, Columnist
Trump's First 50 Days Are Decisive
The period for rapid, large-scale change is also the most likely period for recklessness.
The clock is ticking.
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Since Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal, Americans have thought that for any new president, the first 100 days are critical, because he has a honeymoon period in which Congress will do what he wants. But in the modern era, the first 50 days are the defining ones. That’s when the new executive branch is just taking shape, and the White House has maximal discretion to act entirely on its own -- and to turn the government in its preferred directions.
The Trump administration seems primed to exercise that discretion. But in a few months, it is likely to slow down, and for identifiable reasons.