Today is the hundredth day of the second Trump presidency. In recent years, we’ve adopted the notion that the first hundred days of a presidency — a probation of sorts — is sufficient to inform the electorate as to whether or not they’ve made the right choice. Maybe so.

This week, we’ll be treated to a flood of 100-day assessments by media pundits on both sides. I suspect that most will be based on opinion polls. Such polling is quantitative and valuable (particularly in election times), but it’s not always informative for the simple reason that public opinion generally just mirrors what we’ve been told by the media and politicians. In effect, the polls are more a measure of how effective their messaging has been rather than a measure of our own independent thought.

As an obvious case in point, the central 2024 election season message from the Left was that a Donald Trump presidency would be a dictatorship, a reincarnation of Nazi Germany, an existential threat to democracy in America. Since Trump’s election, Democrats have adopted the “we told you so” posture, as if the bad times they’d predicted are coming to pass.

Last week, for example, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz — the 2024 Democrat VP candidate — asserted that the Trump forces are now “shoving people into unmarked vans” and taking them away; evidently, Gestapo-like visions are too juicy to pass up. And so, is it any surprise that respondents to the recent NYT/Sienna poll characterized the first 100 days of the Trump presidency as not just chaotic but “scary”?

Surely, there are people who are scared by current events. But public opinion doesn’t grow in a vacuum — it’s planted and nurtured. So, rather than rely on opinion polling, let me suggest an alternative structure for a presidential report card that we each can answer based on our own sense of how Trump has done in these first 100 days:

1.) Is he doing what he promised to do? (My grade: A)

Trump has been both thorough and aggressive in attacking the full gamut of issues, both big and small, that he promised to attack.

But along with promising to go after those issues, in some cases he promised results that were clearly unrealistic. As one example, he not only promised to stop inflation — and inflation remains low so far — but to drive prices down. However, those Biden-era high prices are baked in, and reductions will come slowly, if at all. On that and all such promises, Trump owes Americans a candid picture of what to expect. We can handle it.

2.) Communications with the public (A+)

Trump is an open book, fielding and responding to questions from all comers, hundreds per day. On this one, there is a night-and-day difference between Trump and his tightly cosseted predecessor, a difference Trump’s media critics might keep in mind before pouncing on every hasty Trump word.

3.) Owning up to his mistakes (D-)

Digging through knotty problems at warp speed invites inevitable mistakes. I’m surprised that media-savvy Trump does not recognize the power of occasionally stepping up and saying with a wry smile, “Well, that didn’t work out as well as I’d hoped!” Sure, his opponents would feast on his misfires — but they do anyway, and the American public would love his candor.

4.) Is he moving too fast? (A)

Polls show that a majority of Americans think that Trump has “gone too far.” It’s a fair criticism in the sense that he’s got too many balls in the air and cannot possibly give each the attention it deserves. But his work ethic is amazing, he’s indefatigable, and he keeps hammering away at a breathless pace. His zest for the job is palpable.

I, for one, would much rather see my president swinging for the fences and missing a few than sitting back timidly.

For my own 100-day assessment, that’s it. Trump is the guy we hired, and those are the factors I think are important in judging whether or not he’s up to the job ahead. In my view, he is.

But along with those bases for assessment, there is a very long list of specific issues he’s working on. These are critically important, but they are also works in progress, barely started. The first hundred yards of a marathon reveal little about the finish line. But let’s consider three of the high-profile ones:

• Immigration/border security: Trump has managed to close the border almost overnight, and his immediate action to find, apprehend, and deport over 100,000 of the illegals known to be violent has surely prevented untold numbers of would-be victims. But so far, we have dealt with only about 1% of the estimated 12 million Biden-era illegal immigrants, and we have no clear sense of where it will go from here. The critical next step: Trump must define, communicate, and execute a viable plan for dealing, fairly but firmly, with those illegal immigrants still here.

• Economy and trade: Trump’s objectives — achieving truly fair trade and resurrecting our nation’s manufacturing capability — are sound, and he deserves credit for taking them on. A major overhaul of tariff policy may be part of the answer, but his aggressive actions have caused market and business uncertainty and prompted reasoned disagreement from economists on both sides. In short order, he must secure whatever improved tariff deals he can, but with them or without them, he should step back from his wholesale reliance on tariffs. Our economy is certainly strong enough to ride through the current turbulence.

• DOGE: Whether Elon Musk’s crew has already saved $160 billion, as the DOGE website claims, or only $2 billion, as asserted by NPR, this Trump initiative is long overdue and has been spectacularly fruitful in a very short time. The personal and financial attacks on Elon Musk are reprehensible, and the DOGE team deserves praise and thanks from every American.

The 100-day assessments may prove helpful in demonstrating how quickly Trump’s seemingly solid hold on public support can evaporate. Just months after his sweeping electoral victory, Trump’s overall approval is now below 50%, and his issue-by-issue ratings are lower still.

Nevertheless — even considering his exceedingly ambitious agenda — Donald Trump has demonstrated time and again his remarkable talent for getting things done. I remain confident that Trump can recover his 2024 election momentum and make a real difference in America’s future. We are still in the early stages of this marathon.

The Trump administration comes with baggage, idiosyncrasies, controversy, and even a measure of chaos — what you see is what you get. But for my taste, it has been ultra-refreshing to have someone who is clearly in charge, fully engaged, energetic, and communicative. His critics abound, but are any of them pining away for the good old days of President Biden?

Making America Great Again? In very specific ways? Let’s give it a shot!