Donald J. Trump, 78, was originally elected in 2016 before losing his reelection bid in 2020. However, after a landslide victory in the 2024 election, Trump became only the second president to serve two nonconsecutive terms, giving him a unique second “first” term in office.
Donald Trump came out swinging, signing more than 20 executive orders on Inauguration Day — more than any previous president. Of these more than 20 orders, 16 focus on government change while six cover immigration policies.
Immigration was a key issue during Trump’s campaign, and it took no time after Trump won for him to follow up on his words. His main intentions focused on removing illegal immigrants and fortifying the U.S- Mexico border.
These policies have caused mixed emotions for the students at Brunswick High School. One anonymous junior at Brunswick High expressed how they felt when they said, “I agree that illegal immigration is bringing a lot of very negative effects to the nation and we have to stop it, but I also feel sympathy for the people who are just trying to escape things like the cartel and I wish it was easier for them to come legally, but we can’t just let everyone through. So I agree but also disagree with him due to his super aggressive way of doing it.”
Many students shared similar views about the policy, but a junior disagreed when they said “…The goal shouldn’t be to remove everyone who doesn’t legally belong in our country.”
Politics is always a hot topic issue, and policies made by politicians are always scrutinized, regardless of what side of the aisle. One such implementation is the creation of a new government agency, the Department Of Government Efficiency, or D.O.G.E.
The Department of Government Efficiency has the goal of cutting spending deemed unnecessary by the U.S Federal government, and has resulted in layoffs of federal employees. Again, the creation of this new agency has brought out conflicting opinions. One sophomore at Brunswick believes that spending needs to be cut, but has dour views of the agency’s head, Elon Musk, when they said, “Elon Musk was elected by no one and is in my opinion not fit for the job at all. That guy is a horrible human.”
Others, however, support this shift. An anonymous junior said, “I think the cut in federal spending could be an advantage in the long run because the country could put more money towards things that can promote social balance or small businesses.”
And yet, as it is in politics, there’s those who aren’t sure, or like some of this but not some of that. This is the case of another junior at Brunswick, who stated, “I think federal spending is way too liberal with just throwing money around and spending it on stupid things, and I agree with the removal of DEI programs, but cutting members of the board for special education and removing certain environmental protection programs I do not agree with.”
As Donald Trump’s first month of office as President 47 comes to a close, there are still conflicting opinions, and these are most likely not going anywhere. According to polling, more Americans approve of the job that Trump is doing than not, and many seem optimistic with the direction that the country is going in.