Saturday, April 29 marked President Donald Trump’s 100th day in office. Here’s what he has been up to lately:

Supreme Court Appointee

Trump has done what Obama was not allowed to do: he filled late Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat on the Supreme Court — Judge Neil M. Gorsuch is the newest associate justice. Gorsuch is an originalist, meaning he believes in literal interpretation of the Constitution. He has said his philosophy as a judge is to “apply the law as it is, focusing backward, not forward…looking to text, structure, and history.” So he’s not exactly a progressive judge. Additionally, at 49 years old, Gorsuch could easily serve upwards of thirty years on the Court, making rulings that shape American legislation for decades to come. Liberals are specifically angered by his appointment because it came after Barack Obama’s nomination (Merrick Garland) was denied even a hearing in Senate. In fact, democrats in the Senate filibustered the nomination, trying to stop Gorsuch from being confirmed. In order to confirm Trump’s appointment, Congress changed the laws regarding how many senators are needed to approve a justice.  

March for Science

Following in the tradition of those who feel threatened by Trump’s presidency, scientists and those who believe in science took to the streets on Saturday, April 22 (Earth Day) to protest the lack of credence the current cabinet is giving to facts. The focus was on the environment, and–for example–how the current head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Scott Pruitt, has said, “I would not agree that [carbon dioxide is] a primary contributor to the global warming that we see.” Members of the cabinet have said that climate change is not real, and called for the abolition of the EPA. These protests took place around the country, with marchers chanting things such as, “Who runs the world? Nerds!” and “Alternative facts have got to go!”

First Hundred Days Goals

Before his 100th day, Trump vowed to roll out his new tax plan, which is supposed to show massive tax cuts — for the rich, that is. He has also expressed hope about reviving the Republican healthcare plan that was not passed into law last month. All this despite his threatening to leave Obamacare in place if members of congress refused to pass his healthcare bill.

Syria

After President Bashar al-Assad of Syria was blamed in early April of carrying out a chemical weapons attack against his own people, killing upwards of 80 people, Trump took it upon himself to punish Assad. On his orders, US warships launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the airbase that was supposedly where the warplanes that carried out the chemical attacks were. The missiles killed six people. This was the first direct US military action against the Syrian government. Trump says the motivation for the launch was to stop the spread of chemical warfare, and many news sources are calling it an intimidation technique.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer has faced a lot of backlash from his press conference about the launch. He cited using chemical weapons as being worse than something Adolph Hitler would have done. However Hitler, as anyone who has studied the Holocaust even minimally knows, used chemical attacks against millions of people in concentration camps — or as Spicer called them, “Holocaust centers.”

Fear of a Government Shutdown

On Monday, April 24, Congress returned from a two-week recess. If they are not able to come up with a spending bill by Friday (April 28), large parts of the government will run out of money, leading to a government shutdown. However, a compromise is not easy to find when Trump is pushing for money for a border wall and more money for the military, but Democrats are focusing on trying to keep funding for Obamacare.

Update: a government shutdown was averted when Congress agreed to a plan that will fund the government through September of this year. The budget does not include money for a Southern border wall.

Some international news for those who become sick every time they hear about Trump:

Turkish Government

On April 16, Turkey voted by a slim majority to grant President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sweeping powers in the country. The referendum changes the constitution of the country so that the president that wins the nomination in 2019 will have sole control of the government, abolishing the parliamentary system that provided checks and balances. This is meant to stabilize the country after an attempted coup against Erdogan in 2016.

France Elections

On Sunday, April 23, France held their preliminary elections for their next president. According to the election, centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron and far right candidate Marine Le Pen will be advancing to the second round. Many Americans draw parallels to the 2016 US presidential election because Le Pen holds the same populist appeal as Donald Trump did. Le Pen is viscerally anti-immigrant and has a “French first” attitude much like Trump’s for America. Should she win, her victory would be following in the steps of Brexit and America’s election–and riding the populist wave.