Could it be the man is learning? Over the past couple of weeks, the Trump administration vowed to shut down the government on April 28th (when it runs out of funding) if Congress didn’t agree to fund Trump’s ridiculous Mexican border wall. Trump has now backed off on that–promising the wall will still get built, but without holding the budget hostage to get it. At this rate, Trump could just keep promising it’ll happen eventually… until he leaves office.

So, what does Trump think he’s accomplished in his first 100 days? CNN’s got it covered. As for me, I’m going to talk a little bit about each one: CUTTING REGULATIONS * Energy Independence Executive Order -- Doesn't amount to much yet. * * Revocation Of Federal Contracting Executive Orders -- Doesn't amount to much yet. * Reexamination Of CAFE Standards -- Doesn't amount to much yet. * Review Of Waters Of The United States Rule -- Doesn't amount to much yet.

It’s not actually been 100 days for Trump yet, but critics are happy to drop a tombstone on that pivotal period for Trump. Articles like this one from the Washington Post deliver scathing reviews of his (not quite) 100 day performance. They note that his approval rating is bad–in fact, it is the worst approval rating for a new President on record. WaPo suggests he show more humility and contrition and admit that he really doesn’t have everything under control–that he’s had to learn on the job.

It wasn’t a very lucky week for Trump, which might be appropriate for his 13th. When Alex Shephard writes his week-in-review pieces for the New Republic, they always begin the same way. The subheading is always, “This week was pretty bad. But next week will be worse.” So far, he has always been right. To be fair, it was bad week for the American right in general moreso than it was for Trump, but Trump is a deeply sensitive man who can tell when the public is against him and his allies.

Remember the regulations put in place after the 2008-2009 crash, to prevent us from having another? Trump says they gotta go. What’s going on? Trump is set to release executive orders today which undermine a couple key components of the Dodd-Frank Act. Dodd-Frank was put in place after the global financial collapse that began in late 2008. It is designed to prevent banks from engaging in the sorts of risky behavior that led to the crash, and to make them prove they are solvent on a regular basis.

Trump always touts what a great businessman he is. Seems part of that is not paying out his obligations–even now. What’s going on? During the election, you might recall that various stories came out about Trump stiffing people and firms who’d worked for or with him. Bills got paid late, for less than the agreed amount, or not at all. Trump has apparently made a career out of stealing goods and services from people who dealt with him in good faith.

Sometimes, the notion goes around that certain Republicans keep their distance from Trump and decry what he’s done to their party. Don’t believe it. What’s going on? As a case in point, take Senator Lindsey Graham, who staunchly opposed and criticized Trump during the election, but is now heaping praise on him for his foreign policy. Kind of a head-scratcher if you ask me, since Trump’s foreign policy has been a confused mess.

Does this battle over Trump’s tax returns really matter? My answer is: no. This is a symbolic fight to extract normative behavior from a deviant President. What’s the point? Some might say it’s to prove that he’s corrupt, that it would reveal how his actions as President benefit his family and his business interests. But everyone already knows that’s the case. Some might then say that this proof is necessary to prosecute him–you need evidence, after all.

Trump is touting some more fake news, as usual. Polling firm Rasmussen recently put out a poll showing that Trump’s approval rating is about 50%. Trump, of course, got really excited about it, because it means that all the other polls showing his approval in the mid-to-low 30s are fake, and all the negative press about him isn’t actually hurting him. But the Rasmussen poll is flawed, both for not revealing its methods of sample selection, and for using a polling method that heavily favors older voters, who are much more likely to support Trump.

There are Tax Day protests going on all over the country today. Trump says they’re getting paid for it. All I can say is: I wish I got paid to protest! OK, I can say more than that. This meme seems to go around every time there are widespread anti-Trump/anti-GOP/anti-conservative protests. It’s as if right-wingers can’t fathom the idea that anyone might legitimately want to protest their actions. Nah, they have to be getting paid by George Soros (their favorite name drop) or something.