JOUR 3190 // Man on the Street

University Students and Athenians Weigh-In on President Donald Trump’s First Five

University of Georgia students and others in the Athens area had much to say regarding President Donald Trump’s first five weeks in the Oval Office when asked about the topic in early March.

The executive branch of the United States government has been quite active during these first few weeks of 2017, with hot-button issues such as the replacement of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and President Trump’s proposed United States - Mexican border wall dominating much of the action. For those in Athens, the issue of most concern seemed to be the president’s first immigration ban, enacted in the form of Executive Order 13769. Regarding President Trump’s time in office thus far in general, as well as the immigration issue, opinions varied.

When asked generally about the president’s first weeks in office, Thao Nguyen, 30, a green card holder currently in Athens, shared simple, yet to the point sentiments: “I have felt not good.”

Nguyen quickly expanded on these feelings, explaining the divisiveness of the current presidency.

“Well, he promotes division, not love but hate ... whatever you do in life, if you build something on that foundation, it’s not going to work,” said Nguyen.

Alex Fairley, a 20-year-old finance major at UGA, also expressed distaste for the government under President Trump and his measures thus far, sharing the common complaint with Nguyen of negativity within the administration.

“I think he did everything he said he was going to do, and I say that in the most disappointing tone as possible. He has done way too many negative things,” said Fairley.

In contrast, Joshua Jacob, 20, of Athens, has a positive view of the administration, though he admits to not staying up to date with the often breaking news.

“From what they tell me, he’s trying to do things better, I guess. I mean, I just haven’t heard much about what’s, you know, been happening recently,” said Jacob.

Though there were mixed opinions regarding the presidency in general, the topic of immigration and the Executive Order 13769 was a common occurrence.

Nguyen expressed some first-hand experience with the order.

“Recently, I traveled with my green card and that’s actually made me feel ... even though it was now dismissed by the court, but it still sends out a message not very welcome to immigrants,” said Nguyen. “I understand that it’s limited to only those countries, but still it’s a very religious discrimination.”

This “Muslim ban,” as phrased by Fairley, is the biggest issue to date, in her opinion.

“First of all, it’s highly discriminatory against poor Muslim nations, and also I think it just kind of heightens the strife of terrorist groups,” said Fairley, also focusing on the implied religious aspects of the executive order as a point of contention.

Regardless of the worry regarding the executive order, and the presidency in general, a theme of positivity seemed to color the statements regarding the future of America.

“The future under Donald Trump? If I could say anything, I’m very optimistic. I like to be open minded and give people a chance,” said Jacob. “I feel like just the whole sense of change that he wants to establish is good for the commonwealth and everything.”

Nguyen was also generally positive, although she attributes the good outlook to the Constitution - not the presidency.

“Fortunately, the Constitution is very strong and well written. Trump, although he is the President, thanks to your Constitution he couldn’t do too much too fast. The country will survive, and it may make America stronger with this,” said Nguyen. “So the only thing you can do is be positive and make lemons into lemonade. That’s all I have to say.”