Trump is not a president for all
To the Editor:
Donald Trump promised at the NRA convention to roll back gun control measures enacted under Biden and to fire the head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
He was met with a roar of approval there.
However, a 2023 survey by Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions revealed broad approval for gun violence prevention policies regardless of one’s political affiliation or gun ownership. These approved policies include temporary gun restraining orders in domestic violence cases, a family’s ability to remove guns from a relative believed to be at risk of harming self or others, the need to obtain a license before buying a gun, the necessity of locking up guns and ammunition when not in use, and the funding of gun violence prevention programs. While support was lowest among Republicans, there was 54-76% support for these policies among the total group surveyed by Johns Hopkins. So, whose vote was Trump actually seeking that day? Apparently, not the ones of a majority of this country.
On abortion, Trump has been openly prideful of his presidential decision to nominate three justices to the Supreme Court instrumental in overturning Roe v Wade. But Trump has recently been all over the place regarding his abortion policy going forward from that decision. In speeches, his latest position has been that the individual states should determine what rights the state government has to interpose itself and regulate women’s pregnancies and even to punish them for obtaining abortions. His comments advocate for this kind of overarching governmental control while still not clarifying his own personal position on abortion. The same is true for outlawing birth control. Abortion continues to be a critical issue for Americans, with 52% identifying as pro-choice and 44% as pro-life. On the overturning of Roe v Wade, 38% say it was a good thing, while 62% regard it as negative. Can Donald Trump really be the president of such 62% on this issue?
Another issue broadly touted by Trump is immigration. Border policy has been outdated for at least the last 20 years and in critical need of updating, but yet the most recent Senate bipartisan immigration proposal crafted with significant Republican input was torpedoed by Republicans at the last minute under the direction of Trump.
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Moreover, per the Heritage Foundation’s 2025 Plan (created with the substantial assistance of Trump allies), in a second term he would ramp up immigration policies restricting both legal and illegal immigrants. Under the proposed plan, people from some Muslim majority countries would be banned from entry, and it would also reimpose the refusal of asylum claims. Unauthorized immigrants would be rounded up and deported by the millions, being first detained in massive camps while awaiting deportation flights. To facilitate the policy, in addition to federal police, local police and national guard troops would be deputized to search for and seize them. The requirement for due process hearings would be eliminated. As many as 11 million undocumented immigrants would be uprooted after years, or even decades, of settling here.
Views on immigration remain mixed and highly partisan among the U.S. population. According to a 2023 Gallup poll, no one is totally satisfied, especially since the World Trade Center bombing in 2001 when dissatisfaction was at an all-time high. From then, dissatisfaction with immigration has remained steady or increased in older people while decreasing in younger and middle-aged citizens.
In a 2024 NPR/Marist Poll, 57% of registered voters believe welcoming others to our country is essential to our national identity. That positive number is strongly representative of Democrats rather than Republicans, 84% vs 27%. Independents too are favorable to welcoming others, 55% vs 44%. Yet Trump’s immigration policy is aimed at the minority of the electorate fearful of welcoming the stranger. Are these the people for whom Trump is running to be President?
There are many more policy issues I could and should address (including Trump’s outlandish positions on taxation, healthcare, inflation and global warming to name a few) that would give us a clue to Trump’s true intentions if president again. However, the issues addressed in this letter, and the many more put forward in the foregoing 2025 Plan, should leave us asking “Does Trump want to be my president?” in addition to “Do I want Trump to be my president?”
Paul A. Pavlis
Highlands
