WASHINGTON”•As Donald Trump prepares to take the helm of a divided nation, Americans across the political spectrum are looking to the inauguration of their 45th president with wildly different expectations”•ranging from excitement and elation to despondency and dread.
Trump prepares to take over even as he and the media are digging in for what could be a long and bitter war.
The president-elect, who spent much of his campaign at loggerheads with the mainstream press, has been sharpening his attacks, and the news media are bracing for what some see as a looming campaign of intimidation.
Meanwhile, the prospect of a Hillary Clinton comeback after her shock loss to Donald Trump could hardly be less certain, but in New York where she is revered, plenty of people dream of her running for mayor.
Her public appearances since the election have been largely confined to walks in the woods close to her Chappaqua home, where she is photographed in minimal make-up by neighbors mourning her defeat and repelled by the president-elect.
Here are some of the Americans’ thoughts:
‘Super excited’
Deni Dillon, 60, a small business owner from the Detroit suburbs, spoke to AFP from the road while driving to Washington to attend the inauguration Friday:
“I’m super excited because I really do believe this is to be the start for good things for America. I hope that all the people that are protesting, and having trouble, will see as time goes on that they will stop being upset, that they will see how things are going to improve.
“My hope is that the borders will be secure, that the people that need help in the United States”•the veterans, senior citizens, disabled people”•will get first priority. We might be the Motor City again.”
At rock bottom
Holly Morganelli, a 36-year-old from Miami, Florida, describes herself as “disheartened, disappointed, anxiety-ridden and despondent” over the Trump election:
“I truly feel that this country is moving backward, away from positive progress in terms of racial, ethnic and gender equality, away from taking responsibility for the future of humanity, animals and our environment.
“I no longer believe that most of my fellow Americans hold these beliefs and values.”
‘Middle of the road’
Rebecca Brannon, 25, from Eden Prairie, Minnesota, volunteered for Trump’s campaign and was invited to the inauguration:
“I hope he stays true to kind of who he is. I don’t want him to be too conservative and I don’t want him to be too liberal. I really think he’s that middle of the road kind of guy.”
Build that wall
Jim Chilton, 77, a rancher and self-described “irredeemable deplorable” who lives along the Arizona-Mexico border:
“I’m so excited about Trump’s wall that my socks are rolling up and down.
“I hope the Trump presidency unites the country and brings about a thriving economy.”
Apprehensive
Noelle Cullimore, 54, a mother of two school-age children from Bay Shore, New York, voted for Trump’s Democratic rival Hillary Clinton:
“He sounds even less intelligent to me than before”•if that is possible. That whole thing with the election and Russia was so bizarre.
“Frankly, I am even more worried now that he is about to take office. I don’t know what to expect.”
Just set us free
Dan Peterson, 55, is a plumber in Hopkins, Minnesota:
“I’m not looking for Trump to do anything. I just want him to open up the floodgates of opportunity. I don’t want some bureaucrat to tell me who to hire, how much I have to pay them.
“The only thing I want any president to do is to secure our freedoms… press freedom, free expression, individuality, the freedom to earn, to work your tail off and to keep as much of what you’ve earned yourself.”
And keep us safe
Marina Woolcock, 72, lives in The Villages, a retirement community in northern Florida:
“We are looking forward to the first 100 days. We have great hope that this administration will keep the country together. We are in great hope.
“First of all and most important, we are going to be more secure in our country. I think we are concerned about the new normal we are having, with all these individuals who are being radicalized.”
Terror close to home
Denise Galvez, 41, is a Cuban-American from Miami:
“We need a security plan for this country. We can’t allow any more terror attacks like Fort Lauderdale. Each time it strikes closer to our homes, our communities. We need to identify who is attacking us. And they haven’t done that yet because they are so worried about insulting any one group”•about political correctness. They have not taken this seriously.
“I know he will be the least popular president in the country’s history”•and I understand that. I have never blindly followed him, but I think he deserves a chance and we should support him.”
Bring back jobs
James Finch, 78, retired supervisor of Conklin, a small town in upstate New York that has lost jobs and industry, wants the Trump administration to promote employment and natural gas drilling in his area:
“I think it’s tremendous what he’s getting done, he’s being fair and looking at all sides and all opinions.
“We’ve been really lambasted over the last eight years. We’ve lost all our industry and everything going overseas…. I hope he can get some of those other companies that are coming back to locate in upstate here.”
Kind of scared
Hiba Nasser, 20, is a US-born Muslim American psychology and criminal justice student at Wayne State University in Detroit:
“I’m kind of scared, a little. Not as scared as I was when he first got elected, because right after that there were so many hate crimes. I feel like it has settled down a bit.
“I’d like to think that he has minorities in his mind, because we are the foundations of this country… I’m hoping the hate rhetoric is going to be less, that he gives a platform for minorities in the country.”
Planning resistance
Aislinn Pulley, 35, is a founder of the local Black Lives Matter movement in Chicago:
“The fear is that a McCarthyesque crackdown will be administered, which will affect everyone, especially groups and individuals who have been a part of the current movement to demand an end to police murders and police terror. That’s a threat and a real fear that many of us are planning on resisting.”
A farce and a tragedy
Brett Spiegel, 43, lives in Miami:
“I am genuinely afraid. Being wildly unqualified and ethically dubious would be bad enough, but even worse is that he is openly hostile to science and facts.
“On top of all that, he chooses to be hateful and small at every turn. He is the biggest threat American constitutional democracy has faced in my lifetime. To go from Obama to Trump is a farce and a tragedy.”
Just the way it is
Dennis Frasene, 38, lives in Westchester, New York, and voted for Trump’s rival Hillary Clinton:
“I feel, I guess you could call it hopeful optimism. Maybe this guy can pull something out of his sleeve that nobody saw coming. But I’m of the mindset that either way, we need to support our president whether or not we agree he got elected or not. It’s just the way it is.
“He’s proven himself to be a brilliant marketer and a brilliant brand ambassador for his own brand and I do feel that he’s far more intelligent and calculating than most people give him credit for.
“I don’t think this guy wanted to become president so he can screw up.”