President Donald Trump’s return to office has been nothing short of historic. He is only the second president in the United States, after Grover Cleveland to have served two nonconsecutive terms. Love him or hate him, one thing all Americans can agree on, especially the media, is that his presidency has been anything but uneventful. As the 47th President starts his second term, he continues to make choices that both anger, delight, and evoke conversation.
One is the strict new immigration laws that were placed after Trump took office. According to the website Whitehouse.gov, within a 33-hour period ICE Enforcement and Operations arrested more than 460 unlawful people entering the country with criminal histories that included sexual assault, robbery, burglary, aggravated assault, drugs and weapons offenses, resisting arrest, and domestic violence. This led to the country and the media saying some mixed things about Trump and what he is doing as immigrants crossing the border have slowed down. He has been getting a lot of support from people believing that he is making sure no criminals enter our country, while the other side is highly opposed to Trump’s new orders in place and believes that the immigrants who are here are helping contribute to our workforce and better the economy.
When asked what his thoughts on the border under Trump, Owen Bonk ‘28 strongly agrees with the new border policies saying “I believe Trump is doing a great job.”
While another student Milo Consola Katsuna ‘27 said, “I don’t agree with Trump’s new border policies and immigrant removal,” Consola Katsuna expressed his belief that immigrants contribute to the growth of our economy.
The introduction of tariffs is another major change that has come with Trump’s presidency. Tariffs are taxes imposed on goods from other countries. Trump has said that using tariffs will make the United States economy stronger and our country safer. He currently has imposed tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China saying that these tariffs are a good bargaining tool for getting things done such as limiting illegal immigration. However, people who oppose the tariffs argue that it will make products more expensive for U.S. consumers since the other countries will retaliate and push tariffs back on the United States.
Trump has, with the help of DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) run by Elon Musk, reduced the size of different government agencies, most notably the Department of Education. They have recently been cutting staff from this department saying their employment is unnecessary and not needed for the agency to function effectively. Others who are against this argue that by decreasing the workforce grants and other funding could be eliminated hurting those who need it. These changes are still in waiting as they need to be approved by Congress.
Student Charlie Quinn ‘27 says, “I think that the Department of Education is very important. It is necessary that education is ensured for every kid in the United States and that schools are provided the funds in order to allow that to happen.”
Daniel Richardson ‘27 adds, “Could be doing a better job, test scores have been really low in certain parts of the country.”
While Trump’s term has just begun, his rapid changes and new ideas have already created a major buzz. Only time will tell what kind of impact they will have on our country, but in the meantime, one thing is for sure, the next four years will definitely be interesting and newsworthy.
