On Monday, January 20, 2025, Donald Trump held his inauguration inside the United States Capitol Building. With any inauguration, the newly inducted president must give an address to the people – this is where Donald Trump used his platform to lay the land for his next four years. This unruly speech set the tone across the general public, especially unnerving some students throughout Union.
Seeking opinions around campus, Talia Gitlin ’26 spoke to various students and asked them multiple questions regarding their thoughts or feelings with the given speech or the inauguration as a whole.
When asking Olivia Bryan ’26 about what emotions were experienced when watching the inauguration ceremony, she responded with, “I was feeling really really upset by our country and the person that over half of our country voted for just because of his past and all the things that he’s done. It honestly just made me really question a lot of the morals of the people around me.” It can be shocking to many Union students, and those across the country, that Americans chose to vote for a male convicted felon over the female candidate, Kamala Harris. With the given speech on Monday, the morals of President Trump shined bright to the American citizens.
More surprises came from the attendees found in the seats of the event. Kennedy Snyder ’26 touched upon these attendees by expressing her emotions towards the front row, “It honestly really scared me to see people in that room that we had elected as a democracy to be there, standing alongside people that we haven’t elected yet [who] are way more powerful than the people that we have. Examples of that would be Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and all of their counterparts. I found it really horrifying.” Across America, there were many comments and remarks on the front row of America’s wealthiest men. This gleaming row of powerhouses has led to citizens questioning the way this country will be led under Trump’s presidency.
Continuing on with the remarks made in the presidential address, one that grew attention were those towards transgender communities. Grace Nickerson ’26 reflected upon Trump’s speech by saying, “Trump proclaimed that there’s only two biological sexes – male and female – and that made me really sad for the transgender population in the country. One of the most powerful branches of our government doesn’t recognize gender identity.” The fight for transgender rights has been an extremely long journey and these plans for legal actions can become major setbacks. If one of the most powerful branches of government does not recognize all gender identities, then how will transgender or LQBTQ+ communities be those of acceptance?
Beyond the inauguration speech, President Trump signed 26 executive orders addressing numerous government developments. Snyder, again, was surprised upon those decisions being made and what had been signed. She told us, “I was really disturbed by the pardons of the January 6 rioters, and I can only imagine the way that the survivors of the attacks were feeling, especially the police officers who put their lives on the line that day. I was also really disappointed to hear that we are no longer in the World Health Organization – and his explanation for this – saying that as America we have around 325 million people in our country and we were spending $500 million on worldhealth [as] compared to China who has 1.4 billion people and is spending $39 million on World Health… I think that is a really sorry excuse.” The claims and promises given by President Trump left many speechless, as those watching became overwhelmed in doubt for the country’s future. Pardoning the January 6th rioters creates the idea of those actions being acceptable, disregarding those police officers who were faced with great danger that day.
With these given opinions, it is not to avoid the population in support of President Trump’s inauguration speech and courses of action. These are just a few voices on campus, however, they hold commonalities to other opinions across America. When viewing the inauguration, there may be growing uncertainty for what the future holds. The first 100 days will officially set the tone of how President Trump will hold power, and then the United States will see what truly unfolds.
