Trump aides tout accomplishments, sidestep unfulfilled promises ahead of 100-day marker

April 26--WASHINGTON -- He promised to build a border wall, repeal Obamacare, eliminate crime and leverage public-private partnerships to spur massive infrastructure investment.

Donald Trump hasn't yet delivered on any of those promises, which were part of the ambitious agenda he laid out for the first 100 days of his presidency, a symbolic milestone he plans to cap on Saturday with a rally in Harrisburg.

Key aides held a series of briefings Monday and Tuesday to try to turn reporters' attention away from unfulfilled promises and toward initiatives Mr. Trump did execute.

"He's accomplished so many of his goals, and I know there are narratives out there that say otherwise, but we look at it and see a president working at breakneck speed, somebody who's ... running through that punch list of promises that he made during the campaign," Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said.

Wednesday, Mr. Trump will take a first public step toward another big checkmark -- tax reform. Mr. Priebus declined to provide details of the plan before its unveiling.

Aides blamed any failures on Senate obstruction, and assured that the administration wasn't giving up on the wall, the Obamacare repeal or Mr. Trump's other campaign promises.

"One of the reasons Americans elected him was they were frustrated by the lack of progress in Washington ... and they wanted an outsider to come change it," said Marc Short, Mr. Trump's director of legislative affairs, during a separate briefing. "That's not going to happen in the first 100 days. That's going to take time."

Mr. Short said the administration had hoped to accomplish more by now but noted successes such as repealing Obama-era regulations that the administration said hampered the energy sector by imposing rules to protect streams from coal pollutants and requiring energy companies to disclose foreign government royalty payments.

Mr. Trump also made good on campaign promises to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and to authorize construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. And he imposed three dozen executive orders including -- a week ago -- tasking the Department of Commerce with investigating steel imports. The study could lead to increased tariffs.

However, he failed to fulfill many other promises he said he would accomplish in his first 100 days, such as designating China as a currency manipulator, blocking federal funding from sanctuary cities, drastically reducing taxes, increasing police resources and bringing back jobs in sectors like coal that have been declining for years.

Congressional Democrats who have been fighting Mr. Trump at every turn said they want action, not rhetoric.

"This is not about just throwing out ideas or about photo ops. This is not a reality TV show. This is reality, and people need good-paying jobs, and we're willing to work with this president if he's serious about making that happen," U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich, said during a news conference Tuesday.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., joined Ms. Stabenow's call for action. He expressed disappointment that Mr. Trump hasn't followed through on promises to invest in infrastructure, to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement and to help coal miners.

"Infrastructure is something that President Trump talked about a lot on the campaign trail ... but where is the plan?" he asked. "The president came to states like Pennsylvania and talked a lot about trade, and I was glad he was raising that issue, glad he talked about renegotiating NAFTA. Where's the plan for that?"

Mr. Casey also called on Mr. Trump to pressure Senate Republicans to reauthorize legislation preserving federal coverage of health insurance for retired coal miners whose employers declared bankruptcy or closed. Without congressional action, 22,600 miners' benefits expire Sunday.

Mr. Short said he expects Congress to act in time and for Mr. Trump to sign the legislation. And, he said, miners can expect more help as Mr. Trump works to relieve their employers of regulatory requirements.

What Mr. Trump hasn't been able to do is unify his party enough to pass a health care replacement plan despite Republicans' controlling both chambers of Congress.

One top aide, speaking on background, said a replacement plan is still in the works and could be passed within weeks. And he said Mr. Trump should not be judged by his failure to push it through in his first 100 days, which the aide called a "ridiculous standard."

The aide acknowledged that Mr. Trump set the bar himself when he repeatedly promised to replace the Affordable Care Act "very, very quickly."

Mr. Trump made dozens of other campaign promises in his "Contract with the American People," which he presented as his plan for his first 100 days in office. He had fulfilled only a fraction of those as he rounded out his 95th day in office Tuesday.

Among Mr. Trump's accomplishments, aides count reducing illegal immigration, improving the business climate and getting Neil Gorsuch confirmed to the Supreme Court.

The White House stayed on message in "The Daily 1600," an email message distributed to anyone who signs up to receive it.

"At an historic pace, this president has enacted more legislation and signed more executive orders than any other president in over half a century," Tuesday's email said.

Of course, it's Congress, not the executive branch that "enacts" legislation. The White House's role is to enforce it.

The focus now turns to tax reform with the president's unveiling of a revenue plan Wednesday.

And Mr. Trump hasn't given up on his wall, either, although he is now conceding that it will not be a continuous barrier, and he has retreated from a demand that Congress fund it through a short-term appropriation that must pass by Friday to avert a government shutdown.

Mr. Trump will have more to say about his accomplishments on Saturday at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, where he will hold a rally at the same time as the White House Correspondents Dinner, which presidents traditionally attend.

Mr. Trump, who considers the reporters who cover him "enemies," said weeks ago that he would skip the dinner. It turns out he'd rather be with Pennsylvanians.

That's partly because of its proximity to Washington, partly because Pennsylvania was a purple state that put Mr. Trump over the top on election night, and partly because the president liked crowds that turned out to his campaign rallies there, Mr. Short said.

Washington Bureau Chief Tracie Mauriello: tmauriello@post-gazette.com, 703-996-9292 or on Twitter @pgPoliTweets.

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