On the frigid Monday afternoon of January 20th, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States of America. The Republican leader won both the Electoral College and popular vote in November, setting the stage for his second term. Trump claims that he will bring about the beginning of America’s “Golden Age,” and during his first month in office, he has offered a vision of a very different nation. Amidst his recent barrage of headline-grabbing executive orders and often confrontational diplomatic actions, the new president has received mixed reviews from the Ames community.
“The government is like an old, slow machine in need of a good clean and some oil. Trump is accomplishing this by taking a sledgehammer to it and replacing it with his new, slow machine,” Ames High School senior David Kaminski said.
Local institutions have voiced their concerns about Trump and his party. “Republicans have created a climate of instability, uncertainty, chaos, and confusion. Government agencies, businesses, and citizens cannot interpret how [Trump’s executive orders] will be implemented and what their effects will be. It is bad for our economy, our country, and our standing in the world,” the Story County Democratic Office said. The Story County GOP declined our request for comment on Trump and his team.
Other members of the Ames community are willing to give the new president a chance to prove himself.
“I hope he improves the country, and I hope that for any president. I think he will improve some aspects of our government and he’s definitely shaking things up,” senior Veer Patel, the president of Ames High’s Political Action Club, said.
Economic Policy
At the time of the election, the economy was the most important issue for nearly a third of Americans. Trump has promised that his presidency will bring tariffs, tax cuts, and reduced inflation.
“The economy; that’s what most Americans care about, that’s why people voted for him, and that’s what people are looking at,” explained Patel.
Trump has followed through on his promise of tariffs – hoping to build American economic independence, he announced the imposition of a 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico on February 2nd. The president accused the United States’s neighbors of being too soft on drug smuggling, crime, and immigration.
Trump agreed to suspend the tariffs for a 30 day period after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum promised to boost their border enforcement efforts, but a 10% tariff on all imports from China remains in place. The president has proclaimed that the U.S. tariff rate on steel and aluminum imports from all nations will rise to 25% on March 12, escalating fears of a global trade war.
The tariffs are also expected to shake up the tech sphere. Companies like Apple who source most of their computing manufacturing equipment from China have seen their shares fall, so they may attempt to negotiate with Trump to avoid losses.
Meanwhile, inflation has risen to 3% while prices of everyday goods have also increased – despite Trump’s claims that he would be able to “deflate” the economy, the president has thus far found that market forces still have significant influence.
International Relations
Trump’s rhetoric against Mexico extends to his plans for securing the border. President Trump made history by declaring a National Emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border in his inaugural address, allowing many more members of the National Guard and armed forces to be deployed there. On top of this, the president has issued plans for the border wall to be fully built during his presidency.
Both of these acts have destroyed much of the hope for migrants along the border who are seeking to be accepted into the United States. All waitlists and immigration appointments at the southern border have been terminated and Trump has shut down CBP One, a Biden-era app used by asylum-seeking migrants.
The president has also signaled his desire to revive American imperialism via a series of brash diplomatic claims.
“Trump has had big talk on getting Greenland, the Panama Canal, and the Gaza strip. It’ll be interesting to see what will happen, especially as other countries quiver and prepare in response,” Patel said.
In line with these claims, Trump has frequently mentioned that he wishes to make Canada the 51st state. This suggestion has been met with backlash from Canadians, who have booed the U.S. national anthem during NHL and NBA games. Yet the president has at times taken an isolationist stance as well, withdrawing the U.S. from the UN Human Rights Council and other international agreements such as the Paris Climate Accord.
Patel suggested that Trump should ultimately prioritize peace. “I’m waiting the most for his promises to end the Russia-Ukraine war and potentially bring peace to the Middle East.”
Since the day that we spoke with Patel, Trump has opened peace talks with Russian President Putin and traded insults with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. This drastic shift in American policy towards Ukraine has drawn significant criticism.
“How can [Trump] negotiate an end to the Russo-Ukrainian war without the Ukrainian people who have been fighting since 2014?” Ames High freshman Julian Braun asked.
Braun condemned the GOP leader for opening negotiations with Russia, especially given Putin’s charges for war crimes and the heavy civilian cost of Russian actions.
“Do the Republicans remember Bucha? Do they remember Mariupol? Do they remember Bakmut? Severodonetsk and Lysychansk?” Braun said.
Domestic Policy
On his first day in office, President Trump pardoned approximately 1500 January 6th defendants from criminal prosecution, including several who committed felonies. Since then, the president has signed a whirlwind of executive orders, including ones denying the 14th Amendment right to birthright citizenship to the children of people who are not in the U.S. legally or are on temporary visas, banning gender-affirming care for transgender youth, and declaring a national energy emergency, although many executive orders will face challenges in the court system.
The President also enacted an order to give the popular social media site TikTok 75 more days before a ban would be put in place. TikTok has been the subject of security concerns in the U.S. Government due to the app currently being owned by the Chinese tech company ByteDance. Fears of the personal data of U.S. citizens and government secrets being leaked to China resulted in numerous attempts to ban the platform over the years. President Trump had formally stated his disdain for TikTok back in 2020 citing it as a national security risk and assuring the American people that he would take action to have the app removed from all online stores. This promise was never acted upon, however, and Americans continued to scroll uninterrupted through their feeds for three more years.
Cabinet/Government Structure
In the first few weeks of Trump’s term, the team around him has received a lot of attention. As Trump’s cabinet picks go through the confirmation process, their recent hearings have not been short of controversy. Despite alleged sexual assault, alcohol abuse, and financial mismanagement, Pete Hegseth was confirmed as Defense Secretary by a one-vote margin.
“Trump is assembling a cabinet of grossly unqualified loyalists,” the Story County Democratic Office commented.
Another contentious cabinet pick is Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has attacked antidepressants and weight loss drugs and challenged the rights of transgender and intersex people.
Trump has also created a new Department of Government Efficiency run by billionaire Elon Musk, although Trump and the White House have disagreed on whether Musk technically heads it. Nicknamed DOGE, this department has thus far shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development, accessed sensitive Treasury Department data, and fired thousands of members of the federal workforce and bureaucracy.
“Elon Musk has the ability to do some great things, but I’m concerned mainly about RFK Jr. I haven’t read much about him, but I’m uncertain about what he will do as Health Secretary, once again it could be a good way to shake things up, but I’m skeptical about his stances,” Patel said.
With the new Trump administration bringing a plethora of changes to the U.S., Patel is interested to see what the future holds.
“[Trump is] shaking things up and either that can lead to some very good things, or some very detrimental impacts on our government.”
