28/04/2017 100 Days

Hello and welcome to this special edition of 100 Days.

It's his 99th day in office, and Donald Trump confesses he didn't

The President is in Atlanta today addressing

the National Rifle Association - he couldn't have a warmer welcome.

Critics say Donald Trump hasn't achieved very much -

but the enthusiasm at this rally shows he is still very popular

"A major, major conflict" is possible with North Korea,

says the President - as his team urges the United Nations

Also - is there such a thing as Trump Bump?

We will take you to America's rust belt, where they are

The supporters like what they are seeing -

We want to see that he is going to do what he said he will do. What

about Twitter? Well, if you need to stay away from that. -- he needs to

stay away. Hello, I am Katty Kay in Washington,

Christian Fraser is in London - Donald Trump is marking his 100 days

in office where he is most comfortable - surrounded

by supporters at big rallies. One in Atlanta, Georgia today -

another in Pennsylvania tomorrow. Recently he's downplayed marking

the 100 days but on the campaign he used to tout all the victories

he'd rack up in these Right now Mr Trump is speaking

to the National Rifle Association. The gun lobby loves him,

the NRA spent three times as much money electing him -

as they spent on And he is the first sitting

President in over 30 years And joining us now is the BBC's

North America Editor Jon Sopel. You have been most -- with us about

those hundred days, he is not surprisingly that don't that big

first Mac rally. This is his base, right? If you want to look at the

alignment of Donald Trump supporters and NRA members of the align

perfectly, so not a surprise he is going there. Interestingly, the NRA,

the gun business never did better than when Barack Obama was president

because they were so fearful of gun controls people kept going out to

buy more and more guns, and I wonder if the same will be true not Donald

Trump is president and he says he will not go anywhere near the second

Amendment. Will it be logged in when Donald Trump stands up? It will be.

-- a loving. Let's talk about the foreign policy

issue of North Korea. He gave an interview in which he said there is

a chance we could end up having a major conflict with North Korea. He

is putting it out there it is perfectly possible there could be a

military option. Let's quickly listen to Rex Tillerson speaking at

the UN security Council today. The threat of a North Korean nuclear

attack on Tokyo or Seoul is real and it is likely only a matter

of time before North Korea develops the capability to strike

the US mainland. They are looking for new policies on

North Korea and there is plenty of history and how to deal with them

but the difference now is the clock is ticking. I think what Donald

Trump signal is the status quo, the policy of strategic patience where

you just hope by small incremental steps and keeping pressure you

persuade North Korea to change their policy and not go ahead with

developing an intercontinental ballistic missile or miniaturising

the nuclear warheads. I think we have decided it is not working, the

North Koreans are getting ever closer and therefore the need to do

something different. All pass towards North Korea go through China

and the most significant thing about it from presidency is his attempt to

bring the Chinese president on board to intensify the pressure on the

North Koreans to play ball a little more. For the moment, thank you very

much. I heard the Chinese Foreign Secretary speaking today talking

about upholding security Council resolutions, he does not talk about

unilateral sanctions which is what the White House wants.

And that is why the what the Chinese to put more pressure on the North

Koreans. You were talking to John there and when he mentioned arms

sales year in the United States during the Obama presidency I was

told last night we should watch the share prices of American defence

contractors because any time anyone within the administration talks

about a strike on North Korea we see those share prices take a hike.

While we wait for Donald Trump to address the NRA let's look at

another area of the country. Donald Trump won the 2016

election in the rust belt. In states like Ohio,

where the frustration of industrial decline has been festering

for years, there is deep resentment And in Ohio - as in many

other northeast states - there are plenty of Democrats

who were lured by Trump's When we visited the Ohio

River Valley last summer, this stretch of water was suffering

a slow and agonising death, but, since Donald Trump became

president, locals have seen a dramatic and instant turnaround -

a rust belt revival. Coal barges are full again,

partly because of the relaxation 150 boats now work this part

of the river, Back then, Bob Harrison

told us America needed a businessman as president,

and in 25 years, We're busy, and we've got

more stuff going on, and our business has

dramatically picked up. And you think that's

the Trump effect? Yes, you know, I've talked

to different people... We've talked about calling

it the Trump bump, Last summer, in the town of Clinton,

Pennsylvania, we came across this huge Trump sign,

erected by a one-time Now it's been put away

in the barn, If anything, his admiration

for Donald Trump has grown. Just speaking with people,

they're more upbeat. They feel like the government

isn't on their back. They feel like the jackboot

of the Government is off their neck, He promised to revive

regions like this - It was Trump's hothead temperament

that put off American football coach And not only a change of sport

but a change of opinion - in these first 100 days,

Trump has won him over. Well, I've changed my mind

because he made campaign promises You want to see that the guy

is going to do what he I mean, that gets him

a lot of trouble. A Republican who voted

for Hillary Clinton, Amber Thompson was a staunch Trump

critic and remains so, but nonetheless applauds his

decision to strike Syria. Even a blind squirrel

finds a nut sometimes. I believe that Trump's response

to the chemical attack in Syria was 100% correct, and I hope that

putting pressure on the Russians and the Assad regime

will help to bring an end I hope that Syria will be

Donald Trump's nut. Donald Trump has been

suffering from historically low approval ratings,

but, in this rundown region, we didn't find much evidence

of buyer's remorse. President Trump has been much

like candidate Trump, and while that's horrified liberals

in America's major cities, who regard him as a national

embarrassment, here in the rust belt,

he is still widely viewed Two Trumps, two Americas,

but the region that won him the presidency

remains a stronghold. We will come back to Ohio in a

second but now Donald Trump is speaking to the NRA annual

convention. The late... How good was John?

That he is. Just about to speak to the NRA. We were talking about or

but what is Donald Trump's own view on his time in office so far? I want

to play you a piece of ordeal we heard today from an interview

writers did with the president. I loved my previous life,

I loved my previous life. This is more work

than my previous life. Another person who wanted that

difficult job in the White House is John Kasich the current

Governor of Ohio. In the Republican race to become

President he and Donald Trump He has just published

a new book - Two Paths: Thank you for coming in. I want to

start with the fact you are making news today on the issue of North

Korea. You suggested this morning the leadership of North Korea should

be eradicated, what exactly do you mean? Removed. I mean they are not

there. Let's look at what we're facing. We cannot afford to let

North Korea puts a missile on top of an intercontinental ballistic

missile. Secondly, they have one of the most horrific human rights

situations in the world. If you live there you are in a giant prison and

if you would be wrong way or smelt the wrong way your family gets put

in prison so all the people in the world are outraged by that. So if

you take a bigger military effort I worry about what happens with South

Korea, they are very vulnerable to attack from the north and so maybe

we can count on the Chinese but they are unpredictable. So what I

suggested is removing that top leadership. Who would remove them?

Probably the United States. Do we have the intelligence that would

allow us to do that. Let me say, do you think over somewhere in the

military operations they have been practising the ability to get in and

get out? I would bet yes. I don't have inside information, but I think

the idea some would be removed and the situation could be stabilised,

perhaps we are seeing some signals out of China, they are always hard

to read, but they do not appear to be as closely connected as they

were, but I think it is an option that houses to be seriously

considered. And the sabre rattling and the moving of Ahmad is on gets

you so far and I think this is a reasonable suggestion -- moving of

Ahmad as. We cannot keep 40 kicking the time

down the road but you need to good intelligence and if you do not then

you don't do it. It will be fascinating to know how much people

are looking at this. It is not something we have historically done,

not in a recent history, but some would say he is right and that is

the best option. I would like to talk about prog-mac, if we could.

You know what it is like to be in a top job, you also went to seek the

president and spoke to him about the way he was behaving in office. I

went to Munich for the security conference and told him people

wanted to hear directly from him because there was a great question

about what America would lead going forward, we talk about health care

and I also in my first 100 days as governor I -- things were rocky. I

did not really have it done in one day my wife said to meet you at the

governor, but make sure the father of the pile so why don't you act

like it! -- -- father of higher. It takes time to understand these jobs.

Am I surprised he would seek the job is much more complicated or

difficult than he thought? No, I am not. He has the modern politics. But

now he has a board of directors made up of the Senate and house members

and realises he cannot just order something to make it happen. You are

the governor of a state. In a sense what is fascinating about Donald

Trump is it is a test of whether populism can work, whether his big

slogans can work. Do you think they can or it takes somebody like

yourself, a governor who has been an executive to successfully run? In my

book I point out that being governor was really a handicap because at a

time when people needed to save wild and crazy things I did not get sound

bites because I was not going to get your ratings for your network. I had

points to make but as a person in charge of 11.5 million people use

sober up and tried to conduct yourself in an appropriate way.

There is to counter populism, negative populism that blames

somebody else, and there is positive populism which is, I understand your

problems. I grew up in a time when if the wind blew the wrong way

people find themselves out of work. My message was we can work together

to fix our problems. When people got to know me I'd done well but when

they did not know me, which was most of the country, that was more of a

challenge. We should point out the Government did not vote for Donald

Trump. But people know you and know what you stand for and wonder if it

irritates you this is stop to shift away from some of the things he said

of the campaign and is now coming on to traditional republic drones where

you stood? Irritated, no, I am Soc up unused and happy. I want him to

do well. You do not want to root against the pilot on the plane on

which you're flying so we want our president to do well and I will

support him but if he does a good job I will praise him and if he does

a bad job and I feel strongly I will criticise him. That is so I have

always conducted myself. I am an American before a Republican and

that is how I conduct myself. Thank you very much. And check out that

book! I'm sure it is selling like hot cakes. Thank you for coming in.

In case you had missed it, the one thing Donald Trump is determined

to do while in the White House is build that wall along

It was one of his key campaign promises but now the funding

The BBC's James Cook has covered this issue for us from the start

and joins us now along the US-Mexico border.

What are they saying down there about the prospect of this actually

happening now? I have travelled a long this board are a lot over the

past year, here in California, Arizona and Texas and you find very

few, if any, people who believe the ideal of a wall running the entire

length the Pacific Ocean all the way to the Gulf of Mexico, 30 feet high

however high, that it is a good idea or practical or achievable. And for

the money it would cost. However there are a lot of people who think

a border security should be improved and others think there should be far

more free movement between Mexico and the USA. In terms of that wall

itself, it is moving forward. The planning is well underway, more than

200 companies have noticed that my allotted interest and there will be

what some call a beauty contest. It is scheduled to happen in the

summer. Several bidders will build prototypes and the Government will

choose the wall. There is enough money for that but there is nowhere

-- not by any means enough to fund the building of the wall itself.

So for decades American presidents have been judged

by their performance at the 100 day mark but is it really fair to score

anyone after only three months on the job?

Fair or not, it's an American tradition that has now taken

on significance for every new commander in chief and I've been

We have Franklin Delano Roosevelt to thank for the 100 days

benchmark by which American presidents are judged.

And ever since, his successors have attempted to make a

So, how do Donald J Trump's first 100 days

With great flourish, he has signed 30 executive orders.

With the stroke of his pen he has cut

business regulations, rowed back environmental protections

and given oil pipelines the green light.

Two travel bans and an order to withdraw

funding from sanctuary cities are caught in legal challenges.

America's newest Supreme Court justice

Other campaign pledges haven't got so far.

That promise to repeal and replace Obamacare is tied up in Congress.

There is no money to build a wall along the

border with Mexico, and wholesale tax reform

It won't be easy to get that past, either.

On foreign policy, Mr Trump has kept us all guessing.

He bombed Syria, defying supporters who didn't

He wooed the Chinese leader at Mar-a-Lago,

the president rowed back on the threats to label Beijing

a currency manipulator or undermine the One China policy.

North Korea brandished its hardware, and the White House ratcheted

But then said a military strike is not on the table, at least

Nato is no longer obsolete, and President Putin is no

The days of American carnage and America

first, of the Steve Bannon's bleak vision of the world seem to have

gone, but don't mistake this for normality.

It is still a White House run as a family operation,

with a revolving door of characters who sometimes make it look like

And, Christian, if you were wondering what the president himself

thought of this 100 day mark, today he provided the answer.

It's a false standard 100 days but I have to tell you I don't think

anybody has done what we've been able to do in 100 days

Well, no look at the 100 day mark would be complete without hearing

from those who actually voted for Donald Trump.

I met Jeff Scrima, the former mayor of Waukesha, Wisconsin back in 2015

when he supported the Trump campaign and he joins us again now.

Thank you for coming in. I remember when we spoke you gave me

fascinating answer because there was things you did not like, such as

business long ban, but what you wanted was an outsider coming to

Washington. -- the Muslim band. So I will -- how is the outsider doing. I

think he is doing a great job, the economy is looking upwards,

America's feel better about our foreign policy and he has done a

good job of building his team. Is he living up to his promises? Some of

the promises take a long time to change, such as health care,

immigration but he has lived up to most of the promises he made when he

was sworn in. The president is talking to the NRA at the moment,

the first since Ronald Reagan to speak at their annual convention.

They backed him and he will back them, let's listen. You came through

for me and I am going to come through for you. I was proud to

receive the NRA's early endorsement in the history of the organisation

and today I am also proud to be the first sitting president to address

the NRA leadership Forum since our wonderful Ronald Reagan in 19 83.

It is one of the divisive issues, the second Amendment, particularly

talking to people in the UK and it would get some of the gun crime, how

did you feel about Donald Trump when he thought about that and the gun

lobby? It is something he believes in and so do a lot of Americans,

largely due to our history and the founding of our country. For me,

guns are not really at issue, there are other countries like Switzerland

that allowed guns and are very safe so it is more of the behavioural

issue, in my opinion. Jeff, briefly, one issue I am interested in as we

get to 99 days is what is the measurement for success for Donald

Trump, for you? What does he have to achieve? He has triggered a

re-elected. That is the main thing? -- he has to get re-elected. The

measure of the good leader as they have two push the country in a new

direction, stretch it to the limit without the leader himself getting

pushed out. Thank you. It was so interesting talking to Jeff the day

we met, just after the midst of a ban had been announced and he had

been studying business and like many people interested in the economy

that is a big factor and there will be a lot of latitude for Donald

Trump on whether he specifically delivers on things, if he can

improve the economy and that is looking good when we get around to

re-election day in 2020 then he stands a very good chance of winning

a second term. But does he enjoy it? Because listening to that club

earlier I am not sure he does. I am not sure he understood how

complicated and tough it will be and he talked about how he cannot do

what he used to do. He obviously goes to Mar-a-Lago a lot but I get

the impression he is kicking about the West Wing on his own a lot and

asking himself if it wasn't the right thing. I think there is an

element of loneliness and he never said he liked Washington, they did

not send them to the presidency because he liked the city, it is not

a natural homebase for him but he realises, it is what his supporters

enjoy, he has this learning curve and he is quite honest about that.

He is refreshingly honest about that. And you have to admire his

candour. This is Day 99 of

the Trump Presidency - there'll be coverage right

across the BBC this weekend to mark And on Monday, we'll be

back at the same time, continuing to cover the big events

on both sides of the Atlantic For now though from Katty Kay

in Washington and me Christian Fraser in London -

goodbye. The bank holiday weekend is upon us

and we go into it on a dry note. We've got pressure lowering

to the west of the UK. We'll have to watch this weather

front for developments through the weekend,

but, as pressure drops here,