On January 20th, Donald J. Trump took office as the 47th President of the United States. It has been three weeks since his inauguration, and each day, something significant is happening.

History and US Government teacher, Pat Winters, speaks on President Trump himself, and breaks down his motivations.

“President Trump is an interesting guy because he’s not a politician,” WInters said. “He’s used to getting his way as a boss and CEO, and that’s obviously worked for him in the realm of his career, but it doesn’t translate well into politics.”

America is a first-world country, and because of that, we set the standards for a lot of other countries.

“Throughout my life, the United States has been the leader of other countries around the world,” Winters said.

However, Winters also believes that America has fallen short of the leader role we’ve previously had.

“Honestly, I feel like we did not do a good job these last four years of being a strong player as a world leader and as a country,” Winters said.

Honors History teacher Robert Bedwell knows that some citizens are fearful about what’s to come.

“I think a lot of the same feelings were similar in January 2017 in that there was a lot of fear and trepidation with him becoming president,” Bedwell said. “I think he will be able to get some of his policies enacted because he has a Republican majority in the House and Senate.”

Bedwell recognizes that President Trump can only do so much in his second term.

“President Trump says a lot of things,” Bedwell said. “But just because he says them, doesn’t mean it’ll happen.”

So far, President Trump has signed 53 executive orders on everything from tariffs and federal grants to the environment and transgender athletes. However, many are facing challenges in court.

One of the most significant things President Trump has been able to do is mass deportations. This involves removing thousands of illegal immigrants from our country, and forcing them legalize themselves before they attempt to come back. Bedwell believes that in the long run, America will suffer from this deportation act.

“It’s definitely going to affect the economy, because a lot of the people that are here illegally are doing the jobs that other people don’t want to do.”

Just three days after his inauguration, ICE officers were charging into schools and homes of illegal immigrants, mainly of the Hispanic and Latino community, to capture them if they can’t prove their US citizenship. One of our juniors, who prefers to remain anonymous, speaks about the president’s approach to his executive order.

“I think it’s honestly really sad that he’s doing things the way that he is,” the junior said.

Students fear the economical state of the country now that a lot of the working class is being removed.

“[The deportees are] so important to this country, given the fact that they provide lots of food for everyone,” the junior said. “I feel like him taking all those people out really makes a difference, especially because they’re only here to work and create a better life for themselves.”

Many students also believe his approach and the way the order takes effect is aggressive and inhumane.

“The fact that he’s allowing ICE to go into schools and places of worship is so unnecessary,” another unnamed student said.

Many believe that this is a good thing for our country.

“I do believe that Trump’s deportation policies have made the country safer, a little bit,” the junior student said. “But it all kind of depends.”

However, one of the only things our country can do is put faith in our President.

“I hope [Trump] will [make America great again], and you have to hope that he will, because, if he fails, that’ll be bad for the country,” Bedwell said. “Whether or not you like him or not, you have to root for him that he will.”

America has been a model country to look after for decades, Winters wants the country to return to its former glory.

“We have a lot of talks in my class about democracy and freedom and people being able to do what they want to do,” Winters said. “Well, we can only have that stuff if we’re leading the way, because nobody does it like we do.”