What can we expect from Trump's first 100 days? Here's what you said. | Opinion

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Donald Trump returns to the White House this Inauguration Day with the whole world watching – and talking – about it. Us included.

But we wanted to hear from you. As part of our new reader-driven feature, Forum, we asked you: What do you hope Trump will accomplish in his first 100 days, or what are you worried will happen? How do you feel about a second Trump presidency? Which issues are most important to you?

Here's what you said.

What do I see in Trump's first 100 days? Hope.

Let me count the ways I’m optimistic about Donald Trump’s second term, both as a Trump voter and as a proud American citizen.

Firstly, a second Trump term could offer a renewed focus on economic growth ‒ true economic growth. Trump was committed to creating jobs, cutting taxes, and reducing burdensome regulations, and before COVID-19, the economy was witnessing unprecedented growth with low unemployment rates across demographics, including the lowest unemployment rate for Black Americans than at any point in history.

A second term could reignite an economic engine that many argue is currently insufficient in helping Americans, especially those in the working class ‒ regardless of how the Democrats try to spin it with stagnant wages and an increase in the cost of living and basic goods.

I hope that Trump and the GOP-controlled Congress can reduce government waste wherever possible to reduce our $36 trillion national debt and pay off our $2 trillion federal budget deficit without imposing tariffs on other countries (though there’s a part of me that doesn’t think he’s serious and is only saying that for leverage).

Trump’s foreign policy is looking strong, too. The Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and several Arab nations, stand as a testament to his administration’s ability to forge peace in historically strained regions ‒ just like his diplomatic quests with North Korea, China and any other belligerents ‒ without resorting to needless violence, military conflict or sacrificing our troops.

Trump has pledged to shut down our border to prevent further illegal immigration, something that has been desperately missing in our country. If you’ve watched the news for any length of time, you’ve heard about innocent people murdered by illegal immigrants, some of them deported only to return with no repercussions. Immigration is our gateway to the future, but we must also remember that the needs of our naturalized citizens come first. We’re a country, not a charity, and we’re especially a country with a set of laws to abide by.

Trump’s leadership style might actually catalyze much-needed political reform. His second term might be the beginning of a political realignment in America – specifically, the Republicans washing their hands of the neocons for good and ushering in a new economic era, one that's more populist for the working and middle class and not created to line the pockets of a select few to purchase a yacht – as well as a reduction of spending where necessary. Let's just face it: It needs to be done.

While Trump elicits strong sentiments on both sides of the aisle, the potential benefits of a second term deserve reflection. I trust his advisers will keep him in line to focus on the task at hand and not try to do too much, unlike his first term. Let us remain hopeful and engaged that America can achieve a better tomorrow for all built on health, wealth, safety, security, unity, peace, prosperity, American pride and, most important, happiness.

— David Griffith, Cooper City, Florida

I'm ecstatic for Trump's first 100 days. He loves our country. 

I was raised in a military family with a mom, dad and a brother. We traveled all over the United States and even overseas. I saw all types of people and was taught to respect my elders. We went to church and obeyed the laws. We were taught to work hard for the things we wanted, it was expected of us to give our best in every activity. We were also taught to love our neighbors as ourselves. We attended church and went to public schools. So I have a healthy respect for our military, first responders, medical professionals, teachers, police officers, etc. 

I believe that while Trump had a different upbringing, he believes in these things, too. I would like to see Trump begin to do in his first 100 days these things below:

1. I want to see our military given the respect and provision they deserve. I want other nations to want to have a military like ours and have a healthy respect for us and not mess with us or our allies.
2. I want to see police officers and firefighters given pay raises and provided for when tragedy occurs for them and their families.
3. Support and fund public education so that parents don't have to resort to homeschooling to protect their children from violence or to ensure they get a good education. Teachers need pay raises as well.
4. I want women's sports to be for women. If a biological male wants to play sports, let them play against others like them.
5. I want the border secured. I have no problem for those individuals or families that want a better life in America but they need to go about it the correct way. Not by "plowing" over the border in great crowds or sneaking in under cover of darkness. I want those who prey on these individuals ‒ who promise to carry them over the border but instead abuse, victimize and kill them ‒ to be punished to the fullest extent.
6. I want all Americans to pay their fair share of taxes. To close loopholes for the rich or criminal elements.
7. I want our government officials to find a way to get along, compromise and work for solutions for all Americans, not just their special interests.
8. I believe abortion rights need to be a state issue.
9. I want the price of groceries, gas, housing and health care to be reduced. Big pharmaceutical companies and insurance agencies seem to be pushing the cost of medical care and medicine out of reach for a lot of Americans. Most young people these days can't afford to buy a home. I would like housing to be more accessible for those who want to purchase.
10. I would like to see criminals convicted of horrible crimes made to face their punishment and not languish in prison or on death row for 20 years at our expense. I think more should be executed.

— Leslie Melton, Saucier, Mississippi

I'm rooting for Trump to be our best president ever. I'm also fearful.

I’m fearful. I’m fearful that the rights I cherish, the rights we all cherish, the rights my own family fought for, will slowly die, erode and decay into a web of lies. I am fearful. I am fearful that the American dream available to my own ancestors, the American dream my own family fought for, will no longer be available to others – to the dreamers and doers and faithfully patriotic.

I am a history teacher; my favorite holiday is Independence Day; my favorite subject is the American Revolution. I am fearful our deep love of country will be replaced with a deep well of spite and anger. I am fearful.

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But I am also hopeful. I am so hopeful he will be the best president we ever had. This is my hope for every president because I cannot find it in me to hope for any less for the country I love. The hope I hold burns bright, a light he cannot extinguish, a light they cannot extinguish. Because hope is the one thing no one can ever take away from us.

My fear is that it will be just as bad and chaotic as the last. But I will hope. I hope that in four years, I will say, “Wow, was I wrong about him? Wow, was I wrong about them? I was more wrong about this than anything I was ever wrong about in my entire life.”

I will always hold out on hope. I will hope for my daughter. I will hope for me. And I will hope for you. And because I hope, I will vote. I will vote in every single election unless and until they take it away from me.

I did not vote for him, but I refuse to fail as a country.

— Amy Patalune, State College, Pennsylvania

Trump wants to end war in 100 days. I believe in him.  

Militant attacks, economic crises and global political maneuvering. These are the problems our 47th president must face, and he must solve these problems with a clear vision of perfection, otherwise, he’ll have scathing reviews from the American people and the American media. This is his master plan to fix these issues and create a legacy that will mark the end of what many have decided was a shimmering Republican revival.

One of Trump’s most difficult challenges to overcome has to be the global tension arising from countless wars. Trump has declared his unequivocal support to end the Israel-Hamas war altogether. However, the Republican Party has taken a hard-line stance to support Israel in all their endeavors. Trump's prior success with the Abraham Accords could lend him some credibility in negotiations.

If this new cease-fire deal succeeds, President Trump could easily use this in collaboration with Israel as a bargaining agreement with other factions of Islamist terrorism such as Hezbollah to end their conflicts with Western allies as well. If not, complete obliteration of this terrorist organization is in order.

Trump’s diplomatic skills seem to be as great as they were in his first term, and not much has changed around the global political scene. The usual faces pop up here and there, but the new ones seem to be eager to forge ahead in complete agreement with the new American interests. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made it very clear in her congratulatory remarks to President Trump that she’s willing to purchase American energy, and that could be the foundation for a very attractive friendship with Europe and surrounding areas. 

New NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has also made it clear that he’s willing to cooperate with President Trump on his policy measures. He could present resistance to Trump’s recent actions toward acquiring Greenland, but Trump’s tough bargaining tactics could easily bypass any concerns that Rutte may have.

Diplomatically, it seems Trump is still intact and still very popular among the American-adjacent global elite.

Trump’s first term, which many political analysts and regular Americans agree supercharged the Republican revival, was tainted by tremendously damaging exterior forces, including a split Congress, sickeningly partisan legal battles and, at the end of his term, COVID-19. Now, his favorability ratings have ballooned higher and higher after each failure of the Biden administration, and after his beaming performance in the election, the path to political glory looks bright for Donald Trump and the Republicans.

— Noah Witherspoon, Broward County, Florida

Trump 1.0 was a disaster. He remains despicable. 

It’s hard to believe such a despicable character was elected president. Donald Trump is not a uniter. He is a divider. He is not a peacemaker. He is a hate enabler. History shows Trump will continue to lie, deny and be disingenuous. Those are not the qualities Americans need from their president.

I believe he will restrict individual freedom. That he will favor big money above working-class Americans by extending tax cuts and continuing the lie that “trickle-down economics” works. Plans to deport immigrants will harm the economy and get people killed. The less affluent will be harmed by continued efforts to eliminate the Affordable Care Act. Look how often Trump tried to eliminate it, demagoguing by saying it is socialism and echoing conservatives' cries about “death panels.” None of that has happened. 

Trump 1.0 was a disaster. I was hopeful the “outsider” would be schooled by his Cabinet. I was wrong. The years showed Trump as disrespectful of everyone, including military leaders and veterans. Republicans’ chaos created revolving-door House leaders like Paul Ryan, Eric Cantor, John Boehner, Mike McCarthy and now Mike Johnson, who won’t survive the far-right Freedom Caucus. A less qualified group of Cabinet picks are up for vetting, and the nepotism of the first term is continuing. Throw in folks like Chip Roy, Tommy Tuberville, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert and Elon Musk and expect to see a government shutdown over the budget. Stock market volatility will follow.

Promised tariffs will hurt working-class Americans. Threatening our allies with tariffs, retaking the Panama Canal, buying Greenland and inviting Canada to become a state all add chaos and foster the idea internationally that America is an imperialist country.

How can Trump unite a polarized country when he and the Republicans refuse to negotiate with Democrats? That’s the wrong way to govern. Democrats can be similarly accused, but folks, it’s time both parties grow up and put the country’s collective interests first. And Republicans, there was no election mandate.

Mass deportation is a threat being politically backtracked to focus on a few captured criminals fitting a false narrative about border crossings. Trump is selling fear with exaggerated nonsensical claims. Immigrants deserve to come through a processing center and have their cases reviewed in a timely manner. That means one year. Too many take five or longer. We can resolve this with more immigration judges and border personnel. 

Abortion has related concerns about individual freedoms. Women have the right to an equal rights amendment and to self-agency over their own bodies. The extremes presented by Republicans are falsehoods and morally hypocritical. It’s not just Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ+ and other marginalized communities that will be harmed. Any group not male-centric and predominately white will be diminished and demonized by Republicans. Only when everyone has equal freedoms and rights can a country move forward in a world advancing technologically at a warp speed.

Peace, not war, compromise, not tyranny, are essential to a truly free, people-first society. That should be obvious to all.

— Bryan Buck, Oak View, California

I hope Trump does a good job. But he's already creating chaos.

I hope Donald Trump does a good job, but after his comments the last few days about Greenland and Canada and the Panama Canal I feel there is going to be chaos, as there was in his first term. The main reason I feel this way is that he sees something on TV or someone plants a thought in his head and he thinks it is a good idea ‒ and then that becomes his priority for the moment. I also feel that he is not telling the American people what he will do but is deflecting from the real issues. That is because he is facing the reality that accomplishing things is not as easy as promising things.

I am not expecting a lot from his first 100 days. He is not a leader who provides guidance, expectations or a vision. He is a leader who just sits back and lets everyone else figure out what to do. But when it doesn't meet his expectations, he throws in a monkey wrench, which starts the process all over. We saw that with the continuing resolution to fund the government where at the last minute he wanted to add the debt increase into the continuing resolution, though he ultimately didn’t get what he wanted. We are seeing it now as he declines to tell Congress whether he wants one bill or two.

I think the most important issues are the economy, foreign policy and health care. But Trump won’t really deal with them. He’ll let them become a crisis before he decides to try to fix the problem. Tariffs will just create a burden on the country and will hurt the economy. I have experience with watching a business owner lose money because of having to pay a tariff on goods he imported.

Trump has had eight years to develop a replacement for Obamacare, but he has done nothing except to say he has a concept. With foreign policy, he may have some success, but it will be a lot harder than what he thinks. Just by saying something is going to happen is not going to make it happen. I feel he is is more concerned with renaming the Gulf of Mexico or Mount McKinley or getting revenge for a perceived wrong than he is in solving real problems.

— James Wold, Covington, Louisiana

Our government is corrupt, and we deserve it

I will never understand how Americans reelected Donald Trump. I say we deserve what comes our way. Don’t complain or whine when Social Security is cut and Medicare is reduced. I believe our government is now the most corrupt institution in the world. Our Supreme Court is a joke and should be done away with.

What does a rich man want? More money and to keep what he has.

Our Supreme Court is a joke and should be done away with. I worked at a cleaners and week after week I observed the following: Rich people would complain about their clothing and get it done for free. Ordinary people from the streets would pick up their clothing, pay for it and go about their business. The rich men around Trump will show us how stupid we are. The elderly and poor will be the ones suffering from increased taxes but who cares? Not those rich white men in leadership.

And if you can send money to help pay for Trump’s legal bills, go for it.  

— Fay Smith, Lake Lure, North Carolina

I am a Republican, and I am worried

I feel it is important to know that I have been a registered Republican for 56 years and supported the basic principles of the party. That changed when Donald Trump began running for the highest office in our government and I read and listened to his wild rhetoric. He demonstrated disdain for truth, showed no respect for others and lacked any regard for the law.

I am more concerned about Trump’s upcoming new term of office than at the beginning of his first presidency. He showed us in his first term that he had no understanding of our constitutional laws, and worse, did not believe he was bound to respect them. There was virtually no evidence that uniting our country was a primary goal of the president. Instead of serving all citizens, he served himself and his major sycophants.

He left us steeply divided as a nation, created more national debt than any other administration and, for the most part, ignored the thousands of Americans dying each day because of COVID-19. AND someone else was always the cause of our problems. ALWAYS.

During his reelection campaign, Trump’s rhetoric became more vitriolic and threatening. The lies and claims became more outrageous and the division deeper. The United States is a nation of laws, but to Trump, they are an impediment to his need for glory. Meanwhile, he has given multiple examples of wanting to continue in office after his upcoming term ends. Regrettably, I believe that his second term, even if it ends, will leave America far worse.

From the onset of his new term in office I expect America and the world will witness more fear, more chaos and more division. He is sly, but not wise. He is focused on himself and not others. He desires to rule and not govern and has disdain for laws. He will be surrounded by people who will do his bidding without regard for what is best for our country.

We are a republic, which is defined as “a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch.” Within three months, I believe there will be signs that Trump will not support this time-honored form of government.

As a result, the issues most important to me during Trump’s first 100 days are federal governance, the economy, foreign policy and potential Jan. 6 pardons.

I do not believe that Trump will address these issues in a manner that is in the best interests of the U.S. or the world. Also concerning is the apparent lack of qualifications of many proposed Cabinet members and the Republican Party’s control of Congress. Because of that, these issues will not be managed on the basis of “we” but on the whims of “me.”

Lastly, I fear that if Trump pardons the rioters who disregarded our laws and trampled the Constitution’s governance four years ago, it will demonstrate just how dark and terrible his judgment is. It will also foretell “a red sky in the morning” omen for all of us. 

— Larry Holland, Lenoir, North Carolina

Can't believe how stupid we are

I am in a state of disbelief over a second Trump presidency. I can't believe how stupid we are as a country. Americans are too easily manipulated by right-wing propaganda and have zero critical thinking skills. It's been obvious for a while that Republicans have no interest in actually governing and doing what is right for the majority of Americans. On top of that, they have ruined our moral fiber and the credibility of the GOP at the same time.

It's a shame that we allowed this to happen. We have become apathetic and don't pay enough attention to which policies actually have real-world effects and how those policies affect us in everyday life. Instead, we have devolved into listening to whoever has the loudest microphone and think that repetition of claims is equivalent to the validity of the claim. 

In the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s presidency I expect chaos. None of the issues he campaigned on will be addressed except possibly tariffs, which will only hurt the average consumer. Beyond this, it's hard to tell what will happen – ambition and incompetence is always an interesting mix. But if history is any indicator, Trump is good for less than 10% of what he promises on campaign trails. 

The most important issues we are facing are the economy, health care, abortion and oil and gas drilling. Trump, the “stable genius” he is, will make the absolute worst decision possible in each instance. The only way he will be able to make a decision on any of the issues is by understanding who is to benefit and who is to lose. Once he understands which decisions will help his rich loyalists and greedy sycophants, he will make sure to put them first. When he says "America First" – what he really means is "me rica" first. 

— Blake Caudill, Indianapolis, Indiana