President Donald Trump will deliver the 2026 State of the Union address tonight, Feb. 24, at 8 p.m.
Ahead of the address, students at Grand Rapids Community College have expressed how Trump’s first 400 days have gone.
Economic concerns were a common theme among students interviewed. “Things are looking pretty bad, and I think it’s only gonna get worse,” Elijah Kortenhoven, who is studying political science, said. “Prices are constantly going up, cost of living going up, and both political parties don’t seem to really have any plan for solving that.”
Elise Isenbek, 18, from Kent County agreed, “I’m not crazy into politics, but I would say pretty not great, if anything, I think he’s (Trump) just going to make it worse.”
For some, concern went beyond the economy. Students pointed to United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement only growing stronger and foreign affairs growing weaker as a point of anxiety.
“It’s not good to say the least. Sure is scary out there, especially during January. A lot of stuff happened with Venezuela, the ICE killings, the ongoing stuff with the (White) House, even before that with Charlie Kirk and the response to all that,” said Rafael Viveros Barrbars.
Viveros Barrbars said the political climate feels deeply personal, “It’s been quite wild, it’s been very scary, it’s been… almost surreal. I’ve never seen anything like this. Like I’m 19, I’m barely an adult. Just seeing this all happen during my first two years of trying to become my own independent person, it’s just crazy.”
Trade policy drew criticism from students, as did legislative efforts they believed to be causing harm. “I think our president is not doing the best job at all. There’s things going on right now about his tariffs, and how they’re just doing more harm than good, and how they’re trying to get him to stop, and how… he really just doesn’t care,” Lily Binkley, 18, of Holland said. “Different laws that he’s trying to push or different things, like the Epstein stuff that’s going on right now. I think it’s doing mental harm …”
Foreign policy was another point of concern for Binkley.
“It feels like we’re regressing,” she said. “We have a lot of influence on a lot of other countries. And so that makes me nervous about other countries, like our involvement in the incident that just happened in Mexico.”
Other students are disappointed in the progress of the United States, too, “It’s sad to see how little we’ve come,” Lillian Tomorsky, 21, of Grand Rapids said. “Most days I fantasize about getting a credit card and maxing it out to go to a Norwegian country, so I don’t have to be here anymore.”
Even among critics, there remains a desire for transparency. XaVier Johnson, 19, of Grand Rapids, hopes Trump will accurately address the state of the nation. He said, “I feel like there should be some truthfulness. I know the State of the Union (address) is pretty much always ‘everything’s great all the time’, but there should be some truthfulness to ‘hey, I’m addressing problems, I’m going to be a responsible person as the President of the United States.’ I just wouldn’t expect that from him… but I do feel like it’s constant disappointment.”
Collegiate Reporters Ashleigh Wolbrink, Kyle Jackson, Ari Browley, Neveah Morofsky, and Malaina Phebus contributed to this report.
