In Michigan’s Wayne County, voters weigh in on Trump’s first 100 days

Should you ask Wayne County residents, they will let you know President Donald Trump’s first 100 days again within the White Home have ranged from “turbulent” to “robust” to “evil.”

Final yr, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris outpaced Trump, 62% to 33% in Wayne County. Residence to Detroit and Michigan’s most populous county, Wayne County is a hub for Democratic votes. However Republicans have made concerted efforts within the area — Trump campaigned a number of occasions in Detroit final yr, and made stops in Dearborn and Hamtramck to attraction to Arab American and Muslim voters.

The Detroit Free Press, Lansing State Journal and Middle for Group Journalism – Michigan spoke with voters within the area as a part of a undertaking interviewing greater than 100 Michiganders about Trump’s first 100 days. 

Natasha Blakely, 30, of Hamtramck, is a Democrat who leans progressive and she or he has an extended record of issues. For one, she’s horrified by the Trump administration’s “bizarre fixation” on transgender individuals’s rights. For an additional, the back-and-forth on tariffs has “wreaked havoc” on everyone’s lives and the financial system, she stated. Requested how she feels concerning the subsequent 4 years of President Donald Trump, Blakely stated she would not be ok with it however nonetheless stays hopeful.

Various buddies need to depart the nation and she or he has thought of it, too, however she would not suppose that is the proper transfer. “I do not suppose that is a long-term resolution and it is not sensible anyway for individuals to simply depart en masse however I get the need to simply depart for someplace which may really feel higher however, in the end, I am not someone who likes to surrender,” Blakely stated.

— Nushrat Rahman

Imad Hamad, govt director of the American Human Rights Council in Dearborn, voted for Inexperienced Social gathering candidate Jill Stein within the November election. A Palestinian immigrant, Hamad stated he was involved concerning the Biden administration’s help for Israel, with cash and weapons, because it launched assaults in opposition to Palestinians and others.

Vice President Kamala Harris, operating on the presidential Democratic ticket, misplaced in lots of the heavily-Arab precincts in Wayne County. “We felt that we do not need our vote to go to waste, and we selected to help third get together, even when it not directly helped the election of President (Donald) Trump,” Hamad defined.

Now, Hamad is worried about a few of Trump’s actions, reminiscent of focusing on immigrants with pro-Palestinian views, however he provides that such a focusing on is just not new. “These are probably the most fascinating and difficult 100 days ever within the historical past of presidential administrations,” he stated. There may be “a state of worry and anxiousness” creating “chilling results” amongst immigrants, he added. “The Structure is on trial.”

— Niraj Warikoo

David Hardin Jr., 51, is the proprietor of a Detroit barbershop in Detroit’s West Village, the place he additionally lives. Hardin sometimes votes Democratic and he had a Kamala Harris marketing campaign signal posted in his store all through the election season. In a phrase, Hardin described the primary 100 days of President Donald Trump’s second time period as “unconstitutional,” after which he went on to explain a sense of powerlessness.

“What’s irritating is that now every thing is out of the arms of the voters. Even the Republicans that are not with what he’s doing are standing quiet. They should converse up so it may possibly’t be completed. Should you stand mute, you may as effectively be with what he is doing.” Hardin’s examples of “unconstitutional” actions taken by Trump embrace “deporting individuals with out due course of” and the “assault on the Division of Training.”

— Scott Talley

Steve Kerr, 66, of Canton, is a retiree who is worried a few assortment of actions by the Trump administration, together with tariffs on the nation’s allies and the affect of billionaire Elon Musk. “My daughter is a lawyer in California. She’s prepared to go away this nation due to him and what he is doing to our nation,” Kerr stated.

— Jalen Williams

Kate Mason, 37, of Hamtramck, is a Democrat disillusioned together with her get together on the state and nationwide ranges. Mason described the Trump administration as a “dumpster fireplace” that is “dismantling democracy proper in entrance of us.”

“The destruction of so many individuals’s lives for no cause different than simply sheer malice and hatred is staggering,” she stated, pointing to cuts to the federal workforce and the transfer to deport Venezuelans to El Salvador.

She stated she’s apprehensive, scared and livid concerning the prospect of one other 4 years of President Donald Trump. She feels a “deep sense of despair and disappointment” however her work for a statewide grassroots nonprofit helps her channel her worries. Political leaders on the left should not assembly the second, she stated. When Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris misplaced in November, Mason stated she was shocked however not stunned.

“We’re gonna need to do a counting on the left and determine how we come again from this,” Mason stated.

— Nushrat Rahman

Curtis White, 78, a Vietnam Battle veteran from Detroit, marched down Woodward Avenue on April 5 as a part of “Palms Off” protests held in opposition to President Donald Trump’s insurance policies. He stated he’s apprehensive about veteran advantages and applications being defunded and shut down. He stated he would not align with a celebration however makes use of his discretion every election.

“We (veterans) are involved about what’s going to occur with our advantages, the veterans who’re homeless and the veterans who want so many different issues,” he stated. “All of the issues which have supposedly been shut down, there are individuals involved about that and I’m amongst these individuals involved about that. … It looks as if every thing is on a downward spiral.”

— Natalie Davies

Ashley Lawrence, 36, of Inkster, works on the cleansing crew on the Macy’s retailer at Southland Middle in Taylor and is a caregiver for a woman with autism. Within the final election, she stated she wrote in Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ identify for president.

She described President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in workplace as “scary.”

“I have been seeing like some loopy issues taking place with planes and stuff that I wasn’t seeing earlier than,” Lawrence stated, including that she needs there have been fewer fights and fewer finger-pointing in politics and extra “respect and willingness to assist the individuals who actually need the assistance.”

She stated she opposes mass deportations however agrees with Trump’s opposition to LGBTQ+ and transgender rights.

“That is perhaps one factor he bought proper,” Lawrence stated.

“We have simply bought to see what’s gonna occur at this level and simply pray as a result of, on the finish of the day, it doesn’t matter who the president is. God is in cost.”

— Kristen Jordan Shamus

Jay Carter, 49, of Taylor, voted for President Donald Trump within the November election.

“I am optimistic,” stated Carter, who oversees laundry companies on the Pink Roof Inn Ann Arbor North. In his view, the president’s first 100 days in workplace are going “extraordinarily effectively.”

“I like what I am seeing economically up to now. … Costs are slightly excessive however as somebody who took an economics course, I perceive that whenever you begin imposing tariffs … it’s going to worsen earlier than it will get higher. I am keen to attend six months to a yr as a result of I do know these items do take time.”

Carter stated he isn’t keen on the confrontational tact Trump has taken with Canadian leaders.

“The entire Canada because the 51st state bit was humorous at first however, to me, it comes off as antagonistic,” he stated. “I’ve no downside with the Canadian individuals. … I’m not a fan of their authorities however I don’t conflate the federal government of Canada with the individuals of Canada.”

Carter stated he’d like to see the president’s financial insurance policies put more cash within the pockets of all Individuals — “it would not matter how they voted. And I want to see so much much less … divisive rhetoric on either side of the aisle as a result of, I will be completely sincere right here, as a citizen I am slightly uninterested in seeing that.”

— Kristen Jordan Shamus

Majed Moughni, 54, a Dearborn lawyer, voted for an unbiased candidate, Cornel West, within the November election on account of concern over deaths in Gaza and Lebanon. Moughni’s views had been echoed by many in Dearborn, which has the best proportion of residents of Center Japanese descent amongst cities within the U.S. President Donald Trump gained in Dearborn and Jill Stein bought nearly 19% of the vote. Now, some are involved with Trump’s assaults on immigrants and fear his tariffs will harm the financial system. Michiganders have “been affected by Trump’s tariffs and immigrant insurance policies,” Moughni stated. “Many are vulnerable to being deported. He has struck a worry of their hearts.”

Moughni added that Trump “trampled the U.S. Structure by arresting and deporting authorized residents.” Trump is appearing reckless by surrounding “himself with ‘sure males’ and just like the ’emperor who has no garments’, he has nobody to inform him he’s fallacious,” Moughni stated.

— Niraj Warikoo

Chuck Staffeld, 65, of Canton, is a retired meeting engineer who’s a Libertarian at his core. He stated he’s suspicious of former President Joe Biden and the Democratic Social gathering, desires President Donald Trump to “preserve deporting and sending criminals to jail” and believes the federal authorities is just too large. “They do not have to be doing all these items for me. I do not need them to do these items for me,” Staffeld stated.

— Jalen Williams

Arlene Hunter, 63, of Detroit, is a retired federal worker who used the phrase “horrible” to explain President Donald Trump’s first 100 days of his second time period. And with out hardly any hesitation, she went on to explain particularly why she considers Trump’s actions horrible: “I feel that he’s overstepping his energy. There isn’t any method that each one of these probationary workers ought to have been fired as a result of I labored for the Inside Income Service for 38 years they usually say that we do not do any work. Effectively, I spent eight, 9, 10 hours a day on the cellphone speaking to individuals and serving to them make installment agreements in order that they might pay their taxes. I simply suppose that he is in there to be an influence particular person. He is not being truthful and the tariffs are messing with individuals’s companies and their cash.”

— Scott Talley

Reco Spencer, 50, of Canton, works at Henry Ford Faculty. When voting prior to now, he sometimes leaned Democratic, however within the 2024 presidential election, he voted for unbiased candidate Cornel West.

“I can see what Trump’s attempting to do, nevertheless it’s so erratic,” Spencer stated of the start of Trump’s time period. “I feel he is going concerning the tariffs the fallacious method. I perceive what he is attempting to do, however then it turns into extra like, ‘you do one thing to me, I am gonna get again at you.’ After which it begins to appear to be two youngsters preventing.”

— Nour Rahal

Faye Nemer, 39, of Dearborn, is the CEO of the MENA American Chamber of Commerce. Usually a Democratic voter, she stated she backed Trump for the primary time in 2024, citing his early guarantees of bringing Center East peace by way of diplomacy.

Trump performed an “integral function” in attaining the ceasefire resolutions in each Lebanon and Palestine, Nemer stated. “There have been violations, nevertheless it wasn’t to the extent of what we had been experiencing beneath President Biden. After which, lo and behold, we felt like there was a 180 (diploma) shift in Center East coverage, and the gloves had been off with regard to Palestine.”

Although initially optimistic about Trump, Nemer stated she has grown more and more involved with the administration’s navy support to Israel, ongoing wars within the Center East, and crackdowns on scholar protesters. Nevertheless, she nonetheless believes the administration might be held accountable by way of a shift in overseas coverage and stronger outreach to Arab Individuals.

— Nour Rahal

Morgan Smith, 19, of Detroit, is a scholar within the arts and within the newest election, she voted for Kamala Harris. She is worried about President Donald Trump’s imposition of tariffs, and has seen prices in her personal life improve. She enjoys enjoying “Mario Kart” and “The Legend of Zelda” however has watched the value of video games skyrocket. “They’re like, $90 now, when it was like $60, that’s ridiculous,” Smith stated. “I can not actually afford these, I can not get them after they come out.” Trying towards the remainder of his time period, she stated, “I’m blissful that is the final time we’ll see him.”

— Dana Afana

Garrett Ellis, 52, of Detroit, labored as a machine operator in automotive manufacturing however he is out of labor and on the lookout for a job. He stated the trade is sluggish on account of difficulties in buying supplies. “He is reducing every thing out,” Ellis stated. “How are individuals going to stay?” Imposing tariffs is “killing the world,” he added.

Ellis, an unbiased who didn’t vote in 2024, feels uncertain concerning the the rest of Trump’s time period. “I really feel it is not gonna actually get any higher. I feel it is gonna get slightly worse. For actual, you realize, it is gonna worsen as a result of he desires to be a dictator as a substitute of a president, and he desires to be a businessman on the identical time too.”

— Dana Afana

Shavone Melton, 39, of Detroit, voted for President Donald Trump as a result of she did not like the opposite selections on the poll. She thought he’d do an excellent job, she stated, however now the mom of 5 would not just like the course of his administration. She’s notably involved about meals stamps, which assist preserve her youngsters fed, notably as meals costs improve. “They’re too excessive to even afford,” she stated.

— Lily Altavena

Shelby Beard, 31, of Flat Rock, is a biologist working within the science and medical analysis subject, the place she stated there have been numerous layoffs due to EPA cuts. She voted for Harris/Walz and thinks the few issues Trump has completed proper, “do not outweigh the horrible issues he has completed.” Beard hopes Trump accomplishes every thing he desires to “so we will see the destruction he’s able to.” After Cory Booker’s speech, she could be very optimistic. “I feel it gave numerous hope to the left. And, proves that we’re not going to sit down by and let every thing that Trump is doing occur,” she stated.

— Susan Selasky

Rhea Williams, 77, of Detroit, says this nation is heading towards a dictatorship. “He stated that he could be a dictator if he grew to become president. And he’s attempting to do this,” Williams stated of President Donald Trump.

And he is a pacesetter who hasn’t made good on his guarantees, she stated. “Do not threaten my Social Safety,” Williams stated. “Costs are simply too excessive and he promised that costs would go down and they don’t seem to be.”

— Andrea Sahouri

Haley Cislo, 32, of Woodhaven, is a schoolteacher who has voted Republican prior to now two elections. Though President Donald Trump and DOGE have taken steps to dismantle the Division of Training, she stays supportive of the administration and is “trying in direction of the longer term.”

“It isn’t simple matters however I am remaining open and, once more, trusting that no matter adjustments are made will in the end help college students and us educators,” Cislo stated.

— Eric Guzman

David Burbo, 62, of Trenton, stated he believes President Donald Trump is doing the proper factor. With tariffs, Burbo believes the U.S. ought to do the identical to different nations. “We won’t let everybody come over and get a free deal. As a substitute of giving these nations tons of cash and never anticipating something from them,” he stated.

Burbo believes that U.S. borders have to be secured: “Now we have to know who’s coming to this nation, from criminals to ailments and sicknesses,” he stated.

— Susan Selasky

John Linares tends to vote unbiased however didn’t forged his vote throughout this previous presidential election on account of not supporting a candidate. The 69-year-old from Dearborn Heights stated that President Donald Trump has completed a horrible job in his first 100 days in workplace.

“I don’t like what he’s doing and I don’t help him in any respect,” Linares stated. “I feel he’s hurting extra Individuals and I feel his curiosity is principally on him.”

— Eric Guzman

Miklos Penzes, 57, of Wyandotte, stated he voted for President Donald Trump throughout the 2024 presidential election. Whereas he stated he believes issues have been going effectively and has supported the efforts from the president addressing Social Safety and implementing DOGE, he additionally stated that the tariffs have began to scare him and he doesn’t need the administration to be all speak.

“‘Trigger anybody can say stuff and if it do not occur, then it is simply saying stuff,” Penzes stated.

— Eric Guzman

John Nixon, 62, a Detroit landscaper who works for himself, stated he has voted in each presidential election — all the time Democratic. President Donald Trump’s second time period has been “horrible” he says, elevating the deportation of visa holders as one cause why. Whereas Nixon hasn’t been instantly affected by Trump’s insurance policies, as an getting older Black man who depends on Medicaid, he stated he worries about potential cuts to well being care and the emboldening of “racist” police.

Nixon stated he was careworn concerning the course the nation was heading earlier than Trump — notably rising violent crime amongst youths. That stress is now amplified, with nightly flareups at 11 p.m., when he watches the TV information. “I feel Trump is gonna have us in a struggle and I actually do suppose he’s very prejudiced,” Nixon stated.

If Trump has one redeeming high quality, it’s that he “stands up for America,” however within the subsequent breath, Nixon backpedals, noting that Trump also can instigate overseas battle. Referencing nuclear warfare, he stated, “Trump might push a button and everyone is gone.”

— Violet Ikonomova

Michael Hatch, 47, is a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians who lived within the Higher Peninsula for greater than 30 years earlier than lately shifting to Flat Rock.

He works as a carpenter, but in addition paints Native American artwork and is a Horse Dancer at Pow-Wows. Hatch by no means votes, not even in tribal elections, as a result of “They’re modeled after the U.S. system.”

He doesn’t see a lot distinction between the events and would favor a extra native type of authorities the place the grandmothers of the village dominated. He stated President Donald Trump’s tenure has been “uninformed”and he’d prefer to see much less “bigotry and mendacity.”

Hatch stated the rise in ICE exercise beneath Trump is affecting Native Individuals. “Simply because we’re brown, we appear to be Mexicans. I hate to say it, nevertheless it was like nearly racial profiling, proper there.”

He stated he has had buddies and kinfolk detained who needed to present their papers earlier than being launched.

“Like we all the time say, Natives do not cross borders, borders crossed us,” he stated.

— John Correctly

Financial uncertainty introduced on by President Donald Trump’s world tariffs was notably on the thoughts of Davis Greene, 23, of Detroit, a scholar at Macomb Group Faculty, who known as himself an unbiased.

“I can inform it’s already affecting numerous society,” he stated. “I do know some enterprise house owners who do enterprise abroad. And now that costs are going up, that impacts their livelihood.

“I feel the ability of the U.S. greenback is severely going to alter. The U.S. as a rustic, we’re constructed so much on our cash.”

However Greene is staying even-keeled general. “We’ve gone by way of numerous various things by way of the years with completely different presidents, each good and dangerous,” he stated. “I’m a person of religion. So long as individuals have God with them, they are going to be all proper. As soon as this time period is over, we’ll have one other president, and she or he goes to have their very own priorities and insurance policies.”

— Keith Matheny

Biaohua Yu, a 36-year-old neuroscience researcher who lives in Detroit, stated he felt that “anger coming throughout the election. I see that anger manifesting now when it comes to anger on the LGBT group, particularly the transgender group, immigrants and … ignoring due course of. It is manifesting extra extreme than I assumed it was ever going to be.”

Yu, who’s an immigrant — and U.S. citizen — stated he’ll work on getting his dad and mom’ naturalization papers so as in case anybody ought to query their citizenship. He believes in streamlining the federal government but in addition believes the individuals President Donald Trump has put in control of doing so are working past their degree of experience. And Yu, who’s homosexual, is apprehensive that the Supreme Court docket’s resolution permitting identical intercourse marriage may very well be overturned. “Extra racism, dearer stuff and much more anxiousness, that’s what we get on this presidency,” he stated.

— Georgea Kovanis

Betty Romo, 40, of Lincoln Park, has lived in Michigan for 23 years after shifting from Jalisco, Mexico, at a younger age. She now lives in Lincoln Park and works at her household’s enterprise in southwest Detroit, which can have fun its fortieth anniversary this Might. Romo has labored there for the previous 10 years.

“I carry a deep disappointment with me due to every thing taking place in our authorities,” Romo stated. “My coronary heart aches for my group, for the worry we stay with daily. The uncertainty about our future, about whether or not we’ll be secure or allowed to remain, makes me really feel helpless.”

— David Rodriguez Muñoz

Dachelle Carter, 28, of Lincoln Park and a grad scholar at Wayne State College, stated the beginning of the President Donald Trump administration has simply been chaos and numerous issues have been overturned. “I am presently at college and there was numerous strain attempting to complete faculty and understanding that every thing, the adjustments that (have) been taking place, has been affecting me and my education and monetary support,” she stated. The adjustments, Carter stated, put her in misery as a result of there may be a lot “uncertainty relating to every thing that is happening.”

Pandora Hanshaw, a 56-year-old Detroit retiree, has all the time voted Democratic, however considers herself extra of an unbiased — a fan and foe of assorted positions on both aspect of the aisle. Forward of the final presidential election, she grew to become a uncommon swing voter. Her socially conservative values and want to see blue-collar jobs return to the Midwest from abroad nearly prompted her to forged a poll for now-President Donald Trump — and, within the Republican presidential major, she even did. However by the point of the overall election, with the Democratic nominee by then a Black girl, she determined to stay with private custom and vote blue.

Hanshaw has combined emotions on Trump’s first 100 days. Whereas she appreciates the spirit of his tariffs, she believes their rollout threatened to place the nation in a worse place economically. And she or he disagrees with Trump’s zealousness on immigration, as “there’s extra issues happening.” She additionally resents how he behaves. “His presentation is horrible to me,” Hanshaw stated.

— Violet Ikonomova

This sequence was reported by: Dana Afana, Lily Altavena, Sarah Atwood, Tresa Baldas, Duante Beddingfield, Dave Boucher, Lisa Vidaurri Bowling, Jackie Charniga, Natalie Davies, Paul Egan, Eric Guzman, Christina Corridor, Brad Heineman, Clara Hendrickson, Brendel Hightower, Johnathan Hogan, Violet Ikonomova, Cassidey Kavathas, Georgea Kovanis, Jamie L. LaReau, Eric D. Lawrence, Arpan Lobo, Keith Matheny, Sarah Moore, Darcie Moran, David Rodriguez Muñoz, Corey J. Murray, David Panian, Jenna Prestininzi, Nour Rahal, Nushrat Rahman, Liam Rappleye, Don Reid, Adrienne Roberts, Andrea Might Sahouri, Beki San Martin, Susan Selasky, Kristen Jordan Shamus, Scott Talley, Kristi Tanner, Connor Veenstra, Tess Ware, Niraj Warikoo, Jalen Williams, John Correctly, Suzanne Nolan Wisler and Frank Witsil.