Reflections

What the Syracuse city flag asks of President Trump during his visit, Part II

Part I predicted how Trump would answer the flag's question. This follow-up measures his Oncenter speech against it, and it went about how I figured.

Source, CNY Solidarity Coalition

⬅ Read Part I for the context behind this follow-up

On October 9, President Trump spoke for more than an hour at the Oncenter in downtown Syracuse. He came to rally votes for Bruce Blakeman, for governor, and for Kailee Buller, who is challenging Rep. John Mannion in the 22nd District, which includes Syracuse [2]. WAER estimated 1,500 to 2,000 Trump supporters attended the rally.

In Part I of this story, I wrote that the Syracuse city flag asks everyone who enters the city the same question:

"What do you bring to this place and the people who share it?"

I said I expected his answer would not be the right one.

I went through the local reporting and measured Trump's words and actions at the event against the same four topics explored in Part I.

Can Trump bring hope to Syracuse when times are hard?

Hope means giving people a reason to believe hard times will get better, and in Syracuse that starts with our children. Syracuse's poorest neighborhood sits just two blocks from the Oncenter. Part I laid out Syracuse’s child poverty, the USDA programs he canceled that helped food banks and schools buy local food, and the SNAP changes he signed. At the Oncenter, Trump said nothing about any of it. In the coverage I read, he never mentioned Syracuse's children, the Food Bank of Central New York, Brady Farm, or SNAP [1][2][4].

The closest he came was a national claim that poverty is at its "lowest levels...ever recorded" [1]. A national number like that provides no real context locally and doesn't mean much to a hungry child here in Syracuse. Trump never mentioned any plans to bring back the canceled programs or change the SNAP rules.

Hope was easier to find outside the venue. WAER estimated 2,500 to 3,000 people filled Clinton Square in protest. Mayor Sharon Owens was in attendance. During her speech she said she disagrees with removing SNAP benefits from people who need food security [3].

From Trump, Syracuse’s children got a national statistic and nothing else.

Will Trump care for Syracusans who are struggling?

Care means making sure people don't lose their access to medical care when they're struggling. Part I detailed the Medicaid changes he signed: new work requirements and six-month renewals starting in January 2027, and a projected 30,000 Central New Yorkers uninsured within two years. At the Oncenter, Trump said nothing about Medicaid. In the coverage I read, he never mentioned the cuts, the people they'll hit, or our hospitals [1][2][4].

He did mention cost of living. He said prescription drug prices have come down further than anyone thought possible [1], and that if Blakeman is elected, he will "cut your electric bills 70, 80 and 90%" [4]. Neither is about losing health insurance, and he announced no plan to soften the Medicaid changes.

Trump promised cheaper bills and said nothing to the people losing their coverage.

Will Trump allow Syracuse to provide a safe place and a better life to people who need one?

Belonging means making room for people who came here looking for safety, and Syracuse has done that for more than 40 years [6]. Part I traced what his refugee suspension did here: Catholic Charities of Onondaga County lost the 90 refugees it expected by the end of February 2025, and resettlement in Syracuse had already dropped about 75 percent after his first-term restrictions [7][8]. At the Oncenter, I found no report of Trump mentioning refugees or the agencies that resettle them here [1][2][4].

What he did talk about was enforcement. He praised ICE, claimed no criminals or illegal immigrants have been admitted across the southern border in 17 months, and promised to ban sanctuary cities and states if voters elect Blakeman and a Republican Congress [1]. I found no report of him proposing to restore the refugee program.

Trump's and Blakeman's focused on who to keep out, and said nothing about who the people of Syracuse could help by taking them in.

Will Trump respect CNY's land and water?

Respect means treating our land and water as something special that we share and look after, not something to use as leverage. Part I covered two of his orders: renaming Lake Ontario “Lake America,” and increasing logging in the Finger Lakes National Forest. At the Oncenter, he brought up the lake and skipped the forest.

Early in the speech he mentioned being in upstate New York, not far from "Lake America," and the crowd cheered [1][5]. That's the name he ordered the federal government to use in August, in a trade fight with Canada [9]. Gov. Hochul has said New York won't use the new name [11]. To Trump, the lake was just a prop used for applause.

I found no report of him mentioning the Finger Lakes National Forest, the staff cuts there, or the runoff our senators warn logging could send into Seneca and Cayuga lakes [12]. I also found no report of him proposing any change to the logging order.

The lake got Trump a roar. The forest got nothing.

Hope, care, belonging, and respect for our land and waterways: the flag asked Trump to speak to all four. At his event at the Oncenter, Trump gave an answer to none of them. In Part I, I said expected his pattern of giving the wrong answer would continue. It did.

Sources