‘I believe that once Trump is out of the office, we can start rebuilding relationships.’

Seth Kwiatkowski, 20, is a sophomore film major at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Kwiatkowski is fairly new to politics, with the current Trump administration being the first time he has truly paid attention to the news. So far, after 10 months, he is anything but delighted.

Zack O’Hara: What are your initial thoughts on the Trump administration this year?

Seth Kwiatkowski: There’s a lot to start on. You know, cutting the health benefits. I feel like he’s doing a terrible job. He’s doing exactly what he said he was going to do in Project 2025, where he had this entire agenda he was going to do, and he’s doing it, and he’s hurting a lot of Americans while doing it. And he just cares all about himself and all about money, which is stupid.

Zack O’Hara: What were your expectations for this term, and did he meet them?

Seth Kwiatkowski: I didn’t really have any expectations. In fact, I really, up until 2024 didn’t really majorly pay attention to politics. It’s kind of hard to not look at anything nowadays and see the news and see how bad of a job Trump’s doing. So I didn’t really have any expectations. I just didn’t want him to win, because he’d ruin this country. And last time I checked, the White House isn’t really the White House anymore.

Zack O’Hara: Is there anything that you think Trump has done well so far in this administration?

Seth Kwiatkowski: Maybe that all the money he gave back to Wisconsin two weeks after the major flooding that happened here.

Zack O’Hara: How much news have you been watching?

Seth Kwiatkowski: It really started after I voted in 2024. That was my first year being able to vote and I feel as though now I feel obligated to watch the news, because I feel as though it’s going to be so important down my lifetime, and unfortunately, so many bad things happen in this country that it’s hard to not put on the news, you know, Charlie Kirk’s death, or, you know, ICE news, or, you know, anything that has to do with politics nowadays. Unfortunately, it’s always, it always catches my mind, and it’s just like, bro, enough’s enough. Man, honestly, to me, I’m sick of it.

Zack O’Hara: What have been your thoughts on the media coverage so far during this administration?

Seth Kwiatkowski: I think that depends on who you ask, because Fox will say he’s God but every other news channel talks down on him. I think the media has done a pretty good job, because they’ve explained every single thing. I’m a CNN person, but they definitely have opened things up to the public, just because Trump is a crybaby and he wants to complain about every negative thing that’s said about him. So I think that’s kind of the media’s way of getting him back.

Zack O’Hara: Do you feel that there is currently an attack on free speech in this country?

Seth Kwiatkowski: Obviously Jimmy Kimmel, that’s first of all, Jimmy Kimmel, even though what he said was controversial in a way, people have their opinions on it. I don’t judge people who have opinions on that. But obviously I think freedom of speech is totally getting out of control, because he’s becoming a dictator. He is a crybaby, and he cries about anybody that talks down to him.

Zack O’Hara: What do you think of Trump’s character in office?

Seth Kwiatkowski: I don’t like him as a person. Hate is a strong word. Hate is a very strong word. When my grandma says you can never hate something or someone, you can very much dislike them, but I very much hate Trump because he’s a dumbass who’s in office, and a billionaire should never be a freaking president. He’s a terrible businessman at that, too.

Zack O’Hara: Do you think we passed a point of no return yet?

Seth Kwiatkowski: No, there’s still hope. There will always still be hope. I believe that once Trump is out of the office, we can start rebuilding relationships. We can start dealing with immigration better, because last time I checked, this was a country to come to for freedom and jobs. I feel like we’re not to the point of no return.