Why Trump is historically unpopular 100 days in
Plus: J Lo says her love now costs a thing "due to inflation"
White House Correspondents’ Dinner weekend this year was all nerd, no prom, and as President Donald Trump hits 100 days in office, he’s more unpopular than any president at this point in their term since polling began.
Welcome to this week’s issue of Whig. Read to the end to find out what Trump’s tariffs might mean for your favorite artist’s tour merch. — Hunter
Why Trump is historically unpopular 100 days in:
Trump will hit 100 days in office Tuesday, and a new ABC News-Washington Post-Ipsos poll found his approval at 39%, lower than any president 100 days into their term going back 80 years.
As for why Americans aren’t satisfied with Trump, the economy looms large, but there are other factors dragging down Trump’s approval too. The poll found 64% of Americans believe Trump is going too far to expand presidential power, 62% believe he doesn’t respect the rule of law, and 55% believe he’s not committed to protecting Americans’ freedom.
The first articles of impeachment of Trump 2.0 are here:
Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.) introduced seven articles of impeachment against Trump Monday over obstruction of justice, abuse of power, usurpation of power, bribery, and corruption.
With Republicans in charge of both chambers of Congress, it’s not expected to go anywhere, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said he hadn’t “evaluated” the articles of impeachment or spoken to Thanedar about them.
Washington’s subdued WHCD:
This year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner weekend was severely lacking in star power, with no president or comedian at Saturday’s dinner and a dearth of celebrities in attendance. Celebs attend as guests of news outlets (Trump attended in 2011 as a guest of The Washington Post), and journalists told The New York Times “it had been nearly impossible to convince celebrities and lawmakers to attend as guests.”
“What we are not is the opposition,” White House Correspondents’ Association president Eugene Daniels said of the press during his remarks. “What we are not is the enemy of the people and what we are not is the enemy of the state.”
FLOTUS spends b-day at funeral:
First Lady Melania Trump turned 55 on Saturday and spent the day in Rome for Pope Francis’s funeral. “Thank you all for the heartfelt birthday wishes,” she wrote on social media. “I had the honor of attending Pope Francis’ funeral, on this day, where I prayed for the healing of those who are suffering and for peace in the world.”
A source told People that Trump, a practicing Catholic, “respected the pope,” was “honored to go to the funeral,” and considered it a “significant” life experience for her. Trump wore a black double-breasted black coat from Dolce & Gabanna.
Trump’s fashion faux pas:
Meanwhile POTUS turned up to the pope’s funeral in a blue suit and tie instead of black for mourning, and some online found it disrespectful. “The president and first lady honored the life and service of Pope Francis, and those who try to distract from that should be ashamed of themselves,” White House communications director Steven Cheung told The New York Times.
Trump met ahead of the funeral with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, (who wore a black field jacket and trousers, in case you were wondering). The leaders, who last met in the Oval Office during last month’s blow up, apparently had a good chat.
“We discussed a lot one on one,” Zelenskyy wrote in a social media caption alongside a dramatic photo from their talk. “Hoping for results on everything we covered. Protecting lives of our people. Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out. Very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results.”
Musk says he’ll step back a bit from DOGE:
On the same day his electric car company Tesla reported a 71% drop in profits and a 9% decline in revenue in the first quarter, Elon Musk said he’d soon spend less time working in government.
Musk, the world’s richest man, said “the major work” of establishing the Department of Government Efficiency is “done” and he’ll be “allocating far more of my time to Tesla” beginning next month during a call with analysts last Tuesday.
Want to know what Trump does next? Check Project 2025:
According to The Project: How Project 2025 is Reshaping America author David A. Graham, Project 2025, the blueprint for a second Trump term, “predicted much of what we’ve seen in the first three months of the second Trump administration—and much of what’s to come.”
What’s to come is “an end to any policies that acknowledge climate change, and to any federal climate research” and “a more organized campaign to promote conservative gender norms, traditional families, and Christian morality,” Graham wrote.
George Santos sentenced to prison:
Diva down. Former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) was sentenced to 87 months in prison Friday and ordered by a judge to pay nearly $374,000 in restitution and more than $200,000 in forfeiture. Santos, who pled guilty last year to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, called his sentence “over the top” and “politically influenced” and asked Trump to intervene.
Buttigieg enters the manosphere:
With a freshly grown beard, former Transportation Secretary Mayor Pete Buttigieg got his podcast on. Buttigieg appeared last week on a nearly three-hour episode of “Flagrant,” a podcast hosted by comedians Andrew Schulz and Akaash Singh who had Trump on last October, to talk about fatherhood, politics, and coming out as gay (telling his parents “was not easy,” he said).
Buttigieg, who famously wouldn’t curse during the 2020 race, opened up and even cursed a little bit, calling Trump’s tariffs a “grab-ass policy.” Of Trump’s foreign policy, he said, “If it’s ‘America First,’ the way they’re doing it, I think it means America alone.”
He also said that while working at DOT, “it was incredibly hard to get attention” when a road or bridge was built. “The projects that got the most coverage were the ones where we caught a Republican congressman trying to take credit for the project after they voted against it,” he said.
Michelle Obama says she had to “trick herself” to not go to the Inauguration:
Former First Lady Michelle Obama said her decision to not attend Trump’s second inauguration was “the choice that was right for me,” and to make sure she wouldn’t change her mind at the last minute, she made sure she wouldn’t have a dress ready.
“It started with not having anything to wear,” she said on her podcast “IMO” with guest Tara P. Henson. “I was like, if I'm not going to do this thing, I got to tell my team, I don't even want to have a dress ready.” Obama said she’s had to learn “practicing ‘no,’” and that “people couldn't believe that I was saying no for any other reason, they had to assume that my marriage was falling apart.”
She also got reflective and said she’s been going to therapy and unpacking what her time as FLOTUS meant to her. “What happened that eight years that we were in the White House? What did that do to me, internally, my soul? We made it through, we got out alive, I hope we make the country proud, my girls, thank God, are whole,” she said. “But what happened to me?”
SZA has the No. 1 album and song in the country:
Kendrick Lamar’s “Luther” with SZA is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a 10th week, and at the same time, SZA’s 2022 album SOS returned to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart for a 13th nonconsecutive week, giving her duel No. 1s.
Jack Black sets record for shortest Hot 100 hit in history:
And then there’s Jack Black. The actor’s song “Steve’s Lava Chicken” from A Minecraft Movie debuted at No. 77 on the Hot 100 this week, and at just 34 seconds long, it sets a record for the shortest Hot 100 hit ever by run time. From school of rock substitute teacher to record-setting pop star. Incredible. Congratulations, Jack.
J Lo says her love now costs a thing “due to inflation”:
Jennifer Lopez is aware of the rising cost of eggs and other goods, apparently, because she posted this… 🤷♂️
The start of Katy Perry’s Lifetimes Tour went about as well as you’d expect:
First her album flopped, then everyone got mad at her when she went to space. Now Katy Perry is getting dunked on for opening night of her Lifetimes Tour in Mexico City last Wednesday. There was her uninspiring dance breaks and background visuals some online think were A.I.-generated. At least she had fun at Lady Gaga’s Mexico City show!
Kendrick Lamar leads American Music Awards noms:
The American Music Awards announced their 2025 nominees last Wednesday and Lamar leads with 10 nominations including for Artist of the Year. He’s followed by Post Malone with eight nominations. JLo will host the awards show, which airs Memorial Day on May 26. See the full list of nominees here.
Charli changed the Brat album cover:
Brat Summer may never end. Charli XCX has a new album cover for Brat on streaming platforms showing the album name scratched out, and in a TikTok video, the singer said she kind of wants the album’s era to keep going.
“It’s really hard to let go of Brat and let go of this thing that is so inherently me and become my entire life, you know?” she said. “I started thinking about culture and the kind of ebbs and flows of the lifespan of things and how when you get a level of success, you can kind of become oversaturated and then people want you to disappear, which I understand, and I’m actually sort of a believer in that because I think it allows artists to retain their cool when they’re so in everyone’s faces and then they vanish. But I’m also interested in the tension of staying too long.”
Coachella had to pay a fine because Travis Scott’s set went long:
Now this is an expensive curfew. Coachella owner Goldenvoice has to pay $20,000 to the City of Indio, California, because Travis Scott’s set ended last week at 1:03 a.m., three minutes past when the show was supposed to end, per their agreement with the city. The festival operator has previously paid $54,000 in 2009 because of a late set by Paul McCartney, and $17,000 last year because of a late set by Lana del Rey.
How Trump’s tariffs could hit concert merch:
Your favorite artist’s concert tee could get more expensive. Billboard spoke to music industry professionals who work with artist merch, and found many expect costs to rise because of how much apparel is produced in China.
“You can’t do it in America. We really don’t make fabric here,” said Billy Cander, CEO of Absolute Merch, who estimated the cost of hoodies could rise to $150 and t-shirts to $65. Barry Drinkwater, executive chairman of Global Merchandising Services, which works with Iron Maiden, Guns N’ Roses, and others, said, “Costs will go up because of capacity shortages once China is not an option.”
Music-related merchandise is a $13.4 billion business globally, according to market researcher MIDiA Research, and even if artists stop making their apparel in China and move to other countries, manufacturers elsewhere are expected to raise their prices due to increased demand and decreased capacity. But not everyone is so worried. Los Angeles Apparel founder Dov Charney said, “It’s not going to have a profound effect as much as people are saying.”
Thanks for reading! See you next week. ⭐