Trump’s First Year

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A picture of the White House lawn. Credit: pexels.com

Aidan Simpson, Staff Writer

The first year of the Trump administration has been rocky at best with controversies at every turn. The comment about Haiti and other countries being “sh*tholes”, the accusations of Trump and some of his cabinet members being tied to Russia, and infamous tweets citing his “mental stability” and his ego stating that he “is, like, really smart.” Some despise the business man while others borderline worship him. 

Trump has attained a mantle of responsibility only achievable by becoming the leader of such a large and powerful nation. He was put into power and in doing so inadvertently became the biggest role model for all ages of people, from children, to teens, to adults, to the elderly. The media has covered what he has done, but not who it impacts. So, how does it affect us? 

Trump has said some extremely questionable things as listed above. He has shown some sexist behavior, specifically early in the presidency when he said the infamous words, “grab her by the p*ssy.” This comment understandably sent the country into an uproar. Adolescents, however, turned it into a piece of social media humor, joking about this comment in hallways and chat groups, some twisting it into an insult or a form of further sexism.

Trump has also shown indifference towards the actions of Neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other alt-right groups when a spree of protests began. He stated that there are bad people on both ends of the spectrum, stating the Neo-Nazis are just as violent as the ones who oppose them. This further empowered the alt-right, thinking that the president may side with them. Of course, children of these types of people adopt their view points and are empowered by the president’s views.

Regardless of the controversies or any opinions of the president, Trump has been fairly active during his presidency, despite his currently 91 golf outings and his over 2,400 tweets. Trump has attempted to keep many of his outlandish promises during his campaign as he has attempted to end Obamacare, he withdrew the US from the Paris Climate Agreement, and hundreds of other policies spawning in the Obama administration. The climate agreement could be catastrophe as more waste is disposed into our environment with basically no restriction. This could destroy ecosystems, contribute to global warming, and make some places in the United States unlivable. The choice to remove Obama Administration accomplishments may take some time for the consequences to be felt.

The climate is only growing warmer, the population growing at an accelerated rate, the world has problems, we know this, but it seems the president has done little to assist the ones that matter. His focus is on a more controversial topic, he has openly spoken about his thoughts on immigrants, Mexicans and Muslims in specific.

Trump’s suggestion of the infamous southern border wall has been a constant point of discussion since his mention of it during his campaigning year. He has labeled them as rapists and drug dealers, attempting to smuggle ilicit drugs into the US. The same type of scrutiny is placed on those of Muslim heritage. He labeled them as terrorists and killers, violent radicalists, lumping a large majority of Muslims into a unified terrorist group. He has profiled these groups and the profiling has spread into public thought. A video was posted on many social media sights showing a young Muslim girl being labeled a terrorist. Others show general racism towards Mexicans. The president’s ideology of these groups has spread into many people who share his view or who are impressionable to imitate him.