Saturday, April 29., marked 100 days since Donald Trump took office. It also marked the day of the White House Correspondents Dinner, an annual gala that, as Hasan Minhaj the comedic speaker at the event said, “is about celebrating the 1st amendment and free speech”. Meanwhile, a hundred miles away, President Trump boycotted the Correspondents Dinner in favor of a rally in which he delivered an hour-long speech highlighting his Administration’s successes over the past hundred days.

“Trump’s progress over the past 100 days doesn’t surprise me, in terms of the number of bills he’s put through but I definitely think there are a lot of things he could’ve done better and needs to work on,” senior Eric Reidmiller said.

Although the 100-day benchmark may be a standard to which Presidents should not be held, the media, and in this case, the President, like to reflect on what a new Administration has been able to accomplish in a little over three months.  At his rally, President Trump evoked populist rhetoric and savaged the “fake” news media, all while celebrating the tremendous work he has done, in the company of his most loyal supporters.

Similar to the rallies held during his campaign, the President spoke to the “majority” who feels that Washington’s elites are out of touch with American society, and promised to continue working for them.  He reprised the familiar themes of immigration, trade deals, and the corruption of the so-called “Washington Swamp”. The split-screen image that resulted from this night, with journalists dining at what is considered one of the most important events on D.C’s social calendar and the President speaking to a crowd at a farm show center, serves to illustrate the theme of the first 100 days of his presidency: divisive.

“I think that Trump has fallen through on a lot of his promises that he made during his election campaign, which made a lot of voters support him.  However, he has been consistent in his views, “sophomore Tatiana Campos said.

The celebration of the Administration’s successes culminated on May 1st, with the release of a video giving “facts” about the achievements over the past 100 days. The video ends on a scathing note, criticizing the media for an inaccurate portrayal of what the Administration has been able to accomplish. The mood appears to turn towards a lighter note with the iteration of President Trump’s campaign slogan “Making America Great Again”.