In Teton County, Trump's inauguration brings jubilation, consternation

As some Jacksonites celebrate Trump's executive orders, others prepare to fight.

JACKSON — As she celebrated Donald Trump’s inauguration Monday on Town Square, Becky Cloetta wore a sequined, star-spangled pin atop her black beanie and carried an American flag.

Temperatures hovered around zero, but Cloetta and the other dozen-or-so people at the rally were optimistic for Trump’s second go at the presidency.

“I hope that we can actually get some meaningful immigration reform that will be good for all of us — not just the Latinos, not just the Anglos, but everybody,” Cloetta said.

As Cloetta and other conservatives were celebrating, Trump began signing executive orders, many of which dealt with immigration. He reinstated the “Remain in Mexico” policy from his first administration, declared a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border and moved to end birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to undocumented parents.

While the reveling Republicans on Town Square saw those actions as cause for celebration, other Teton County residents see Trump as coming for members of their community.

Ed Prater called Trump’s stance on immigration “cruel” in a Tuesday interview at Teton County Library. He wonders how Trump’s immigration policies will affect Jackson’s workforce.

“I’ve got some good friends that have been trying for 20 years to become American citizens,” Prater said with a book in his hand. “They’ve never done anything wrong, paid their taxes, work hard, raise a good family and now they’re being separated.”

More than half of American voters chose Trump, Prater said, and he’s trying to keep an open mind. But he also joined the American Civil Liberties Union, concerned about Trump’s plans.

Impacts loom

Broadly, Trump’s sweeping actions closely align with the priorities of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus that took control in the Wyoming Legislature this election cycle, promising to crack down on immigration and reduce Wyomingites’ cost of living.

“It’s a hopeful and optimistic time as well, and certainly a new chapter for Wyoming,” House Majority Floor Leader Tara Nethercott, R-Cheyenne, said Tuesday. “It’ll be a change of pace for the legislators. They may have to take a new direction — other than fighting the federal government, fighting federal mandates at every turn and really understanding how to take advantage of this new opportunity and to see how we can maximize it.”

Senate President Bo Biteman, R-Ranchester, said he and House Speaker Chip Neiman, R-Hulett, were planning a trip to Washington to meet with President Trump and his cabinet appointees, like incoming Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, to talk about the energy industry.

“The golden age of America begins right now,” Trump said in his inauguration address.

But Trump’s executive actions are likely to prompt fights in Teton County, a blue county in a red state where immigrants make up an estimated 30% of the community. Even before Trump’s inauguration, hundreds of Jacksonites packed into meetings this fall and winter, concerned about what his presidency may mean for immigrant community members. The Teton County Sheriff’s Office has already been targeted by conservative representatives over immigration.

The impacts will likely be farther reaching.

On Monday some Teton County residents smarted after Trump pardoned around 1,500 people charged in connection with the Jan. 6 riots. Debates about the Capitol attack touched down in Jackson Hole after Liz Cheney, a county homeowner, voted to impeach Trump for “incitement of insurrection.” Teton County is also home to a vibrant LGBTQ community targeted in Monday’s executive orders — as well as broad swaths of public lands that could be impacted by a federal hiring freeze. Trump’s order could impact management of the 3.4 million-acre Bridger-Teton National Forest, which is combating staffing shortages, and Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks, which are likewise grappling with budget constraints.

Land, people on the line

People like Aaron Pruzan, whose livelihood depends on the upkeep of public lands, are worried.

“Public lands are a national treasure, and they need management,” said Pruzan, the owner of Rendezvous River Sports. “We saw what happened during the pandemic and we didn’t have adequate staff in the parks and on the forest and how poorly some of these areas were treated.”

He hopes that Wyoming Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis will work with Trump to staff public land jobs by the summer — or that groups like the Snake River Fund or Friends of the Bridger-Teton will step in to help. But that may prove difficult if there’s not enough staff working for the Bridger-Teton to approve projects or complete work funded by the nonprofits.

“If the people aren’t there on the ground to do the work or facilitate the work from an outside partner, it doesn’t get done,” Friends Executive Director Scott Kosiba said. “The net effect is less tax revenue, fewer jobs and additional frustration with the federal government.”

Advocates for the LGBTQ community are also concerned. Trump revoked 78 executive actions from former President Joe Biden’s administration, including some that protect people from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. After attacking transgender people on the campaign trail, Trump also decreed that the U.S. would recognize only two sexes.

In response, Jackson Hole Pride issued a statement that called for solidarity with and support of the Tetons’ LGBTQ community, while pointing out that the order’s effects will not be felt immediately. Instead, organizers pointed to House Bill 32, commonly known as the “What is a Woman Act,” advancing through the Legislature, arguing it “mirrors the harmful attacks on gender-diverse communities” expressed through Trump’s executive orders.

The bill passed out of the House on Monday after a 50-9-3 vote. It heads to the Senate now.

“Even though the executive order and proposed policy changes are not law, we have already seen their harmful effects within our community,” Cheyenne Syvertson, the chair of Jackson Hole Pride, said in a statement. “The rhetoric coming from elected officials emboldens hateful and discriminatory behavior, normalizing abuse toward LGBTQIA+ individuals.

“It is essential that we all take a stand,” Syvertson said.

The organizer advocated for people to attend protests, speak up when they witness injustice, learn bystander intervention techniques, and engage in “difficult conversations with friends and family about what it truly means to stand in solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community.”

Revelry, consternation

But for Teton County residents like Maury “Jonesy” Jones, who celebrated the inauguration on Town Square, Trump’s inauguration is a positive. Jones thinks Trump’s return to the White House means prices on everyday groceries may drop. He’s excited about that possibility.

Gas “was a little less than $2 a gallon four years ago and that really hits the average working person hard in the pocketbook,” Jones said.

Other Teton County Republicans feel a little less alone. Teton County was the only Wyoming county to go blue this election, Teton County GOP Chair Mary Martin said Monday. It’s easy for Teton County Republicans to feel isolated, and she wanted to make time to celebrate the victory.

“We need to be thankful to God for the freedoms that we have, one of which is to gather, and another is to pray in public,” Martin said.

Melchor Moore, a Republican who unsuccessfully ran for Teton County commissioner, echoed Martin’s call for revelry.

“We won,” he said. “We should be excited and celebrating.”

Moore recognized immigrants as the backbone of Teton County’s workforce. But, despite Trump’s plans for mass deportations and other restrictions, thinks the community will survive.

“We have immigrants in this town as staples of our community running everything, all of their businesses and all of our restaurants and hotels,” he said. “They’ll come back, even if they get deported.”

A day later, at Teton County Library, Kate Christou said she found Trump’s general stance on climate troubling.

“When you care about what we’re leaving behind to my direct kids and my kids’ direct kids, it’s hard to” justify dropping out of the Paris Climate Accord, like Trump did, Christou said.

Trump’s policies “are making America great for some very, very small subset of America,” she added.

Lindsey Powell, meanwhile, worried about a federal website that provided information about reproductive rights and abortion, ReproductiveRights.gov, going dark shortly after Trump’s inauguration.

People looking for information about reproductive healthcare will now have fewer resources, she said.

“It started with the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which was absolutely atrocious,” Powell said.

She also didn’t understand how quickly folks were able to move on after the Jan. 6 riots and the court cases that followed Trump for the better part of the last four years.

“If he wasn’t a rich billionaire, he’d be in federal prison for the rest of his life,” she said.

This story was published on January 22, 2025.