As our country completes the second full month of Donald Trump’s second presidency, it is vital to remain updated on the events affecting the United States and the globe. March 1st marks Trump’s 40th day in the Oval Office. Each day, the president is moving forward with countless goals and initiatives–and staying up-to-date with correct information is increasingly becoming an American citizen’s duty.
During the very first days back in the White House, the Trump Administration’s most notable initiatives moved forward, including renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and ordering all DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) efforts to be shut down. DEI is defined as “organizational frameworks that seek to promote the fair treatment and full participation of all people, particularly groups who have historically been underrepresented or subject to discrimination based on identity or disability,” according to Wikipedia. Efforts to remove DEI include having the Department of Education remove all educational documents mentioning diversity, equity, or inclusion in schools, the continuous rolling back of protections for LGBTQ+ students, and the termination of DEI programs across the federal government.
More recently, the news has covered stories regarding President Trump’s focus on foreign policy initiatives–on February 2nd and the 14th day of Trump’s presidency, he claimed that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was run by “radical lunatics.” For context, USAID was established in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy and is overall responsible for the administration of foreign aid and developmental assistance. It implements programs in global health, disaster relief, socio-economic development, environmental protection, democratic governance, and education.
The conflict regarding USAID began with the refusal of access to internal systems within the agency to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team. Musk, the richest man in the world and an increasingly important name in the United States government, has been titled a “special government employee,” the Head of DOGE, and a close advisor to the president. Soon after, he began to dismantle the USAID program and cut its funding, leaving government employees displaced all over the world and many underdeveloped countries in feeble positions.
Here at SHS, Advanced Placement Government and Politics teacher Heather Willinger worked in contact with USAID before 9/11 and spent many years in Washington, D.C. When asked about the recent government efforts regarding the program, Willinger stated her initial reaction was “disappointed,” as she thinks USAID is “something really powerful for the United States.” During her time working alongside USAID, she worked for a government contractor that would work to win contracts from USAID and specifically worked on a project in Jordan called the Access to Microfinance and Improved Implementation of Policy Reform (AMIR). “I really loved the work we were doing in Jordan, and for me to be able to travel to Jordan and to be able to talk to the people we were impacting there was really fulfilling,” Willinger reflected. Additionally, with the effort to dismantle USAID alongside other foreign initiatives, Willinger sees “a shift toward isolationism” as Trump continues to administer foreign policy.
In more news regarding foreign policy, President Trump’s administration has taken an “America First” stance to an extreme extent while attempting to resolve multiple global conflicts. Firstly, Trump was recorded saying, “I would like to see Canada become our 51st state,” from the Oval Office on February 3rd. He has repeatedly stated the United States is planning on “taking back” the Panama Canal. Just a day later, on February 4th, the president was recorded at a news conference following meetings at the White House with the Prime Minister of Israel, stating, “The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too.” The administration later attempted to walk that statement back. Trump proposed that over two million Palestinians from Gaza should be moved to countries like Egypt and Jordan, though those countries themselves have not agreed to this plan.
Also, in the discussion of war and foreign aid, President Trump has made efforts to resolve the Russia-Ukraine war. With meetings between Russian and American officials over the past month, Trump has signaled the abandonment of America’s traditional allies to solve the conflict–he has repeatedly made the false claim that Russia did not start the war and stated that President Volodymyr Zelensky is a “dictator”; however, Ukraine is a free sovereign nation. When attempting to end the war, Trump notably began high-level talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin before speaking with Ukraine–Trump was put on record saying the President of Ukraine doesn’t need to be at meetings attempting to resolve the conflict, stating, “[he doesn’t] think [Zelensky] is very important to be at meetings–to be honest with you, he’s been there for three years.”
Further fanning the flames between Russia and Ukraine–and the United States and Ukraine–President Trump and President Zelensky had a sit-down discussion (with the added presence of Vice President J.D. Vance) in the White House Oval Office to discuss paths to an end of the three-year war. The meeting turned into a shouting match, potentially shattering the alliance between the nations. The discussion was originally an attempt to negotiate access to Ukrainian natural resources in exchange for continued military aid and security supplied by the U.S. in the hopes of an eventual ceasefire agreement with Russia. The U.S., however, declined to guarantee continued security forces for Ukraine in a potential post-war peace agreement. Without the security provided to Ukraine by the United States, the Russian government would likely go back on the ceasefire agreement, as Vladimir Putin has a history of not respecting territorial agreements with Ukraine.
President Trump immediately commented on Zelensky’s traditional Ukrainian war-time attire after greeting him. Then during the meeting, President Trump and Vice President Vance admonished the Ukrainian president, as Trump warned him he “doesn’t have the cards” to negotiate with Russian President Putin, and Vance called him “disrespectful” as he suggested Zelensky should express more gratitude for the help of the United States during the war. The meeting ended early, as both world leaders left the White House unhappy–Zelensky would appear on FOX News later that day, stating that though the meeting ended poorly, he believes the relationship between the nations can be repaired.