One year after President Donald Trump won his second term in office, Missouri and Kansas voters say that public safety and closing the U.S. border have been their top concerns.
KCUR's Up To Date recently asked local residents who voted for Trump about how they feel about his policies and agenda during his second term so far.
Bryan Stalder, a Kansas City voter, said he has cast ballots for both political parties and reluctantly voted for Trump in the 2016 election. But in the years that followed, Stalder said he’s grown disillusioned by Democrats and the media.
“It was this environment that solidified my support for Trump and my belief that the country needed someone willing to challenge that system,” Stalder told KCUR’s Up To Date.
Stalder spent much of his life living in Kansas City’s Historic Northeast neighborhood, and said he moved because of concerns about crime.
“I appreciate Trump’s support for law enforcement and his decisive use of the National Guard when needed,” Stalder said.
Kansas voter Mark Boguski said securing the border is Trump’s “biggest accomplishment.”
“It's critical that we get all those people that came in illegally, you know, back out of the country,” Boguski said. “If they want to apply for legal asylum coming through a port of entry, then we'd love to see them do that, but you've got to do it legally.”
Since taking office, the Trump administration has decreased border crossing from more than 61,000 in January 2025 to steadily below 12,000 since February.
“My cousin’s husband was killed by an illegal immigrant from Mexico, so the border is extremely important to my family,” Christopher Miller told KCUR in an email.
The Kansas City region has been entangled in the results of the federal immigration crackdown. Plans to open an immigration detention center in Leavenworth, Kansas, have been met with protests and lawsuits.
Meanwhile, workers across the metro have been subject to sweeping arrests by ICE officials, often without warrants.
“I feel safer now than I felt in decades having him as president,” said Janine White, a resident in Kansas City’s Northland. “It's all about protecting Americans, taking care of Americans, and that's what a president is supposed to do.”
However, Trump’s approach to business has been met with more resistance, even among his supporters. Unpredictable fluctuation in tariffs have created instability for businesses, which have passed some costs along to customers, and strained the agriculture industry.
The trade war with China, America’s largest buyer of soybeans, and shuttering of the Food for Peace program have come at a significant cost to farmers.
“His application of tariffs has been frustrating, though he is doing the right thing to try to bring back manufacturing back into the U.S.,” Boguski said. “It would be done a lot better if it was done through a negotiated way.”
Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Alford of Missouri’s 4th Congressional District has asserted that the country’s previous foreign trade policies were unfair.
Stalder said it will take time for the economy to cover, but said “I trust that his policies will stabilize the economy again.”
Are you a Kansas or Missouri resident who voted for President Trump, and want to tell us what you think?
Call 816-235-8930 and leave a message on the Up To Date voicemail line with your name, where you’re calling from, and your feelings about the president and his policies. We may include your responses on an upcoming show.
Or you can email Up To Date at uptodate@kcur.org, and our producers may reach out to you.
