Donald Trump will take office and begin his tenure as the 45th president of the United States on Friday, but the 100 days leading up to his inauguration have been anything but silent.
Abortion and Planned Parenthood
The discussion about abortion has come to a head again in Washington, where Republican lawmakers are threatening to cut federal funding of Planned Parenthood and Trump said he would overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that gave women the right to abortions. Federal funds are currently forbidden from funding abortions, except in restricted cases of rape, incest or endangerment to the mother in accordance with the Hyde Amendment, first passed in 1976.
Seven out of 10 Americans were against overturning the Roe v. Wade decision, according to a Pew Study conducted after the election, but the contentious discussion surrounding reproductive freedom will gain another wind with the incoming power of a Republican-controlled House and Senate.
Healthcare Reform
One of Trump’s biggest promises throughout the election cycle was to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare,” and replace it with what he considers a more flexible and appropriate healthcare policy.
Although details of how the replacement plan would work have not been made public, Trump said his main focus will be to lower healthcare costs and increase access to insurance. Although Democrats have argued the shift would put tens of millions of Americans in danger of losing health coverage, Republicans have said those who registered under the Affordable Care Act will not lose their coverage but have not specified how the transition between plans will occur.
Reports of Russian interference
A dossier leaked to Buzzfeed made unverified allegations that the Russian government interfered with U.S. elections and had been “supporting and assisting” Trump for years. Buzzfeed published the full documents on Jan. 10, and the report was submitted to government agencies and given to President Obama and Trump. Buzzfeed’s journalists and editors themselves noted that the dossier contained unverified information, as well as clear errors. Sean Spicer, Trump’s incoming press secretary, called the report “frankly outrageous and highly irresponsible.”
Popularity ratings and Twitter warfare
President-elect Trump has not been shy about expressing his opinions on social media, especially on his platform of choice, Twitter. The Buzzfeed dossier scandal reverberated through the internet, garnering a response from Trump: “FAKE NEWS – A TOTAL POLITICAL WITCH HUNT!” Trump also referred to CNN, which reported information on the unverified dossier without publishing the documents, as “fake news” during his first official press conference as President-elect.