1-20-17. The mark of a new era with team Trump leading. On January 20th, 2017, Donald J. Trump became our 45th president. President Trump gave a speech that included, but was not limited to, his agenda and his plans for the future.

One topic that really stuck with Americans was President Trump’s constant talk of America climbing back to number one. In another sense, win. Make great deals. Bring jobs back. Make trade fair. And defend our border.

Throughout his speech he denounced past presidents, even those past presidents who sat near — Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Jimmy Carter — were targeted by Trump’s implications. He explained the fact of how these presidents made big mistakes that needed to be fixed and couldn’t be repeated.

Reviews of Trump’s speech were very divided.

Some people saw his speech as boring, bad, or hurtful. Mrs. Kazlauskas, a Prairie Ridge teacher, felt President Trump’s speech was “better than expected given his track record,” but Mr. Boldwyn, another Prairie Ridge teacher, said the speech “seemed a bit invective.”

On the other hand, others saw Trump’s speech as empowering. “I believe that his speech was very effective in telling everyone what he is going to do over the next 4-8 years,” said freshman Tighe Vrbancic. “It was pretty good, and it had some pretty good points, ” said sophomore Carolyn Sveden.

Stephanie Otto, a Prairie Ridge teacher, liked certain parts of the speech, such as “a wall to protect the USA from illegal immigrants and drug traffic, trade agreement improvements, [and making] America great again.” She continued, Trump’s speech was “in tune with my beliefs.”

“I find it was a very gracious speech that met up with his campaign promises and I personally felt very inspired by it,” said Jackee Schneider, a junior.

During Trump’s inauguration many protested.

Protesting is an American benefit for citizens because the 1st Amendment in our Constitution allows for a peaceful protest.

Some protesters were far from peaceful, disrespecting police officers. CNN stated that, “Bursts of chaos erupted on 12th and K streets as black-clad ‘antifascist’ protesters smashed storefronts and bus stops, hammered out the windows of a limousine and eventually launched rocks at a phalanx of police lined up in an eastbound crosswalk.”

Trump officially signed in his nominees for cabinet members after the Inaugural Address since Congress accepted them. Then he went to a luncheon where he met with other Government officials and was given gifts. Trump then received a picture, taken by Abbas Shirmohammadi, of himself giving his Inaugural Address and one of the American Flags that was hanging above him while he gave his Inaugural Address.

The inauguration day ended with dancing at three different Inaugural balls. This was the end to the beginning step of a new presidency.