Comment on Trump's first 100 days: A president's very public education

A president who prides himself on his ideological flexibility has struggled to manage a novice political team, split between moderate and conservative advisers, and he's found himself reaching out to the friends and business associates from the world he left behind. On foreign policy, Trump has been persuaded by foreign leaders and has leaned heavily on a national security team with more governing experience than his political advisers. Just days into Trump's presidency, the courts rejected his first travel ban. [...] they've pushed back on his rewritten travel ban and his attempt to cut federal money for cities that harbor people who are in the United States illegally. For Trump, the health care battle was a rude introduction to the complicated internal politics in the Republican-run House, which includes hard-liners in the Freedom Caucus and moderates in the Tuesday Group. The contrast between the scuttled first attempt on health care and the relative smooth sailing of Gorsuch was a learning experience. In the AP interview, Trump said there was "a pretty vast area" between the approach by the most conservative members of his party and those who are more moderate. After Attorney General Jeff Sessions stepped aside from Russia investigations because of his own undisclosed contacts with a Russian ambassador, Trump unleashed on his top advisers in an Oval Office meeting. Confronted by with photos of injured children, victims of a chemical attack in Syria, Trump quickly pivoted from what he billed as an "America first" policy during the campaign in favor of intervention. [...] after pleas from business executives and warnings of economic turmoil from foreign leaders, Trump just this week abruptly abandoned plans to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement. On Syria, Priebus said he said sees a "Trump Doctrine" coming into focus: a combination of putting America first but not sitting around while world injustices, such as the Syrian government's alleged use of chemical weapons, go unanswered. [...] after a particularly warm visit from President Xi Jinping, Trump acknowledged the downside to a alienating a power that could be useful partner in curbing North Korea's nuclear program. When news spread Thursday that Trump was considering triggering the U.S.