With every new election, there comes a time of hope, fear, and uncertainty. Despite the ever-growing discourse and shifting opinions, for just one day every four years, you have to make a decision that could potentially change the world forever.
On November 5th, 2024, citizens of the United States raced to turn their ballots in. Despite many third-party voters torn between candidates, the most highly anticipated race was between Kamala Harris—alongside her running mate, Tim Walz—and Donald J. Trump—accompanied by running mate JD Vance. The election resulted in a win for the Republican party.
With such a large group in opposition to the Democratic party, many people began to trust Trump and the policies he will allegedly put into place.
His inauguration coincided with Martin Luther King Jr. Day on January 20th, 2025. For the first time in 40 years, the presidential succession was hosted indoors due to the cold weather. A great deal of known celebrities and businessmen who were openly in support of Trump also attended, including Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, Meta founder Mark Zuckerburg, TikTok CEO Shou Chew, Caitlyn Jenner, as well as performers like Snoop Dogg and Carrie Underwood who performed for his inauguration. With well over a month since his inauguration, his administration has already impacted many, with the first month having the biggest impact.
On the first day of Trump’s presidency, he signed an executive order that allowed TikTok he signed an executive order that allowed TikTok, an incredibly popular app used by 1.95 billion people worldwide, an extra 75 days to keep the app running for those who still have it installed. TikTok began its legal battle back in 2020, stemming from a lawsuit that would ensure that the foreign company could partake in transactions with American companies, something that Trump’s administration from the first term was trying to ban.
In 2024, Congress proposed a bill that would either force TikTok to divest or disable the app’s usage in the United States entirely. On the day of Trump’s first term, he restored TikTok’s services temporarily, and unless action is taken, TikTok will permanently shut down on April 4th, 2025. The controversial decision confused the minds of many, and theories were made to explain his sudden change of heart.
The following day, Trump pardoned over 1,500 criminals who were involved and arrested during the January 6th Capitol raid in 2021, following former president Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 election. The violent attack left over 100 police officers injured and $2.7 million in damages. Trump was later impeached due to incitement of insurrection, just seven days before President Biden would officially step into office.
On the same day, Trump signed an executive order called “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” which essentially banned Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies from taking place. DEI allows for several things regarding freedom of speech: talking about gender, race, and sexuality in schools, among other things, and cutting the funding for programs that could involve those topics. They hope to prioritize “meaningful learning,” but there is the possibility of downplaying ignorance and a lack of cultural exchange in schools.
An extremely pressing issue that hangs over our heads is the Department of Education’s funding. President Trump plans to completely remove the program, allowing states to determine what can and should be taught in schools, despite many lawmakers claiming to be unprepared for such a significant change.
What could this mean for students? Tying in with the removal of DEI practices, states such as Florida have already banned a variety of topics in school, penalizing any mention of, for example, LGBTQ+ and other subjects that Republicans do not want their children to be aware of. This could mean serious consequences for history, science, and student-voiced programs such as newspapers or advocacy groups.
The biggest issues that the executive branch provides help with—student aid, funds programs for disabled and special needs children, and the enforcement of civil rights—are the main sources that Trump’s administration plans to remove.
Trump is infamously known and supported due to his beliefs regarding immigration. His administration was known to have enacted a “zero-tolerance” policy on immigration in 2018, back in his first term, making it so that the Department of Justice would criminally prosecute any illegal migrants.
Within the first week of his term, Trump sent out thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, consisting of roughly 1,500, to many large cities, including Chicago, New York City, and our neighboring city of Boston. Many arrests have taken place in the Boston area, with places as close to Malden and Everett, with one instance occurring just near Ferry Street.
Aside from the fact that Trump has made many empty promises regarding a plethora of unhinged policies he planned on removing or instilling, he kept his word by renaming the “Gulf of Mexico” to the “Gulf of America” on devices with their regions set to the United States on Apple Maps and Google Maps.
Not only does the change disregard major history relating to the foundations of the continent, but it shows ignorance toward far more pressing issues within the country, such as the ever-inflating economy or ongoing tensions between China and Russia.
As for our environment, the Paris Agreement was a climate change act in which the US would commit to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28%. Trump has withdrawn from the agreement for the second time since his previous withdrawal in 2017. He will have to wait one year before fully committing to leaving the program. Besides being the first and only country to withdraw from the agreement, in 2026, the United States will be among the only four countries on Earth to not be involved, alongside Yemen, Iran, and Libya.
With the changing times, it is unsure of what the future may bring to students in Malden High, especially with the diversity in our community. Trump’s administration will continue to change the course of history over the next 1,414 days.
