President-elect Donald Trump’s character, immigration policies and the economy has many Chicago-area voters feeling apprehensive or excited — depending which way they voted — about his second term that starts Monday.
The Sun-Times asked Chicago-area voters how they feel about Trump’s return to the White House, and their thoughts about what could happen during his administration’s first 100 days. What do they want him to do? What worries them about what he could do during that period? Here’s how some voters responded:
Stephen Kaim, 60, IT project manager, of Schorsch Village: Voted for Trump
First-time Trump voter Stephen Kaim is “cautiously optimistic” about the Republican’s second time in office.
Kaim wants to see the new administration address undocumented immigrants who cross the southern border and commit crimes in the U.S., but he doesn’t support Trump’s mass deportation plan.
“I feel that the second time around, maybe he’ll do a better job,” Kaim said. “I’m not going to agree with everything he does, but I’m going to support him, just like I support every president, and we’ll see where it goes.”
Jacqueline Doty, 50, state of Illinois employee, of Pullman: Voted against Trump
Jacqueline Doty worries that Trump will continue targeting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives within the government and will inspire companies to abandon their own diversity efforts.
“A lot of companies now are immediately removing DEI initiatives, and I feel like that relates to him becoming president.” Doty said. “As an African American woman, I am concerned with how that’s going to impact the African American community.”
She’s anxious Trump will continue pursuing policies that harm women, as he did in his first term. She’s concerned that he’ll sour U.S. relationships with other countries and will spike inflation because of his “love of tariffs.” And she wishes the divisiveness among Americans would lessen, but she’s not optimistic.
“Is he going to be more divisive as a president?” She said. “I’m concerned about the divisiveness of this country, the direction of this country.”
Larry Craig, 75, retired higher education administrator, of Wilmette: Voted for Trump
Controlling the southern border and cutting government spending are the top priorities Larry Craig would like to see Trump address as soon as possible.
He acknowledged “a lot of good people” immigrate to the U.S., but he hopes for a more secure process that apprehends those who enter the country with criminal intentions.
“You have doors in your house, you have locks on your doors, you have fences around your yard. Countries, you don’t let just anybody walk in,” Craig said. “You don’t think our enemies will not send somebody into this open border like that?”
Liz Reyes, 58, social worker and librarian, of Riverside: Voted against Trump
Trump’s threat to make Chicago “ground zero” for his immediate mass deportation plan terrifies Liz Reyes the most.
She’s concerned that it could lead to the government and employers exploiting people and using scare tactics.
“I just think about folks who are maybe working, and I just think it’s easy for unscrupulous employers to take advantage of people, and use calling somebody to come deport you as like this new weapon that’s going to be used against people that are probably already, you know, struggling and vulnerable, and doing their best to get by.”
Peter Li, 61, researcher at Rush University Medical Center, of Little Italy: Voted for Trump
After voting for Joe Biden four years ago, Peter Li decided to support Trump this election. He hopes Trump fosters a better relationship between the U.S. and China.
“Those are two powerful countries that should be cooperating and that would be better for the entire world,” he said.
Li used to be able to visit China once a year before the pandemic. Now, he says he’s lucky if he can visit every four years because there are few flights available. He hopes Trump will encourage more Americans to visit China and for more Chinese citizens to visit the U.S.
“That will be better for both countries, it will help tourism and drive the economy,” Li said.
Dennis Glover, 63, retired police officer, Pullman: Voted against Trump
Dennis Glover hopes Trump’s first 100 days won’t be as controversial as his first term.
“You can’t be afraid of him,” Glover said. “Hopefully there are safeguards that will protect us. But I’m not going to worry about what the possibilities might be, I’m just going to wait and see. We survived the last one and learned from it. Plus, it’s too late to be worried.”
Glover said he would like for Trump to set term limits for members of the Supreme Court and Congress.
“Regardless of their party, I think they stay there too long,” he said.
Clark Eichman, 53, police sergeant, Norwood Park: Voted for Trump
Clark Eichman voted for Trump because he’s not a career politician.
He wants Trump to focus on America first, rather than foreign relations. He also hopes Trump can forge a better relationship with Illinois, and make a positive impact that leads voters in the state to turn Republican by the next election.
“Four years of Trump with some success, maybe we finally break the Democrat stranglehold on Illinois, because if it doesn’t, then I’m going to leave — and I’m not the only one.”
Kevin McGrath, 36, statistician, Andersonville: Voted against Trump
Kevin McGrath fears for those potentially affected by Trump’s threat of immediate mass deportation, especially people in Chicago.
He’s also worried about Trump reclassifying some federal employees to give the executive branch more discretion in hiring and firing workers, leading to “totalitarian impulses.”
“The longer that continues, the less legitimate our government is,” McGrath said. “It loses the very basic foundation of the social contract. Trump might not do it, but I think that if we continue down the path that Trump seems to be walking, there isn’t going to be much of a civic fabric left for this country.”