Trump administration hits the 50-day mark
Today marks the halfway point in the fabled "first 100 days."
— -- Time flies: Today marks the 50th day of President Donald Trump's administration and the halfway point in the storied "first 100 days."
More than a week ago, Trump said that he would give himself an A for achievement but a C in messaging, though that self-assessment came before his address to a joint session of Congress, for which he was roundly praised by members of his own party.
In the lead up to today's milestone, the president has been using his Twitter account to tout what his team sees as successes in consumer confidence, jobs numbers and the push for healthcare reform.
Beyond those topics, Trump and his team have launched into action on several key campaign initiatives during the first leg of the administration, but have faced some setbacks along the way.
Here's a quick recap of the road to the 50-day mark.
Acting on his campaign promises
Trump has gotten the ball rolling on a number of issues he spoke about repeatedly on the campaign trail, including building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, reforming national health care and more.
He has issued a number of executive orders and presidential memorandums to take specific actions, such as backing out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and restarting development of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines. Trump's long-promised travel ban came in the form of two executive orders, with the second issued after the first encountered legal challenges that blocked it from taking effect.
One key appointment that he has named and is also awaiting final word on is his pick of Judge Neil Gorsuch as a nominee for the Supreme Court. The roll out of the announcement, and Gorsuch's pick in general, were roundly praised by Republicans.
Personnel scandals
One unexpected removal from the Trump train came when Michael Flynn, his national security adviser, was asked to resign after it became clear that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about the nature of his transition-era conversations with Sergey Kislyak, Russia's ambassador to the U.S.
Flynn wasn't the only one to run into trouble over his conversations with Kislyak, as Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from any existing or future Department of Justice probes related to Trump's 2016 presidential campaign because of questions that were raised about his alleged ties to Russian officials -- specifically Kislyak.
Sessions met with Kislyak on the sidelines of an event hosted by a think tank during the Republican National Convention in July and Sessions had a second meeting with Kislyak in September in the then-senator's office with his staff in tow.
Sessions failed to disclose those meetings during his confirmation hearing when he said "I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I didn't have -- did not have communications with the Russians."
On Thursday, the White House did not deny that Trump himself met Kislyak briefly at a foreign policy forum during the presidential campaign, which comes in contrast to his earlier repeated denials.
Self-inflicted highs and lows
Trump was widely praised for his address to a joint session of Congress on Feb. 28, making a call for unity and a plea that the "trivial fights" should come to an end.
He listened to his own advice, but only for a few days. One of the most explosive series of tweets that Trump sent so far came on the morning of March 4, when Trump accused former President Obama of wiretapping him during the campaign but offering no evidence.
How Trump thinks it's going
The White House press office did not return ABC News' request for comment on how it thinks the first 50 days have gone, but Trump has put out several messages on Twitter that could be viewed as answers.
He's boasted about how the "Stock Market has posted $3.2 trillion in GAINS and consumer confidence is at a 15 year high" since Election Day, shared a Fox News graphic about a high jobs report, and said that his administration is "getting along great, and getting major things done!"
On Thursday alone -- the eve of the 50th day milestone -- he also tweeted about how the Republicans' healthcare initiative is "coming along great" and "will end in a beautiful picture!" He also shared a Bloomberg report that states consumer confidence is the highest it has been in a decade.
The White House released a list detailing what they call "President Trump's first 50 days of action," breaking down what they view as improvements on nine fronts: Job creation, "cutting government red tape," reforming Washington, tackling health care reform, national security, public safety, immigration reform, impacts on women and minorities, and his nomination to the Supreme Court.
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