President Trump: What He Should Do, How He Should Do It
Students talk about what new US leader ought to focus on
President Trump: What He Should Do, How He Should Do It
Students talk about what new US leader ought to focus on
On January 20, 2017, Donald John Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. There remains a great deal of uncertainty about what kind of presidency he intends. A political neophyte, Trump has said—among other things—that he intends to build a wall along the Mexican border, dismantle the Affordable Care Act, and rethink America’s approach to international trade. Little is certain. The coming 100 days should begin to show us what his domestic and foreign policy agenda will actually look like.
In anticipation of the inauguration, we reached out to students from across the University to elicit their thoughts on what the new president’s most pressing to-dos should be.
Adia Turner (CAS’19)
The issue at the top of Trump’s to-do list should be trying to unite the country after an extremely divisive election. This is important to me because Donald Trump ran on a platform of hate and fear that widened an already massive division in the United States. It’s his responsibility to fight for all Americans and their rights equally. Many people, myself included, are scared for what their future holds under a Trump presidency: this should not be the case.
I think Trump needs to refrain from appointing people to his cabinet who have ties to the Ku Klux Klan and who have proven to be racist. I also believe he needs to pointedly say he does not agree with the acts of hate and white supremacy that have been committed in his name.
Next Issue: Climate Change
Alec Spencer (CAS’17)
Climate change is probably the most urgent thing Trump needs to address. I think of climate change as the ticking time bomb in the background that poses the biggest threat globally. There’s a tremendous danger in pretending that it’s not real, or pretending that it’s not something that needs to be addressed right now.
In our country, it’s become a partisan issue, while in countries like India, China, and the European Union nations, it’s been accepted as scientific fact, which it is.
By not investing in alternative forms of energy, we could find ourselves lagging years behind other countries in clean energy production while trying to rely on outdated sources of fuel.
Not addressing climate change puts a tremendous weight on generations down the line.
Next Issue: Foreign Affairs
Kristin Barnett (SED’19)
I’d really like to see Trump strengthen our relations with other countries. We just reestablished relations with Cuba under Obama. That’s the direction America should be going in—being on everyone’s more favorable list rather than seen as an enemy state.
Trump is trying to form a relationship with Russia, which I think is a good idea; Russia is definitely a country that we want on our side rather than against us. Developing that relationship also gives us an opportunity to get into parts of Europe that are unstable right now and hopefully progress towards a more peaceful Middle East. He should also maintain our presence in the United Nations—it’s a good stepping-stone into countries that have a lot of inner turmoil.
Next Issue: Family Leave
Taylor Cole (SSW’20)
I would like to see more support for women and child care, including more focus on maternity leave and related policies. It would be great to see women allowed to be out on leave longer after the birth of their child and more types of child care options. This should apply to fathers, too; they should have more time off with their family.
I’m a parent and I’m a grad student at BU. The child care issue resonates with me. I’m juggling these things—being a student and a parent—and child care is not affordable. And, regarding abortion, I hope Trump does not do the things he said he would do. Women should continue to have the right to choose.
These issues affect a lot of people. It’s a human right to be able to care for your family and to choose whether or not you want a family.
Next Issue: Fostering Empathy
Dylan Tam (CGS’15, CAS’17)
Trump needs to commit to the presidency in his words and actions. He must reaffirm that our republic and the values it stands for are worth protecting. We also need to be willing to conduct our debates at least partially within the halls of Congress, the chamber of the Supreme Court, and the Oval Office.
If we have any hope of remaining a united country, our people will need common spaces in which ideas flow freely and stories can be shared to help foster empathy. The sharing of our physical, digital, and emotional spaces is just as much an integral part of the republic as the values set forth in the Constitution and the democratic process that keeps the nation running. As an openly gay American, and one belonging to an ethnic minority, I understand how much my freedom to navigate the whole of our society—not just the safe spaces constructed by people like me—depends on this.
Next Issue: Sustainable Engery
Morgan Peterson (CAS’17)
Obama has done a lot of work related to climate change—divesting from fossil fuels and investing in alternative energies like solar and wind. I think that we’ll see a big change in that sphere and fewer resources allocated towards things like that, unfortunately.
The resources that Trump wants to reinvest in—oil and coal, for example—are not sustainable. We know that they’re going to run out soon, and it’s going to take more time, more money, more water to even access these resources. It just doesn’t make sense, in my opinion, to continue to invest in them. The millennial generation will really feel the brunt of whatever energy policy Trump chooses.
Next Issue: Special Interests
Nathan Weinberg (CAS’19)
Trump has talked about getting the money out of politics and reducing the power of lobbyists. That would be good for America, because we’ve gotten to a point where money, politics, and business interests are taking priority over what people really want.
Specifically, Trump wants to “drain the swamp,” which means if you’re a registered lobbyist at any point, you can’t hold a political position for at least five years. He’ll also place a limit on how much money you can spend on a political campaign or fundraiser. The general rhetoric sounds good to me, but we’ll see how he implements it. I hope he succeeds and that he goes about it in a way that will be better for the American people.
Next Issue: Immigration
Kimberly Barzola (CAS’17)
The issues of immigration reform and the future of programs such as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) are top priorities for me. I’m the daughter of immigrants and a first-generation college student. I’m thinking about the immediate effects that Trump’s presidency will have for a lot of undocumented folks that I know, a lot of my family.
The idea of deporting undocumented individuals, especially folks protected under DACA, is very harmful because many of these people have lived their whole lives in the United States. They may not know the language, let alone the culture, of their native country. Often, these people were brought by their parents to flee gang violence from Central American countries like El Salvador and Honduras. Sending these people back to places of violence with nonexistent cultural knowledge is not only dangerous but makes us complicit in any harm that happens to them.
Next Issue: Listening
Whitney DiMeo (CAS’17)
The first thing Trump should do is delete his Twitter account. It’s immature and unproductive, and his power as president-elect transcends the validity of what he’s actually saying. If he wants to actually help this country, he has to listen and not be someone who uses 140 characters to whine about everything he doesn’t like.
As divided a nation as the United States is, I am proud of the fact that I can protest, disagree, and live without censorship. If Trump wants anything productive to actually happen, he needs to listen to the “other side.” If neither side can learn from each other, then words and perspectives become empty, and arguments circulate into a continuous frenzy of blaming, denial, and ignorance.
Next Issue: Unity
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