America has always stirred trouble amongst its people; you may hear it yourself that America is corrupt and leaves little for its people. Now, amid the current economic crisis, growing distrust in our communities, and ever more changes to the law, Americans are starting to lose faith in their country.
What’s been going on?
Since Trump’s presidency began, there’s been an influx of changes, laws, and legislation. Trump has declared that immigration is a national emergency and has significantly focused on this. Since his presidency began, he has tried to deny birthright citizenship to children born to migrants. He placed tariffs on imported goods that keep increasing in price, and he’s been making significant cuts to government programs like Medicaid while trying to enforce new rules in programs like SNAP.
He also began to target gender and diversity by shutting down federal offices of diversity, equity, and inclusion. He even attempted to file an executive order to restrict access to gender-affirming care to minors. (BBC, 2025).
That was only in the beginning, since then he’s been causing a huge terror amongst our own community by having ICE come into neighborhoods, schools, and even churches to try and detain illegal immigrants. This has even created events where legal US citizens have been detained or attacked in the process; some people have already lost their lives during or after they were detained. Now, there have been new rules implemented into SNAP and a massive cut into federal service programs like Medicaid; these new rules and cuts could heavily impact rural citizens, veterans, and older citizens. Millions could lose SNAP and Medicaid. (Hardy, 2025).
How have Americans been feeling?
While Trump and his administration may have had a strong beginning in their relationship with the American public, it’s now been turning sour, with more and more Americans believing this country is on the wrong track. ‘At least a third of Americans believe that the country is on the wrong track, just under a third believes that it’s on the right track.’ (ABC, 2025). The ABC article goes into depth about this. Americans are worried and unhappy, and they believe the economy has gotten worse under Trump. What’s really interesting is that different races, different classes, and even urban and rural people think that the country is moving in the wrong direction. To add more pain to the American image, it’s estimated that only 58% are proud to be Americans, a new record low for America (GALLUP, 2025).
Some Americans had come out and began to explain why they’re not proud to be Americans anymore. Debra Tinkler, a veteran from Virginia, had said, “Being an American used to mean pride in how this country works together to benefit all citizens and protect freedom, personal and otherwise. Now that we have a president who is a convicted felon and pardons other felons, who is rich and protects other White rich males, I’m not sure what being an American means.” Brent Morrison, from Indiana, had said,” I don’t feel proud of my country. We’re a laughingstock.
Patriotism meant being proud of your country and welcoming others. I never believed in “American exceptionalism.” Now, I am not proud of my country, nor is it welcoming to others. I fear that all the friends we’ve made in Europe will not come back to visit us because of the political climate here. And that makes us sad.” (USA TODAY, 2025)
How do we come back from this?
It’s hard to say; we’re reaching a new point in America where the level of stress and fear may change us forever. As time goes on, the number of Americans who believe political violence may be the way to get the country back on track increases. It was around 19% when the survey was done, and now, on Oct 1, it has risen to 30% of Americans. That’s a significant increase, and it might keep growing as the days go by. (PBS, 2025).
One article says that America may experience a U-turn and return to democracy; many countries that were losing democracy experienced a similar ‘U-turn’ back to democracy. America does have the chance to do this; it doesn’t mind that America’s democracy will always be okay. (VOX, 2025).
What can you do?
Build a community you can rely on, help when you can, check on your neighbors, and build positive relationships with the people you’re around. Stay informed and spread important information to friends and family. Know your rights, know the history, and stay safe.
