pilot who was just the second Black chairman in the history of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The bedrock of our civil rights isn’t safe, either. Trump is challenging the 14th Amendment in court and signed an executive order rolling back protections enshrined in the Civil Rights Act of 1965.
The president threatened to whitewash the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture. He hollowed out the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, emptying offices that tracked minority health.
A new analysis from Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) concludes that Trump’s sweeping tariffs on foreign goods have already added $14 billion in costs for U.S. households.
According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, import taxes soared to $96.3 billion in the first quarter of 2025, up 17% from the same period last year. ATF called the tariffs a regressive tax scheme that burdens working—and middle-class families while shielding the wealthy.
“These are just the first effects of Trump’s reckless and regressive tariffs—the beginning of higher costs that families will face due to the president’s incompetent trade policies and to fund his tax giveaway to billionaires,” David Kass, ATF’s executive director, said.
ATF’s analysis found that the bottom 60% of households, which receive about one-fifth of the nation’s income, will shoulder nearly one-third of the tariff burden. Meanwhile, the top 1% of income earners—those making more than $940,000—will pay just one-tenth of the cost despite taking in more than one-fifth of national income.
More than 200 demonstrators shut down traffic across Washington on Tuesday April 29, 2025, to protest what organizers called “100 days of disaster.” The protests resulted in eight arrests and widespread disruption throughout the city’s morning commute.
“For 100 days, Trump, [Elon] Musk, and their billionaire friends have stripped away our fundamental freedoms—abducting our neighbors, cracking down on political dissidents, and attempting to erase trans people from existence,” Ella Weber, an organizer, said.
Olivia DiNucci of CODEPINK said the administration has “gutted social services, sent billions to Israel, and boosted a trillion-dollar Pentagon budget, while families struggle to survive.”
Rev. Al Sharpton of The Action Network said Trump’s first 100 days “are Project 2025 in motion.”
He pointed to executive orders targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion, eliminating police accountability efforts, and attacking LGBTQ+ rights.
“Trump may have executive orders. He may have the House and the Senate. He may have a conservative Supreme Court that will stand idly by even when he defies their orders. But he does not control our dollars. He cannot stop us from marching,” Sharpton asserted.
The Not Above the Law coalition accused the administration of ignoring court rulings, targeting political opponents through the Justice Department, and rewarding allies with sweeping pardons and federal contracts.
“We have come too far, heard too many commitments, and proved our case for success to go back now,” Sharpton said.
Stacy M. Brown, BlackPressUSA.com senior national correspondent, contributed to this report
This story originally appeared here.