Trump has been in office for 100 days.
For a president known for controversy and governing via Twitter, this is not just a political milestone—it feels more like a nationwide midterm exam.
But the report card from the American public is not pretty.
According to the latest PBS poll, over 60% of Americans are dissatisfied with his performance, with a striking 45% outright giving him an "F." Only 28% rated his performance as "excellent" or "good"—the lowest 100-day approval rating for a U.S. president in decades.
Source: PBS
This score is not just a rejection of Trump's style but a concentrated backlash against his divisive policies, erratic governance, and the growing sense of social anxiety.
Source: PBS
Trump’s America: Consumption Downgrade
If the main battlefield of Trump’s “Hundred-Day Reform” is the White House, for ordinary Americans, the biggest “reform” is—they’ve run out of money.
Young people today are giving up bars, movies, and haircuts—even when they party, they’re taking their own drinks to go.
Source: X
On social media, “#recession indicators” has become a national meme.
Shopping at the dollar store but still having to scan for prices 😅
Source: X
Five Guys’ mini combo meal has reached a whole new price level.
Source: X
Want to add some sauce? Can’t afford it—those now cost money 😅
Source: X
Costco’s $1.50 hot dog combo—the last dignity of the broke.
Source: X
Even McDonald’s dipping sauces for Chicken McNuggets now come with tiered limits 👇
Source: X
DoorDash rolls out “Buy Now, Pay Later”—now even pizza comes in installments.
Source: X
A netizen commented: “When Las Vegas starts offering free parking, you know a recession is coming.”
Source: X
Strip clubs are eerily quiet—dancers from high-end clubs are now downgrading to dive bars just to get work.
Source: X
Well-dressed white-collar men are signing up for Uber and delivering food in their Teslas—forming the new “middle-class reemployment triathlon.”
Source: YouTube
Even clubbing now requires a loan. For Coachella, 60% of tickets were bought on installment plans 💔
Source: TikTok
A netizen joked: “Poverty cured my roots shame”—touch-ups can definitely be less frequent.
Source: TikTok
America was once the world’s top spenders, with per capita annual consumption reaching $22,000. But after just 100 days of Trump, he’s managed to send everyone back to 2008 mode.
Source: TikTok
Lady Gaga released her new album "Mayhem" this year, with a sound that throws back to the 2008 subprime crisis 😅
Source: X
While economists are still calculating the CPI, American netizens already have their conclusion: if even strippers can’t make money, nobody is.
Hot dog price hikes, the lipstick effect—all warning signs of a recession. Lady Gaga dropping an album, Liam Neeson promoting real estate, Taylor Lautner returning as a werewolf… This wave of millennium nostalgia feels like a bankruptcy signal for Americans.
Source: Realtor
Jokes aside, everyone knows deep down: the real winter never announces its arrival.
Studying in the U.S. Feels Like a Roller Coaster
For international students in the U.S., Trump’s 100 days have felt like a one-two punch of “consumption downgrade + visa storm.”
Since taking office in January, Trump has aggressively targeted top American universities, accusing them of mishandling last year’s pro-Palestine protests and fueling antisemitism on campus.
The Trump administration has massively canceled funding to several top universities, plunging U.S. higher education into a financial winter with the largest layoffs in history, heavily impacting PhD applications as well.
Source: WSJ
Late last month, Harvard University formally sued the Trump administration, pushing back against threats to cut billions in research funding—marking a major escalation in the ongoing battle between higher education and Trump.
Source: Harvard
Starting in April, the study-abroad community experienced a bizarre “identity nightmare”: the SEVIS status of thousands of international students in the U.S. was inexplicably terminated, and their F-1 visas revoked.
Source: NBC News
Only recently, during a court hearing, DHS was forced to reveal how this operation unfolded: they dumped the names of 1.3 million international students into the National Crime Information Center database for cross-matching, flagged 6,400 “suspicious individuals,” and unilaterally terminated their SEVIS status—then notified the revocation of visas within 15 minutes. Throughout the process, they did not notify schools or explain the reasons.
At least 65 lawsuits have been rapidly filed across the U.S., yet DHS and ICE continue to insist: “Termination of SEVIS does not mean loss of status.”
Source: WNDU
Talk about a clown show—this is the definition of one 😅
Hundred-Day Reform: A Complete Mess
Perhaps in the eyes of MAGA supporters, Trump remains the hero who “fights the establishment and drains the Washington swamp,” but more ordinary Americans are now re-examining his “Hundred-Day Reform” with a palpable sense of unease.
The New York Times pointed out that Trump is “not rebuilding America, but restructuring the logic of its relationship with the world”—his policies emphasize raw power over collaboration.
Source: NYT
For ordinary Americans, these 100 days have been like a farce: tariff formulas that seem AI-generated, persistently rising inflation, no progress on healthcare reform, tax reform stuck in place, and foreign policy flip-flops.
Source: The Verge
What these 100 days have brought them is not “hope,” but greater division and uncertainty.
And this anxiety is now spreading from legislation into every corner—academia, technology, consumption, and daily life.
For international students still studying in the U.S. or about to depart, the situation ahead may remain grim.
Nevertheless, there is still hope on the horizon.
On one hand, American universities and local businesses rely heavily on international talent, and many industry leaders and universities are pushing back against Trump’s policies through lobbying and lawsuits. In particular, the U.S. education sector, which inherently champions multiculturalism, is destined to always stand on the side of international students.
On the other hand, more and more international students are beginning to explore multi-path development, including shifting to other study-abroad destinations or planning future entrepreneurial or research returns. Of course, in an era of volatile international relations and tightening global policies, change is never as simple as switching locations—there are countless factors for international students to weigh.
Trump’s Hundred-Day Reform is a rewriting of “American values” and a barrier standing between international students and their future.
In a time of upheaval, international students especially need composure, information literacy, and strategic thinking to stay on course amid great changes.
