Western Wisconsin voters have mixed feelings on Trump’s first months in office

Wisconsinites are divided on whether they approve of President Donald Trump’s first six weeks in office. 

The latest Marquette University Law School poll found 48 percent of surveyed voters in the state approve of the work Trump has done while 51 percent said they disapprove.

Trump’s first months in office have brought a major shakeup to the federal government, including the firing of thousands of federal employees, a freeze on a variety of federal funding and the exchange of tariffs between the U.S. and its top trading partners.

In the western Wisconsin city of Tomah, where the Tomah VA Medical Center is located and near U.S. Army installation Fort McCoy, several voters told WPR they’ve seen the impacts of these decisions first hand.

Vincent Rowan, a retiree who lives in Tomah, said his nephew is one of the federal workers who were laid off in the recent cuts. He said he is not impressed with the Trump administration so far.

“All these cuts in the federal government, schools, and now he’s messing around with Social Security for us retired folks, I think they’re very bad choices,” he said. “The people that are backing him up are probably the only ones that are going to be getting anything out of it.”

Rowan said he thinks the Trump administration’s on-again, off-again plans to place tariffs on imported goods from China, Canada and Mexico will “bite us in the backside” instead of leading to better trade agreements.

Jim is another voter who knows someone recently fired from a federal job. He asked WPR not to use his last name because of fear of retaliation at his workplace.

Jim, a Trump voter who lives in the La Crosse area, said the man had worked as a mason at the Tomah VA for 10 months, just two months shy of moving out of probationary employment status.

“He got an email at 3:45 p.m. the day that he was terminated, saying he was terminated for poor work performance, which wasn’t the case at all,” Jim said. “He was an excellent employee, on time every day, did great work.”

Jim said he also knows people who were hired at the Tomah VA as remote employees who are now scrambling to find transportation or child care in order to report for work in person. He said many VA employees are “walking on eggshells” and have received little guidance from facility leadership.

While he disagrees with the administration’s approach to firings, Jim said he does not regret voting for Trump last November. He likes that the president wants to cut down on wasteful spending within the federal government. 

But Jim worries the individuals who will suffer the most from all of the disruptions are the veterans who receive care at the Tomah VA.

“I’m a veteran myself, and it doesn’t sit well with me that they’re not really thinking about the vets,” he said.

Camp Douglas resident Larry Fisher also voted for Trump and feels like the president is “doing the best he can with what he had to work with.”

“I think he’s probably on the right path,” he said. “It’s just going to take a while for things to happen. Changing the economy and fixing everything isn’t just a flip of the switch.”

Fisher said he thinks Elon Musk, who is leading Trump’s government efficiency effort responsible for the federal layoffs, is a “very smart guy” even if his methods have been unconventional.

He acknowledged that all of the changes have had broad impacts on federal services, the food industry, health care and more. But Fisher said he thinks it will be worth it in the long run.

“Sometimes you have to make a little sacrifice for a better outcome,” Fisher said. “I’ve got two children, and I’ve got two grandchildren, so my main concern is the future of our country for them.”