Trump’s Second Term of Deceit: Unmasking the First 100 Days of Falsehoods

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Podcast 131

By Jackalyn Rainosek, PhD

The Washington Post Exposes a Pattern of Deceit

I am going to begin with The Washington Post, April 30, 2025, with an article entitled “One hundred days of Trump 2.0: Falsehood after falsehood, again and again” by Glenn Kessler. The “The president’s Time magazine interview featured 32 false or misleading claims.” You have the opportunity to read all 32 falsehoods, since I provide my resources to you at the end of the podcast. The beginning of this article indicates to us that the lengthy interview with Time magazine was filled with “hefty doses of B.S., and 32 inaccuracies in his interview.

False Claims That Distort Economic Reality

  • “’We were losing $2 trillion a year on trade, and you can’t do that.’ (False. The goods and services deficit was almost $920 billion in 2024—and the United States is not ‘losing’ money on trade deficits.)” They further indicate that he doubled the real number. We must face the fact that Trump is making decisions about our economy based on these false beliefs of his.
  • “’Just to go back to the past, I took in hundreds of billions of dollars of tariffs from China.’ (False, Trump’s China tariffs in his first term took in only about $75 billion—not counting $28 billion in aid to farmers who lost their shirts when China stopped buying soybeans, pork and other products.)
  • “’I’ve made 200 {trade} deal.’ (False. Officials say one deal is close to completed-but needs approval from the country’s leaders.)”

Lies About Committees, Enemies, and Convenient Scapegoats

  • “’Nobody mentions the fact that the unselect committee of political scum. They destroyed all evidence, they burned it, they got rid of it, they destroyed it.’ (False. While some sensitive evidence was withheld by the Jan. 6 Committee to protect witnesses, more than 100 depositions, transcripts and other documents are available online and open to inspection.)” His hatred for the committee is part of his vindictive belief system that feeds his rage about him being tied to the Jan 6th, which we know he orchestrated.
  • “’I watched Nancy Pelosi get rich through insider information.’ (False. There is no evidence that the former House speaker used inside information while trading stocks—which would be a crime.)” I named in a previous podcast the questionable behavior he exhibited that could have given Republicans information on when he would withdraw tariffs to improve the stock market. The Democrats and some Republicans are demanding information on stock trading in specific dates from  congressional members. His constant shift of blame and disdainful comments about people is to create a diversion from what is really happening and what Trump is doing.

Trump’s Bait-and-Switch Strategy

When times get tough, Trump resorts to a bait-and-switch system. An example is when Trump warns us that we have a problem, and he has never warned us. He will claim that a problem is not his, even though he took credit when things were good before. The truth is “Trump faces plunging polls, sagging economic numbers and skittish securities markets—mainly because of his tariff policy.”

Fabrications About Immigration and Crime

  • “’Many criminals—they emptied their prisons, many countries, almost every country, but not a complete emptying, but some countries a complete emptying of their prison system.’(This is poppycock, immigration experts know of no effort by other countries to empty their prisons and mental institutions. Trump appears to be channeling Cuban Leader Fidel Castro’s 1980 Mariel boatlift. 125,000 Cubans were allowed to flee to the United States in 1, 700 boards—but there was a backlash when it was discovered that hundreds of refugees had been released form jails and mental health facilities. There is no evidence this happened during the Biden administration. Yet, again, Trump is basing policy on an invention.)”

Misrepresenting the Economy and Military Spending

  • “’Now, if you take a look, the price of groceries are down. The price of energy is down.’ (False. The consumer price index for at-home food items increased 0.49 percent from February, while retail gas prices are basically the same since Trump took office in January. The price of oil could drop if there’s a recession, as some economist predict.)”
  • “’We pay billions of dollars for the military. Japan, billions for those and others. But that, I’m going to keep us a separate time, the paying of the military.’ (South Korea and Japan pay as well. ‘From 2016 through 2019, the Department of Defense spent roughly $20.9 billion in Japan and $13.4 billion in South Korea to pay military salaries, construct facilities, and perform maintenance,’ the Government Accountability Office concluded in 2021. ‘The governments of Japan and South Korea also provided $12.6 billion and $5.8 billion, respectively to support the U.S. presence.’”
  • “’We have $7 trillion of new plants, factories and other things, investment coming into the United States. And if you look back at past presidents, nobody was anywhere near that. Tand this is in three months.’ (False. At the beginning of April, the White House produced a list of only $1.5 trillion—two thirds of which came from Apple and an AI project called Stargate that was already under development before Trump took office. Since then, we’ve counted a series of announced investments (they list the companies) that total perhaps another $1 trillion.)”

My recommendation is you read the article if you want all 32 falsehoods. I feel disturbed that we have a president of the United States that is incapable of telling the truth, and fills the media with falsehoods every day. If you want to read a detailed look at the 100 days of Trump and the impact it has on us, you can read opinions in the article, “Maureen Dowd and Carlos Lozada on 100 Days of Trump’s ‘Fake Reality’ published on April 30, 2025, 5:02 a.m. ET in The New York Times by Maureen Dow, Patrick Healy and Carlos Loxada and produced by Jillian Weinberger. It is a discussion between them. They systematically look at Trump’s delight in creating chaos.

As we all know, many of us sat stunned for a brief period when Trump got into office and then when we realized what was happening we started marching, speaking out, and we are getting louder and louder about Trump’s incompetency. Trump continues to lie to himself, and you have seen that in the comments he makes. Now, HERE IS REALITY WHERE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE! They are not happy, and the polls are telling us what people believe.

Americans Criticizing Trump’s Policies in the Polls

David A. Graham has authored an article, “Capitalizing on Error” for The Atlantic on Tuesday, April 29, 2025, 4:59 PM. He refutes Trump’s comments about Americans being happy with him. Here is the truth:

“That wasn’t true then, and it’s even less true now. As Trump hits his 100th day in office today, pollsters have been releasing new surveys, and the results are ugly. NBC News finds that 55 percent of Americans disapprove of the president’s handling of the job, but that’s rosy compared with the 59 percent in a CNN poll. An ABC News/Washington Post poll finds that just 39 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s performance—the lowest ever recorded, going back to 1945, and smashing through the previous record of 42 percent, set by one Donald Trump in 2017.

More than half of Americans say that Trump is a ‘dangerous dictator whose power should be limited before he destroys American democracy,’ according to the Public Religion Research Institute. Asked by NPR to give Trump a letter grade for his first 100 days, a full 45 percent of Americans gave the president an F, including 49 percent of independents. Sixty percent believe that the country is on the wrong rack, per NBC.

Immigration is historically one of Trump’s strongest issues. The ABC/Post poll finds more votes disapprove of his handling than approve. The economy now fewer than four in 10 people approve of Trump’s handling, according to NPR. Consumer confidence is at its worst level since the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic.

An unpopular president is a less powerful president. Enacting an authoritarian approach is harder without public support, and other institutions—the Republican Party, universities, law firms—are less likely to bend their knee if they see weaknesses.

If you want charts of past presidents, and more detail one of the best articles I can recommend you is The Washington Post article, “Trump approval sinks as Americans criticize his major policies, poll finds,” by Dan Balz, Scott Clement and Emily Guskin on April 27, 2025. Here is a fact: “Trump’s 100-day approval rating in both terms are lower than any president’s since polls began. This chart is the best part of this article, since their findings are similar to the other statements I have taken from the previous article.

Realities That Americans Need to Face

Beyond the falsehoods and political spin, there are critical truths we as Americans must confront…The economy is shrinking, and the tariffs are sapping our economic growth. It is amazing to me that people could not see the excellent economy we had under Biden that is now being progressively destroyed by Trump’s inability to realize that his policies are not working.

Facing the Cost of Believing Falsehoods

There are many stories coming out of small businesses having to face the fact that the high tariffs could bankrupt them in the next 3-6 months. Gavin Newsom, Governor of California, has a podcast where he interviewed four business owners that were dismayed by the tariff impact on their businesses.

INC newsletter on April 29, 2025, in the article, “This Small Business Was Hit With a Surprise 181 Percent Tariff. Call it the Trump Tax,” by Rebecca Deczynski. She describes “Barre Trash co-founder Louis DeFelice says ongoing uncertainty around global trade make it ‘impossible to plan for the future.’” Here is parts of his story:

“With the purchase orders signed, the company secured a bank loan to finance the inventory from its Chinese factory, knowing that once the retailers paid for their purchases, Barre Trash would make just under a 50 percent gross profit. But then, yesterday, DeFelice checked his bank account to find that he’d been charged an extra $5,645—an unexpected 181 percent tariff. 

That sum is nearly double the $3,099 Barre Trash spent for manufacturing its dance warmups—and close to the $6,000 total figure that the company agreed to charge the buyers.

Because Barre Trash has additional shipping costs on top of that, DeFelice says, “we’re losing, overnight, $3,000 or $4,000 depending on how you look at it.”

Barre Trash received no notice or communication about the tariff charge. Upon noticing the errant number, DeFelice called a FedEx representative, who was able to explain when the tariff was imposed on the order and why it was even higher than the much-quoted 145 percent China tariff that the Trump administration mandated in early April. An additional clothing duty was added to that baseline tariff based on the order’s HS code.

Because of the frequent changes in tariffs over the past month, DeFelice adds, “Everything came in during the exact worst week for it to come in.” If the product had been stateside just a week earlier, the young brand could have potentially avoided the charge.”

This is only one story of hundreds of thousands of small businesses that were thriving until Trump got invested in his tariff war.

Facing the Cost of Believing Falsehoods
It is difficult to admit that someone we once trusted is consistently misleading us, but Americans must wake up to the pattern of deception. Decisions rooted in fiction are now shaping real policy—with serious consequences.

Understanding the Long-Term Impact

Let me give you another view of what is happening in Washington with the 100 days of Trump presidency. I greatly respect and trust my Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher and her are comments from her Friday, May 2, 2025, 9:37 PM newsletter RepLizzieFletcherTX07@mail.houise.gov :

“This milestone week, many people have written useful summaries of the first 100 days of the Trump administration, with more detail and analysis. But they make clear that during this short period, President Trump has failed to focus on improving the lives of Americans or lowering prices and is instead crashing our economy, dismantling essential federal programs and agencies, withholding funding Congress has appropriated ignoring the rule of law, defying the courts, jeopardizing our national security, and destabilizing the economy.

This week, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, a nonpartisan federal agency, released a report that showed U.S. GDP shrank by o.3% in the first quarter of this year—a real contrast from strong 3.4% growth in the fourth quarter of last year. The report also noted that prices rose for the second straight quarter—jumping form 2.4% to 3.6%–and core inflation climbed to 3.5%. In just 100 days, the stock market has lost nearly $10 trillion in values.  I encourage you to read this important coverage because the impacts of these actions matter in our district, across the country, and around the world.

Much of the focus for the last one hundred days has been on what is happening in the White House, and with good reason—Republicans in Congress have largely rubber stamped the unprecedented actions from the White House. But, having voted on a budget resolution directing committees in Congress to make major spending cuts and tax cuts, committees through the House of Representatives are in the process of our preparing their pats of House Republicans’ reconciliation package.”

She describes the cut of $880 billion from Medicaid. I do not think Trump realizes that many of his supporters that are white depend on Medicaid to take care of their families. Other cuts are Republicans have voted to “cut the Neighborhood Access and Equity Program, a $3.3 billion federal program meant to reconnect underserved inner-city neighborhoods.” She goes on to say, “This is just the first of many disastrous cuts for our community in this budget reconciliation process in Congress. I will keep you posted as this process progresses.”

I have heard from friends that have Republican that are their representatives in Congress are refusing to contact them or hear what their concerns are. Republicans have been told to not hold townhall meetings, and the issue is that Trump does not want the publicity of what is happening at those meeting. So, no wonder people are marching and stating exactly what they are unhappy about.

Truth Requires Action: What We Must Do Now

In CNN’s 5 Things AM 5things@newsletter.cnn.com by Jade Walker, Friday, May 2, 2025, we have a description of the “May Day demonstrations.”

“Thousands of protesters rallied across the US on Thursday in response to the Trump administration’s actions on immigration, the war in Gaza, federal workers and unions. The demonstrators, who were organized under the banner of the grassroots ‘50501 movement,’ filled the streets of major cities and small towns holding signs and calling for change. ‘Trump has poor and working-class people forgetting who our enemies are. Our enemies are not international students that organize on their campus. Our enemies are not documented workers that contribute to their communities, which pay taxes and can’t get services. Our enemies are not workers that work for corporations,’ an organizer said to a large crowd gathered in New York City’s Union Square. ‘No—this racist, sexist, anti-worker, homophobic, xenophobic, transphobic system is our enemy.’ More demonstrations are scheduled to take place on Saturday.”

Taking Responsibility as Citizens
Our democracy depends on informed citizens. When we fail to hold leaders accountable, we invite chaos. The truth is available—if we choose to see it. It is time to listen to facts, speak out, and vote accordingly.

This week Time’s newsletter dailyspotlight@mai.beehiiv.com on Tuesday, April 19, 2025, at 3:02 PM entitled, “In Fight With Bezos, White House Calls Amazon Showing Tariff Costs a ‘Hostile’ Act.” Later Amazon said they had no intention in announcing tariff costs. I feel sad, since I thought maybe one of the billionaires was speaking out. Here is a brief summary of the story:

               “President Donald Trump and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos are feuding again.

The White House lashed out at Amazon on Tuesday for reportedly planning to display how much of a product’s cost comes from trump’s tariffs. Doing so would emphasize to consumers that U.S. tariffs are not paid by overseas companies, but by the American companies importing the goods, and then largely passed on to customers.

‘This is a hostile and political act by Amazon,’ White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reports Tuesday at a briefing focused on the economy and Trump’s 100th day in office.”

I believe that consumers need to be educated about the cost of Trump’s tariff actions. A democracy is based on educating people through free speech to know what is going on in our country. We cannot make good decisions about our country if we are only told lies and falsehoods. It is too bad that Jeff Bezos would not provide the tariff cost to all of us. We need to hear more stories of companies that experiencing high tariff cost. I will continue to provide company story that are wrecking small American businesses.  It is time for us to speak out by having the  courage to speak out and tell the truth.

Conclusion: The Power of Clarity and Courage

The first 100 days of Trump’s second term have already exposed a troubling trend: a presidency built not on facts or accountability, but on distortion, distraction, and deception. When a leader repeatedly chooses to mislead the public—about the economy, immigration, military alliances, or democratic processes—we must ask ourselves: How much longer can we afford to ignore the truth? As Americans, our democracy relies on an informed and courageous public—one that refuses to be lulled by soundbites and false bravado. Now is the time to face the facts, confront the lies, and demand leadership rooted in truth, not spectacle. Our future depends on it.

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