Sound and Fury, But Not Much Action in Trumps Noisy First 100 Days

POLITICS APR 27 2017, 8:40 AM ET

Sound and Fury, But Not Much Action in Trump’s Noisy First 100 Days

by CHUCK TODD, MARK MURRAY and CARRIE DANN

Yesterday — President Trump's 97th day in office — was maybe the most instructive yet of his early tenure. Consider all of the news from Wednesday:

The White House said it was unveiling the "biggest tax cut ever";

It bussed over the entire U.S. Senate to the White House for a classified briefing on North Korea;

Politico reported that the Trump White House was considering an executive order withdrawing from NAFTA;

The conservative House Freedom Caucus said it was supporting the House health-care plan after the crafting of a new amendment to change the legislation;

And Trump told the Washington Examiner he was "absolutely" considering splitting up the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

But here is the reality behind those developments:

That "biggest tax cut ever" was just a single sheet of paper with no details behind it (conservative economist Peter Morici told NPR that it's what a 12-year-old Newt Gingrich would have asked Santa Claus for Christmas);

Senate Foreign Relations Chair Bob Corker said the White House briefing on North Korea was just "OK," per NBC's Frank Thorp. (Corker: "It was an OK briefing." Q: What do you mean, you didn't really learn much? Corker: "I—it was OK…&quot ;

Late last night, the White House said that "Trump agreed not to terminate NAFTA at this time," and that the leaders of Canada and Mexico said they would work to renegotiate the treaty;

While House Republicans have picked up additional votes for their health-care legislation, it's unclear whether they have the 216 needed for passage (and the Senate seems to be an even harder pull);

And if you think Trump is going to be able to split up the 9th Circuit, we have a bridge to sell you…

A lot of sound. A lot of fury. But so little real action (with the possible exception of the health-care news). And that's so emblematic of Trump's first 100 days — sizzle but little steak. Indeed, yesterday seemed like a Trump campaign speech ("I'm going to give you the biggest tax cut ever"; "Believe me, I'm tearing up NAFTA"; "Lock up the 9th Circuit&quot . Diehard supporters eat it up, and it makes it SEEM like the White House is bustling with real activity. For someone who said the first 100 days is a "ridiculous" benchmark, it's pretty clear he cares a lot about the optics of these first three-plus months in office.

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http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/sound-fury-not-much-action-trump-s-noisy-first-100-n751801