During his campaign, President Donald Trump was exceedingly clear about his plans for a second term. He released policy videos, made sweeping proclamations on the stump, and his allies published reams of ideas, perhaps none as infamous as Project 2025.

Americans were told he would embrace tariffs, enact sweeping deportations, shrink the federal workforce, rapidly bring peace to Ukraine, get rid of “woke” military leaders, boost US business, and outlaw taxes on tips, among other things.

Trump spelled things out so explicitly, it seemed as if it would be difficult to be surprised by anything he ended up doing. Despite that, he has managed to do a number of unexpected things, and has certainly operated in novel ways.

I asked several Vox politics and policy writers about what has surprised them about Trump’s first 100 days. This is what they had to say:

DOGE’s rapid rise and fall

Like all of Washington, I was surprised by the “Department of Government Efficiency.”

Most anticipated Elon Musk’s spending-cutting effort would be a toothless advisory panel, not a wrecking ball smashing the federal workforce. Musk was surprisingly savvy about seizing control of the levers of government power, like the ability to place civil servants, cancel contacts, or send threatening emails to every civil servant.

The eventual outcome was less........

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