President Donald Trump is closing in on one month on the job, and his administration’s breakneck pace has barely slowed down since day one. In honor of Presidents’ Day, we thought we’d break Trump’s second term down by the numbers, and see how he compares to other presidents at this point in the year. Here’s how he stacks up. Executive Orders: Winning! So far during his second term Trump has signed 68 executive orders, far more than any other president in recent history. By this time in his first term, he had signed only a dozen orders, a sign of how much more aggressive Trump intends to be this time around. Joe Biden had signed 32 executive orders by Presidents’ Day — some on racial equity and requiring COVID face masks — while Barack Obama had signed 14 executive orders. George W. Bush had signed seven, Bill Clinton six, and Ronald Reagan five. Trump immediately took a slew of actions against illegal immigration, sending troops to the border, launching a massive deportation operation, and ordering border wall construction. He took action to end the weaponization of the federal government, and cut regulation. He also took aim at gender ideology, banning federal funding for transgender drugs and procedures for children and prohibiting public schools from promoting gender ideology or allowing men on women’s sports teams or in their bathrooms. He also took an axe to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies. Cabinet Nominees: Winning! Meanwhile, Trump’s cabinet nominees are working their way through their Senate confirmations, with 16 out of 22 nominees confirmed so far. By this time in Trump’s first term, he had only nine nominees confirmed. Biden had only six nominees confirmed at this point, while Obama had 11. Bush had all 14 of his nominees confirmed, Clinton had all but one of his 14 nominees confirmed, and Reagan had all 13 of his nominees confirmed. On Thursday, Trump was able to get his most controversial pick, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Job Approval: Better Than Last Time Despite years of relentless attacks from the media, Trump’s job approval is significantly better now than at this point during his first term. Trump’s approval rating sits at 48.8% as of Monday, higher than the 40% he scored at this point in his first term, but below where recent Democrat presidents were. Biden’s approval rating was 54.8% at this point in his presidency, as he enjoyed a brief honeymoon period while Americans hoped he would quickly end the pandemic. His approval rating started plummeting that summer, just before the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. It  never recovered, at one point dipping below 36%. Obama’s approval rating was 62% this time in his first term, George W. Bush was at 57%, Bill Clinton at 51%, and Ronald Reagan at 55%. Diplomacy: Winning! Trump has also taken a forceful approach to bringing home Americans detained abroad. Since taking office last month, Trump has secured the release of at least 12 hostages held by Hamas terrorists, the Taliban, Russia, Venezuela, and Belarus. The administration is working closely with Israel to free hostages in Gaza. Biden said last year that he had secured the release of more than 70 hostages over his entire four years in office. Trump has also begun negotiations with Russia and Ukraine to end the decades-long war that accelerated when Russia invaded Ukraine a year after Biden took office. Trump has also already hosted three foreign leaders at the White House. Biden did not have a foreign leader at the White House until April, when he hosted the Japanese prime minister. Super Bowl Attendance: Winning! Trump was the first sitting president to attend the Super Bowl, delivering him a resounding victory in this category — which is more than you can say for the Chiefs.

On Saturday, as “Saturday Night Live” celebrated its 50th anniversary, Tom Hanks was blasted after reprising a role as a Trump supporter on “Black Jeopardy” who was seen as racist. Wearing a red Make America Great Again hat again as “Doug,” a Trump supporter, Hanks answered a question correctly, then stated that if more people went to church, America would be better off. When Kenan Thompson, as host “Darnell Hayes,” crossed over to congratulate him on his answer, Hanks recoiled at first, then relented after Thompson said, “It’s only a handshake.” Hanks’ reluctance to shake Thompson’s hand struck many people as portraying Trump supporters as racist. The show offered consistent gibes at President Donald Trump; in one sketch, parodying the song “I Dreamed A Dream” from “Les Miserables,” a member of the cast sang, “I dreamed a dream that King Kong died, then I remembered he’s in Florida.” In another sketch, actor Martin Short walked onstage, and comedian Steve Martin asked, “Do you have your passport on you? ICE, get him!” That prompted ICE employees to drag Short off the stage, yelling, “No! I’ll name names! Mike Myers! Jim Carrey!” Weekend Update segment anchor Colin Jost quipped, “It is an honor and a thrill to be hosting Weekend Update for the 50th, and if it was up to our president, final season of SNL.” In 2016, Hanks appeared on “Black Jeopardy” as “Doug,” saying, “They told me a fella could win some money, so let’s win me some money. Get’ er done.” PRESIDENTS’ DAY SALE! 40% Off DailyWire+ Annual Memberships With Code DW40 Later, Hanks said, “You know, I got to tell you, I love those movies, I bought a box set at Walmart, and if I can laugh and pray in 90 minutes, that is money well spent.” When Thompson walked over to him with his hand outstretched, saying, “I really appreciate you sayin’ that. I like that,” Hanks recoiled from the outstretched hand, then took it, visibly shaking. Hanks was roundly criticized for his 50th-anniversary performance on social media: Tom Hanks just came out on SNL in a MAGA hat for a bit where he acted like he didn’t want to shake a black man’s hand. This show wonders why their ratings are in the gutter. Trump won the popular vote. This tired trope that MAGA is racist is disgusting. SNL is an unfunny show… pic.twitter.com/PlSc7gmiJ0 — Link Lauren (@itslinklauren) February 17, 2025 Nobody even laughs. Tom Hanks and the writers of @nbcsnl are an embarrassment for this nonsense. pic.twitter.com/eNrLSGSWDR — Justin Hart (@justin_hart) February 17, 2025 For its 50 year anniversary special, SNL had Tom Hanks play a racist Trump supporter afraid to shake a black man’s hand. Fun fact: Trump’s 2024 election win was the LEAST racially divisive American election since 1964. pic.twitter.com/0gdocaaktH — Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) February 17, 2025 Hanks in 2016:

A shipment of 2,000-pound bombs arrived in Israel from the U.S. over the weekend, the first such shipment since former President Joe Biden put a hold on the heavy munitions. President Donald Trump lifted the hold on the MK-84 bombs when he entered office, restarting the flow of the heavy bombs to Israel. On Sunday, Israel’s Defense Ministry announced the arrival of the first shipment of 2,000-pound bombs in roughly nine months. “The munitions shipment that arrived in Israel tonight, released by the Trump Administration, represents a significant asset for the Air Force and the IDF and serves as further evidence of the strong alliance between Israel and the United States,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement. “In our recent conversation, Secretary of Defense, HON Pete Hegseth reaffirmed America’s commitment to continue providing Israel with all necessary tools to ensure its security,” he added. “I thank President Donald Trump and the U.S. Administration for their unwavering support of the State of Israel. We will continue working together to strengthen our security.” The arrival of the bombs coincided with a visit from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top Israeli officials. Rubio emphasized Iran’s key role in supporting terrorism throughout the region and specifically against Israel. PRESIDENTS’ DAY SALE! 40% Off DailyWire+ Annual Memberships With Code DW40 “It’s important to constantly point that whether we talk about Hamas or we talk about Hezbollah, we talk about violence in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), or we talk about destabilization in Syria, or we talk about any of these issues the militias in Iraq, they all have behind them one common theme – Iran,” Rubio said, according to CNN. “That must be addressed.” Israel is currently under a tenuous ceasefire with Hamas while hostages, who have been held and tortured by the terror group for 500 days, continue to trickle out of Gaza. The ceasefire agreement has yet to reach its second phase, which would involve the release of 19 Israel Defense Forces members believed to be alive. The ceasefire held through the weekend after Hamas released three more hostages, including one duel national of the United States and Israel: Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36. In return, Israel released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

During Sunday night’s “60 Minutes” episode on CBS, the show featured two people who allegedly lost their jobs due to President Donald Trump’s government cuts to play on viewers’ emotions. However, they were not actually employees of USAID but consultants for an outside company. Kristina Drye and Adam Dubard, according to their own LinkedIn pages, had short-lived gigs at a company called XLA, providing consulting services to USAID. CBS presented the pair as being “fired this month in the chaotic shutdown of foreign aid distributed by the U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID. More than 8,000 USAID employees were sent home by the administration.” “People are really scared,” Drye said on the program. “I think that, you know, 12 days ago, people knew where their next paycheck was coming from. They knew how they were gonna pay for their kids’ daycare, their medical bills. And then, all gone overnight.” But neither Drye nor Dubard were among the USAID employees who were fired since they didn’t work for the agency. Drye was a speechwriter and communications analyst who worked “through XLA and Jefferson Partners to support the USAID Administration team, serving on the speechwriting and communications group for Administrator of USAID Samantha Power,” according to her LinkedIn profile. Dubard was a “Communications Analyst for XLA working with the USAID Public Engagement team within the Bureau of Legislative and Public Affairs (LPA),” according to his profile. Dubard worked in this capacity for just under one year, while Drye was in her position for nearly 2.5 years, hardly the career public servants who had worked for USAID for decades that CBS made them out to be. Drye at least hinted at this in some of her comments, referring to the fired workers as “they” and not herself. “And they had to leave the building,” she said. “And these are folks who had decades and decades of public service serving USAID across administrations from, you know, George Bush, to Obama, to the first Trump administration. And they were never able to walk back in the building again.” Dubard claimed the Trump administration was “not looking for competency” or whether someone is “good at your job.” Instead, he claimed the administration is “looking for pure loyalty tests and if you don’t give it, you will be punished.” The Trump administration has been cutting programs that waste American tax dollars on programs that don’t align with its vision, something presidents have always been able to do. PRESIDENTS’ DAY SALE! 40% Off DailyWire+ Annual Memberships With Code DW40 The very notion of parading around “victims” of Republican policies has been done by news outlets for decades, as radio host Erick Erickson pointed out. “When Dems are in charge, the press highlights beneficiaries of policies,” Erickson posted on X. “When Republicans are in charge, the press highlights victims of policies. You never heard from the people who lost their jobs when Biden killed the Keystone XL, etc.” The Erickson Rule of Media Coverage: When Dems are in charge, the press highlights beneficiaries of policies. When Republicans are in charge, the press highlights victims of policies. You never heard from the people who lost their jobs when Biden killed the Keystone XL, etc. https://t.co/pcxiE78S46 — Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) February 17, 2025

Search and rescue operations are ongoing in Kentucky after it was hit with torrential rain over the weekend causing widespread flooding.  Democratic Governor Andy Beshear said Monday that at least 11 people had been killed by the weather and flooding and that the death toll could still rise. He added that “there is impact and damage everywhere” and warned residents that dangerous conditions throughout the state persisted.  “We are still in the search and rescue phase of this emergency,” he said during a press conference on Monday morning. “We still have multiple different missions that are underway. There are still people that are in harm’s way.” Beshear that there have already been more than 1,000 rescues across the state with around 175 National Guard troops on the ground. Both Indiana and Tennessee have sent personnel to assist with rescue efforts.  Two National Guard troops had a dangerous escape after their truck was overcome by water during relief efforts over the weekend, Beshear said.  “And its very important today that we continue to remind folks not to drive through standing water, not to drive around barricades, they are there for a reason. We need to make sure that we are not creating additional emergency situations,” he said.  Beshear said that a storm relief fund has been created to provide relief for victims and that the funds will first go toward the funerals of those killed by the flooding. ”All of Kentucky still has standing water in different areas,” he said, noting that around 344 federal and state roads were impacted by the flooding.  More than 14,000 customers in Kentucky are currently without power, while 17,000 customers are without access to water.  PRESIDENTS’ DAY SALE! 40% Off DailyWire+ Annual Memberships With Code DW40 President Donald Trump approved an emergency declaration for Kentucky on Sunday, authorizing both FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate the disaster relief response.  “Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide, at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency.  Emergency protective measures, limited to direct federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding,” Trump’s approval said.  Beshear said Monday that he has applied for additional aid from the Trump administration and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.  In the coming days, Kentucky is likely to experience more weather hazards as parts of the state are expected to get up to six inches of snow. Much of the water that hasn’t drained will likely freeze and could create hazardous black ice. 

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