Trump's first month has been devastating. And people voted for all of this. | Your Turn
One month in, here's how you said Trump is doing.
We're a little more than a month into Donald Trump's second term, and our 47th president shows no signs of slowing.
Whether or not you voted for him, it's clear he's moving full steam ahead. He's made more than 100 executive actions on everything from immigration and DEI to climate and clemency. He's signed more executive orders in his first month than any modern president in their first 100 days.
Everyone has something to say about it. Excited or empowered, frightened or resistant, it's hard to find someone who doesn't have an opinion on Trump. So how are you feeling about Trump's first month? Here's what you said.
Happy about Trump's abortion stance, not about Jan. 6
I am excited about President Donald Trump's pro-life and gender stances and executive orders ‒ including cutting off international abortion funding, his stance that life begins at conception and that the only genders are men and women. I am upset about his threat to expand into Panama, as previously the United States has told Russia and China that they could not seize territory. I am also upset about the pardoning of the Capitol rioters as it sends a bad message that you can break the law. Unfortunately, Trump does not honor commitments the United States has made with other countries, weakening our credibility.
I have not seen any direct effect of his policies, as tariffs have not hit and I am in California.
Next, I want the president to end the Ukraine war without extorting its leaders for rare earth minerals. It's sad, but Trump should let China have Taiwan as they will go to war for territory. This is hard for me as it goes against some commitments the United States has made, but lives are more important.
As for how Trump is doing with the economy, it is yet to be determined.
— Jonathan Martin, El Cerrito, California
I see fear and hate
Trump's first month has been devastating. He is way worse than expected. People voted for all of this. They just didn't understand how profoundly his agenda would impact our citizens. Trump claimed he didn’t know about Project 2025. Well, he obviously did.
Trump's policies are impacting our entire world! I see fear and hate and hear about immigration raids around our area.
Trump should focus on reuniting our nation and foreign relationships. He should work on understanding basic economics and that tariffs hurt everybody, domestically and abroad. He should work on understanding that immigrants are a vital component of our economic strength, building on what our Founding Fathers established: freedom for all.
I feel lousy about the future.
— Jency Emo, Fort Myers, Florida
In my state of Alabama, patriotism is valued again
I am excited about the rapid rate and scope of Trump doing what he promised. I hope he'll be so far out ahead of the legal barricades his enemies want to build that his agenda will be in motion before it can be rendered impotent.
In my state of Alabama, the biggest and brightest impact is a sense of hope and optimism that has been missing for a very long time. Patriotism is valued again!
Trump should next focus on Greenland and Panama. As the ice cap melts, these places could allow China to become an existential threat. It really is a bigger issue than the raw materials. We have lots of materials. Whoever possesses free east-west passage of heavy-lift cargo for military purpose wins.
With the economy, lowering all government spending, including the labor force, that doesn't add to gross domestic product will lower inflation. He seems to realize defense spending is a value-added government function. Targeted short-lived tariffs can be just such an added-value economic tool. The news media keeps bringing up well understood economic theories about tariffs and inflation but ignore the fact that these theories do not have anything to do with Trump's use of tariffs. There is no theory for what Trump is doing. Intriguing.
I'd like to see Congress leading the way. Right now, lawmakers are being reactive to Trump's executive orders and statements. There is so much more that needs to be done than even Trump can state in rapid order. Republicans know Trump's agenda. It's time they got in front, pulling his cart.
— David Cartes, Fairhope, Alabama
I will be part of the resistance
I feel angry as hell, scared to death for my kids and grandkids and scared to death for the health and well-being of democracy, this country and the world.
In my region, we haven’t felt the impact just yet but we will. My kids will, my family and friends will. My business is going to suffer. There is fear about what is happening. There are some people who feel now they can simply harass others because of what they look like. This was not happening. Trump's policy about deportation has given rise, even more now, to a level of hatred toward people who are not white like I have never seen.
Going forward, I will be part of the resistance. I will be part of fighting him like hell. I will be part of the growing number of people trying to push him out of office and will work to get that done. He is a danger to this country and this world.
I feel despair, anger and fear.
— Lynn Wiand, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Trump's first presidency made me cringe. Trump 2.0 is calm, determined.
Trump has exceeded even my wildest imagination! We all know government is fraught with waste and mismanagement, but he already has exposed the U.S. Agency for International Development in such a way that even the anti-Trumpers have to be shocked. I definitely feel that the surface is just being scratched, and that there will be more of this exposed, thank goodness!
I live in a sanctuary state, Illinois, so I hope at the federal level this craziness will be stopped. Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker needs to be put in his place!
I hope going forward the tax cuts can be extended permanently. This is so critical for the middle class.
I am worried about inflation, but it’s clear that it's going to take some time to bring this down. Reducing energy costs quickly is going to be the best course of action right now.
I do recall in Trump's first presidency some cringeworthy moments when I thought, "Did he just say that?" He is so much different now, Trump 2.0 is calm and determined. It's going to pay big dividends for the Republicans at the midterm elections.
— Steve Knar, Fox River Grove, Illinois
I'm not surprised by Trump
I'm not feeling different after Trump's first month. None of this is surprising to anyone who read historian Hannah Arendt or who has even a passing knowledge of anti-democracy advocate Curtis Yarvin and his fascist aspirations.
Yes, Trump's policies are affecting my region. Kids who have undocumented parents are freaking out. I am in California, so I know a few people freaking out about the water situation after Trump’s ignorant release of the Central Valley dams. People at research institutions are scared or have lost funding.
Trump isn’t going to focus on issues. He is a puppet for a group of oligarchs who have been openly saying they want to control our country, and for a group tied to conservative legal activist Leonard Leo.
I’m very concerned that our nation is already lost and that a genocide is on the horizon. This normalcy bias the news media has needs to go. Please for the love of humanity read Arendt!
— Kurt Overmeyer, Seaside, California