Social & Economic Issues

Presidential Election Win : Donald Trump's Impact on the Nation

Editor’s Note: Views expressed in this article are

solely the author's opinions and beliefs.

By Iasonas Antoniou

Donald J. Trump was recently voted into office as the 47th president of the United States of America.  Trump won both the popular vote and the electoral college vote. This victory will greatly benefit the U.S. in many ways. 

Over the last 3 and a half years, gas, food and general commodity prices have skyrocketed. Gas in particular has seen a huge increase in cost. In September of 2020, while President Trump was still in office, gas prices were $2.126  per gallon. In September of 2023, the prices shot up to $3.715 per gallon, which is about a 40%  markup. That may not seem like a big change, but considering that most cars take about 15-20 gallons to fully fuel up, that price change now means the average person spends about $56 to $74 dollars to fill up a tank, compared to the price it used to be at, which was $32 to $42. This is absurd, and not only have gas prices gone up but so have food prices, which is much more of a necessity than gas. 

During the four years (2016-2020) Trump was president, the average expenditures towards food for a family of four was $7,923 a year, with very slight variation between the years. Even just taking in only moderate spending, a family of four in 2024 spends $14,796 a year on food alone, which is a drastic increase from four years ago. Especially in New York where we live, living prices are growing too high for the average family and person, with people having to work two jobs just to live paycheck to paycheck. 

Another huge problem currently is the amount of illegal immigrants being let into the country at the Southern Border. Between June 2020 and February 2024, officials have reported a staggering 11 million illegal border crossings. Not only does this further increase housing prices in an already inflated economy, but it also hurts the millions of people waiting to get into this country legally from overseas. The current reported wait time for a working Visa from Europe is 12 years. It is unfair to those who have worked so hard to get the opportunity to come here to get denied at the gate because of the millions coming in illegally. It is truly un-American.

We will have to wait and see how Trump will handle whatever future endeavors the U.S. may encounter in the next four years, but based on his policies and his given his track record from 2016-2020, many of the above-mentioned issues will hopefully be resolved. Time will tell.