“Trump Is Remaking America”: CNN Data Analyst Declares Trump The “Most Influential President This Century”

CNN’s chief data analyst Harry Enten has labeled Donald Trump the “most influential president this century,” citing sweeping and historic shifts in U.S. policy on trade, immigration, and executive power just over six months into his second nonconsecutive term.

“Love it, like it, lump it — Trump’s remaking the United States of America,” Enten said in a weekend segment, underscoring a seismic realignment of the nation’s political and economic landscape under the 45th and now 47th president.

Enten pointed to a surge in U.S. tariff rates as Exhibit A. Just one year ago, the highest average U.S. tariff rate on another country hovered around 2%. Today, that number has soared to nearly 18% — the highest level since the Great Depression era of the 1930s. “Trump has always run on tariffs,” Enten said, “and he’s delivering record-setting numbers that haven’t been seen in nearly a century.”

Immigration, another cornerstone of Trump’s policy platform, is also seeing drastic changes. According to Enten, net migration into the U.S. has plummeted by at least 60%, down from 2.8 million last year — with early data suggesting the country may even be heading toward negative net migration in 2025, a phenomenon not seen in at least 50 years.

“We may be dealing with — get this — negative net migration,” Enten warned. “That would be a first in modern American history.”

The third pillar of Trump’s outsized influence, Enten noted, is his aggressive use of executive authority. The former president has already signed 180 executive orders just halfway through his first year back in office, a staggering pace that outstrips every president since Franklin D. Roosevelt.

“No other president in recent memory — Republican or Democrat — has come close to reshaping federal policy at this speed and scale,” Enten said. “He’s setting records across multiple fronts.”

Trump, who made history by becoming only the second president to serve two nonconsecutive terms (joining Grover Cleveland), has wasted little time imposing his vision on Washington.

“In terms of measurable policy change,” Enten concluded, “Trump is probably the most influential American president dating back well into the 20th century.”