“One of the main issues, in my opinion, is the environment. This tends to get overlooked by social and economic topics; however, without a stable environment, we won’t have either of these. It’s really a conundrum, though, because our country doesn’t really have the money to invest in environmental issues, as we are over a trillion dollars in debt.”
— Fletcher Peters, 17, Chicago, IL

“Women’s rights, LGBTQ rights and the Affordable Care Act are three issues that matter to me the most. Looking back at what he has said and what has been released, it does not appear that he cares about these issues. I don’t think he will try to advance our nation regarding these issues, but will rather take a step backwards on them.”
— Cynthia Cote, 16, Greensboro, NC

“Environmental issues and economic issues. I’m worried that he’s going to try and eliminate some environmental regulations in favor of economic expansion, but I think his addition of Elon Musk to his strategic economic team indicates that he may be looking for ways to promote more sustainable industries, such as Tesla.” 
— Jason Rosenthal, 19, Jericho, NY

“I care a lot about women’s health, and I worry about what he might do in terms of overturning Roe vs. Wade or restricting access to clinics like Planned Parenthood. And then also what Supreme Court judge he chooses, because that has lasting effects.”
— Grace Phillip, 16, Chicago, IL

“I think the biggest issues affecting the United States today are how Donald Trump’s administration will handle America’s place in the global economy and on the global scale, especially relating to the United States’ economy. Trump has been a very vocal opponent of free trade and has threatened to back out of NAFTA, which may cause more ill effects than it will cure…Many of our top intelligence agencies have come out with reports saying that Russia tampered with election documents in order to make Trump a more favorable candidate. If that’s true (which wouldn’t seem to make sense if it wasn’t), it means that the people in top positions of power in Russia expect Trump to be more favorable to them.”
— Collin Ferraro, 17, Chandler, AZ

“The main issues for me are the conflicts of interest that Trump will have in the presidency. I think that he will use the office for personal gain. I believe he will put his needs over the needs of the American people.”
— Ben McInnes, 19, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada

“One of the biggest things would be the misunderstanding of certain groups, or religions and the misinformation that is seen in the media. The stereotyping and blindly putting large amounts of people under one umbrella, without being properly informed or educated….. Whatever umbrella you have been shoved under, it’s pretty frustrating to be instantly judged based on what some people in your group are doing/have done.” 
— Justin (Juicebox) Schwalen, 18, Trier, Germany 

“Issues that should be immediately attended to in my opinion are police brutality against people of color, discrimination against the LGBTQ community, actual sex education in schools, legalization of medical marijuana in every state (with diseases such as ALS, it makes an enormous difference), and removing rape culture from society.”
— Sophia Kalinowska-Werter, 19, Łódź, Poland

“Foreign policy issues matter most to me, as I feel that with the threat of ISIS and unpredictability of Russia, the U.S. is in a vulnerable place. Although I find Trump to be almost as much of a threat to the U.S. as these other countries, I do feel that he has a strong global presence and hopefully he will use this to our advantage.”
— William Graham, 17, New York, NY

“Although the health of our economy is important to me, I tend to focus more on social issues… I think I care most intimately about gay rights because that directly affects my family and it’s still not something everyone is on board with and that feels threatening to me.”
— Amanda Mikeska, 26, Galveston Island, Texas

“I most strongly support immigration and border security because illegal immigrants cannot keep coming into our country. They need to come in and obtain citizenship the correct way.” 
— John Lynch, 15, Grosse Pointe,  MI

“Foreign relations and immigration matter the most to me. Given Trump’s personality, I wonder how he will interact with other world superpowers. Also, how will other countries view the U.S. now that the U.S. is arguably more divided than ever? With regard to immigration, I wonder if Trump will follow through with his promise to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. If not, will he lose supporters because he lied? If he does, will it give rise to even more hate?”
— Jacob Linker, 18, Clarks Summit, PA

“I personally worry the most about what the future has in store for minorities in America. I know this is broad but it truly is my biggest concern, as a young and first-generation American woman with many loved ones that are LGBTQ and many other loved ones that are people of color. What lies ahead in terms of my wage gap? What about LGBTQ rights? What about the sheer racism presented by police brutality, hate organizations, public acts of violence, et cetera?”
— Sofia Blacker, 16, Hamburg, Germany

“My main concern for issues is centered around women’s rights, education and health care. I think that the country has progressed an incredible amount over the past four years, and I’m pleased with how their goals have strengthened to work for the common man (or woman!). I think that these are issues that the U.S. needs to pay careful attention to, considering the wide populations that they [all] affect.”
— Neha Onteeru, 19, Sterling,VA

“I guess because I studied international affairs in college, I was most moved by how much better prepared Clinton was than Trump to deal with foreign affairs. Trump was anti-NATO at times, dismissive of the intelligence community, and didn’t seem to understand the need for subtlety and nuance in addressing terrorism.”
— Henry Lewis, 22, Bangkok, Thailand

“Right now, especially in light of all the terrorist acts that have occurred in the past year, I think our country should focus heavily on equality. In my opinion, lack of equality is the root of all these acts. Another issue I feel strongly about is climate change and global warming. This has been an issue for a while now, and if it continues to be ignored, I think our country will face a lot of consequences.”
— Olivia Conte, 17, San Francisco, CA