Students react to Trump’s second term

By Noa Berz     2/18/25 10:57pm

Donald Trump’s second presidency is off to an unprecedented start, with over 60 executive orders signed as of Feb. 12. Students shared their opinions, thoughts and worries about the new policies in action. 

Foreign policy and immigration

Sammi Frey, co-president of Rice Young Democrats, said she’s disappointed by Trump’s ‘America First’ approach to foreign policy, which has included withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accords, halting global health funding and pushing for economic self-sufficiency. 

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A social policy analysis major, Frey said her career goals have also changed since Trump’s inauguration.

“In cutting all foreign aid, he’s essentially saying that the United States does not want to be a part of helping the world,” said Frey, a Hanszen College sophomore. “I was interested in a career in the Foreign Service, and now having to represent Trump overseas … [that] is not realistic.” 

Rice University College Republicans president Kyle Szekeres also said he found the new Trump administration’s stance on certain issues problematic, including global health funding cuts and the president’s recent promise to take over Gaza, but said his new policies are generally encouraging. 

“It’s a lot like chemotherapy,” said Szekeres, a Jones College junior. “You kill a lot of the bad stuff, but obviously some good stuff gets killed along with that.” 

Szekeres said he hopes Trump continues to follow through on the migration and economic policies, including lowering inflation rates, that he promised during his campaign.

“I hope he focuses on deporting illegal immigrants who, beyond the crime of coming into the country illegally, have committed other crimes,” Szekeres said. “After the first couple weeks here, I hope he focuses more on economic issues.”

Ph.D. student Braulio Ramirez said he agrees with Frey’s negative evaluation of the ‘America First’ message. He said he dislikes Trump’s new approach to immigration policy, and that his attempt to end birthright citizenship shows a disregard for human welfare.

“I think it’s heartbreaking,” said Ramirez, an international student from Mexico. “They have children who were born here, and now they’re trying to strip away the rights of being citizens.”

Environment and economy 

In addition to the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords, Trump has passed executive orders that revoked electric vehicle production goals, pushed to increase fossil fuel reliance and canceled a 1977 executive order that bound the Council on Environmental Quality, a branch of the White House in charge of federal environmental policy, to compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, which sets environmental standards for federal activities. 

Trump has cited economic growth as justification for his new environmental policies, but both Frey and Ramirez said these changes make them worried for the country’s future and for global consequences. 

“It’s not worth it if you are destroying the planet on the other side,” Ramirez said. “That enhancement to the economy might just last for three years, and the counter effects might be catastrophic.”

“All of those actions are going to cause climate change to completely accelerate in its timeline, and that’s going to blow up the world,” Frey said. “If we run out of water, there’s no way to survive.” 

RUCR member Max Rudin said he was happy with the regulatory decrease in environmental legislation. 

“I do not appreciate the regulatory environment, and this massive amount of control and influence that the federal government has over our everyday lives,” said Rudin, a Brown College junior. 

Szekeres said he hopes Trump’s environmental plan will strengthen the economy. A chemical and biomolecular engineering major at Rice, he said a federal emphasis on fossil fuel may also increase job prospects. 

“Even if I don’t work in oil and gas directly, other chemical engineers will work in there,” Szekeres said. “So there’ll be more job opportunities … in those other industries. That’ll hopefully bring down energy prices, and then therefore help reduce the rate of inflation.”

Despite promises to lower prices with his policies, environmental and otherwise, Trump has faced an increase in inflation rates since the start of his second term, according to the consumer price index, which tracks the price of selected household items over time. 

Frey said the inflation flare showed her that Trump does not have America’s best interest at heart. Sid Richardson College sophomore Reid Groomes said he agreed, and that Trump’s proposed tariffs may jeopardize the U.S. on a global scale. 

“I’m just waiting to see that moment where [Trump proponents] realize they’re not going to get any of the things they were promised,” Frey said.

“What I’m most worried for is that, to show his power, [Trump] really does follow through on a lot of the tariff stuff,” said Groomes, a self-professed longtime Democrat. “That kind of weakens America’s role as the global hegemon, and then also hurts us economically.” 

Federal governance

In addition to his policy changes, Trump has sought to drastically decrease government costs with his Department of Government Efficiency initiative, an advisory body officially unaffiliated with the federal government. Efficiency efforts have led to high-volume firings, an unprecedented emergency declaration and the involvement of Elon Musk and his non-governmental employees in federal dealings. 

Szekeres said he sees Musk as a welcome addition to federal governance, despite differences in policy stance. 

“There are a few policy things that he pushes that I don’t necessarily agree with, like the H-1B [visas],” Szekeres said. “He’s in the wrong on that issue.”

“Overall, I think it’s probably a net good,” Szekeres continued. “It depends on the day.” 

Recently, Musk has occupied a controversial presence in the U.S. political sphere. Frey said she sides with Musk’s detractors. 

“Elon Musk was not an elected official,” Frey said. “The power that Elon Musk is wielding right now is not deserved, and he is one of the people who is making the most detrimental changes to the world.” 

Rudin said he favors Trump’s unconventional structural changes to the government. Specifically, he said he supports Trump’s efforts to expand the scope of executive power as well as the administration’s hostility towards federal regulations. 

“I appreciate that Trump is using his mandate to exercise more control over the federal bureaucracy than has traditionally been done in America,” Rudin said.

“It’s been revealed just how broad-reaching federal funding is,” Rudin continued. “That seems to me that the federal government has really gone beyond what it was intended to do.” 

Sophia Lannie said that Trump’s governance displays a shocking disregard for the constitutional backbone of the American government. 

“I’m just hoping this country doesn’t fall apart,” said Lannie, a Sid Richardson College sophomore. “America was built on the concept that there would be freedom and liberty for all, and the way he’s acting right now, he is trying to take away people’s freedoms.”

DEI and social policy

Trump has made efforts to reaffirm the interest-driven approach to social policy established during his first term, including a statement affirming his anti-abortion stance and an executive order prohibiting transgender women from competing in female sports. 

Szekeres said communities affected by Trump’s policies will inevitably have concerns about his changes, but that the U.S. is ultimately moving towards a more just future. For instance, Szekeres said he supports restrictions on gender-affirming care for people under the age of 19.

“I don’t think there should be any form of medical intervention on children,” Szekeres said. “Anyone who’s worried about that supports a bad system.”

In addition to her role at RYD, Frey is the Hanszen College liaison at the Rice Women’s Resource Center, which provides students with reproductive healthcare products like Plan B pills and contraceptives. Frey said Trump’s stance on reproductive rights makes her work at RWRC feel more urgent. 

“Those [resources] are crucial to maintaining not only people’s actual health … but also to protect people’s mental health,” Frey said. “This is a really scary time, when those rights are getting taken away.”

Trump also signed a series of executive orders ending diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at public and private institutions in favor of eligibility-based opportunities. 

Szekeres said DEI programs may offer unfair advantages and that he appreciates Trump’s merit-based approach. 

“The loss of equality sounds like oppression to those who were advantaged by the previous system,” he said. 

Lannie, on the other hand, said some of Trump’s new social policies are in violation of basic human rights. 

“I don’t know why we are trying to take away programs that offer opportunities to everyone,” Lannie said.

Rudin said he remains confident in the president’s ability to do right by the American people, despite his recall of DEI and other social services. 

“Every government should be striving to represent the interests of its own people,” Rudin said. “I think that Trump is bringing that back.”

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