I went to Trump’s first 100 days rally. The key issue for rallygoers was, surprisingly, not the economy.

On Tuesday, Donald Trump marked his first 100 days in office — for the second time.

I attended the rally, which took place in Macomb County, Michigan, just north of Detroit. I arrived around 4 p.m. ET, shortly before the doors of the venue — an expo center for trade shows — closed. Trump was slated to speak at 6 p.m. ET.

When I first arrived, the venue was about three-quarters full, which felt surprisingly sparse for a milestone like Trump’s first 100 days.

Dissenters lined up outside. By 5 p.m. ET, there were what looked like thousands of people carrying signs, megaphones, pride flags, and dozens of inverted American flags — a signal of distress.

There were also several vendors outside selling hats, shirts, and other MAGA merch.

“We did good,” one vendor told me when I asked him how he thought Trump fared in his first 100 days.

The atmosphere inside was celebratory — even though, in many ways, the crowd was rallying around the downsizing of the federal government.

But DOGE was far from the top issue among the fifteen attendees I spoke with. Immigration reform stood out as the primary concern in more than half of my interviews.

A brick-patterned suit and Americana on full display

Blake Marnell, a 60 year-old from San Diego, was garnering attention from the press for his bright orange brick-patterned suit when I approached him.

“This is my suit to support the border wall,” Marnell said. “It’s always been one of his policies that I support the most.”

He told me he was wearing a costume suit he bought “off the rack” in England and has been sporting it at political events since 2019. An online search shows that his suit has made him so recognizable he’s often referred to as “Brick Suit.”

Marnell noted that illegal border crossings are down 95%, according to the US Customs and Border Protection, which said it apprehended 7,181 undocumented immigrants crossing the southwest border between ports of entry in March, representing a 95% decrease from March 2024.

This was my first time attending any sort of Trump programming, but it was clear there was loose dress code. MAGA hats were a must. Many people wore red. There was a full display of Americana — flag patterned dresses, camo, denim bedazzled with rhinestones.

Another 60 year-old woman, who asked not to be named, told me she thinks Trump has “done very well first 100 days, especially when it comes to the border,” she said.

“My parents came in the right way,” she said, adding that they immigrated from the Netherlands to Rochester, New York. “They were actually sponsored by a family member.”

Some people appeared to have been at the rally simply for the spectacle of it all. Nina, a 26-year-old from Montenegro, told me she was visiting Michigan for her friend’s wedding this weekend. Among the activities they had planned, including going to a concert, Nina said she thought it would be a “fun experience” to see the American president.

Trump arrives on stage

About 30 minutes before Trump was scheduled to speak, the event organizers asked for volunteers to move to another set of bleachers close to the stage. That way, when Trump arrived, he’d see a full arena, the organizers said.

As the crowd waited for Trump, I chatted with a 31-year-old in the crowd. He told me his parents came to the US from Iraq, and that he was originally a Democrat. Trump’s “marketing skills” won him over, he said.

By the time Trump arrived, a bit after 6 p.m., the venue was filled with thousands of people.

“This is the best, they say, 100 day start of any president in history,” Trump said after he took the stage. “We’ve just gotten started.”

He listed out his achievements since he assumed his second term. Week after week, he said, the administration has been ending illegal immigration, taking back jobs, protecting the country’s workers, restoring rule of law, ending the “inflation nightmare,” eliminating “woke lunacy,” stopping the “indoctrination” of children, and slashing billions in waste, fraud, and abuse.

Trump has signed a record 142 executive orders since he stepped into office on issues ranging from tariffs to immigration sanctions to contracts with top law firms.

The past fourteen weeks have been a “revolution of common sense,” he said.

Here’s a quick rundown of the facts.

DOGE has already pushed almost a quarter of a million federal workers out of jobs, according to Politico. And more cuts are yet to come whether or not his advisor and DOGE champion Elon Musk hangs around. DOGE claims to have saved $160 billion or close to $994 per taxpayer, according to its website. However, Musk said in a cabinet meeting earlier this month he expects the group will save just $150 billion by 2026.

Unemployment has risen slightly from 4% to 4.2% since Trump took office. The US added 228,000 jobs in March, exceeding the average monthly gain of 158,000 over the prior 12 months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The consumer price index unexpectedly fell about 0.1% in March, according to the BLS. This marks its first drop since 2020. However, supply chain experts and logistics researchers told BI that Americans should expect significant disruptions in both the availability and prices of products in the coming weeks in light of Trump’s protective tariffs.

Tariffs have also roiled the stock market. The S&P is down 10% since the inauguration. Economists are increasingly warning that a recession is likely.

The tariffs are also forcing companies big and small to rethink their plans. Small businesses owners told BI that tariffs are cutting into profit margins and forcing them to raise prices. Corporations including have paused imports, sales, and production of goods in facilities outside the US. Companies are laying off workers.

The full effects of tariffs remain unclear as Trump negotiates with countries during the 90-day pause.

Trump has also dismantled federal DEI initiatives and pushed government agencies to “take strong action to end private sector DEI discrimination.” He’s ordered for federal funding for the “promotion of gender ideology and discriminatory equity ideology” to be cut from K-12 schools in the name of ending “radical indoctrination.”

A focus on border security and immigration

In his speech, Trump commended his administration’s work curtailing migrants at the southern border, alongside drug cartels, and gangs.

“We’ve achieved the most secure border in American history,” he said.

He later shouted out Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem — photographed last month in a Rolex at a maximum security prison where Venezuelan migrants involved with the Tren de Aragua gang were imprisoned — for doing great work.

Despite attendees’ focus on immigration, two people told me they were surprised — and a little disturbed — by the high-drama video of migrants being arrested and imprisoned that was played about 25 minutes into Trump’s speech.

In total, Trump spent about an hour and a half onstage.

The usual schticks also resurfaced. Trump repeatedly took aim at the media. He took a poll on whether Biden should be “sleepy” or “crooked.”

He also praised Musk, DOGE, and the firing of “unnecessary deep state bureaucrats.”

And for all the commotion around Trump’s protective tariffs, attendees appeared relatively staid on the matter, according to four people I spoke with. Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday that pared down some auto tariffs, though the 25% on imported cars will remain — which are among the tariffs most likely to impact Michigan voters.

One attendee, who said he was under 30 and declined to share his name, told me that the tariffs were just “a sign he’s arrived.” The 60 year-old woman who said her parents came from the Netherlands noted that Trump may need to better weigh which items need to be under tariffs.

Trump’s most loyal supporters seem committed to their candidate. If they had any complaints, it was about the miscommunication they felt surrounded some of his policies.

“I’m still a supporter, but I’m a little disappointed in the way he’s handled the communication that’s going out to the American people around his policies,” one 30 year-old told me. “Time will tell, as they say.”

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