Reaction to Trump Administration's Policies

 There are many things that I could discuss, one of the things that bothers me the most is how there is not a lot of fight back on the policies the Trump administration is trying to form or reform. People have protested every now and then, but it’s only a small fraction of the population. My question is, how many people see what’s going on and perceive it is an issue and don’t know how to create impact or how many are not worried about these policies? The policies this administration continues to support are ones that affect all peoples. It is not just about race and immigrants. If you are female, trans, gay, indigenous, and overall a part of any minority community, it affects you. Even those part of the majority, it affects your friends, co-workers, and loved ones.

For one, our current administration wants to make it harder for women to vote. I think if they could, they would like to take it away, but instead they try to bypass it and make it harder to be registered and accepted as a voter. If they require a birth certificate as identification, it would affect those who change their name. Most women traditionally speaking, take their spouses’ last name and therefore their name would not match their birth certificate. It’s unacceptable to disregard women’s thoughts and views. The argument is that women should support their husband and let him do the thinking, as if they are superior to women. It’s interesting where this mindset comes from since men are born from women. 

Second off, now there are no repercussions for those in law and immigration enforcement if they choose to arrest or question an individual based on appearance or voice. Isn’t Trump supposed to be a business man? If I were to think from his perspective, we would be wasting so many resources looking for individuals who look of Mexican descent. They are arresting people regardless of documentation at this rate and holding them captive until that information is provided. That is already inhuman and unjust, but probably also wastes time and money. Those are funds we could use elsewhere for better policies. 

As well, I can recall them cutting funds of the FDA and other important federal organizations. Food regulation affects everybody. Regulated food keeps us safe and makes sure companies cannot take shortcuts. Many diseases and illnesses can spread through food and it’s something we should be concerned about. Food is sustenance that we need to survive, there are only so many companies that participate in their own regulations. Some of those companies can be more expensive and it’s unrealistic for most people to buy their groceries from. Not only does the FDA regulate food but also drugs. According to Forbes, “When drugs are pulled from the market, FDA employees update that information in real time. Without employees to maintain the databases, that information can be delayed — or not reported at all” (Castrucci). The government plays a larger role than we realize at times and without certain funds, it could create drastic impacts.

More people should be worried and it’s scary that they are not. When these changes first started occurring I think people were quick to disregard it. Whenever I would have conversations, I was told not to worry. It’s a privilege to not have worries or fear when going about life on a daily basis. 

Linked References:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/briancastrucci/2025/05/05/seven-ways-the-fda-cuts-could-impact-you/Links to an external site.

 Your reaction essay touches on several current political issues regarding the administration in the White House.

Several things are going on with the Trump administration.  First, there is the violation of the norms of behavior in government. Trump is doing things that are illegal or unconstitutional, and he is having his henchmen do things that violate laws and policies.  That disregard for the law or standards of behavior is disorienting and it damages our democracy.  There is a lawlessness.

He is also acting in violation of the principles of checks and balances, and violating the Constitution.  He has ordered many things that are obviously and ludicrously against the Constitution.  

His actual policies in most cases are ridiculously bad.  Some of his ideas are so unworkable or detached from reality that they have a disorganized and crazy flavor.  For example, many communities are having success ending functional homelessness by providing permanent housing with supports to persons who are suffering from serious developmental or mental disabilities, or health problems, or addictions.  And rapid rehousing with a focus on getting people into a stable housing situation seems our most effective remedy to the problem of homelessness, but new rules from HUD are going to mandate that federal funds must not be used for these effective practices that offer the best hope of ending homelessness.  The HUD policies are instead mandating that local efforts to end homelessness focus on methods that have been demonstratively ineffective.  Trump recently ordered everyone who receives SNAP benefits to reapply, which creates a tremendous cost and burden on the Department of Agriculture.  There are already many good studies of fraud and errors in SNAP, and they are a trivial percentage of cases, and they are usually caused by people in human services miscalculating the benefits a SNAP recipient should receive, and giving them too little or slightly too much. Having everyone apply again for SNAP benefits is unlikely to solve those errors, and is certain to cause huge increases in administrative costs. 

You have not mentioned it, but he and his henchmen are so so blatantly corrupt that it's difficult to understand why the Republican Party has not joined in calling for his removal through impeachment. 

Trump is not popular outside a cult-like group of supporters.  His approval ratings (the aggregate estimation provided by Nate Silver) was at 44% to 45% in September when you wrote this reaction essay, but fell to about 41% at the end of the semester.  About 55% of Americans actively disapprove of his presidency.

And yet, there the demonstrations against Trump, although considered "successful", tended to attract only 1.2% of the population (in June) or 2% of the population (in October).  If 55% of the populations strongly dislikes Trump's administration, why do only 1% to 2% show up for demonstrations?   Why also are Republicans not standing against the corruption, incompetence, or violations of laws and the Constitution?  Why are Democratic Party leaders and many representatives seemingly so ineffective in fighting back against the Trump administration's corruption and incompetence and lawlessness?  The situation is indeed puzzling and worrying.

Student advocates for actions to be taken to constrain President Trump

 I want to address the Trump administration's idea of changing the rules and even talking about letting Donald Trump run for a third time. This idea of Trump thinking that he can go against the Constitution of the United States and start changing rules that were put in place for a very good reason is crazy. It has so far started with him just mentioning it, and trying to find ways to bend the rules around to make it possible for him to take office for a third time, but as we have seen with other issues, Trump does not like to play by the rules. 

I am in opposition to this crazy idea even being considered, but it has already come out in the news now that he is going to try to find a way to work his way back in. To me, it is just such a horrible idea for everybody, even if the right does not see it that way.  

Trump tends to bring chaos with him wherever he goes and thinks he can do whatever he wants to do, without any repercussions. The sad thing is, so far, he is right. We need to put an end to all this insanity of him constantly disrespecting our Constitution and dragging his followers down a deep, dark hole. Something has got to be done about him because he pushes every single law, and then when the courts try to stop him from destroying our democracy, he goes after the Judges! He has no limits, and no boundaries, and does not care who he hurts as long as it benefits him. 

I remember when he got elected the second time, I was thinking, “Well, at least after these four years it will all be over with”.  But now, with him starting to discuss another term, there is no telling what could happen next. I know a lot of people may think, “Oh, that’s not going to happen”. That is what Americans thought about a lot of the ideas that Trump has mentioned, and then we all sat back and watched it as a nation as he did them, and we all acted surprised. Everything he ran on was false—saying he was going to lower prices right away— he claimed Americans can’t afford to live like they did under Joe Biden, and the first thing he did when he got into office was start placing tariffs on our closest allies and neighbors. 

His trade war has done the complete opposite of what he talked about doing, and now people are worse off than they were before he came into office. Not to mention all of the jobs that have been eliminated in the government due to Elon Musk and the DOGE team. 

My whole point on bringing that up in this opposition to this rule is that you cannot trust anything he says. He calls everything that is true “fake news”, and lies about everything else that is true, and his supporters believe anything he tells them.  If somehow this guy gets to be president for a third time, that will be a bad day in America. America doesn’t give in to bullies when they try to change the Constitution, the law of the land. So why are we allowing this to happen right in front of our faces, and not one person has the guts to do anything about it? 

I don’t understand where we let our guard down and let him start changing all of the rules, and then smiling and telling him “good job” for doing it. I am really hoping that we can still do some good here and oppose this idea of his and keep our nation strong without being under a dictatorship.

This seems more like a reaction essay, but I see how it could be an advocacy letter.

I'm not sure whether you live in a district where your Representative in the House is Mary Miller (a MAGA Republican), but I think that might be the case for you.  Also, I think your State Representative is possibly a Republican.  It is also possible that you live in a district with Niki Budzinski as your Democratic Party representative in the U.S. House.  Anyway, this matters, because you are upset by the way Trump is serving as President, and you are trying to convince the person who receives your letter to do something about it. 

Consider, what could someone do?  Well, if this is a Republican, and possibly a MAGA Republican who supports Trump, you might suggest having a quiet word with Trump about how he should not do some of the things he seems to be willing to do. You would be asking the person to reign him in.  If you are writing to a Republican Party member, you might talk about the long-term harm being done to the Republican brand by Trump's administration, and you could be asking a local Republican to say things in opposition to some of Trump's suggestions (like the one to serve a third term despite the Constitutional limit of two terms). 

The Constitutional way for Trump to serve a third term would be to have a Republican ticket get elected to the Presidency, and then have Trump elected by the House of Representatives to serve as Speaker of the House.  Trump would then take over as Speaker of the House for a couple weeks until the inauguration in January of 2029.  Then, if the president and vice president both resigned, Trump would be in line to take over the office of the President.  So, for this to work, the Republicans would need to control the House of Representatives and the White House in January of 2029. If you are writing to a Republican member of the House, just tell them under no circumstances to elect Trump as Speaker of the House in early 2029.

If you are addressing a Republican, you might say more about how Trump is a radical who is incompetent, and he is undermining the rule of law, and he is weakening our democratic institutions, and he is violating the Constitution.  You could then ask the Republican to take a stand against Trump's destructive activities. 

If you were writing to a Democratic Party member, you might have some suggestions about the importance of winning enough Senate Seats in the 2026 election to get a Senate that would potentially vote for “guilty” if the House impeached Trump in 2027. You might have advice for how the Democrats could take the House and gain a large majority in the Senate. Your letter could be more about the way to impeach Trump, and the importance of getting some Republicans to cross over and help remove him from office.

Either way, I think you are doing well to make a list of ways in which Trump is undermining democratic institutions, the courts, the Constitution, and the rule of law. Your letter has a lot of voice and personality in it, and that can be a very good thing when writing to a politician and demanding that the politician do more to address a crisis or major problem.