--- title: What We Learned in President Trump's First 50 Days description: It's 50 days into President Trump's presidency. The White House didn't change him, he's changing the office and shaking up the government. canonical: https://time.com/4697879/what-we-learned-in-president-trumps-first-50-days/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-10T15:42:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T07:20:06.968Z article:section: Politics og:title: What We Learned in President Trump's First 50 Days og:description: It's 50 days into President Trump's presidency. The White House didn't change him, he's changing the office and shaking up the government. og:url: https://time.com/4697879/what-we-learned-in-president-trumps-first-50-days/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Morning Must Reads og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What We Learned in President Trump's First 50 Days twitter:description: It's 50 days into President Trump's presidency. The White House didn't change him, he's changing the office and shaking up the government. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What We Learned in President Trump's First 50 Days > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=ab2a5f59-f1e7-4eea-b3b5-d3b281e9f20e&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: National Security Advisor Michael Flynn Resigns [Watch (HLS stream): National Security Advisor Michael Flynn Resigns](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/l16JcwKD.m3u8) (0:59)  _Published 2017-02-13. National Security Advisor Michael Flynn resigned from the Trump Administration Monday night, blaming the "fast pace of events" during the transition for his misstatements about phone calls with a Russian ambassador._ by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Mar 10, 2017 3:42 PM UTC by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Mar 10, 2017 3:42 PM UTC It’s 50 days into President Donald Trump’s presidency. Here’s just some of what we’ve learned. * **The White House didn’t change Donald Trump, he’s changing the presidency.** Shattering norms and breaking with tradition at almost every turn, the constantly tweeting Commander-in-Chief has shown little restraint in using the bully pulpit of the White House to attack his enemies—real or perceived. Since the day he took office, Trump has taken his unconventional style to everything from foreign policy to mourning the loss of a sailor killed in a military operation. And he’s shown resistance to adopting the more ceremonial duties—at least without adding his own flair. * **His policy agenda is still a work in progress:** In his first 50 days, former President Obama had already pushed through several pieces of massive legislation. Donald Trump is still waiting on confirming his whole Cabinet, to say nothing of the array of other senior government jobs that are unfilled. The capstone of the vaunted first 100 days, which mark the apex of a president’s political capital, would be the passage of legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare. And the prospects of that are not looking great, to say nothing of making progress on agenda items like infrastructure and tax reform, which appear likely to slip until later this year, if they are taken up at all. * **But his efforts to shake-up the government are well on their way:** Trump is making his mark at all levels of government, particularly the so-called “administrative state,” where his aides are at work rolling back a conservative wish-list of regulations and making other procedural changes. Meanwhile, his Supreme Court nominee appears likely be swiftly confirmed. * **He doesn’t like taking responsibility:** Time and again Trump has punted responsibility for legislating to Congress, crafting policy to his Cabinet Secretaries or the military, and even suggested that his generals were the ones responsible for the death of the Navy SEAL killed in Yemen. * **But voters are watching:** Ultimately, this is Trump’s Administration and he’ll be the one held accountable by voters. Trump has worked to maintain his connection with his base while his office (he’ll hold his second campaign rally since taking office next week in Nashville), and he’ll always have his die-hards. And while many others are willing to look past some of the more outlandish antics to “give him a chance,” the patience of everyone else may expire if Trump can’t deliver on some of his campaign promises. The border residents on the border wall. Trump’s EPA pick ignores science. And more legal scrutiny for the travel ban. _Here are your must reads:_ **Must Reads** [President Trump Wants to Build a Wall on the Border ](http://time.com/4695484/donald-trump-border-wall-residents-mayors/)These Border Residents Think It’s a Bad Idea \[TIME\] [EPA Chief Says Carbon Isn’t a ‘Primary Contributor’ to Climate Change ](http://time.com/4696658/scott-pruitt-epa-carbon-climate-change/)Science Says He’s Wrong \[TIME\] [White House: Trump Unaware of Flynn’s Foreign Agent Work ](https://apnews.com/07dd0ad2ecc94962ae4148b59722c045/White-House:-Trump-unaware-of-Flynn%27s-foreign-agent-work)What vetting? \[Associated Press\] [After Halting Start, Trump Plunges Into Effort to Repeal Health Law ](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/09/us/politics/health-bill-clears-house-panel-in-pre-dawn-hours.html?%5Fr=0)White House launches an organized effort on high-stakes bill \[New York Times\] [Budget Referee May Call Foul on Obamacare Repeal ](http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/obamacare-repeal-congressional-budget-office-keith-hall-235903)A market-oriented Republican economist could prove to be a formidable obstacle for the GOP lawmakers who appointed him \[Politico\] [Mexican Foreign Secretary Goes Straight to the White House ](http://www.latimes.com/politics/washington/la-na-essential-washington-updates-mexican-foreign-minister-goes-straight-1489091906-htmlstory.html)Skips usual channels \[LA Times\] [The Political Lexicon of a Billionaire Populist ](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-political-lexicon-of-a-billionaire-populist/2017/03/09/4d4c2686-ff86-11e6-8f41-ea6ed597e4ca%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fsource=newsletter&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=newsletter%5Faxiosam)A secret of his success \[Washington Post\] **Sound Off** “Uh, no.” — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to Politico on whether Mexico will pay for Trump’s southern border wall “He was a private citizen at the time.” — White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on why it wasn’t inappropriate for Trump to tap former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn for the job, despite his work for foreign governments **Bits and Bites** [There May Already Be a ‘Trump Effect’ at the Southern Border](http://time.com/4696733/there-may-already-be-a-trump-effect-at-the-southern-border/) \[TIME\] [Women’s Health Services Face Cuts in the GOP’s Obamacare Replacement Bill](http://time.com/4697842/women-health-cuts-gop-healthcare-bill/) \[Associated Press\] [Palantir’s Man In The Pentagon](https://www.buzzfeed.com/williamalden/palantirs-man-in-the-pentagon?utm%5Fterm=.uaW1r1Kkn#.ixDMXMJB0) \[BuzzFeed\] [With Trump in White House, His Golf Properties Prosper](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/09/us/politics/trump-golf-courses.html) \[New York Times\] [China Says It Followed the Law in Approving 38 Trump Trademarks In ‘Unusually Quick’ Fashion](http://time.com/4697701/china-trump-trademarks-approval/) \[Associated Press\] [GOP Congressman Says the Poor ‘Just Don’t Want Health Care’](http://time.com/4697680/republican-roger-marshall-poor-people-health-care/) \[TIME\] [This Is the One Thing Alec Baldwin Likes About Donald Trump](http://time.com/4697522/alec-baldwin-donald-trump-snl-ivanka/) \[TIME\] [One of President Trump’s Biggest Critics Likes His Supreme Court Pick](http://time.com/4697246/neil-gorsuch-norm-eisen-letter/) \[TIME\] [Washington Attorney General Asks Judge to Block President Trump’s Revised Travel Ban](http://time.com/4697232/bob-ferguson-donald-trump-travel-ban-washington/) \[Associated Press\] ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] What I can confirm having spoken to him about it is that those conversations that happened to occur around the time that the United States took action to expel diplomats had nothing whatsoever to do with those sanctions. [ MUSIC ] When he makes reports on the General Flynn the conversations with Russians about the sanctions before you [ UNKNOWN ] I don't know about it I haven't seen it. 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