The 11 craziest moments from Trump's flurry of 100-day interviews
It's a mad, mad, mad, mad world we live in
President Trump has dismissed the artificial media-driven benchmark of his first 100 days in office as "not very meaningful" and a "ridiculous standard." But as the most media-obsessed commander-in-chief in American history, he's also keenly aware of the importance of crossing the threshold on Saturday: "No administration has accomplished more in the first 90 days," he boasted earlier this month.
"As with so much else, Trump is a study in inconsistency," remarked Robert Dallek, a presidential historian, to The New York Times. "One minute he says his 100 days have been the best of any president, and the next minute he decries the idea of measuring a president by the 100 days."
In a series of interviews published just prior to Trump's 100th day in office, the president offered a surprisingly candid assessment of his own term to date. Ranging from the vague to the startlingly honest, here is Trump on his own progress and what he's learned since moving to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. (And be sure to read the full interviews at the Washington Examiner, Reuters, CNN, and The Washington Post.)
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1. Trump summarizes his accomplishments as "et cetera, et cetera."
2. Being president, it turns out, is hard.
3. Another bummer about being president: You can't drive.
4. Trump wobbled on pulling out of NAFTA because he didn't think it would be friendly.
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5. Ultimately, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue had to use a map of the U.S. to convince Trump not to pull out of NAFTA.
6. Speaking of maps, Trump keeps a handout of the 2016 Electoral College map on his desk.
7. Trump laments the White House "cocoon."
8. Trump seems impressed with Kim Jong Un.
9. But he warns that a "major, major conflict" with North Korea is possible.
10. And he's mad at Saudi Arabia.
11. Trump gives himself an A. Sean Spicer gets a B.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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