Two hundred days have passed since Donald Trump was sworn in as president, but the United States remains bitterly divided on whether to accept or resist this man in the nation's highest office.
Indeed, to love or hate Trump, this is a big question bothering so many Americans. It's not easy for Trump critics to understand or believe the former New York real estate mogul could be wholeheartedly embraced by a large part of their fellow people, and vice versa.
Trump, who has been at his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey, the United States, for a 17-day "working holiday" since Friday, chose to show off the strength of his support base coinciding with his first 200-day mark, in a bid to re-energize his fans as tougher challenges like tax reforms are looming.
"After 200 days, rarely has any Administration achieved what we have achieved ... not even close!" the U.S. president tweeted Tuesday.
"The Trump base is far bigger & stronger than ever before (despite some phony Fake News polling)," he said on Twitter one day earlier.
"The fact is the Fake News Russian collusion story, record Stock Market, border security, military strength, jobs ... Supreme Court pick, economic enthusiasm, deregulation & so much more have driven the Trump base even closer together. Will never change!" he said.
Immediately Trump's protesters and most U.S. mainstream media cast doubt upon it, disputing that Trump's base has shrunk.
Trump's first 200 days in office offered "nothing but broken promises and failed leadership," the U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said on Monday.
A poll released by CNN later on the day showed Trump's "strong approval" among Republicans has dropped from 73 percent in February to 59 percent while three quarters of Americans say they can't trust most of what they hear from the White House.
"Don't believe the Fake News Suppression Polls!" Trump tweeted on Tuesday in response.
However, the CNN poll also found that an overall 83 percent of Republicans approve of Trump's performance, with only 14 percent disapproving.
According to Gallup's weekly tracking averages, 82 percent of Republicans said last week that they approve of Trump's performance, down from 89 percent in January.
These results mirror those from other polls carried out after Trump's inauguration. The president maintains high popularity among Republicans though his approval hardly exceeded a single-digit number in percentage among Democrats during the same period.
Many opinions about Trump, especially those concerning overall approval, are driven by partisanship, which is commonplace in the United States.
Notably, the polarization in the United States is now as severe as that on the first day of Trump's presidency. Trump's opponents slammed him for continuously creating "conflict and drama" as well as "chaos," citing the failure to pass an act to repeal Obamacare in the Senate and the use of a grand jury by Special Counsel Robert Mueller who is in charge of investigating the ties between Russia and Trump's campaign.
Meanwhile, Trump's core backers applauded his fight against the U.S. mainstream media, which are condemned by Trump for reporting "fake news" or "alternative facts." They also gave him credit for an improving economy as well as his anti-immigration policies, as various polls showed.
In his victory speech last year, Trump said that "it's time for America to bind the wounds of division."
Obviously, this isn't happening.
