In Michigan's Macomb County, voters share mixed emotions on Trump's first 100 days

Yahoo

30-04-2025

North of Detroit, Macomb County represents a big source of Republican votes in metro Detroit. And in the county, Michiganders view President Donald Trump's first 100 days back in the White House as everything from "brilliant" to "bold" to "chaotic."
Trump carried Macomb County by 13 percentage points in the 2024 election on his way to winning Michigan. He campaigned in the county frequently and even made another stop in the area April 29 to mark 100 days back in office.
The Detroit Free Press, Lansing State Journal and Center for Community Journalism - Michigan spoke with voters in the region as part of a project interviewing more than 100 Michiganders about Trump's first 100 days.
Michael Coraci, 44, of Shelby Township, said he was laid off from an electric vehicle battery startup when President Donald Trump won a second term because the company knew demand would decline. Still, Coraci said he believes the country can survive a Trump presidency despite his disagreement with Trump's approach. "It's chaos for business and the negotiation strategies seem to be ineffective. You have to unplug from the day-to-day and say 'where's it going to go?' I don't think we've had really too many bad effects from it and maybe we'll get some good out of the policies, despite the poor taste it leaves in your mouth.'
— Jamie L. LaReau
Don Rennaker, 58, of Clinton Township, is a retired corrections officer now working in security and running his own business. He supports President Donald Trump for addressing issues 'most of us have probably never seen before' and says the country needed to get back on track financially. While tariffs bring uncertainty, he said he believes they're necessary, saying, 'Other countries have taken advantage of us on trade.' He thinks government agencies need to be cleaned up and says abortion decisions in cases like rape or incest should be left to a woman, her doctor and her faith.
— Brendel Hightower
Catlin Ruprecht, 40, of Mount Clemens, believes President Donald Trump has been 'doing everything right' in his first months back in office and that the president's tariffs will ultimately be in the best interest of the country, even if the initial adjustment period is a bit rough. 'We've been getting ripped off by all these other countries,' he said. 'I believe in it for the long run, (but) it's going to be hard at first.'
He respects how Trump is doing the things that he said he was going to do: 'He is a business guy and I'd rather have a business guy run the country than somebody that's all about politics."
— JC Reindl
Joshua Trever, 51, of Mount Clemens, is a retired Marine who has voted for President Donald Trump all three times. 'It was hard for me to swallow my beliefs and vote for him the first time around," he said, "because I didn't consider him a conservative — I'm still not sure I do — but decision after decision, I've liked him."
Trever says that while he knows a bit about money, he is not an expert on tariffs and therefore isn't going to second-guess the president right now. 'This country has weathered a lot, so I think we can weather some tariffs. And no one else has tried to put us back on track,' he said.
He is optimistic about the rest of Trump's second term, as well as the prospects for the stock market recovering what it has lost in these first weeks since the big rollout of the tariffs. 'You buy when things are low," he said, "and I wish I had more money right now to buy."
— JC Reindl
Willie Richardson, 82, of Chesterfield Township, is a retired SMART bus driver. He has been a widower for five years (he was married to Barbara Martin of The Supremes). He voted straight-ticket Democratic in the last election, and, of course, that means he voted for Kamala Harris, although he said he knew she wasn't going to win.
Richardson is troubled by many things he has seen from the Trump administration so far, but it's exactly what he expected. Trump 'told us what he's going to do while he was on the campaign. People just didn't believe it.'
That includes cutting programs that help poor people and deporting people who don't have criminal records and are just trying to make a living, Richardson said. Trump's economics don't 'match' unless you're a billionaire or a millionaire, but those folks don't know anything about having to pay $3 for a loaf of bread that used to cost $1.25, he said.
— Eric D. Lawrence
Jason Nowak, 51, of Clinton Township, is a UAW member who works at Stellantis' Detroit Assembly Complex-Jefferson, the plant formerly known as Jefferson North Assembly Plant. He has been there 30 years. Nowak leans 'more Republican' and voted for President Donald Trump in the election.
Nowak likes what Trump's doing, specifically when it comes to tariffs, which he said are needed. 'I just want to see the economy and everything equal out with the other countries. I want to see their tariffs come down and be more equalized and fair trading,' he said. He said people are nervous but that's because of the uncertainty, which will pass, and he wants Trump to keep doing what he's doing.
— Eric D. Lawrence
Lindsey Sokana, 38, of Shelby Township, is an ice cream shop owner who most closely identifies with the Republican Party. She feels hopeful about the start of President Donald Trump's second term. She said she likes his idea of trying to clean up waste. She agrees with his ideas on tariffs but thinks "it's too fast," saying she doesn't believe society can produce what he wants it to produce that quickly. She wants to see more jobs created and products come from the U.S.
What would she like to see less of? "I feel like we're taxed every which way. As a business owner, a small business owner, it's like you can never get ahead. There's always something. Maybe like too much government. I understand the reasons for it. It has to be broad so it will cover everything. But I just feel like it's hard to make a living, you know, when you're a small business trying to fight against big corporations or big franchises."
She said she agrees with some of the things Trump says but doesn't like the way he speaks, and the way he conducts himself, "is not how I would."
— Christina Hall
AJ Whitehead, 21, of Warren, is a junior studying mechanical engineering at Michigan State University. As the professional world approaches, Whitehead said he has felt the pressure of thriving under President Donald Trump's political atmosphere. He is concerned about opportunity, the cost of living and political divisiveness.
'You know, the whole Trump administration doesn't make it seem like I have a secure future in a way,' Whitehead said, 'being an African American and just people with different backgrounds … I don't really know what my future holds.'
The uncertainty has become a burden, though accepting the things he can't control has prompted a sense of gratitude. 'As long as I have breath coming out of my lungs and in my lungs, I'm always gonna be positive,' Whitehead said. Moving forward, he wants to see more empathy in political conversations and advocacy for the little guy.
— Sarah Moore
William Appleberry, 80, of Warren, a retired electronics technician who described himself as "center-left," chose "disappointment" as the word he'd use to describe the start of President Donald Trump's second term.
"Disappointment at the way our country is treating its allies. Disappointment with the way we're treating Ukraine. Disappointment with the way universities are being treated. Disappointment with the total disregard for the rule of law and due process. I could go on but you get the idea," Appleberry said.
Appleberry said he understands the focus on issues such as the national debt and immigration, "but bull-in-a-china-shop is not the way to go about it."
— Keith Matheny
Patricia Miller, 55, a payroll professional who lives in Sterling Heights, is a Republican who voted for Donald Trump for president at every opportunity she has had, in 2016, 2020 and 2024. She said she is pleased with his priorities and strong, quick actions in his second term.
"I think Trump did an excellent job securing the previously wide-open borders," she said. "This should reduce crime and afford our legal immigrants the opportunities they deserve, while preserving other social benefits for legal citizens of the United States."
Miller also supported Trump's executive order recognizing only two genders, male and female.
"There should not be biological males participating in female sports," she said. "It's physically unfair and minimizes the huge accomplishments for which so many women have sacrificed."
She's more unsure about tariffs, however.
"I'm hoping the tariffs will provide revenue for our government while keeping more jobs right here in the U.S.," she said.
— Keith Matheny
A.J. Smith, 43, a car wash manager from St. Clair Shores, typically votes Republican and views President Donald Trump's first 100 days in office as a sign of strength. "He's really transparent. … He's trying to show us what goes on, why we have a DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) … it's mindboggling the s--- that we're spending money on."
Smith supports Trump's dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which cut funding from numerous programs, including one that allows children overseas to watch "Sesame Street." He also supports Trump's plan to cut funding for NPR and PBS. "The spending is out of hand right now," he said. He also hopes Trump's plan to protect tips and overtime from taxes goes through.
"I'll get a huge raise automatically," said Smith, who's optimistic about the future. "The last time he was in office, it was a solid state," he said. "He don't take no crap from anybody."
— Tresa Baldas
Warren Holloway, 43, of Sterling Heights, said if you had asked him a year ago what his political affiliation was, he wouldn't hesitate to say Democrat. Today, he's not so sure. He said he is hopeful that the chaos President Donald Trump has caused in his first 100 days will end up benefiting Americans and believes the aim is to improve the country's global standing. "He put out so many executive orders, it's hard to keep up. The hot button issue is the tariffs — tariffs could have had a much more positive spin if done with a scalpel rather than a sledgehammer," Holloway said.
— Jackie Charniga
Roxanne Jabalee, 66, a sales manager in the shower industry from St. Clair Shores, applauds President Donald Trump for doing "everything that he talked about doing." "He's working to clean up the messes that have caused our debt," she said, noting she supports the Department of Government Efficiency initiatives and the tariffs. "Other countries have been taking advantage of us. He's the only one with the guts to stand up to those countries."
She also credits Trump with calming the public's economic fears, saying her customers have started keeping their appointments, where before they canceled them. She hopes Trump's plan to protect Social Security from being taxed goes through, as she will retire soon.
She also said she is concerned that young people are making decisions without input from their parents and she believes parents should have more say or control over gender identity matters.
She's also optimistic about the future under Trump, saying: "He has more experience this time."
— Tresa Baldas
Amy Barbieri, 45, of Warren, is a small business owner who sells metaphysical goods like tarot cards on TikTok Shop. She's more of a Democrat but voted for President Donald Trump in the last two elections, and even boasted a large Trump flag in her yard.
But now she's turning on him. She fears threats on food assistance, "whatever's going on with Elon Musk and Social Security and DOGE," and now, the tariffs.
"I work on TikTok. I sell on TikTok Shop. That's my whole business. That's my whole source of income since I lost my job in automotive manufacturing," Barbieri said.
"I've made good money selling on TikTok, but I import from China. So now I just lost my small business. So no, I'm not a Trump supporter anymore."
— Andrea Sahouri
At an April 19 rally against the President Donald Trump administration, Olivia Quinal, 59, of St. Clair Shores, stood on the sidewalk blowing into a vuvuzela. In her 22 years working as a social worker in public schools, Quinal said she was trained to move slowly, to rely on a rigorous review of facts and data. In Trump's second term, she's not seeing the same meticulous approach she thinks public services need. "He's willy-nilly doing things. And I'm a retired school social worker, so I'm all about data, facts," Quinal said. "And the things that he's doing is very impulsive, very impulsive. You can't just do things without dissecting it."
— Liam Rappleye
Toni Apostoloski, 50, of Macomb Township, is an engineer who says he mostly aligns with the Democratic Party. He describes the start of President Donald Trump's second term as "chaotic … Definitely chaotic. Things have been pretty wild … Lots of stuff going on in the news. It's kinda hard to keep track of everything. And it's just, it's been a wild ride so far and it's only been three months."
He understands the American dream is to have everything built here and Trump's "whole spiel about Make America Great Again, I mean, it's a wonderful dream to have … but he's goin' about the whole thing all wrong," citing the raising, then pulling back of tariffs and firing federal employees "willy-nilly." "I get it if you want to run America like a business. I don't believe it should be run like a business. It is definitely a government entity that works totally differently than a corporation, but that's how his mindset works," he says.
Apostoloski says he wants less see-sawing on issues and, instead, having and sticking with a plan.
— Christina Hall
This series was reported by: Dana Afana, Lily Altavena, Sarah Atwood, Tresa Baldas, Duante Beddingfield, Dave Boucher, Lisa Vidaurri Bowling, Jackie Charniga, Natalie Davies, Paul Egan, Eric Guzman, Christina Hall, Brad Heineman, Clara Hendrickson, Brendel Hightower, Johnathan Hogan, Violet Ikonomova, Cassidey Kavathas, Georgea Kovanis, Jamie L. LaReau, Eric D. Lawrence, Arpan Lobo, Keith Matheny, Sarah Moore, Darcie Moran, David Rodriguez Muñoz, Corey J. Murray, David Panian, Jenna Prestininzi, Nour Rahal, Nushrat Rahman, Liam Rappleye, Don Reid, Adrienne Roberts, Andrea May Sahouri, Beki San Martin, Susan Selasky, Kristen Jordan Shamus, Scott Talley, Kristi Tanner, Connor Veenstra, Tess Ware, Niraj Warikoo, Jalen Williams, John Wisely, Suzanne Nolan Wisler and Frank Witsil.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: In Michigan's Macomb County, voters get candid on Trump's 1st 100 days