US President Donald Trump on Tuesday celebrated the 100th day of his second term at a rally in Michigan, touting his administration’s efforts to deport people who entered the country illegally, as well as his tariffs policy.
“Removing the invaders is not just a campaign pledge,” Trump said in his 90-minute speech. “It’s my solemn duty as commander-in-chief. I have an obligation to save our country.”
He paused his remarks to play a video of people arriving at a prison in El Salvador, with rallygoers cheering as images of deportees having their heads shaved were played.
Photo: AFP
Trump defended his administration’s steep tariffs on vehicles and auto parts — hours after the White House announced it was softening those.
“We’re here tonight in the heartland of our nation to celebrate the most successful first 100 days of any administration in the history of our country,” Trump said.
He later added: “We’ve just gotten started. You haven’t even seen anything yet.”
Photo: Reuters
“After a lifetime of unelected bureaucrats stealing your paychecks, attacking your values and trampling your freedoms, we are stopping their gravy train, ending their power trip and telling thousands of corrupt, incompetent and unnecessary deep state bureaucrats: ‘You’re fired,’” Trump said.
Michigan was one of the battleground states Trump flipped last year from the Democratic column, but it has also been deeply affected by the tariffs his administration has imposed, including on new imported vehicles and auto parts.
Automaker Stellantis halted production at plants in Canada and Mexico after Trump announced a 25 percent tariff on imported vehicles, temporarily laying off 900 US employees.
Industry groups have separately urged the White House to scrap plans for tariffs on imported auto parts, warning that doing so would raise prices of vehicles, and could trigger “layoffs and bankruptcy.”
Luis Guevara, of Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, said outside Trump’s rally that he was “cautiously optimistic” about Trump’s first 100 days in office, but added that change can be hard.
“We don’t look at our 401(k) [pension accounts] or our portfolio on a daily, weekly, monthly basis or even year to year. I think the market is very skittish,” Guevara said. “Now is certainly not the time to mimic the market and be skittish. I think we have to hold tight. It’s going to be a rough ride. Change is difficult for a lot of people.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump issued an executive order relaxing some of his tariffs on vehicles and auto parts.
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said the goal remained enabling automakers to create more domestic manufacturing jobs, adding that Trump is concerned with “jobs of the future, not of the past.”
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer before the rally attended an event with Trump at Selfridge Air National Guard Base to announce a new fighter jet mission at the base.
Whitmer, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, shared a hug with Trump as he arrived in her home state, less than a month after she shielded her face from cameras during an Oval Office appearance alongside Trump.
Together they announced a new fighter jet mission at the base outside Detroit.
The governor credited her Oval Office meeting with Trump for securing the base’s future.
“My job is to do the right thing for the people of Michigan,” she told reporters after her appearance with Trump on Tuesday. “I’m not thinking about anything beyond that, and I know it’s hard for people to get their head around.”
Separately, the Trump administration has told the US Congress that it intends to designate Haitian gangs as foreign terrorist organizations, people familiar with the notification told The Associated Press.
The US Department of State in February labeled eight Latin American crime organizations similarly as it ratcheted up pressure on cartels operating in the US and anyone assisting them.
The new move indicates that the administration plans to put similar pressure on gangs from Haiti.
The designation carries with it sanctions and penalties for anyone providing “material support” for the Viv Ansanm and Gran Grif gangs.
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