After his inauguration Monday, President Donald Trump is back in the Oval Office. He is the second president in U.S. history to serve non-consecutive terms since Grover Cleveland, who served a second time during his campaign of 1892.
A lot has happened since Trump’s first term ended 4 years ago, from the U.S. recovering from COVID-19 to inflation which has notably raised the costs of groceries and gas to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.
Ohio University students weighed in on Inauguration Day and the incoming second Trump term.
“I hope the inauguration goes better than last time, with the Jan. 6 riots and all,” Quinn Chalovich, a freshman studying business pre-law, said. “With the presidency, sure there can be some good, but I don’t think (Trump’s) a good person, I don’t think he’s fit to be president.”
In the wake of President Biden’s election in 2020, rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop the certification of the election Jan. 6, 2021. This led some students to be weary of Trump as his words may have incited that very insurrection.
“Seems stressful to me, the idea of (a second Trump term), but I’m hopeful in democracy and that it plays out accordingly,” Nora Dahlberg, a freshman studying political science, said.
So far, things have played out accordingly. President Biden announced Nov. 7, 2024, “I will fulfill my oath and I will honor the constitution. On January 20th, we’ll have a peaceful transition of power here in America.”
Some students are looking forward to Trump’s second term and the policies he wants to enact.
“I am happy with the things he has said and the policies he’s going to put in place and uphold since the last presidency,” RJ Mursinna, a junior studying sociology-criminology, said.
The main policies Trump plans to double down on revolve around the mass deportationof undocumented immigrants, tariffs on foreign goods, rolling back on legal protection for LGBTQIA+ citizens and reducing regulations in the economic sectors.
“I think some people are scared of him, which can be a good and a bad thing,” Chavolich said. “But also I think he runs his mouth too much which can be a very bad thing.”
Some believe the conflict between global superpowers is imminent, with Trump being a leader capable of navigating current world affairs.
“I am currently in the military and tensions are currently high with China, Russia, North Korea and I do expect some sort of armed conflict,” Mursinna said. “I do think that … Trump is the best thing possible for America during the wartime.”
Mursinna also described how he believes the U.S. improved economically during Trump’s first term.
“He’s proven in the past presidency that he’s one of the best businessmen,” he said. “At least from an economic standpoint, we should improve a lot.”
While the political views of OU students differ from person to person, the resounding message from most seems to be one grounded in civility.
“I’m trying to be hopeful that it’ll just be peaceful and rely on democracy to work,” Dahlberg said.
