As two female student journalists who classify ourselves as strong liberals, we feel like the enemy of our own country. Trump has made it very clear that we’re the bad guys. We tell lies, we are out to get our politicians, and we only care about views and getting the cover-page story. As Trump puts it, we only do what we do because we want the “fake news trophy.”

We the People

The way we see it, Trump has become the face of the Republican party. His thoughts and values are representative of it. His never-ending, childish attacks on the Democratic Party have discredited the informed, logically minded Republicans and because of him, our two major parties struggle to interact in a civilized and respectful way.

Take the recent partial shutdown, for example. It affected 800,000 federal employees, leaving them without pay and without work. And what was the shutdown over? A spending bill that included funding for the border wall he campaigned on. Now, we can’t completely blame Trump, and we recognize that. The shutdown lasted for 35 days because our parties couldn’t compromise; Congressional Democrats and Trump couldn’t agree on a federal spending budget that included funding for his $5.7 billion border wall. On Jan. 25, Congress passed a bill that Trump signed into law reopening the government for three weeks — without funding for the wall. Now, he’s back at square one.

A More Perfect Union

After he signed the bill, he tweeted, “This is in no way a concession.” This just goes to show the severe division in our two-party system that Trump continues to fuel. The division has become a blockade in our ability, as a nation, to work together for the common good. For example, on Jan. 16, a few Democratic Reps — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), Rashida Tlaib (MI), Katie Hill (CA), Lauren Underwood (IL) — attempted to track down Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader, to give him a letter signed by 30 reps urging him to reopen the government. In the eyes of the newly instated reps, they saw their inability to locate McConnell as his way of avoiding a confrontation. “He’s hiding. #WheresMitch,” tweeted Ocasio-Cortez.

Not only has Trump fueled the tension between Republicans and Democrats, sometimes it seems like our entire nation is at odds with him. Over the course of his presidency, he’s been known to comment on issues before he has all the facts. On Jan. 29, U.S. intelligence officials briefed the Senate on global threats for the year, including information about ISIS’s situation and how Iran and North Korea are potential nuclear threats. Let’s just say, what Trump has said about these issues in the past has been fairly wrong. Last month, Trump claimed ISIS was defeated. He’s right — if defeated means they still have thousands of fighters and thousands of supporters around the world, as intelligence officials pointed out. Trump claimed that North Korea was “no longer a nuclear threat,” but the officials say otherwise. Our president was wrong about some major national security issues, and has nuclear codes and the potential to start a nuclear holocaust — no big deal.

So why did the officials wait until the Jan. 29 briefing to correct him? Probably because they’re a little bit scared of our president. That doesn’t sound like an ingredient to an effective, efficient democracy to us.

Establish Justice, Insure Domestic Tranquility

The patriotism that our country was founded upon has turned into unbridled nationalism. A nationalism that thrives from the racism, hate, and ever-growing violence in America. America, land of the free, home of the brave, represented opportunity and hope for those who lived here and those who immigrated here. Thanks to our president, that opportunity is becoming less and less appreciated by those who live here and more and more limited to others as he aims to close our borders.

Even on our home turf, Trump has gone out of his way to target anyone with differences, from women to members of the LGBTQ community to racial minorities. On Jan. 22, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Trump’s military transgender ban, prohibiting anyone who has undergone gender transitioning from serving. The haven’t commented on the legality of the ban, but are allowing it to go into effect. Along with revoking rights of transgender citizens, this is making fewer people eligible to serve in the military, and what’s the point — other than outright discrimination?

Provide for the Common Defense, Promote the General Welfare

Part of a President’s duty is to keep Americans safe, but instead, Trump instigates violence. Remember the bombs? We do. An anonymous source sent pipe bombs to several Democratic public figures, including the Clintons, Obamas, and current 2020 presidential candidate Kamala Harris. While CNN was on air covering the situation, they found out that they had been sent a bomb as well and had to evacuate their building. After all, Democrats and the media are some of Trump’s favorite subjects to harass, and sometimes his followers take that as their cue to act out violently — with 13 pipe bombs, for example.

Not only does Trump instigate violence, he encourages it. On Oct. 18, 2018, praised a Republican Congressman who body slammed a reporter, claiming that was “his kind of guy.”

For the United States of America

We would like to respect our President, but when he criticizes what we do, jeopardizes the safety of the American people, and doesn’t seem to have a problem with being blatantly incorrect about global issues, it’s incredibly hard. A country that once stood for unity, freedom, and choice, is now overcome with hate, violence, and the refusal to compromise. Is this what we want to be known for?

For a year now, we have been watching. Watching as you divide us, watching as you torment citizens, watching as you destroy our foundation. And President Trump, time’s up. We are done watching — it’s time for your curtain call. On Nov. 3, 2020, we will make sure you and your hate, violence and devisiveness have left the national stage.