Press. voanews.com
Thursday marks six months since U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in
as the country's 45th president. It has been a chaotic half-year in the White
House for the real estate mogul turned Republican politician. His favorability
ratings are the lowest ever for a U.S. leader in his first months in office,
but his supporters have shown little indication they are abandoning him.
Trump's 182 days in office have been marked by disputes with political
rivals and the news media, often through his frequent use of Twitter, the
social media venue where he has tweeted 991 times. He has fumed about the
ongoing investigations of his campaign's links to Russian interests, the result
of the U.S. intelligence community conclusion that Moscow meddled in the 2016
election to help Trump win.
Trump scored one major victory with the Senate approval of a
conservative jurist, Neil Gorsuch, to a lifetime appointment on the U.S.
Supreme Court. But otherwise, Trump's legislative agenda has yet to gain
traction, and his campaign vow to repeal and replace the country's health care
law championed by his predecessor, former president Barack Obama, is near
collapse in Congress.
Here are some key numbers from the nascent Trump presidency, as compiled
by several U.S. news media outlets. Bills signed into law: 42, none of them
major major pieces of legislation. Foreign trips, three, to eight countries:
Saudi Arabia, Israel, Belgium, Italy, Vatican City, Poland, Germany and France.
Bilateral meetings with foreign leaders: 47, in addition to 102 phone
calls with other heads of state. Visits to his golf clubs in Florida, New
Jersey and Virginia, 33 to 40, depending on the news account, including 21 of
his first 26 weekends in the White House spent at various Trump properties. News
conferences, 13, usually alongside foreign leaders, but only once in a solo
effort.
Media interviews, 48, most often with Fox News, 13 times.
Firings, at least three, of acting Attorney General Sally Yates,
National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and Federal Bureau of Investigation
Director James Comey. Job approval: an average of 38.3 percent in recent
polling, which Trump has described as "not bad."
Withdrawals from international agreements: Two, the 12-nation
Trans-Pacific Partnership and the 2015 Paris climate change accord aimed at
reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years. Number of days left in
Trump's four-year term: 1,279. He has already declared he will run for
re-election in 2020.
.jpg)
