‘He’s going to possibly try to sink the U.S.A.’s hands into Gaza in a very permanent way.’

Emma Clifford is a first-year student at UWM majoring in Art History. She feels deeply impacted by the actions of the Trump Administration and discusses the policies that seem the most important to her.

Alexis Knecht: What aspects of President Trump’s current term stand out to you the most?

Emma Clifford: His social media presence. That is something that we have not seen with any other president, whether that’s because of advancing technology or just because they haven’t really had the audacity to do anything like this. It’s a little horrifying to have this president who is so willing to candidly, and without media control, say what he intends to do at any given time. For example, the AI videos that have been released recently, I just think that is such a strange and odd turn of events.

Alexis Knecht: Do you tend to have a more positive or negative reaction to President Trump’s actions in office?

Emma Clifford: Negative, I’m very clear about that. I don’t like him, I don’t trust him, and I’m mad that I wasn’t able to vote in the last election. I think there were bad things on all sides, but I feel as though people are purposefully arguing in bad faith when they bring out Kamala’s faults. We’ve seen this descent into constant infighting. I think that one of the biggest reasons why Kamla wasn’t elected is because people within leftists and liberal groups couldn’t agree with one another.

Alexis Knecht: How has President Trump’s policies affected you as a student at UWM?

Emma Clifford: There’s just been a lot of talk. But as far as my day to day, I think it’s just kind of demoralizing. There aren’t any active things that I have changed, but I’m it’s constantly on the back of my mind,

Alexis Knecht: Do you have any worries about the remainder of President Trump’s term? If so, what are they?

Emma Clifford: I have so many worries that it’s hard to articulate. He’s going to possibly try to sink the USA’s hands into Gaza and Israel in a very permanent way. There’s also stuff with people’s rights here, domestically, that are being messed with. There’s a lot of repeals against queer rights, and that’s something that is very important to me. So even when he was just recently elected, when I was in high school, I felt more stressed out daily. I don’t live in, like a terribly rural place, but there is a demographic in Wisconsin, you’re always going to have a demographic of farmers and people in the rural areas tend to be more conservative voters and there was just this sudden uptick in hostility.

Alexis Knecht: What do you know about President Trump’s policies regarding the use of AI? How do these policies make you feel? How do they affect you?

Emma Clifford: Honestly, not that much. I know that he has been using AI a lot as far as propaganda goes, but I don’t know. about his policy when it concerns AI. I love visual art, and so from a just AI art perspective, it feels like an insult. It’s also an environmental issue. I feel there’s a lack of accountability when it comes to electricity being used, water being used, that sort of thing.

Alexis Knecht: What do you know about the tariffs implemented by President Trump in this current term? How have these tariffs affected your perception of America nationally and internationally?

Emma Clifford: That one has affected me a lot, because I do a lot of cosplay stuff and a lot of shipping overseas, and I just am deeply embarrassed about the United States. Like, I want to cut ties. because they are noticing things are going so horribly over here and in such a fascist direction.

Alexis Knecht: Are there any aspects of Trump’s presidency that you agree with? What are they?

Emma Clifford: Ooh, there probably is, I appreciate a nuanced perspective on things, but nothing occurs to me. right now. Yeah. It’s just a shame, because I think, unfortunately, he has the capacity to be an incredibly funny person. Like, if I take a step back and look at these things that he is doing, not with how they are affecting people’s lives, from a purely bird’s eye perspective, they are funny as hell.