Doug Keith

State College

Many Americans supported Donald Trump because they believed his promise to avoid foreign entanglements and improve everyday life at home. Instead, many families are facing rising costs, growing economic uncertainty, and fears that aggressive tariffs could push inflation even higher. Global instability–including threats to critical oil routes like the Strait of Hormuz–only adds to those pressures.

Even more troubling is the growing possibility that young Americans could once again be drawn into war–despite Trump’s repeated promises to keep the United States out of foreign conflicts. None of this should come as a surprise. Trump has a long history of saying whatever benefits him politically, regardless of whether it benefits the American people.

Meanwhile, concern is growing across the political spectrum about the influence of extreme wealth on government. When policies favor billionaires and large corporations while ordinary workers struggle with wages, healthcare costs, and retirement security, public trust erodes. Trump has shown little hesitation about aligning himself with wealthy elites while personally profiting from political power on a scale unprecedented in modern American history.

Millions of hardworking Americans are trying to make ends meet while the wealthy grow even wealthier. Too often, corporations maximize profits by shortchanging workers whose labor makes those profits possible. That imbalance is neither healthy nor sustainable.

This shouldn’t be a partisan issue. It is an issue of accountability and fairness. A healthy democracy depends on an economy and government that work for everyone–not just those already at the top.