Angry Don doing it his way 100 days in

Once again he has been driven up the (as yet unbuilt) wall by his number one target - the fake news peddlin' media - which has had the audacity to rate the President's first 100 days in the White House.

"No matter how much I accomplish during the ridiculous standard of the first 100 days - and it has been a lot...media will kill!" Trump said in one of his trademark late night tweets.

But hold on a minute, hasn't Donald played up to the significance of the 100-day marker in the not-so-distant past?

In a speech less than two weeks ago he proudly announced that no administration had accomplished more in its first 90 days, 'on military, on the border, on trade, on regulation and on law enforcement'.

But as is so often the case with Trump, his boasting fails to match up to close scrutiny.

While Trump has spent seven of his first 12 weekends as President playing golf in Florida, he has failed to accomplish many of the pledges he boldly said he would complete on entering the White House.

His efforts to reform Obamacare became immediately tangled up in red tape, as did his grand plan to impose term limits on members of congress.

Nothing has happened on his signature issue of tax reform, meaning America still eagerly awaits details of his 'massive tax cut' for everyone.

Meanwhile Mexico has refused to pay for the wall and Trump's efforts to ban entry to the US for travellers from several mainly Muslim countries have twice been thrown out by the courts.

In reality, it is ridiculous to expect any new President to achieve miracles in such a short space of time, but up to now most of Trump's plans have gone crashing into the buffers.

He lacks a single benchmark triumph during a period where a new president is usually seen as being at the peak of his political power.

George W Bush's tax cut plan was backed in his first 100 days, Obama pushed through equal pay laws and Bill Clinton passed legislation granting workers unpaid leave for medical emergencies.

Trump, meanwhile, must have felt like he has been banging his head against the wall.

In the plus column, he has signed off on a number of executive orders, many of which are aimed squarely at benefitting big industry in an effort to deliver a short term boost to the economy.

These include clearing the way for two controversial oil pipelines and scrapping a rule against dumping coal waste in rivers.

Trump's critics say that not only has he failed to achieve any major political goals in his first 100 days, he has seriously damaged his chances of success in the White House.

They cite the ongoing FBI investigation over alleged links between Trump campaign operatives and Russia - and the resignation of his first national security adviser, Michael Flynn - as evidence that his administration is already facing an uphill battle.

They also argue that Trump's bizarre claims that Obama tapped his phones and that millions of illegal voters almost blocked him from winning the election have tarnished his office.

According to Professor Scott Lucas, an expert on US politics at the University of Birmingham, Trump's shoddy early performance makes a second term in office increasingly unlikely.

"The first 100 days is extremely important because of the way in which American political culture works," he said.

"The executive orders that Trump has signed may give the US an economic boost over the short term, which could soften the overall impression of chaos.

"The bigger picture is that there is no signature major piece of legislation. Meanwhile Trump's leadership style - and I say 'leadership' in the loosest of terms - is adding to the uncertainty.

"Congress feeds off the impression of stability and confidence. When you have an administration that does not appear competent then jitters start to appear."

Trump's first 100 days in office have also seen him change tact on a number of key issues.

He appears to have done an about turn on his view of NATO. And he bombed Syria over chemical weapons use, going against his previously stated aim of detaching the US from international conflicts.

Then came the 'mother of all bombs' on ISIS strongholds in Afghanistan and the recent show of force against North Korea.

But while many predicted these changes would see him lose his core support, it has remained strong. He still has a 94 per cent approval rating among those who voted for him.

Yet in some ways Trump has stayed true to his campaign tactics. The assault on political norms that appealed to and shocked voters in equal measure during has continued unabated.

A good many political commentators assumed that once in office Trump would rein in some of his more outlandish tendencies in favour of following presidential protocol.

Congress and his advisors would pull him into line, the argument went.

They could not have been more wrong.

He has attacked any critic who has crossed his path, including judges, Obama and protestors. He has continued to refuse to divulge details of his business interests.

And although he is a political newbie, two of his closest advisors are his daughter and his son-in-law, both fellow novices when it comes to Washington power games.

So despite the White House seemingly being characterised by leaks and in-fighting, Trump is intent on serving the US from the front foot.

Whatever the remainder of his presidency holds, I think we can now be certain that Trump will be doing it his own way.