President Trump’s First Week in Office

By ADRIAN CHAN, ALEXA MOREL, LEVI STOLL, an d MELIA THIBAULT

On Jan. 20, 2025, at 12 p.m. EST, President Donald Trump, alongside his running mate Vice President J.D. Vance, was inaugurated as the forty-seventh president in the rotunda of the United States Capitol.

President Donald Trump’s return to office saw a whirlwind of executive orders and actions. In just seven days, he issued 26 executive orders, from declaring two national emergencies; one pertaining to energy, and one pertaining to the Southern Border where he sent 1,500 troops there to attempting to deny birthright citizenship to postponing the TikTok ban for 75 days. His “America First” policies began by halting all foreign aid, renaming the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America and Mount Denali to Mount McKinley, a president whose isolationist policies Trump admires, withdrawing from the World Health Organization and Paris Climate Accord, and promising to “drill, baby, drill.” 

Later in the week, he pardoned 1,600 people, many of whom had convictions relating to the Jan. 6 insurrection, and declared the US will only recognize “two sexes, male and female,” and the federal government would shut down all its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs among other announcements.

To stay abreast of all of these developments, Exonians utilize a variety of sources. Lower Victor Angeline, an Exeter Political Union co-head, said, “I get my news from ‘The Wall Street Journal.’”

Prep Madoka Hubbard added that she usually reads “The New York Times.” An anonymous lower shared that she “mostly reads from Apple News” while an upper said his sources ranged from “the ‘BBC’ and ‘CNN’ to ‘The New York Times’ and ‘Bloomberg.’”

Exonians had a variety of reactions to Trump’s executive orders, ranging across the political spectrum. Victor Angeline saw an early signal of the remainder of the presidency in Trump’s first orders, noting that “Right now Trump is very much focused on revenge like the pardoning of the January 6th rioters. He’s really focused on reversing what Biden put in place. In terms of the future Trump presidency, I think it’s an early warning of what will happen and a sign of all he wants to accomplish; cracking down on immigration, scaring foreign businesses to invest in America, and the threats of tariffs.”

  Others saw these orders as a sign of great things to come. Upper Nathi Lomax exclaimed, “These first executive orders have made me greatly look forward to Trump’s second term in office.” Another upper also found promise in the orders, saying “I believe the citizenship executive order is the best thing he’s ever done so far as a president,” claiming that disincentivizing illegal immigration would lead to the prosperity of immigrants. 

“Removing us from the World Health Organization, things like that, could be terrible for the world order and for world health,” faculty advisor to Democratic Club, Duncan Holcomb shared in response to the executive orders.

Students shared thoughts on what the president’s overall impacts will be moving forward. An anonymous student expressed a possibility for more balance and stated, “One positive is he will facilitate more conversation because I think the left side has been kind of dominating a lot of political conversation recently, and I think having a Republican president in office will balance those out a little bit.” 

Another Exonian shared an inquiry regarding the president’s channel of influence moving forward: “I think it’ll be interesting to see if he sustains usage of executive orders.” 

Holcomb had an insightful comment on the president’s unpredictability: “He changes his mind and opinions every couple of days.”

When asked about what all of these actions mean for Exeter, most said they didn’t know. “I’m not sure right now what effect that would have on us day to day right now. It is certainly going to be more dependent on your social class and where you live and things like that. Those are the determining factors,” Holcomb said. 

Angeline amplified this, saying that this time may be one of uncertainty for some Exonians. “We have lots of international students whose visas might be in jeopardy. I think that his immigration policies will definitely put a lot more strain and general fear on the student body, especially for some international students.”

Without knowing a lot about what Trump may do for the rest of his term, these first few actions are indicative of much to come for Exonians, and America as a whole. This also intersects with the senate confirmations in his cabinet. With a majority in the Senate and House of Representatives, as well as multiple justices of the Supreme Court that he nominated, the Exeter community is bound to see many changes over the next four years.