The Trump presidency is one month old — 47 (or 95) more months to go. So what has President Trump gotten most right and most wrong? After talking to dozens of officials inside and out of the WH, we came up with this list:
At his rally on Saturday, Trump talked about the dangers of open borders and vaguely referenced a Friday night event in Sweden: "You look at what's happening last night in Sweden. Sweden, who would believe this? Sweden."
There was no terrorist attack in Sweden Friday night. This afternoon, Trump explained what he was referring to:
Toward the end of the rally, I began asking attendees how they would grade Trump's time in office so far. All but one awarded him an 'A+' (and the outlier gave him an 'A'). If pressed, they would often add caveats such as, "given what he's up against..." or, "...considering all he's trying to accomplish." Even if some were grading on a curve, it didn't make their reviews insincere.
Why this matters: For all the chattering about Trump's tumultuous first month, the core of his support hasn't flagged. His approval rating averages out to about 45%, according to Nate Silver, And rallies like the one yesterday tell the president to stay the course.
As President Trump pointed out, his biggest problem has quickly become a leaking administration.
The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by "intelligence" like candy. Very un-American! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2017
A grain of salt: Obama had major leaking problems too. Like in 2012, shortly after his re-election, when officials leaked to the New York Times that the then-President had authorized secret cyber attacks on Iran. Or Edward Snowden in 2013, the guy whose name has become synonymous with government whistleblowers.
