By Gabriel Brogan

It has been over a month since the beginning of Donald Trump’s second term in the Oval Office. For some of us, it has felt much, much longer. Since January 20th, Donald Trump has been sprinting to accomplish a cartoonishly evil agenda using executive orders and the help of his coked-up crypto bro, Elon Musk. 

I won’t go into everything Trump has done (or attempted to do) in these 40-odd days, but here are some highlights: freezing all federal funds, placing the entire staff of the government on administrative leave and then firing thousands from across dozens of agencies, putting an antivaxer in charge of the Nation’s health, a wife beater in charge of the Department of Defense, ending humanitarian parole for hundreds of thousands of refugees, arrested 8,200 illegal immigrants (only half of which have criminal convictions) and bribing the mayor of New York to enact his immigration policies, central to which are deporting every one of the estimated 13.7 million illegal immigrants living in the US and giving out “Gold Card” visas to rich foreigners for 5 million bucks a pop in order to eliminate national debt. 

Did any of that sound like, well, evil for the sake of being evil? Musk and Trump know it too, and are revelling in their unchecked power like the largest children on the playground in 4th grade, or maybe Doctor Doofenshmirtz from Phineas and Ferb. Just take a look at this hat Elon Musk has been sporting:  

This dude literally calls himself “Dark MAGA” and says things like “I am become meme” before crowds of faithful goons. 

Trump and Musk might seem laughable until you realize their actions have had very real consequences for our  country and our community. I recently surveyed McCaskey students to see how the Trump regime has affected their lives.  

Twenty or so students from a variety of backgrounds reported being directly affected by Trump in some way. Four students said their entire lives had changed. Many female students expressed fears about the protection of women’s rights, with one commenting “I don’t know how long I’ll be able to make choices about my body.” Another student worried about the continued legality of birth control. 

While Trump hasn’t taken another stab at reproductive rights (yet), he has cracked down hard on immigration. Several Hispanic students were scared for their loved ones living in the country illegally. One student grimly speculated that their extended family had “probably been deported.” Other students commented that their friends were scared of deportation. 

In addition to immigration, the economy was the other main platform that Trump rode to victory. Ironically, though not unsurprisingly, many students were concerned about rising prices. One student said their “Family has been struggling,” and Trump’s tariff policies combined with the bird flu outbreak have made it “harder to buy food.” Multiple other students didn’t specify which items they thought would get more expensive, only stating that the general rising of prices was worrisome. 

The gutting of the federal government has also hurt McCaskey students. One student said that their dad, who worked at nonprofit Church World Services (CWS), had lost his job due to budget cuts. Some senior students feared for their scholarship money, with one wondering if FAFSA will continue to be provided. 

Not everything our students are worried about has happened. It is no guarantee that every fear will come to pass. And not every student I asked had been directly impacted by the Trump regime. Everyone, however, was scared. Keep in mind, even if you think you are safe from Trump’s reforms, the chaos that Trump has thrust upon the country is affecting everyone. As one student put it, “If something hurts one of us, it hurts all of us.” This is not just a phase, this is a 4-year term. Trump is not stopping, or suddenly becoming sane, anytime soon. The damage he does may prove irreversible if we, the people, let the United States as we know it go quietly into the night.