WARREN, Mich. — President Donald Trump arrived here Tuesday afternoon for a rally to mark his first 100 days in office, returning to a battleground state he won last year and to the cheering crowds that marked his campaign but that he has largely eschewed so far in office.
In what aides billed as a “100th Day in Office Achievement Speech,” Trump touted the rapid pace he has kept during three months of dramatic changes to the federal workforce and global economic policy that have served to reorient the country and confuse the world. He chose as his backdrop a place that has lost much of the manufacturing base that once defined the greater Detroit area — but also one that is feeling the effects of his tariff proposals and his threats to occupy nearby Canada.
“In 100 days, we have delivered the most profound change in Washington in 100 years,” Trump said.
In the first three months of his second term, Trump has imposed tariffs on foreign imports, reshaping the global economy and sending markets into a frenzy. He has imposed drastic government cuts, rattling millions in the federal workforce. He has threatened to take Greenland, pressed for significant deportations of undocumented immigrants, issued pardons to those who participated in the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and, as he mentioned here, banned the federal use of paper straws.
“We’ve just gotten started,” he said here, after taking the stage to Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.” “You haven’t seen anything yet.”
Trump focused many of his remarks on immigration, the issue that most riles up his base, and at one point paused to show a video of migrants being taken to El Salvador that pictured them in chains and on flights. When it was over, the crowd rose to its feet and chanted, “USA! USA! USA!”
The rally had the feel of a festival. Hawkers sold T-shirts and hats that read, “Trump 2028,” suggesting Trump might be unbound by the Constitution and serve a third term. An ambulance was emblazoned with “Trump Save the USA” on the side.
Lining the stage were signs including “THE GOLDEN AGE” and “100 DAYS OF GREATNESS” and “THE AMERICAN DREAM IS BACK.”
“I love it,” said Charles Bryant, a 53-year-old from Shelby Township who had a career working at Ford and wore a “Gulf of America” T-shirt and a hat he got at the inauguration. “He’s making omelets, just shaking everything up. Tariffs. Trade. He’s confusing everybody!”
Ahead of the rally, Trump landed at nearby Selfridge Air National Guard Base, appearing alongside Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat whom he has at times antagonized. She has long advocated for a new fighter jet mission for the state base, which Trump announced shortly after getting off Air Force One.
“I want to thank Governor Gretchen Whitmer for bringing it to our attention very strongly,” Trump said. “I’m not supposed to do that. She’s a Democrat. … She’s done a very good job, frankly.”
Whitmer traveled to the White House earlier this month to lobby Trump for funding for Selfridge, a trip that turned out to be politically awkward for the potential 2028 presidential candidate. She was invited into the Oval Office for an unrelated event at which Trump signed executive orders that in part targeted political enemies. A New York Times photo later showed her covering her face from the camera while she was watching Trump from the perimeter of the room.
Whitmer said she did not know ahead of time what Trump was planning to do in the Oval Office and that she did not endorse his actions by attending. She has made light of the photo but also defended the trip, saying it is her job to build a working relationship with the president to help her constituents.
“I am really damn happy we’re here to celebrate this recapitalization at Selfridge,” she said. “It’s crucial for the Michigan economy. It’s crucial for the men and women here, for our homeland security and our future. So thank you. I’m so, so grateful that this announcement was made today.”
Whitmer was at the base but did not join Trump at his rally. Democrats have largely struggled with an anemic and unorganized response to Trump’s second term.
Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Michigan) had put up billboards in the Detroit area calling for Trump’s impeachment, but House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-California) suggested Tuesday that House Democrats are not focused on impeachment and that it was unrealistic given Republican control of the House and Senate.
Trump mocked Democrats during the rally — “They have no confidence anymore as a party. They have no candidates.” — as well as the efforts to impeach him. “What the hell did I do that they want to impeach me?” he said as the crowd laughed.
Trump’s support has eroded in a range of recent surveys conducted to gauge his first 100 days. In an NPR-PBS News-Marist survey, 45 percent of Americans gave him a grade of F (some 23 percent gave him an A, followed by 17 percent awarding a B, 8 percent a C and 7 percent a D).
In a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll released Sunday, 39 percent of Americans approve of how he is handling the presidency, a decline of six percentage points from February.
The poll also finds broad disagreement with many of his policies, including 64 percent disapproving of how he is handling tariffs, 57 percent disapproving of how he is managing the federal government, and 58 percent saying they are concerned that Trump will do too much to reduce the size and role of the federal government.
Trump’s White House, however, has shown little sign of changing course, with advisers giddy over the shape of the opening three months.
“Well, I think either we’ve done everything, or it’s in the process of being done,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House to travel here. He said the border was “in great shape” and added “the economy would be certainly right up there.”
“We were losing billions and billions of dollars a day with trade, and now I have that down to a very low level, and soon we’re going to be making a lot of money,” he said.
The rally was Trump’s first since the early days of his presidency, when he traveled to Las Vegas, and he has largely stayed at the White House during the week and gone to his golf courses in Florida or New Jersey on weekends. He has gone to several sporting events — including the Super Bowl and a UFC match in Miami — but unlike during his first term, he has not traveled the country or held the kinds of rallies that defined his political rise.
White House officials say his pace of domestic travel this week — which also includes giving a commencement address at the University of Alabama on Thursday — is not a reflection of a shift in his approach. He still prefers the trappings of the White House and spending his time making phone calls, signing executive orders and hosting world and business leaders in the Oval Office.
The rally in many ways was just like the campaign, complete with his old playlist. He returned to his familiar themes of railing against the news media, and he repeatedly said polls were biased against him, claiming his approval rating was in the 60s or 70s rather than what most surveys have shown — around 40 percent.
Several protesters were escorted out, and Trump commented on how large his crowd was even though there was space for more and some supporters had left before his remarks concluded.
But there were also boisterous moments.
Midway through his remarks, Trump seemed to say that he’s only going to serve two terms, and the crowd began holding up three fingers and chanting “Three! Three! Three!” He also urged the crowd to applaud his embattled defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, and invited one of his top aides, Stephen Miller, to give a few remarks.
Trump has remained fixated on Joe Biden — mentioning him, on average, four times every day of his presidency. He spoke about Biden going to the beach and how he looked in a bathing suit, and at one point he polled the crowd on whether they should refer to Biden as “Sleepy Joe” or “Crooked Joe.”
At the end of his 90-minute speech, “YMCA” blared from the speakers as the president broke into some of his signature dance moves, jolting his arms back and forth to the beat.
The president’s remarks were the latest in a week in which the White House has sought to promote the first 100 days with early morning briefings, interviews and props. Aides have lined the driveway leading to the White House with signs depicting undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes.
Earlier Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent headlined a morning briefing to promote some of the president’s economic policies.
He hedged several times, however, on when any agreements would be announced on the president’s tariff proposals, saying that negotiations are ongoing and that progress has been made with several countries.
He said there was “some very good progress” with India, “the contours of a deal” were coming together with South Korea and that the administration has had “substantial talks with the Japanese.”
But he declined repeatedly to provide any timetable or say whether a deal is imminent.
He also claimed that the United States had leverage over China, something Trump reiterated in an Oval Office interview with ABC News in which he claimed “China probably will eat those tariffs” while also suggesting that Americans will have to live through an uncertain economy.
“I’ve said that during my campaign,” he said, when asked about hard times ahead. “Look, we won a campaign by a lot. We won all seven swing states. We won the popular vote by a lot. You know, we had a tremendous campaign. I said all these things during my campaign.”
Trump during the campaign did highlight his view that increasing tariffs was important, but he downplayed any negative impacts, saying during a presidential debate in September, “They aren’t gonna have higher prices.”
Asked whether he thought hard times were ahead, he responded, “I don’t think so. I think great times are ahead.”
In a reflection of some of the economic turbulence that has hit Michigan, Trump aides also announced that he would be giving auto manufacturers a significant break from looming tariffs if their cars are completed in the United States.
The break, which would allow companies to import parts, is designed to be phased out over the next three years as more parts can be manufactured in the U.S. It would also apply for foreign companies as long as they build their cars in the U.S., a provision designed to encourage overseas companies to move more manufacturing here.
“We just wanted to help them enjoy this little transition, short term,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “If they can’t get parts, you know, it has to do with a very small percentage. If they can’t get parts, we didn’t want to penalize them.”
Patrick Svitek, Cleve R. Wootson Jr. and Jeff Stein contributed to this report.
