--- title: Donald Trump 100 Days: He Calls It 'Ridiculous Standard' description: Trump said Friday the first 100 days is a "ridiculous standard," but he's encouraged that metric in the past. canonical: https://time.com/4750181/trump-100-days-ridiculous-standard/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-21T13:58:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:54:23.765Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Didn't Always Think the First 100 Days Was A 'Ridiculous Standard' og:description: He criticized a metric he used a lot in the past. og:url: https://time.com/4750181/trump-100-days-ridiculous-standard/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf623d486e42eb88e/6988c38bab6d77ddf86adb36/gettyimages-669994524.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: trump-turkey-conflict og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Didn't Always Think the First 100 Days Was A 'Ridiculous Standard' twitter:description: He criticized a metric he used a lot in the past. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf623d486e42eb88e/6988c38bab6d77ddf86adb36/gettyimages-669994524.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Didn't Always Think the First 100 Days Was A 'Ridiculous Standard' ## Video: In His Words: Trump Changes Course [Watch (HLS stream): In His Words: Trump Changes Course](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/1F3vpT03.m3u8) (1:20)  _Published 2017-04-13. President Donald Trump reversed course on several policy matters this week, from the status of the Federal Reserve Chairwoman to whether he believes China is a currency manipulator._  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Apr 21, 2017 1:58 PM UTC  President Donald Trump returns to the White House April 18, 2017 in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump returns to the White House April 18, 2017 in Washington, DC.Photograph by Kevin Dietsch—Getty/Pool  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Apr 21, 2017 1:58 PM UTC President Trump began Friday by blasting critiques of the first 100 days of his presidency as a “[ridiculous standard](http://time.com/4750064/trump-100-days-standard/).” But he hasn’t always felt that way. In fact, measuring the success of his first three months in office is something Trump has encouraged in the past. As a candidate, Trump released a “contract with the American voter” that included a “100-day action plan.” > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/791068123587686400) Among other things, the ambitious plan promised repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, reforming the tax code, ending illegal immigration, repairing infrastructure and fixing Social Security. While Trump has a lot of work to do to meet his own 100 day goals, as [CNBC reports](http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/21/trump-calls-first-100-days-ridiculous-after-he-set-goals-based-on-it.html), he’s continued to publicize the milestone and raise expectations. “There are those that say I’ve done more than anybody in 100 days,” Trump said February 28 [on Fox](http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/02/28/trump-pelosi-trade-barbs-over-incompetent-charge.html). “No administration has accomplished more in the first 90 days,” he said this week in Wisconsin. Despite Trump himself promoting the first 100 days as a standard by which to judge his young presidency, his Friday tweet comes as no surprise. A new poll was released Thursday showing voters had tepid views of his time in office, and his 100 day mark coincides with a [looming government shutdown fight](http://time.com/4749300/obamacare-repeal-government-shutdown-congress-trump/) over the budget. Trump, ever the salesman, is now trying to manage expectations. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4750181/trump-100-days-ridiculous-standard/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4750181/trump-100-days-ridiculous-standard/"},"headline":"President Trump Didn't Always Think the First 100 Days Was A 'Ridiculous Standard'","datePublished":"2017-04-21T13:58:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:54:23.765Z","description":"He criticized it in a tweet","url":"https://time.com/4750181/trump-100-days-ridiculous-standard/","keywords":["trump 100 days","White House","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf623d486e42eb88e/6988c38bab6d77ddf86adb36/gettyimages-669994524.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf623d486e42eb88e/6988c38bab6d77ddf86adb36/gettyimages-669994524.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"trump-turkey-conflict","caption":"President Donald Trump Returns to the White House","creditText":"Photograph by Kevin Dietsch—Getty/Pool","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/4750181/trump-100-days-ridiculous-standard/","name":"President Trump Didn't Always Think the First 100 Days Was A 'Ridiculous Standard'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"In His Words: Trump Changes Course","description":"President Donald Trump reversed course on several policy matters this week, from the status of the Federal Reserve Chairwoman to whether he believes China is a currency manipulator.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/1F3vpT03/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-04-13T20:03:34.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/1F3vpT03.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4750181/trump-100-days-ridiculous-standard/","duration":"PT1M20S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4750181/trump-100-days-ridiculous-standard/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```