(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump “has already delivered on hundreds of promises to the American people” in his first 100 days in office, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a news briefing Monday. Monday marks 99 days since Trump was inaugurated.
The first 100 days of the Trump administration have “undoubtedly been the most monumental and historic of any administration in American history,” she said.
She and Border Czar Tom Homan first highlighted border security successes, with Homan saying the administration was “making America safe again,” The Center Square reported.
The news conference was the first of several to be held this week highlighting administration accomplishments during Trump’s first 100 days in office.
Tuesday morning, Leavitt and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will highlight economic accomplishments. Tuesday night, Trump will speak about his accomplishments in Michigan. Wednesday, cabinet members will highlight agency successes.
Later Monday, Trump will sign executive orders “on law and order” and sanctuary cities. The first will “strengthen and unleash America’s law enforcement to pursue criminals and protect innocent citizens,” Leavitt said. The second will direct the attorney general and secretary of Homeland Security to publish a list of state and local jurisdictions that obstruct the enforcement of federal immigration laws.
After Trump signs them, he will have signed more than 140 executive orders in his first 100 days in office, “rapidly approaching the total number signed by the Biden administration over the course of four years in office,” Leavitt said.
Many have criticized the president for issuing executive orders instead of implementing reforms through the legislative process and working with Congress.
Leavitt said Trump’s actions were necessary because former President Joe Biden’s “awful open border policies recklessly allowed more than 10 million illegal aliens to invade the United States.” More than 14 million illegal entries were reported during the Biden administration nationwide, The Center Square exclusively reported, including two million gotaways, those who evaded capture.
Trump has said more than 20 million illegally entered the country under the Biden administration, appearing to refer to those released into the country through parole programs and a greater number of gotaways than detected.
Leavitt highlighted examples of Americans who “were viciously murdered at the hands of illegal aliens as a result of Biden’s dereliction of duty. That’s why one of President Trump’s central campaign promises was to secure the border and end this invasion.” Since Jan. 20, Trump “has overwhelmingly delivered on that promise. America’s borders are now secure because of President Trump. He has restored the rule of law and enforced our immigration laws and defended America’s sovereignty.”
Leavitt also highlighted examples of emergency orders Trump issued, including declaring a national emergency at the southwest border, declaring an invasion, deploying 10,000 troops to the southwest border “to repel the invasion,” and ending Biden-era policies like the “reckless catch and release.”
Trump also reinstated his Remain in Mexico policy and continued with border wall construction, which former President Biden halted. Reinstating Remain in Mexico will “ensure that aliens who arrive at our southern border and claim asylum are returned to Mexico to await their hearings instead of being allowed into our country while they wait,” she said. An initial 85 miles of border wall construction is already in process, The Center Square reported.
On Trump’s first day in office, the Biden CBP One app was terminated; nearly one million who were encouraged to use it by the Biden administration have been targeted for deportation, The Center Square reported. Trump’s DHS later relaunched it as a CBP Home app, encouraging those in the country illegally to use it to notify DHS of their voluntarily departure.
Trump designated transnational criminal organizations, Mexican cartels and violent gangs as foreign terrorist organizations and invoked the Alien Enemies Act to implement a mass deportation plan.
Trump administration border policies resulted in a 95% drop in illegal entries in just a rew months, The Center Square reported. “Total attempted illegal crossings at the southwest border hit a record low in February only to fall to another new record low again last month in March,” Leavitt said.
Trump’s mass deportation efforts are prioritizing “illegal alien criminals and foreign terrorists,” Leavitt said. “We are in the beginning stages of carrying out the largest deportation campaign in American history,” highlighting a major operation in south Florida over the weekend that led to nearly 800 arrests, The Center Square reported. The Florida operation “is a preview of what is to come around this country. Large-scale operations that employ our state and local enforcement partners to get criminal illegal aliens off our streets,” Leavitt said.
Trump is also supporting the work of local law enforcement, “who are putting their lives on the line every single day to protect their fellow Americans and to keep our country safe after four years of being vilified and hamstrung by the Biden administration,” she said. ICE, CBP and Border Patrol agents also “finally have a president who has their backs, who is allowing them to do the jobs they signed up to do.”
