ORANGE — Several days into the Donald Trump presidency, a number of people in the North Quabbin region are optimistic about the new commander in chief.
Men who came in and out of Mom’s Country Kitchen at 217 East Main St. on Tuesday morning expressed varying degrees of enthusiasm, but said they so far approve of America’s new president.
“I think it’s absolutely great,” Bruce St. John said over a cup of coffee at the counter. “I support all of his platform. … I hope he does what he says.”
Comments from the public seemed fairly representative of their towns’ voting margins, as Orange and Athol voted for Trump over Hillary Clinton, 3,869-3,556. (The Franklin County area overall voted for Clinton by a 2-to-1 margin.)
Trump spent part of his first few days as the nation’s 45th president signing executive orders, including one that blocks American taxpayer money from going to international organizations that provide services related to abortion and another that immediately withdrew the country from participating in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free-trade agreement between the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim nations, which had previously failed to gain congressional support.
Keith Lyman, who owns G & S Lyman Inc., said small business owners are optimistic about the next four years, and he hopes Trump’s touted business savvy improves the economy for guys like him.
“He did pretty well (over the weekend),” he said before leaving Mom’s Country Kitchen, where he ate breakfast. “It’s interesting.”
Navy veteran Roger Mallet said it’s a little early to judge Trump’s presidency, though he believes Trump will work hard to stay true to his campaign promises.
“The thing I admire is, I feel so confident about him,” he said. “There’s nothing too big for him to solve.”
Mallet said he voted for the Libertarian ticket of Gary Johnson and William Weld, though he now wishes he had voted Trump.
Norman LaFountain, sitting next to Mallet, agreed with Mallet in that it is far too early to gauge Trump’s leadership. LaFountain, who works as a bartender at the Franco-American Club in Athol, said he didn’t vote at all in the general election, but has no objection to Trump’s actions at this point. LaFountain said he wants to see Trump build a wall at the Mexican border to keep out undocumented immigrants.
Everyone at the counter reminisced about yesteryear, when American industry was booming and jobs were plentiful. All said they hope Trump returns some of the manufacturing plants that have been outsourced overseas in the past 40 years. The new president met with the chief executives of the country’s automaking giants — General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler — to insist more auto plants operate in the United States.
St. John, a retired Marine, said he supports all of Trump’s positions. When asked about the president’s proposal to halt Muslim immigration, St. John clarified his stance.
“I don’t support banning Muslims. I support banning unvetted Muslims,” he said. “There are two different kinds of Muslims. There’s the regular Muslim, who is just a person with a religion, and there are radical Muslims who want to kill everyone who isn’t a radical Muslim.”
The previous day at Mom’s Country Kitchen, George Willard, another retired Marine, said he wants to Trump to destroy the Islamic State terrorist group, but doesn’t want all Muslims chastised for its existence. The former Orange selectman said Christians started World War I and World War II and the United States never banned Christian immigration.
You can reach Domenic Poli at:
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