--- title: Trump 100 Days: Three Major Setbacks of the White House description: A look at what setbacks President Trump has faced in his first 100 days in the Oval Office. canonical: https://time.com/4748646/trump-100-days-setbacks/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-25T21:02:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:31:26.215Z article:section: Politics og:title: Here Are President Trump's 3 Biggest Setbacks in His First 100 Days og:description: The travel ban, health care reform and Russian investigations. og:url: https://time.com/4748646/trump-100-days-setbacks/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb80ba19aa6bd4176/6988ca73bc6cfc834c3e1097/donald-trump-100-days-setbacks.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3500 og:image:height: 1969 og:image:alt: President Trump Holds Video Conference With NASA Astronauts Aboard The International Space Station og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here Are President Trump's 3 Biggest Setbacks in His First 100 Days twitter:description: The travel ban, health care reform and Russian investigations. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb80ba19aa6bd4176/6988ca73bc6cfc834c3e1097/donald-trump-100-days-setbacks.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here Are President Trump's 3 Biggest Setbacks in His First 100 Days > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. 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.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Apr 25, 2017 9:02 PM UTC  President Trump inside the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 24, 2017. President Trump inside the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 24, 2017. Molly Riley—Bloomberg/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Apr 25, 2017 9:02 PM UTC As he’s neared his 100th day in office, President Trump has dismissed the milestone as meaningless. In interviews, Trump has called the 100-day marker an [“artificial barrier”](http://people.com/politics/president-trump-100-days-record-low-approval-ratings/) and a “[ridiculous standard](http://time.com/4750064/trump-100-days-standard/?iid=sr-link6),” perhaps in part because he’s faced setbacks on some of his signature issues. So far, Trump’s three biggest setbacks have been on a stalled effort to ban travel from several Muslim-majority countries, a failed bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act and ongoing investigations into Russian meddling in the election. He’s also faced a number of smaller setbacks, including [a $25 million settlement](http://time.com/4576543/donald-trump-university-lawsuit-settlement/) on a lawsuit over the now-defunct Trump University and [another](http://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/trump-jose-andres-lawsuit-settled-237003) with celebrity chef [José Andres](http://time.com/4672858/day-without-immigrant-strike-jose-andres/); major protests centered on [women’s rights](http://time.com/4649891/protest-donald-trump/), [science ](http://time.com/4751581/march-for-science-protestors-rain/)and his [tax returns](http://time.com/4739566/trump-tax-day-march-protest-returns/); and staffing problems including the firing of National Security Advisor [Mike Flynn](http://time.com/4670930/white-house-president-trump-asked-for-flynns-resignation/) and the withdrawal of Labor Secretary nominee [Andy Puzder](http://time.com/4662507/andrew-puzder-undocumented-worker-housekeeper/). **MORE:** [_Here Are President Trump’s 3 Biggest Achievements in His First 100 Days_](http://time.com/4748860/trump-100-days-achievements/) Still, it’s early in the Trump Administration. The travel ban could end up being reinstated as it works its way through the court system, while Congress could yet pass a bill repealing Obamacare. Here’s a look at Trump’s three biggest setbacks during his first 100 days. ## Court Orders on the Travel Ban Trump’s [executive order](http://time.com/4652746/donald-trump-immigration-ban-family-detained/) barring immigration to the U.S. from seven predominantly Muslim countries was met with swift backlash in January as [protesters flooded airports](http://time.com/4652654/jfk-detain-trump-immigration-order/) across the country to demonstrate opposition. The order faced several legal challenges and was blocked by a federal judge in Seattle, after which a federal appeals panel unanimously refused to reinstate the ban. In March, a revised immigration order, which suspended immigration from just six Muslim-majority countries and halted refugees from entering the U.S., was also [blocked by a nationwide order](http://time.com/4703177/donald-trump-travel-ban-immigration-hawaii-judge/) issued by a federal judge in Hawaii. Trump denounced the decision as a “terrible ruling” and said he will take the case to the Supreme Court. While the failed implementation of Trump’s immigration order has been a setback during the first 100 days of his presidency, it could ultimately become a victory for Trump if the Supreme Court rules in his favor. ## Withdrawal of the Vote on Health Care In March, House Republicans withdrew the health care bill they had introduced to replace the Affordable Care Act, canceling a vote when it became clear they lacked support for it to pass. The bill, which faced opposition from all Democrats in Congress, also [spurred disagreement](http://time.com/4693917/republicans-health-care-draft-criticism/) among conservative groups and Republicans, some of whom argued that a full repeal of former President Obama’s health care law should come before separate legislation to replace it. “This is a setback — no two ways about it — but it is not the end of this story,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said at the time, announcing that “we’re going to be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future.” The bill’s failure was a [humbling defeat](http://time.com/4712852/ahca-donald-trump-obamacare-repeal-failure/) to Trump and congressional Republicans who had campaigned on a repeated promise to repeal and replace Obamacare. Trump faulted the [House Freedom Caucus](http://time.com/4718360/freedom-caucus-donald-trump-what-to-know/), which withheld support for the bill. While Trump and Ryan initially said they would move on to other legislative priorities, the Trump Administration has recently said it will [push congressional leaders to vote](http://time.com/4751824/trump-100-days-government-shutdown-magical-thinking/?iid=sr-link1) on the health care bill in the near future, though it still lacks the votes to pass. ## ## Investigations Into Russian Meddling Three congressional committees are investigating Russian meddling into the election, creating a headache for Trump. The ongoing investigations keep alive questions from his critics about the legitimacy of his win, while attempts to fight back have led to unforced errors on the White House’s part. Questions about Russia have already claimed a White House staffer. Flynn, who was [fired](http://time.com/4670930/white-house-president-trump-asked-for-flynns-resignation/) after he misled Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with the Russian ambassador, now faces allegations that he [broke the law](http://time.com/4754386/jason-chaffetz-michael-flynn-russia-law/) when he accepted payments from entities linked to Russia and Turkey. Even the investigators have run into trouble. Republican Rep. Devin Nunes [faced criticism](http://time.com/4714860/devin-nunes-recuse-russia-probe/) after he went to the White House to look at classified documents that supposedly backed up Trump’s claims about Obama-era surveillance. A [recent poll](http://time.com/4721976/trump-russia-ties-probe/) found that more than half of Americans would like an independent investigation, which would only compound Trump’s troubles. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4748646/trump-100-days-setbacks/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4748646/trump-100-days-setbacks/"},"headline":"Here Are President Trump's 3 Biggest Setbacks in His First 100 Days","datePublished":"2017-04-25T21:02:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:31:26.215Z","description":"A look at what setbacks President Trump has faced in his first 100 days in the Oval Office.","url":"https://time.com/4748646/trump-100-days-setbacks/","keywords":["trump 100 days","Health Care","Obamacare","russia","Congress","Affordable Care Act","White House","Donald Trump","travel ban","onetime","AHCA"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb80ba19aa6bd4176/6988ca73bc6cfc834c3e1097/donald-trump-100-days-setbacks.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb80ba19aa6bd4176/6988ca73bc6cfc834c3e1097/donald-trump-100-days-setbacks.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Trump Holds Video Conference With NASA Astronauts Aboard The International Space Station","caption":"President Trump Holds Video Conference With NASA Astronauts Aboard The International Space Station","creditText":"Molly Riley—Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/trump-100-days/","name":"trump 100 days"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4748646/trump-100-days-setbacks/","name":"Here Are President Trump's 3 Biggest Setbacks in His First 100 Days"}}]}] ```