It is no secret that the United States is in chaos, along with the rest of the vast world that surrounds it. I am here to give you a perspective of these current times from a Washington State University student. I think this is only fitting because I will enter my Senior year at WSU in the Fall, and I have grasped a thorough understanding of the political landscape of the United States at 21 years of age.

I started venturing further into the political realm than I usually did during my freshman year at WSU. I am a college student, and I have learned the hard way that we are the future, whether we like it or not. Thus, I have urged myself to acquire an increasing amount of knowledge about current American politics, as these times are more crucial than ever.

Throughout the past two years, Donald Trump has been dominating news headlines with his controversial statements, unorthodox political strategies and overall overbearing presence after announcing his bid to run for U.S. president. The storm only increased in intensity from there as he took advantage of numerous incidents in 2016 such as mass shootings and garnered a swelling number of supporters leading up to the 2016 presidential election. The final result revealed just how divided the people of the United States are in the modern era, the most we have been since the American Civil War.

Throughout his campaign, President Trump promised the American people a multitude of changes. The most notable of these changes was a wall that would be built on the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump made additional comments stating that he was going to make Mexico pay for the wall. This created major division between the people of the United States, with some praising it to no end and others strongly condemning it. Trump also slammed any candidate who dared to stand in his way, and his supporters followed suit. 2017 saw President Trump’s first year in office, which further revealed the antagonism between the two primary political parties. It seems that neither party desires to cooperate with the other because of their differing views.

This division between the two major parties and their respective supporters is destroying our country at this point. I do not align with either political party, but I can safely say that I think Trump could not care less about the American people, not even his supporters. It is baffling to me that people still show avid support for him because he can hardly even form a proper sentence with his brain at times. It has been only one year so far, but he does not seem like he cares about fulfilling his promises anytime soon. To make matters worse, given the general feeling of unreliability about the news media, the truth is not defined among the general populace.

The most important thing I can conclude about these modern times is that we need to stand together more than ever. We also need a definition for what the truth is in the media, and the American people should collectively be one united entity.