James West/ Mother Jones
On Saturday, thousands of people all across the globe took to the streets to protest President Donald Trump’s administration. Out of the dozens of great people our reporters spoke to, one young interviewee stood out.
Senior Editor Michael Mechanic bumped into Grant, a 15-year-old student, while covering the feisty “Hands Off” protest in Princeton, New Jersey. Grant, who attended with his father and sister, eloquently (and modestly) broke down how Trump’s administration is tearing the country apart.
As one Bluesky commenter put it, “His parents deserve some respect. What an intelligent and caring kid.”
Why are you here?
Everything. Doge destroying the government, cutting international aid to everyone, tariffs that help nobody, getting rid of all the DEI programs.
How old are you?
Fifteen.
Fifteen?
Yeah, I just turned 15.
And you feel like you’re politically engaged?
Not much, but more than I want to be. I just feel like it’s not ‘do you want right wing or left wing?’ It’s ‘do you want a good government or a or a country that’s in ruins?’ It’s not about your ideals anymore.
It’s about. Do you care about yourself? Do you care about the government? Do you care about people?
Is there anything that this government is doing that particularly gets under your skin?
I think firing all of the government workers because the government can’t do its job. And I bet some of those government workers aren’t coming back, so it’d be it’d be really hard to rebuild the government.
Do you think this is something that will affect your family directly?
No, but it will affect lots of people and it will be harder to do things in the future. I’m personally more worried about the country as a whole than my family, and I’m lucky to be in that position. Lots of people are worried about themselves.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
