Americans have a few suggestions for Trump in the year ahead

DENVER – Ordinary Americans were full of advice for President Trump for the new year.

USA TODAY surveyed members of a panel — conservatives and liberals, old and young, native-born and immigrants, retirees and those just about to start their adult lives — to ask what resolution they’d like to see Trump make in the new year. Here’s a sampling of their answers:

❚ Republican Scott Hagenson, 48, municipal electric line department supervisor, Lake Mills, Iowa:

“Stay the course, and keep working on health care. There are people out here who should be working who aren’t. There’s no shortage of jobs. This isn’t 2007. But you’ve got these people who say they won’t go to work for a certain wage because the government is paying them more in unemployment. As soon as we get some of these people working, we’ll ease the burden on health care.”

❚ Democrat Joseph Knappenberger, 16, high school student, Bozeman, Mont.:

“I ask him to act in the best interest of the American people — to actually try to work in the best interest of the people who he is leading, instead of favoring a small group or passing a tax plan that hurts pretty much everyone except the rich or cutting health care.”

❚ Syrian native Sami Bdeir, 32, internal medicine physician, Cincinnati, working on a visa:

“Any resolution that would lift these inhumane constraints off Syrians would be welcome. One would understand the need for extreme vetting systems for security purposes but can never understand why someone like me, who has not seen his family in three years, cannot invite them over and cannot even leave the country to see them because he will be kept out due to the place of birth. The crystal ball for next year would have looked grim if it wasn’t for the support we received from millions of American people. We also received invaluable backup from courageous judges and honorable lawmakers that earned our utmost respect to the system of checks and balances this country enjoys.”

❚ Independent Curtis Ingram, 65, barber, Greenville, S.C.:

“That he would become an honest man. Stop lying. I watch him daily on the news. He’s lying, lying, lying. He’s told even bigger and greater lies. He’s hurt the poor, hurt the middle class. He’s a compulsive liar.”

❚ Tony Choi, 29, social media manager, Bergen County, N.J., not eligible to vote:

“Figure out the solution for the 800,000 DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients. … I myself am a DACA recipient, and right now, time is running out on our end.”

❚ Republican Andrea Camp, 46, co-owner of carpet cleaning and restoration company, Craig, Colo.:

“Stay the course. We’re beginning to see some positive changes. I just don’t think we’re there yet. I’m excited to see what things are going to look like going forward. Creating jobs is the best thing for our economy, and I think that goes for a lot of other small towns.”

❚ Democrat David Wood, 65, retired minister, Lincoln, Vt.:

“Resign. I don’t see any indication in what he’s doing that he’s got any real clue about the real world. I kept hoping something would happen to make me feel good, and it just hasn’t happened. The positions are hardening. … It’s making it really hard within communities.”

❚ Republican Jeremie Clifford, 46, auto parts store manager, Malta, Ohio:

“If I had one New Year’s resolution for Mr. Trump, it would be for him and Congress to work together to make health care much more affordable for the American people and to keep being tough on these other countries that aren’t pulling their fair share of the weight (in NATO).”