As President Trump heads into his 11th week in office, voters remain split on his job performance. A poll last month shows just under half of voters believe Trump is doing a good job. Just over half disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy.
KPBS spoke with two local voters about their views on Trump’s tenure so far, Independent voter Meri Jo Petrivelli and Republican Liliana Armenta.
On Trump's performance so far
Petrivelli: I am not surprised, but I am disappointed at the way things are going. Things that are important to me are the way that we treat people, the way that we treat immigrants, the way that we treat people of color, women, those in marginalized communities. I think civil rights are important. I think the way that we educate our children is important. I think the way that we treat our allies and our standing in the world is important.
Armenta: What matters to me is our country, our people, and also our world standing. I believe President Trump is delivering on his America first, that he was campaigning by tightening up our borders, which is really important to me, especially living here in San Diego. It directly affects us, our families, our communities. And also lessening the drugs that are coming into the United States, all the fentanyl that has been captured, the gang members. And then on the broader perspective with America first is just taking care of us, the Americans, our farm workers, and also with the world events that are going on, it's just making sure that we are a strong nation that we were 10, 15 years ago and try to build up to that again.
On government spending cuts
Petrivelli: "Do we really want to be cutting the people that are making sure our skies are safe? Do we really want to be reducing the ability to make sure we have clean air and clean water to make sure that our farmers are being paid appropriately for the things that they're growing, for the ways that our children are being educated, whether or not they get lunch or breakfast at school. Sometimes those children only get those meals a day. Who are these cuts serving is another way to look at it. We know who they're hurting. They're hurting people who are poor, people who are vulnerable, people who live in communities that don't have the same kind of resources as others."
On tax cuts
Armenta: I think it is a good idea because it's not about helping the rich, and that's how a lot of people see it. But I think it's just they have that extra money to reinvest into philanthropy, into their communities, into other things, into the economy. And I don't know if it's fair, to piggyback on what Meri Jo was saying, I understand her view and how it does affect a lot of the community, but just how I see it is we do need that shakeup, cleanup into what the government has been funding. I am a true believer in, yes, helping people, but helping people that also follow the law, that follow the rules, that work hard. We pay our taxes. And it's really difficult to be helping everybody. And there's a lot of Americans that don't get the help. There's a lot of homeless veterans.
