Anyone familiar with the Donald Trump administration will admit that his first term as President of the United States had its share of controversies—whether they agree with the political left or the right.  Now that we are in the second term of his presidency, college students have shared their take on him being back in office.

Lukas Parker, a moderate student at Johnson County Community College, is indifferent to Trump getting reelected but says he believes it was the “best case scenario based off of our options.”  

College students that have any conservative views usually do not feel comfortable sharing their political opinions with their peers or professors for fear of being harshly judged. One such student who has been brave enough to share her thoughts is Allie Wilbur, a moderate JCCC student who leans more to the right.  

“I’m pleased with [Trump] being back in office,” Wilbur said. “I think Biden’s presidency really took a toll on the country. I think we have lost the ideals of what being an American is, and what America stands for, and I think that Trump will bring out the best in the country.”  

A Democratic student, Luke Lahan, did not hold back when sharing his thoughts on Trump’s second term.

“I think it is incredibly stupid,” said Lahan. “I think that he is a child molester and that he has no business being in our political office whatsoever. I also feel like him being back in office is going to lead to a lot of rights being taken away from everybody. I know that Biden was not a good president. He was way too old to be doing it, but I don’t believe that Trump was any better. In fact, I believe he was worse from just the sheer amount of chaos that was caused.”

Immigration 

Both Parker and Wilbur agreed that immigrants should be allowed to come to America, but that they should go through the legal process to do so.

“I believe that anyone should legally be able to live anywhere,” Parker stated.“It’s just a matter of how we go about that.”  

Wilbur shared the same sentiment and believes that illegal immigration is getting out of control.

“I believe that everybody should have the right to live wherever they want to live, but they should do it in a legal manner,” Wilbur stated. “They should not come into this country thinking that just because it’s a free country they get to do whatever they please. I think it has become a big issue; illegal immigration is a big problem. People coming into this country and bringing in drugs, bringing in gangs, and killing American citizens is just not right.” 

 Parker did add that he thought that the system we have in place for immigrants to gain citizenship should be improved.

“To become a citizen, [it] needs to change because I think the way we go about it is very strict,” Parker said. “It’s almost illogical because most of the questions to become a citizen, like I bet you some of our politicians probably wouldn’t know. Don’t heighten the expectations for a foreigner if your own people don’t know the answer. But I do believe in legal immigration, I believe if someone wants to come here, they should be allowed to.” 

 The Rights of the People

The students had differing thoughts on the rights that American citizens have. 

“The only concern I really have would be towards women’s rights,” Wilbur stated. “I think that would be the only thing I am concerned about because most of the policies that Trump is going to enforce or has already enforced I agree with.” 

When it comes to abortion though, Wilbur believes the system we have in place is better than not having access to abortion anywhere.

“I think taking [abortion] to the states was obviously beneficial because if it was overturned back to the President, it would be sent through the Senate which is mostly made of Republicans, and it would be banned everywhere,” Wilbur said. “I think giving it back to the states was beneficial because at least we have some states that have it available rather than it being outlawed in every state. That would happen if it was overturned back to the President.” 

 On the other hand, Lahan opposed this view. 

“I believe that he will take away our rights of choice away which is pretty much all we have,” Lahan said. “His reign will be short lived, and he will not be able to create the dictatorship that he wants, because there are a lot of rights that he can take away from women and gay people, but once he starts to taking away people’s rights to choose in general, they’re not going to be happy.”

Concerns About the Future of America 

Parker had concerns about what is going to happen in America in the future. 

“I am concerned about how he is going to treat a lot of public centers like public education, healthcare, and things like that,” Parker said. “One thing I am a little indifferent about is the recent tariff conversation just because we import a lot of our stuff, we’re not really an export first country, so I think that could have a lot of backlash on us.” 

Wilbur had concerns about the future of the country as well. 

“One of my biggest concerns would be another war breaking out,” Wilbur said. “I think we need somebody like Trump with a stern hand. Somebody who thinks like a businessman, runs the country like a businessman, and isn’t afraid to talk to these people and set some rules straight. I think a lot of the Democratic party cowered in fear and tried to be friends with everybody. We don’t need to be friends with everybody right now, we need to reestablish our dominance as a country. I think that is one of the biggest struggles that America is facing right now is that we have lost our power. Everybody looks at us as a joke and we need to reestablish that we’re not a joke. That was primarily because of the Democratic party.” 

While Wilbur felt Trump would put her concerns at ease, Lahan is concerned for America because of our leader. 

“I believe having someone like him in office is going to lead to our entire structure being completely destroyed,” Lahan stated. “I’m concerned about how much power he has over us. He was able to get exonerated for things that he never should have been able to walk from.” 

Parker also expressed that he worries about the inconsistencies our country and leaders have presented to the outside world as well as the American people.

“My biggest fear is that we’re a country built off of contradictions and instead of fixing those contradictions we just keep contradicting ourselves,” Parker shared. “So I think that is going to lead to a lot of future problems if we don’t solve them now.” 

Economics 

Parker and Wilbur were close in agreement on their thoughts about Trump’s economics. 

“I do definitely think that economic-wise with gas prices, grocery prices, and stuff like that is where we will see the benefit of having Trump in office,” Parker said. 

One of the important economical issues to Wilbur is the tax that servers have to pay on their tips.

“I am a server,” Wilbur said. “Trump wants to enforce a policy that allows servers to keep their tips untaxed. I think that is a really big benefit because I pay 15% of what I make to the government, and Trump wants to stop that.”  

Parker also discussed Trump’s plan to keep everything as American made as possible. 

“I think Trump wants America to be an export first, almost like everything within America is made by America,” Parker stated. “Which in theory could work, but time will tell.” 

Wilbur looks forward to a change in the economy after Biden’s presidency. 

“I would like to see what he is going to do to change how the country has been operating, because it has been pretty bad these last four years,” Wilbur said.  

On the other hand, Lahan does not have faith in Trump to fix the economy after the way he handled Covid.

 “Everything about our economy is going downhill,” Lahan said. “Housing prices, everything, we can barely afford anything. He kind of caused it from how he handled Covid. He created a monopoly with all stores being able to charge as much as they want for online shopping and things like that, because he didn’t regulate it fast enough. He even accused China of starting it and also said it didn’t exist.”

Fixing America

Parker believes we need to focus on getting back to the meaning of being American citizens.

“Republicans are a fix America first then help other countries, rather than help everybody which is more left leaning,” Parker said. “I think that is one benefit, we need that. I think we need to focus on American morality and reestablishing what it means to be an American citizen. Over the past decade we have really lost what that means within our country.” 

He also shared that he knows Trump’s policies may not last past his presidency if a Democrat is elected after him. Historically, many opposing parties have come in and undone many of the policies the former president before them had implemented that they disagreed with. 

“I think if Trump goes in, does all this stuff, but doesn’t execute it and we don’t get another Republican in office, I think it’s not going to be good,” Parker said. “The problem is, you need at least five to six years realistically for a plan to stabilize. You only get four years in presidency. If it’s four years and then a Democrat they’re just going to be like ‘Why would we want Trump’s policies? He’s a Republican’.” 

The Influence of Media 

All three students were on the same page about people needing to be more open minded about their views and opinions, especially on politics.  

“There’s a lack of critical thinking,” Parker stated. “It comes to a cultural idea of overconsumption. We over consume our ideas. Think about our media. You prefer let’s say Republican ideas, so you’re going to over consume on media [with] nothing but Republican ideas, and so your critical thinking isn’t going to be open to the other side of things.”  

 Wilbur agrees with these ideas.

“I feel like the media never tells the truth,” Wilbur said. “A lot of society likes to follow the media and believe everything the media says but the media lies constantly. It doesn’t matter if it is left or right. The media will fill your head with lies and make you believe things that aren’t true. I feel like that sways a lot of people to think in this kind of idiotic way to where they can’t even have their own opinion. They have to believe everything that everybody else says. I feel like that has caused most of society to behave like cattle. Just to follow a certain individual, or follow a certain way of thinking or mentality that just allows them to be closed off from any other opinion. They just can’t believe anything else because of what they’ve been told and I think the media is a huge influence on that, especially in politics.” 

Lahan also wants people to think for themselves and not make their decisions based only off of what their party says to do.

“I feel like people don’t really always take a look at both sides,” Lahan said. “A lot of people will only go with whatever their party stands for.” 

You Can’t Always Get What You Want

 “I think effectively both sides have great points,” Parker said. “How the Democrats view ‘my body my choice’, I 100 percent agree with that. I agree with a lot of human rights that the left side believes in. But then on the economic side, I believe in the right. That’s where we need to understand moderation. Both sides need to understand that you can’t have everything. You’ve got to sacrifice. If you choose everything, you’re just going to lose everything. They’ve got to understand what they want and don’t want.” 

Wilbur urges the American people to not be selfish.

“People need to step away from believing everything that they see in the media and create their own opinion,” Wilbur stated. “Think outside the box. Think of what benefits the country, rather than yourself.”