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Jim Bickal

How are St. Stephen's Trump voters feeling 100 days in?

President Trump
President Trump and his wife Melania Trump wave after he took the oath of office on the west front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20 in Washington, D.C.
Drew Angerer | Getty Images File

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In the 2016 presidential election, central Minnesotans showed up at their polling places in droves for Donald Trump. The community in St. Stephen, Minn., had one of the highest percentage of Trump voters in the state last November.

In January, MPR News producer Jim Bickal talked to some of the people there about what they were hoping to see from the Trump administration.

Bickal returned to St. Stephen last week to check back with a few folks about how they feel President Trump is doing as we near the 100th day of his administration.

Bill Vouk is a military veteran and was mayor of St. Stephen for many years. When he was interviewed the first time, Vouk said he wasn't surprised his community was rallying for Trump, in large part because they desired change in areas like trade, military and health care — change they believed Trump could deliver.

For the most part, he says he's pleased with what he's seen so far.

"I think that we have an honest president," Vouk said. "He made campaign promises and he hasn't really shrunk from any of those promises, and we never had to worry, at least to date, about 'was he lying to us,' like has happened with other presidents in the past."

When it comes to the military actions America has seen so far, Vouk has some concerns — especially surrounding the decision to drop a massive bomb on Afghanistan.

"I don't think that it's correct for the United States to act as the aggressor in any of these military actions," he said.

While Vouk understands that ISIS is a menace to many, he doesn't believe Afghanistan as a nation poses a worldwide threat. Seemingly rash decisions like these have Vouk hoping Trump will take more time and consider more expert advice before making decisions and statements in the future.

"It's like, open mouth, insert foot sometimes," he said.

Mike Legatt, who owns Viking Log Furniture just outside St. Stephen, also has some mixed emotions on Trump's presidency so far.

"I think for 90 days he's done OK with the current congress," Legatt said. "Meaning, I think we got a great new Supreme Court justice. I think that was important. Immigration: have we not had less illegal immigrants coming across the border? And I don't think that's by doing anything other than stating we're going to put more controls on that."

Legatt was a little warier of how Trump was handling environmental issues — saying that he'd be alright with the president's push for more coal production if there were better ways to burn it cleanly.