Give me a single word to describe life in the United States of America.
United States of America.“Unstable.”“Great.”“Failing.”To state the obvious, a lot of Democrats loathe President Trump, and a lot of Republicans love him. What about people who used to vote Democratic but decided last November to take a flier on Mr. Trump for the first time? Why did they swing to him? How do they think it’s working out? And what can the Democratic Party do to win them back?For our latest Times Opinion focus group, we wanted to see Mr. Trump’s first 100 days through the eyes of Americans who — yearning for change, for something to be hopeful about, for someone to fix the economy and immigration — voted for him. We wanted to explore the nature of optimism and regret in politics, what they saw as his successes and failures, why they were drawn to him and what, if anything, has put them off.And some of these voters do have regrets. The focus group conversation was a window into the way many of us think: We want something different from what we have, we become especially tantalized by the idea of action, and we are willing to tell ourselves stories — for example, that Mr. Trump was a businessman who would be better for the economy than Kamala Harris — to rationalize taking a risk, voting for a candidate who promised to subject a growing economy to an enormous gamble on tariffs.“My life wasn’t getting better. The future wasn’t looking great,” said Meagan, a 37-year-old small-business owner from Texas, explaining why she switched from voting for Democrats to voting for Mr. Trump in 2024. Now she is toggling between hope that the tariffs lead somewhere positive and fear about her business being hammered by the economy and those trade policies.It’s hard for a lot of us to talk about regret or admit we were wrong. Most of these 12 voters still want their bet on Mr. Trump to pay off, a hope made easier by the fact that few see the Democrats as an appealing alternative. How can Mr. Trump or the Democrats make them happy? They have plenty to say on that, too.In 2016 and 2020, you voted for the Democratic presidential candidate, but in 2024 you all switched to Donald Trump. I think you are the reason Donald Trump is president. Give me a sentence describing what you thought of Donald Trump on the day you voted for him in 2024 and what you think of him nearly 100 days in.I just felt more comfortable with him last November, his policies. Now he’s biting off a little bit more than I think he should.I was excited when I voted for him, but I worried that he would go too far. Today there are a lot of positive things happening.I was a little skeptical when I voted, stuck between two bad choices, but hopeful that maybe Trump was a different person now. Overall, I’m disappointed. He hasn’t accomplished what he set out to do, and the economy is not moving in the right direction.I felt Trump was the better candidate. Now I think he has good intentions, but he’s going about it the wrong way.I was truly hoping that Trump was looking for some redemption for his past efforts. I really thought that was going to happen.He’s doing undeniably, unequivocally awful.I was disappointed on Election Day. Disappointed in the whole process. Today I want Trump to pump the brakes on some stuff. Sometimes it seems like we’re just sort of shooting from the hip. I don’t think we can govern like that.When I voted, I was hopeful that things were going to be better. Today I’m seeing some progress, but I’m also a little nervous.In November, I needed change, especially with immigration. I think he’s doing a wonderful job. The only thing that’s holding him back is all these lawsuits. It’s going to handcuff him.It’s fine to have opinions on immigration. I believe in good Republican politics. Taking people idly off the street because you think they might be a gang member doesn’t fly with me. Due process is for all, no matter what the situation is. You want to deport somebody, they deserve due process.Do any of you regret your vote for President Trump?Do any of you regret your vote
for President Trump?3 people raised their hands.Daniel, why do you regret your vote?My 401(k) keeps on dropping. That’s bad. Some people don’t want to pretend it’s bad because a large portion of this country does not have stocks. Most of MAGA doesn’t have stocks, so they don’t care.I was tentative on Election Day. I wasn’t sure that Trump was the better candidate, and now I’m pretty sure that he is not the one. I regret the choice. I think that he’s just taken executive power way too far, and it’s just obliterated the legislative and congressional side of things for our government. We only have executive orders now.How would you describe Donald Trump’s approach to governing?Just as chaotic as it was before. Fool me on that.Extremely aggressive. In some cases too aggressive, and in others it has actually worked out well.He is diplomatic, but he also crosses the line at times.I think he can be vindictive and difficult to deal with personally as president. And I think he can be very tough to deal with.With Washington as divided as it is right now, if he’s not determined, it’ll get bogged down. The way he’s trying to push it through, at least he can initiate and get the ball rolling, instead of being in a quagmire for the next two years.What is or has been Donald Trump’s greatest success in these first 100 days?Immigration. He’s been getting what he calls violent offenders out and will not allow anybody to come in. Being here in Illinois, Chicago, it’s been a hot mess here.He’s almost all but completely stopped the flow of immigrants into this country. And then he’s gone out and been pretty aggressive with removing people that don’t belong here.The border has basically been shut down. If you’re going to do it legally, I have no problem with it. But you’ve got a lot of criminals over here. We need to get rid of them.Do you think President Trump has been successful
in his border and immigration policy? and immigration policy?Daniel, I know that you regret your vote. But do you think he’s been OK on immigration?Well, no. He’s been a success at creating a quagmire of confusion.How so?I think he’s done a tremendous job.I agree.He said what he was going to do, and he’s doing it.I would never want a person to be deported inappropriately. Like, if they’re a citizen and we’ve accidentally deported them to another country, obviously, that’s terrible.I don’t think that’s going to happen.From my understanding, that’s happening a lot.The quagmire of confusion that I’m talking about is that right now, we’re having a fight between who has more power — the justices or the president — over this immigration deal. If you don’t see that, you’re blind, 100 percent.Daniel, over the last administration, we had millions of illegals come across the border. How many years would it take to process them all with due process to get them back out of the country?If we went and looked at each one of those people who were arrested, you would find more and more that were American citizens, I guarantee you.No, there’s none that are American citizens.Daniel, I agree with you.Chris, you said you hoped Trump would be different this time in office. Help our readers understand why you expected anything different from Trump.I saw a lot of discipline from candidate Trump, and I think that was a real surprise, given how he had acted in prior elections. And so you thought, “Wow, maybe this guy has changed. Maybe he’s taking things more seriously.” And I think coming in as president, I just really haven’t seen that. The chaos around the tariffs is a great example.I voted for him because I also thought he was very focused, and maybe he had learned from the previous term that he had in the presidency. Immigration aside, my problem is his pick of cabinet secretaries for his administration.Did you expect him to pick different kinds of cabinet secretaries when you voted for him?Yes. I felt that he would have learned lessons in the last administration. The secretary of defense is not competent. He may be good-looking, and he may be a Fox host, but that shouldn’t be criteria.I just didn’t expect so much so fast. I just feel like there’s so many things happening every day in the news. I didn’t expect to have to be so politically oriented every day, watching the news for the next policy change or initiative or vindictive action or executive order.Where has Donald Trump failed the most in the first 100 days?The biggest failure is immigration, in my mind.The volatility in the market right now.I’d have to agree with the volatility in the market. And my hope is that it’s growing pains.Still thriving on his arrogance.The stock market and the economy.The dollar hasn’t been this low in a very long time.I think the tariff situation was a pretty big failure.I’m not sure we can really say “failures” yet. We’ve only been in for 100 days. Somebody said “inflation.” You’re not going to bring down inflation in three months.Inflation has been horrible, but there’s no way you’re going to get it down so quickly. I would say, if anything, taxes, tariffs.The government has spent more in the past 100 days than they did the year prior, same 100 days. So I think DOGE has been a flop. Very disappointing. Promised a lot. Didn’t deliver.Letting the hostile media entice him into conflict all the time.Threatening entitlements and wiping out key agencies of government. to the stock market recently? to the stock market recently?When you talk about stocks and you talk about the economy, we have to think about consistency. There can’t just be these knee-jerk reactions to things. “Oh, we’re going to have tariffs. Oh, wait. Let’s walk that back.” You can’t govern that way.I would echo that. How can a business plan what’s going to happen in the future when the tariff situation is constantly changing up and down? It’s awful. He’s the one that caused this. And that’s why it is the way it is.It’s the tariffs. He probably should have negotiated and talked to our allies first to come up with a united front against China.Does anyone on this Zoom think that the Trump tariff policy has been a success? Brandi and Brian, tell me why.I understand why he’s doing it, but I don’t know if it’s going to help us in the long run. I think we have to give it a little time.You got to give it time, and you’ve got to understand that it’s all negotiating tactics.He’s trying to get something fairer. There’s no American goods in foreign countries. And he’s trying to right that wrong. And I absolutely admire that, and I hope it works out for us, but it’s also a very scary time.Some of these negotiations probably should have happened behind closed doors, instead of dumping it out to get the big splash at the 6 o’clock news.Donald Trump has always been careless with his words.Yeah, he’s not going to do anything behind closed doors. That’s just not his personality.He’s the most transparent president ever. Let’s be honest.Yeah, but Matt you voted against him in 2016 and 2020.I was in the union then. I voted for who the union people told me to vote for.If someone were to ask you to describe Donald Trump in one sentence, based on the first 100 days, how would you describe him?Chaotic, knee-jerky.A businessman.Very bold and very determined.I think he’s been a showman, but he’s actually been probably a little more reserved than he was four years ago.A bit short-sighted, especially with regard to China. And they have much more endurance.Donald Trump is arrogant, but I know he’s trying to win for all of us.He’s too hung up in his image.I would say arrogant and narcissistic. There’s no other choice.Charismatic, but two bombastic and empty-hearted.Aggressive to get his plan started.I would say erratic and driven by his ego.Let’s say Donald Trump is listening to this conversation and you’re looking at him straight in the eye. What would you tell him?Slow down. Keep the level of aggression but slow it down and pace yourself a little bit more.I like the slowdown, but I also think to rely on the people he put in his cabinet. Listen to people.Take advice from the experts, both in his cabinet and in the Congress.Delegate. Trust the others that work with him, and he doesn’t have to centralize everything.You can get the job done. Just tone down the arrogance.Choose your words more carefully and understand your influence on the American people and the stock market.Put the American people first and leave a legacy that you can be proud of.Listen to the leaders that he appointed for the specific positions that they’re in and see what they have to say. He picked them for a reason.Get disrupting. The status quo hasn’t been good for the last 25 years.Stop blaming Biden all the time. It weakens his point. It weakens what he’s trying to do.Of all the actions that Trump and the administration have taken over the last 100 days or so, have any of them affected you directly, personally?My wife is from Nigeria, and we’re waiting for her visa so she can come to the U.S. And that process has actually sped up under Trump. And our hope is that the process, which is currently about two years, speeds up even more.I’m a small-business owner. And so these tariffs are actually a very, very scary thing. Being a small-business owner is hard enough, and I’m very afraid that it’s about to get a lot harder.Have they hit your bottom line or your ability to invest yet?Oh, yeah. We’re going to have to start looking at alternatives. We’ve already lined up other manufacturers. We’ve tried to look at manufacturing in the U.S., which is still too expensive. We’re in crisis mode.My 401(k) has been affected.My I.R.A.s and my pension have both taken massive hits.I’m spending more on food items.Me, too. Me, too.Things have been steady as I go. I’m not going to blame him for the crime in Chicago. Groceries have been expensive for a while now. It’s very much the same.I’m feeling worse off because I have a business of academic counseling that connects with China. And I’m feeling a little bit constrained right now.Give me a single word to describe life in the United States.Tough.Unstable.Unstable.Failing.Broken.Challenging.Confusing.Great.I’d say “unsettling.”Anxious.Unsettling.Great.There’s a fair number of you who don’t seem to think that America is great again. You’re very nervous about the country. Can you explain why?We’re not there yet.I don’t think we’re there yet, but I don’t want to blame him for it.It’s too tribal. Nobody talks to each other anymore. This is the most divided Congress that I can ever remember. And the hypocrisy that’s coming out on both sides? It’s almost like politicians don’t think that what they say now is on the internet forever.I’m optimistic. I’m hopeful. I feel like we need to give it time. Change never happens overnight. I’m going to be positive that the economy is going to get better because, to me, it has been like a dumpster fire.How has the economy hit you, Brandi?I’m a school speech pathologist, so it’s about to hit us in the schools. But inflation’s just really hit me.David, you talked earlier about a desire for Trump maybe to pump the brakes a little bit.We do need change. But kicking down the door and rolling out all these executive orders? What is going to happen in Congress for these changes to actually become permanent changes that our country is going to reap the benefits from? So that things don’t just go back to how they were when Congress or the presidency changes hands?How many of you have faith in this current Congress to help steer the country in the right direction? [No one raises a hand.]I just have no faith in them. Our government has not represented us very well.Brian, Congress is run by Republicans who are allies of Trump. Do you have faith in them?That’s a little bit to be seen. I’m not sure yet.If Congress was listening to you right now, what would you tell them?Care about your constituents and don’t be afraid of Donald Trump.Do you think they are afraid of him?Oh, yeah. I think that they’re very afraid. I think that they feel intimidated and pressured to vote certain ways. I think everybody that has power right now is basically influenced by him. And if they feel differently or think differently, that is a threat.I’d say the same thing: Don’t be afraid. Stand up for what you think is important.I’d say do the right thing, no matter who it offends.Congress needs to reclaim their authority. The president can’t run the country under emergency order on everything.There has to be a rebuilding of the Democratic leadership or at least ideals that Democrats and Republicans share through the Congress, so that things can move forward.You all voted for Democratic candidates in the past and then voted for Trump in 2024. What do the Democrats need to do to win you back in future elections?They have to stop dabbling in the markets. Everybody in Congress, the Senate. And they need youth.Democrats need to listen. I don’t feel like anybody’s listening anymore. We want youth. We want someone we can identify with.Right now, whatever Trump wants to do, they have to automatically take the opposite. Show the country that they’re willing to work together on issues that both sides agree on.You’ve got Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez out there. And they kind of left me, I guess. You could say the Democratic Party left me. We need to come back to the middle.I think they need better candidates. Youth and strength and knowledge and a clear plan forward.I’ve agreed with a lot of the things people said about bipartisanship. I want to see all that wrapped up in a hopeful and positive candidate, like Barack Obama. Someone with a clear vision of the future that allows me to feel hopeful again.And Kamala Harris was not that with her politics of joy?Not even close. Not even close.Not close.I want to see moral and economic leadership and a sense of gravitas that I just haven’t sensed since Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton.I definitely think they should go back to the basics. I feel like the Democrats put out a lot of false hope to the working class and to students. Student loan forgiveness. They made a whole big thing about that. And then to come in and have everything thrown out — I don’t think they were prepared for that.Why did you all abandon the Democrats?It wasn’t working. My life wasn’t getting better. The future wasn’t looking great.Their attack on the Second Amendment, and I didn’t trust their candidates. You never knew where they stood.I just think the party became ridiculous and they weren’t representing what most of America wanted.Illegal immigration. I’m trying to bring a spouse to the United States legally, and there are unbelievable hurdles. And yet you see people come over time and time again. They did not care.I don’t feel as though Kamala was an active vice president. To trust her as a president was not something that I was going to do.Terrible candidate. All she did was giggle. You never really heard what she stood for.The too-far-left social policy and poor economic policy. I think that we got too far away from, honestly, some good old-fashioned Christian values in America. I think that when we start getting into gender fluidity and those types of ideas, that doesn’t represent me anymore, morally.I just feel that Kamala was more about rhetoric than about action.I don’t really believe Trump is a Republican, and I don’t believe that the Democrats had any real path forward. He had some ideas. He had some suggestions. And I don’t believe the Democrats really did this time around.Which party is better for working-class Americans? Who says the Democratic Party? [Samantha raises a hand.] Who says the Republican Party? [Seven others raise a hand.] What happened to the Democratic Party where it lost so many working-class Americans?It was NAFTA. Bill Clinton. That’s what it was. That’s why we don’t have as many jobs here as we used to. All those businesses went abroad.It didn’t hit me until Biden became president. I hadn’t noticed that the economy was somewhat better prior. And then it went to hell.When you bring in 15 million, 20 million people to compete with working-class and union wages, it’s going to lower the working class and the hourly wage of hard-working construction workers, electricians, plumbers. All those illegal aliens are taking away those jobs. And Democrats were supposedly for the working class. But if you’re bringing in 20 million people, how are you for the working class?Fill in the blank. The Democratic Party is the party of “blank.”The elite.Woke politics.I don’t know what they represent anymore, so I don’t have a good answer.I agree, I don’t know what they represent. Party of searching.Chaos.Small in their thinking.Party of diplomacy.Party of the future.I want to say “futuristic” because you have to be open to new ideas. So I’m going to try to be optimistic on that.In it for themselves.Do-gooders.The party of uncertain changes? I don’t know what the change is, but it seems uncertain.If you were to give some advice to the Democratic Party, what would that be?Don’t be afraid to be bold. Trump gets a lot of attention because he’s not as diplomatic. And I described the Democratic Party as the party of diplomacy. I would say: Be unconventional, lean more toward Obama, more progressive, more aggressive and bold.Don’t fight Trump. You got to go at it a different way.Open up to other people’s opinions.Are there any Democrats who are good models for future leaders for the party, who you could even see yourself voting for maybe someday?Hakeem Jeffries. He just seems like he’s pretty level-headed. He is pretty left of center, but he’s got a lot of strong ideas about the future, which I like.Josh Shapiro.Shapiro. I was going to say him, too.Me, too.What you read about him, he seems pretty level-headed.There’s been rumors that Rahm Emanuel is thinking about running. He might not be so bad as president.Pete Buttigieg. Every time he has a conversation on TV, he is so level and smart, and he’s never going away from his facts. I feel like he could really, really do some good in the future.Trump has targeted a number of institutions, places like Harvard and Columbia, different law firms, even the N.I.H. and different government agencies. Are there any of these institutions that you feel like he’s either right or wrong to try to pressure and change?The Ivy League schools — I don’t know what we’re giving them money for, with all the endowments and stuff they get.I think it’s a waste of time. There are much better issues to focus on than spending your first 100 days picking fights with the Ivies.It’s part of an effort to try to end intellectualism. Trump hates intellectuals.I think the schools should be independent. And I agree with Harvard. I absolutely agree with them and any other schools that stand up. He has no right to infringe on them.If you look at the political position of the professors, 90-10 for liberal versus conservative? Neither fringe is good, but there should be a balance at the school. You need to have a balance in these colleges to get more of a rounded, balanced student that graduates.What is your reaction to the Department of Government Efficiency?I feel as though Trump brought Elon Musk on to return a favor. I feel like there was some type of agreement or something took place that hasn’t come out yet. For him to hold him so closely is a little alarming.In theory and in concept, yes, it’s a great idea. I really like what they’re trying to do. I think it’s too soon to make a final evaluation or an assessment.I want to see the actual numbers. I’d like to actually see what it is and see if it’s working.Is DOGE a good approach to addressing
spending in Washington? in Washington?His ketamine use is a big issue.I think that DOGE is good in theory, but I want to see the numbers. I want to see how much money is being saved. And I worry about cybersecurity. I worry about the security of the Treasury.Regardless of how much is saved, the government needs to be run like corporate America. We need to cut back.D.E.I. — Trump has made it his mission to eliminate it from various elements of government. So let’s get a show of hands. How many of you support the president’s efforts to eliminate D.E.I.? Raise your hands. [Everyone but Daniel raises a hand.]Yeah, I support that. I think the Democratic Party has gone so overboard on all of that stuff. Just crazy. And I support what he’s doing there.Yeah, on board 100 percent. I think it should be based on merit, not on any of the other demographics.I agree that the people that are in there now are not experienced at the level that they should be, in the positions they’re in.Has anything that’s happened over the 100 days of the Trump presidency made you change your mind about Trump, for good or for ill?I love what he’s doing with the government and cleaning up spending. But things like immigration, where I feel like we’re spending a lot of money to ship people back to countries and they’re taxpayers and they’re members of our community and constitutional rights are being violated — that’s a mess. It’s a mixed bag.I remember thinking, “I’m worried he’ll go too far.” And 100 days in, I guess I’m worried he’s going to go too far.Me, too.He’s doing what he said he would do. He’s actually following through on his promises.I said he’s following through on what he said he would do. When was the last time we had a politician that did that?I definitely said to myself, “How is it that the first seven days he’s in office, things are happening and Biden went through almost his entire term with nothing happening?”I couldn’t believe the first week. I was like, “Wow, a president can do stuff.”Jessica, was the change the point? Even if you didn’t like the change?Yes, because it was getting to a point where I was losing faith in the government as a whole. It seemed like Biden got so much pushback, so it was surprising to see the change as fast as it happened. And the first couple of days, Trump’s laying down this executive order, that executive order.He came in with guns blazing, I mean, honestly.I don’t think we’ve ever seen that before. Some of them are good, and some of them are a little scary, but nobody’s done that.Something’s happening. I feel it.Do you think Donald Trump has proved that government can be changed? [Everybody but Chris raises a hand.]Oh, that’s true. Oh, my God.We’re definitely seeing that change is possible. Is this the best way to go about that change? Maybe it’s the only way.I was never a believer of the word “the swamp” before. But now I’m seeing a big change of trying to change the way Washington works. So to me, it’s refreshing.And I hope the Democratic Party is listening. Because they need to pay attention to these ideas.They got to wake up.
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for President Trump?3 people raised their hands.Daniel, why do you regret your vote?My 401(k) keeps on dropping. That’s bad. Some people don’t want to pretend it’s bad because a large portion of this country does not have stocks. Most of MAGA doesn’t have stocks, so they don’t care.I was tentative on Election Day. I wasn’t sure that Trump was the better candidate, and now I’m pretty sure that he is not the one. I regret the choice. I think that he’s just taken executive power way too far, and it’s just obliterated the legislative and congressional side of things for our government. We only have executive orders now.How would you describe Donald Trump’s approach to governing?Just as chaotic as it was before. Fool me on that.Extremely aggressive. In some cases too aggressive, and in others it has actually worked out well.He is diplomatic, but he also crosses the line at times.I think he can be vindictive and difficult to deal with personally as president. And I think he can be very tough to deal with.With Washington as divided as it is right now, if he’s not determined, it’ll get bogged down. The way he’s trying to push it through, at least he can initiate and get the ball rolling, instead of being in a quagmire for the next two years.What is or has been Donald Trump’s greatest success in these first 100 days?Immigration. He’s been getting what he calls violent offenders out and will not allow anybody to come in. Being here in Illinois, Chicago, it’s been a hot mess here.He’s almost all but completely stopped the flow of immigrants into this country. And then he’s gone out and been pretty aggressive with removing people that don’t belong here.The border has basically been shut down. If you’re going to do it legally, I have no problem with it. But you’ve got a lot of criminals over here. We need to get rid of them.Do you think President Trump has been successful
in his border and immigration policy? and immigration policy?Daniel, I know that you regret your vote. But do you think he’s been OK on immigration?Well, no. He’s been a success at creating a quagmire of confusion.How so?I think he’s done a tremendous job.I agree.He said what he was going to do, and he’s doing it.I would never want a person to be deported inappropriately. Like, if they’re a citizen and we’ve accidentally deported them to another country, obviously, that’s terrible.I don’t think that’s going to happen.From my understanding, that’s happening a lot.The quagmire of confusion that I’m talking about is that right now, we’re having a fight between who has more power — the justices or the president — over this immigration deal. If you don’t see that, you’re blind, 100 percent.Daniel, over the last administration, we had millions of illegals come across the border. How many years would it take to process them all with due process to get them back out of the country?If we went and looked at each one of those people who were arrested, you would find more and more that were American citizens, I guarantee you.No, there’s none that are American citizens.Daniel, I agree with you.Chris, you said you hoped Trump would be different this time in office. Help our readers understand why you expected anything different from Trump.I saw a lot of discipline from candidate Trump, and I think that was a real surprise, given how he had acted in prior elections. And so you thought, “Wow, maybe this guy has changed. Maybe he’s taking things more seriously.” And I think coming in as president, I just really haven’t seen that. The chaos around the tariffs is a great example.I voted for him because I also thought he was very focused, and maybe he had learned from the previous term that he had in the presidency. Immigration aside, my problem is his pick of cabinet secretaries for his administration.Did you expect him to pick different kinds of cabinet secretaries when you voted for him?Yes. I felt that he would have learned lessons in the last administration. The secretary of defense is not competent. He may be good-looking, and he may be a Fox host, but that shouldn’t be criteria.I just didn’t expect so much so fast. I just feel like there’s so many things happening every day in the news. I didn’t expect to have to be so politically oriented every day, watching the news for the next policy change or initiative or vindictive action or executive order.Where has Donald Trump failed the most in the first 100 days?The biggest failure is immigration, in my mind.The volatility in the market right now.I’d have to agree with the volatility in the market. And my hope is that it’s growing pains.Still thriving on his arrogance.The stock market and the economy.The dollar hasn’t been this low in a very long time.I think the tariff situation was a pretty big failure.I’m not sure we can really say “failures” yet. We’ve only been in for 100 days. Somebody said “inflation.” You’re not going to bring down inflation in three months.Inflation has been horrible, but there’s no way you’re going to get it down so quickly. I would say, if anything, taxes, tariffs.The government has spent more in the past 100 days than they did the year prior, same 100 days. So I think DOGE has been a flop. Very disappointing. Promised a lot. Didn’t deliver.Letting the hostile media entice him into conflict all the time.Threatening entitlements and wiping out key agencies of government. to the stock market recently? to the stock market recently?When you talk about stocks and you talk about the economy, we have to think about consistency. There can’t just be these knee-jerk reactions to things. “Oh, we’re going to have tariffs. Oh, wait. Let’s walk that back.” You can’t govern that way.I would echo that. How can a business plan what’s going to happen in the future when the tariff situation is constantly changing up and down? It’s awful. He’s the one that caused this. And that’s why it is the way it is.It’s the tariffs. He probably should have negotiated and talked to our allies first to come up with a united front against China.Does anyone on this Zoom think that the Trump tariff policy has been a success? Brandi and Brian, tell me why.I understand why he’s doing it, but I don’t know if it’s going to help us in the long run. I think we have to give it a little time.You got to give it time, and you’ve got to understand that it’s all negotiating tactics.He’s trying to get something fairer. There’s no American goods in foreign countries. And he’s trying to right that wrong. And I absolutely admire that, and I hope it works out for us, but it’s also a very scary time.Some of these negotiations probably should have happened behind closed doors, instead of dumping it out to get the big splash at the 6 o’clock news.Donald Trump has always been careless with his words.Yeah, he’s not going to do anything behind closed doors. That’s just not his personality.He’s the most transparent president ever. Let’s be honest.Yeah, but Matt you voted against him in 2016 and 2020.I was in the union then. I voted for who the union people told me to vote for.If someone were to ask you to describe Donald Trump in one sentence, based on the first 100 days, how would you describe him?Chaotic, knee-jerky.A businessman.Very bold and very determined.I think he’s been a showman, but he’s actually been probably a little more reserved than he was four years ago.A bit short-sighted, especially with regard to China. And they have much more endurance.Donald Trump is arrogant, but I know he’s trying to win for all of us.He’s too hung up in his image.I would say arrogant and narcissistic. There’s no other choice.Charismatic, but two bombastic and empty-hearted.Aggressive to get his plan started.I would say erratic and driven by his ego.Let’s say Donald Trump is listening to this conversation and you’re looking at him straight in the eye. What would you tell him?Slow down. Keep the level of aggression but slow it down and pace yourself a little bit more.I like the slowdown, but I also think to rely on the people he put in his cabinet. Listen to people.Take advice from the experts, both in his cabinet and in the Congress.Delegate. Trust the others that work with him, and he doesn’t have to centralize everything.You can get the job done. Just tone down the arrogance.Choose your words more carefully and understand your influence on the American people and the stock market.Put the American people first and leave a legacy that you can be proud of.Listen to the leaders that he appointed for the specific positions that they’re in and see what they have to say. He picked them for a reason.Get disrupting. The status quo hasn’t been good for the last 25 years.Stop blaming Biden all the time. It weakens his point. It weakens what he’s trying to do.Of all the actions that Trump and the administration have taken over the last 100 days or so, have any of them affected you directly, personally?My wife is from Nigeria, and we’re waiting for her visa so she can come to the U.S. And that process has actually sped up under Trump. And our hope is that the process, which is currently about two years, speeds up even more.I’m a small-business owner. And so these tariffs are actually a very, very scary thing. Being a small-business owner is hard enough, and I’m very afraid that it’s about to get a lot harder.Have they hit your bottom line or your ability to invest yet?Oh, yeah. We’re going to have to start looking at alternatives. We’ve already lined up other manufacturers. We’ve tried to look at manufacturing in the U.S., which is still too expensive. We’re in crisis mode.My 401(k) has been affected.My I.R.A.s and my pension have both taken massive hits.I’m spending more on food items.Me, too. Me, too.Things have been steady as I go. I’m not going to blame him for the crime in Chicago. Groceries have been expensive for a while now. It’s very much the same.I’m feeling worse off because I have a business of academic counseling that connects with China. And I’m feeling a little bit constrained right now.Give me a single word to describe life in the United States.Tough.Unstable.Unstable.Failing.Broken.Challenging.Confusing.Great.I’d say “unsettling.”Anxious.Unsettling.Great.There’s a fair number of you who don’t seem to think that America is great again. You’re very nervous about the country. Can you explain why?We’re not there yet.I don’t think we’re there yet, but I don’t want to blame him for it.It’s too tribal. Nobody talks to each other anymore. This is the most divided Congress that I can ever remember. And the hypocrisy that’s coming out on both sides? It’s almost like politicians don’t think that what they say now is on the internet forever.I’m optimistic. I’m hopeful. I feel like we need to give it time. Change never happens overnight. I’m going to be positive that the economy is going to get better because, to me, it has been like a dumpster fire.How has the economy hit you, Brandi?I’m a school speech pathologist, so it’s about to hit us in the schools. But inflation’s just really hit me.David, you talked earlier about a desire for Trump maybe to pump the brakes a little bit.We do need change. But kicking down the door and rolling out all these executive orders? What is going to happen in Congress for these changes to actually become permanent changes that our country is going to reap the benefits from? So that things don’t just go back to how they were when Congress or the presidency changes hands?How many of you have faith in this current Congress to help steer the country in the right direction? [No one raises a hand.]I just have no faith in them. Our government has not represented us very well.Brian, Congress is run by Republicans who are allies of Trump. Do you have faith in them?That’s a little bit to be seen. I’m not sure yet.If Congress was listening to you right now, what would you tell them?Care about your constituents and don’t be afraid of Donald Trump.Do you think they are afraid of him?Oh, yeah. I think that they’re very afraid. I think that they feel intimidated and pressured to vote certain ways. I think everybody that has power right now is basically influenced by him. And if they feel differently or think differently, that is a threat.I’d say the same thing: Don’t be afraid. Stand up for what you think is important.I’d say do the right thing, no matter who it offends.Congress needs to reclaim their authority. The president can’t run the country under emergency order on everything.There has to be a rebuilding of the Democratic leadership or at least ideals that Democrats and Republicans share through the Congress, so that things can move forward.You all voted for Democratic candidates in the past and then voted for Trump in 2024. What do the Democrats need to do to win you back in future elections?They have to stop dabbling in the markets. Everybody in Congress, the Senate. And they need youth.Democrats need to listen. I don’t feel like anybody’s listening anymore. We want youth. We want someone we can identify with.Right now, whatever Trump wants to do, they have to automatically take the opposite. Show the country that they’re willing to work together on issues that both sides agree on.You’ve got Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez out there. And they kind of left me, I guess. You could say the Democratic Party left me. We need to come back to the middle.I think they need better candidates. Youth and strength and knowledge and a clear plan forward.I’ve agreed with a lot of the things people said about bipartisanship. I want to see all that wrapped up in a hopeful and positive candidate, like Barack Obama. Someone with a clear vision of the future that allows me to feel hopeful again.And Kamala Harris was not that with her politics of joy?Not even close. Not even close.Not close.I want to see moral and economic leadership and a sense of gravitas that I just haven’t sensed since Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton.I definitely think they should go back to the basics. I feel like the Democrats put out a lot of false hope to the working class and to students. Student loan forgiveness. They made a whole big thing about that. And then to come in and have everything thrown out — I don’t think they were prepared for that.Why did you all abandon the Democrats?It wasn’t working. My life wasn’t getting better. The future wasn’t looking great.Their attack on the Second Amendment, and I didn’t trust their candidates. You never knew where they stood.I just think the party became ridiculous and they weren’t representing what most of America wanted.Illegal immigration. I’m trying to bring a spouse to the United States legally, and there are unbelievable hurdles. And yet you see people come over time and time again. They did not care.I don’t feel as though Kamala was an active vice president. To trust her as a president was not something that I was going to do.Terrible candidate. All she did was giggle. You never really heard what she stood for.The too-far-left social policy and poor economic policy. I think that we got too far away from, honestly, some good old-fashioned Christian values in America. I think that when we start getting into gender fluidity and those types of ideas, that doesn’t represent me anymore, morally.I just feel that Kamala was more about rhetoric than about action.I don’t really believe Trump is a Republican, and I don’t believe that the Democrats had any real path forward. He had some ideas. He had some suggestions. And I don’t believe the Democrats really did this time around.Which party is better for working-class Americans? Who says the Democratic Party? [Samantha raises a hand.] Who says the Republican Party? [Seven others raise a hand.] What happened to the Democratic Party where it lost so many working-class Americans?It was NAFTA. Bill Clinton. That’s what it was. That’s why we don’t have as many jobs here as we used to. All those businesses went abroad.It didn’t hit me until Biden became president. I hadn’t noticed that the economy was somewhat better prior. And then it went to hell.When you bring in 15 million, 20 million people to compete with working-class and union wages, it’s going to lower the working class and the hourly wage of hard-working construction workers, electricians, plumbers. All those illegal aliens are taking away those jobs. And Democrats were supposedly for the working class. But if you’re bringing in 20 million people, how are you for the working class?Fill in the blank. The Democratic Party is the party of “blank.”The elite.Woke politics.I don’t know what they represent anymore, so I don’t have a good answer.I agree, I don’t know what they represent. Party of searching.Chaos.Small in their thinking.Party of diplomacy.Party of the future.I want to say “futuristic” because you have to be open to new ideas. So I’m going to try to be optimistic on that.In it for themselves.Do-gooders.The party of uncertain changes? I don’t know what the change is, but it seems uncertain.If you were to give some advice to the Democratic Party, what would that be?Don’t be afraid to be bold. Trump gets a lot of attention because he’s not as diplomatic. And I described the Democratic Party as the party of diplomacy. I would say: Be unconventional, lean more toward Obama, more progressive, more aggressive and bold.Don’t fight Trump. You got to go at it a different way.Open up to other people’s opinions.Are there any Democrats who are good models for future leaders for the party, who you could even see yourself voting for maybe someday?Hakeem Jeffries. He just seems like he’s pretty level-headed. He is pretty left of center, but he’s got a lot of strong ideas about the future, which I like.Josh Shapiro.Shapiro. I was going to say him, too.Me, too.What you read about him, he seems pretty level-headed.There’s been rumors that Rahm Emanuel is thinking about running. He might not be so bad as president.Pete Buttigieg. Every time he has a conversation on TV, he is so level and smart, and he’s never going away from his facts. I feel like he could really, really do some good in the future.Trump has targeted a number of institutions, places like Harvard and Columbia, different law firms, even the N.I.H. and different government agencies. Are there any of these institutions that you feel like he’s either right or wrong to try to pressure and change?The Ivy League schools — I don’t know what we’re giving them money for, with all the endowments and stuff they get.I think it’s a waste of time. There are much better issues to focus on than spending your first 100 days picking fights with the Ivies.It’s part of an effort to try to end intellectualism. Trump hates intellectuals.I think the schools should be independent. And I agree with Harvard. I absolutely agree with them and any other schools that stand up. He has no right to infringe on them.If you look at the political position of the professors, 90-10 for liberal versus conservative? Neither fringe is good, but there should be a balance at the school. You need to have a balance in these colleges to get more of a rounded, balanced student that graduates.What is your reaction to the Department of Government Efficiency?I feel as though Trump brought Elon Musk on to return a favor. I feel like there was some type of agreement or something took place that hasn’t come out yet. For him to hold him so closely is a little alarming.In theory and in concept, yes, it’s a great idea. I really like what they’re trying to do. I think it’s too soon to make a final evaluation or an assessment.I want to see the actual numbers. I’d like to actually see what it is and see if it’s working.Is DOGE a good approach to addressing
spending in Washington? in Washington?His ketamine use is a big issue.I think that DOGE is good in theory, but I want to see the numbers. I want to see how much money is being saved. And I worry about cybersecurity. I worry about the security of the Treasury.Regardless of how much is saved, the government needs to be run like corporate America. We need to cut back.D.E.I. — Trump has made it his mission to eliminate it from various elements of government. So let’s get a show of hands. How many of you support the president’s efforts to eliminate D.E.I.? Raise your hands. [Everyone but Daniel raises a hand.]Yeah, I support that. I think the Democratic Party has gone so overboard on all of that stuff. Just crazy. And I support what he’s doing there.Yeah, on board 100 percent. I think it should be based on merit, not on any of the other demographics.I agree that the people that are in there now are not experienced at the level that they should be, in the positions they’re in.Has anything that’s happened over the 100 days of the Trump presidency made you change your mind about Trump, for good or for ill?I love what he’s doing with the government and cleaning up spending. But things like immigration, where I feel like we’re spending a lot of money to ship people back to countries and they’re taxpayers and they’re members of our community and constitutional rights are being violated — that’s a mess. It’s a mixed bag.I remember thinking, “I’m worried he’ll go too far.” And 100 days in, I guess I’m worried he’s going to go too far.Me, too.He’s doing what he said he would do. He’s actually following through on his promises.I said he’s following through on what he said he would do. When was the last time we had a politician that did that?I definitely said to myself, “How is it that the first seven days he’s in office, things are happening and Biden went through almost his entire term with nothing happening?”I couldn’t believe the first week. I was like, “Wow, a president can do stuff.”Jessica, was the change the point? Even if you didn’t like the change?Yes, because it was getting to a point where I was losing faith in the government as a whole. It seemed like Biden got so much pushback, so it was surprising to see the change as fast as it happened. And the first couple of days, Trump’s laying down this executive order, that executive order.He came in with guns blazing, I mean, honestly.I don’t think we’ve ever seen that before. Some of them are good, and some of them are a little scary, but nobody’s done that.Something’s happening. I feel it.Do you think Donald Trump has proved that government can be changed? [Everybody but Chris raises a hand.]Oh, that’s true. Oh, my God.We’re definitely seeing that change is possible. Is this the best way to go about that change? Maybe it’s the only way.I was never a believer of the word “the swamp” before. But now I’m seeing a big change of trying to change the way Washington works. So to me, it’s refreshing.And I hope the Democratic Party is listening. Because they need to pay attention to these ideas.They got to wake up.
