Southeast Missouri leaders react to Trump's return to White House, immediate plans for office

President Donald Trump was officially sworn back into the White House on Monday, Jan. 20. During his inauguration speech, he declared, “The golden age of America begins right now.”

Local Republican legislators shared their enthusiasm for Trump retaking office, including District 27 state Sen. Jamie Burger, who said he fully supports the president’s agenda.

“I’m very optimistic and excited,” Burger said. “I support his initiatives 100%, and I can't wait to see what happens in the coming few days.”

District 147 state Rep. John Voss echoed Trump’s “golden age” sentiment and said he believes “making our country safer, stronger and more prosperous is going to become a reality under his leadership.”

“If there's one thing we know about Donald Trump, it’s that he's going to do what he said he was going to do,” Voss said. “If he signs an executive order that will close our southern border, I think that will make our country safer. If he signs an executive order to reduce government spending, I think that will be fantastic. If he is able to increase the amount of energy that our country produces, I think being energy-independent is an important element in the world today.

“I look forward to seeing all of the executive orders that he signs, then beginning to understand how those may impact the state of Missouri and what we're going to do about those.”

While local Republicans celebrated the president’s inauguration, members of the Democratic Party weren't as pleased. Andy Leighton, Cape Girardeau County Democratic Party chairman, said he believes many Americans were “impatient with inflation and the price of groceries”, and elected Trump based on their frustration. Instead of the prosperous “golden age” that was promised, Leighton said he expects “chaos”.

“Chaos is one of Donald Trump's favorite devices because it keeps us guessing about what he's doing and it allows him to do a lot of other things behind the scenes that benefit mostly him and his friends,” Leighton said. “... What I see is a man who is a convicted felon, an adulterer and a woman abuser who is disloyal to his partners and is out to monetize the presidency.”

Border security and immigration

Trump campaigned heavily on border security and the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants throughout the United States ahead of the Nov. 5 election. His planned executive orders — as previewed to reporters ahead of the inauguration — on immigration and border security include declaring a national emergency at the southern border, sending military and National Guard troops to enforce border restrictions, ending “catch and release”, designating cartels as terrorist organizations and ending birthright citizenship.

District 146 state Rep. Barry Hovis, a former law enforcement officer, served on a committee that traveled to the southern border and spoke with agents regarding the country’s security and agreed with Trump’s decision to take immediate action regarding illegal immigration.

“Him stepping right into that right off by closing the border and securing it better, I think it'll be helpful for us,” Hovis said. “I think he's going to come in with an agenda to try to make America stronger. I know he likes to say ‘Make America Great Again’, but I think he's going to try to focus on making sure we are internally strong.”

Burger agreed with Trump’s decision to send troops to the border, stating it “is a must” and that now-former president Joe Biden’s immigration policies “haven’t been good for us.”

“I think rounding up people that are illegals and sending them back to their country of origin, we should do,” he said.

Leighton, on the other hand, expressed concerns regarding overall human rights.

“They're all human beings,” Leighton said. “Start there and then say, ‘All right, what rights should human beings have?’ And have a humane way of dealing with it. I'm not saying we need to take in everybody that happens across the border and bring them into the system. … You need a system to process people, to adjudicate their cases and to keep track of them while they're in the United States until they become citizens, or until they leave.”

Fossil fuels, environmental regulations

“Drill, baby, drill”, has become a popular slogan among Trump and his followers. Along with declaring a national energy emergency, Trump also expressed his intent to increase domestic oil production and claimed the U.S.’s current energy policy has led to the country’s inflation.

While Hovis supports expanding oil production, he also warned that the potential benefit may not be seen immediately, or even by the end of Trump’s term.

“I talked to some (oil) executives here a year and a half ago,” Hovis said, “and it's not that there's not things out there they can go and drill now, but they've got to have assurances, like many of our businesses and many of our things in the country, that if they put in a big investment to drill another oil well, it takes eight to 10 years for them to realize the payoff for that.

“(Who’s to say) if they would go and make a promise, ‘Hey, we're going to increase oil production by 5% in the U.S.’ that in four years it doesn't get shut down by the ‘green’ people that don't agree with that type of industry.”

Concerns for increasing oil production in the U.S. include negative impacts on the environment because of greenhouse gas emissions, potential for oil spills, water pollution from fracking and ecosystem disruption.

Foreign trade, tariffs

Trump has also promised to enact tariffs on several countries during his campaign, including China and Canada, but did not sign any executive orders to do so on Day 1. Additionally, Trump said he will establish an External Revenue Service, which will collect the yet-to-be-imposed tariffs.

While many Americans may worry about potential price hikes caused by imposing tariffs, Burger said he believes any price increases will be “short-lived”.

“Other countries tariff our stuff all the time,” Burger said. “When we cave into other countries and don't tax their goods coming into our country, but they want them to be coming into our country, they can't afford to do that without the Americans’ purchases of their products. I think the tariffs will be short-lived and we will be on a balanced trade. I think that's the right initiative.”

DEI and gender identity

Trump promised to end diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices — organizational frameworks designed to promote fair treatment and inclusion of all people from all backgrounds —  in the federal government. Burger expressed his support of Trump’s decision, adding that “everyone I speak to thought the wokeness of DEI and CRT (critical race theory) were completely evil.” Opponents argue eliminating DEI practices could lead to marginalized groups being underrepresented.

“I think it's craziness,” Burger said. “I hope they're all repealed and we can get back to normal where the best person qualified for the job should get the job. That's the way it should be.”

Additionally, Trump plans to follow up on campaign promises regarding gender identity, introducing an executive order recognizing only two sexes — male and female — and using a person's sex rather than their gender in federal documents and policies.