IT WAS APRIL 28th 2017, the 99th day of his first administration, and President Donald Trump was frustrated. “It’s a very rough system, it’s an archaic system,” he vented to an interviewer about working with Congress to pass legislation. Avoiding this nuisance, he mused, would be “for the good of the nation”. Now that he is president for the second time, Mr Trump has decided to dispense with the archaic system. These first 100 days have been different from those of any modern president, who is usually desperate to secure some signature legislative achievement. Mr Trump has shown little interest in Congress, despite Republican control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. He is wielding the imperial powers of the presidency to do what he likes: impose some of the highest tariff increases ever seen; shred the federal bureaucracy; and cudgel his adversaries. Yet despite a dearth of notable legislative accomplishments, Mr Trump’s first 100 days have hardly been a failure. They are arguably the most consequential of any modern president.
