President Donald Trump’s first four weeks in office have elicited both scorn and praise from around the country and in Maryland as the administration moves at lightning speed to enact policy changes on immigration, tariffs, spending and many other issues.
Nationwide polls show mixed reviews of Trump’s job performance so far, and locally, some Maryland voters have mixed opinions, too.
Asked what he thinks of Trump’s first few weeks in office, Bel Air resident William Opfer said he couldn’t answer the question “without using words you probably don’t want to hear” and described the Trump administration as a “gaggle of goons.”
But Trump supporter Sophia Montgomery of Perry Hall said Trump is “doing what he said he was going to do” and has brought back “respect to America that we deserve.”
What the public likes, doesn’t like
An Economist / YouGov poll this week showed that, while Trump started his second term with more popularity among voters than during his first term, the positive feelings are starting to wane. Over the past two weeks, his approval rating dropped from 49% to 46% approving and the percentage disapproving increased to 48% from 43%.
Regardless of whether they have positive or negative feelings about Trump, a CBS News/ YouGov poll from the week before showed that the vast majority of people — 70% — agree he’s doing what he promised to do during his campaign.
On individual policies, the public strongly favors some of Trump’s early moves and strongly disfavors others, according to a Marquette Law School poll released Feb. 12. Popular policies include his executive order recognizing only two sexes (63% support), deporting immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally (60% support), increasing production of oil and gas (60% support) and declaring a national emergency over U.S. southern border crossings (59% support).
Unpopular policies include deporting people who have lived in the U.S. for several years illegally while holding a job and not committing other crimes (57% oppose), proposing to retake the Panama Canal (65% oppose), pardoning all Jan. 6 defendants (65% oppose) and changing the Gulf of Mexico to “Gulf of America” (71% oppose).
Though nationwide polls show mixed reviews of Trump’s job performance so far, an overwhelming majority of people in deep-blue Maryland oppose Trump’s agenda — only 31% of Maryland registered voters view him favorably and 67% unfavorably, according to Feb. 12 data published by online pollster Civiqs.
Government efficiency
Among Trump’s most headline-grabbing actions so far are his government spending freezes and efforts to cut waste and fraud.
There’s a lot of spending that does need to be reviewed, said J. Matthew McGlone, president of the Ruxton-Riderwood-Lake Roland Area Improvement Association.
“People do believe the federal government is big, fat, slow and bloated and almost ungovernable,” he said, adding that Trump’s approach may not be appropriate for “all parts of government.”
McGlone described the U.S. Agency for International Development — among the first targets of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency — as having “done a lot of good things” but also having spent money on many things that “never should have been its purview.”
Baltimore City resident Lauren Simon, a registered nurse, is concerned that rental assistance and other programs that have helped single moms like her will be cut.
“I am a past recipient of Section 8, and I promise you, I would not be able to get to where I am today without having it,” she said.
Montgomery, a member of the Northeast Republican Club of Baltimore County and the Republican Women of Baltimore County, said she’s happy with the cuts to USAID.
“If there are any mistakes that are made, they can always be refunded,” she said.
Opfer, who retired 15 years ago from a career in hospital administration and accounting, worried about DOGE “barging in” to the Treasury Department and accessing the personal information of Social Security recipients like him.
“I have expressed my negative opinion of the Trump administration in a number of forums, and so I wouldn’t be surprised if they delayed my payments,” Opfer said. “I also wouldn’t be surprised if Social Security payments across the board got messed up simply because of their incompetence.”
The U.S. Treasury has said that DOGE cannot control payments and has “read-only access” to systems.
Jamal Davis, a 63-year-old Baltimore City resident and substitute teacher, said he thinks Trump’s DOGE is a nice idea “in theory.”
“It’s almost like he wants to create a shadow government in addition to the one we have,” he said, adding that this is “amazing” for someone who advocates for reducing government.
Taking over Gaza
When Trump suggested last week that the U.S. take over Gaza, turning the war-torn region into a “Riviera of the Middle East,” 82-year-old Baltimore County resident Harold Mendelson saw it as “thinking out of the box.”
“I don’t think we’re gonna wind up with a beach resort there or anything, but at least he’s realizing we have to do something different,” he said.
Mendelson added he also thinks the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine will get “cleared up” under Trump.
McGlone finds the Gaza proposal “ridiculous” but added that Trump’s statements are forcing a discussion of the issue, as surrounding countries “have to come to terms with what to do about Gaza and the people there.”
Montgomery doesn’t believe it’s possible to find a “two-state solution” between Israel and the Palestinians when it comes to who controls the region. If taking over Gaza is the best way to fix the problems and make it possible for people to live there again, “so be it,” she said.
Davis said Trump has “no business” in that part of the world.
“He has routinely shown his motives to be about money and whatever sense of power he derives from his actions,” Davis said.
Besides Gaza, Trump has made some eye-opening proposals about other regions of the world, suggesting the U.S. could annex Canada, purchase Greenland and retake the Panama Canal — all of which Opfer described as “absurdities.”
Tariffs
Laurel resident Tim Phares, 70, is less keen on tariffs than other Trump policies, saying although they sometimes can serve a national security objective, “we don’t need any more taxes.”
Phares described Trump’s tariff strategy toward China as similar to Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s strategy in addressing the Soviet Union — making them “spend all their time rebuilding themselves economically so they couldn’t have the military capacity to want to keep up with us.”
Phares added that though Trump has talked about fixing the economy, he “didn’t really have any other ideas than tariffs on how to fix it.” Phares wrote in Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president in the November election.
Davis worries the tariffs could “throw the economy out of balance” and be harmful to consumers.
“I hope he finds some level of humanity that allows him to become a better president,” Davis said.
Montgomery agreed there might be a “slight negative impact in the beginning” with tariffs, “but once everyone is on board, it will be a reciprocal transaction and good for America,” she said.
Opfer said he’s against starting “trade wars” and finds many of Trump’s proposals to be “bluster,” noting his pause on 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada shortly after announcing them.
Gender and race
Trump’s executive order banning transgender athletes from women’s sports was a positive moment for Mendelson.
“I have granddaughters who are athletes and play in college,” he said. “I’m glad they’re not going to have a male athlete play against them because they spent their lives becoming college athletes. It’s just not fair.”
Davis, who is Black, said he’ll be happy when America “can have a conversation about racial relations” and find “real solutions.”
“I’m not even talking about a full-blown blanket reparations program, but reform from an economic standpoint,” he said, adding America should avoid “going backwards in terms of our humanity.”
Have a news tip? Contact Brooke Conrad at bconrad@baltsun.com, 443-682-2356 or @conrad_brooke on X
