Yeah, that sounds pretty normal, I guess. The time-frame part is probably based on how new you are as well as the nature of the task. I did quite a bit of that type of thing when I started, basically fixing tech debt, and small stuff.
If it's something you want to bring up, I think you expressed yourself pretty clearly. You could schedule some time with your boss to talk about it.
What would frustrate me would be the rework I was doing. If you could maybe even set up a short weekly meeting? Show your boss what you're doing and they could tell you if it's the right track or not.
I really think this country is too crazy to really determine a motive. Why do people shoot up elementary schools? It seems so easy to think it's politically motivated, but I'm not convinced he hated trump, really.