Donald Trump

President Donald Trump stunned many people this week on the question of Russian meddling in U.S. elections. While he later clarified his remark, the conflicting statements are continuing to stir controversy. WPSU’s Anne Danahy spoke with Penn State professor Catherine Wanner, a professor of history, anthropology and religious studies at Penn State and an expert on Russian and Ukranian politics.

Art Halvorson is one of eight Republicans running for U.S. House in the 13th Congressional district primary.

He said President Trump’s move to impose tariffs on some Chinese goods is “overdue.”

He said Trump is sending a signal to China — making it clear the United States is going to defend itself.

“We’ve been feckless and we’ve been weak," Halvorson said. "And when you send a signal that you’re weak, you create war and instability, international disruption. America has to be strong for the rest of the world to be strong.”

Since the week before it was published, Michael Wolff's “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” has been, by far, the most-talked about book in the country. The furor, prompted by an angry denunciation-by-tweet from the President, a cease and desist letter from his lawyers and salacious details from the book making their way into the press, immediately catapulted it to bestseller status. Being a political junkie, of course I couldn't resist giving it a read. I rushed through it in just a few days.

It's been about a year since Donald Trump took office. For some women in Central Pennsylvania it's been a very difficult year. Cindy Simmons caught up with a few of them for WPSU.

The Centre County Refugee Welcome Committee is stuck in a holding pattern.

The committee, which includes eleven religious groups, had hoped to be helping a refugee family settle in Centre County this year, according to member Penny Eifrig.

State College locals protested Wednesday against the GOP’s attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Around 15 people held up signs outside the Allen Street Gates.

Webster’s Bookstore Café owner Elaine Meder-Wilgus held a sign shaped like a tombstone. She said she’s seeing a lot of misinformation on the Affordable Care Act.

Rural areas in Pennsylvania helped secure the state for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.

However, a good deal of opposition to the healthcare bill Republican Senators are now struggling to push through can be found in the conservative areas surrounding State College. 

In the fall of 2016, Centre Hall’s Pennsylvania Avenue was lined with signs in support of Donald Trump.

82-year-old David Corl lives just off that main street. He was a lifetime Republican, but recently changed parties.

In a sense, Inauguration Day resembles the New Year: making resolutions and welcoming a new era with a concert and fireworks. Among State College residents, asked about the new administration, there’s hope, concern and everything in between.

Sam Richards teaches race and ethnic relations in the sociology department at Penn State.

“I think we are in for a very interesting four years," he said. "And I suspect that there’s never going to be a dull moment.”

Christy Carfagno is a senior also from the sociology department.

Keystone Crossroads will be checking in with Trump voters from around the state throughout his presidency. This is the first installment in an occasional series called "I Voted Trump," telling the story of the next four years through the eyes of the new president's supporters.

Members of the Penn State community gathered on Old Main lawn Tuesday to show opposition to president-elect Donald Trump. Many of the protestors said they were concerned by increasing divisiveness in the United States. 

A group of students started marching from the HUB Robeson Center on Penn State’s University Park campus on Tuesday. They circled around central campus for about ten minutes, holding signs and doing chants such as “Donald Trump, go away, racist, sexist, anti-gay” and “say it loud, say it clear, immigrants are welcome here.”

Linda Straub never thought she'd be so invested in a presidential election that she would attend a watch party on election night. But there she was, at Zach's Sports Bar in Altoona with the Blair County Republicans, cheering Donald Trump as he took Iowa.

"This is the first time ... I'm 54 years old and this is the first time that I feel that I'm actually electing my president," said Straub, from her spot on the bar's covered patio. "He is my president."

With the election just a week away, WPSU asked voters to take a moment to ponder what could be done to improve the democratic system.

Ron Derstine is from Schwenksville. He said, “I would hope that whoever becomes president would somehow work in a bipartisan way that things could actually get done. I think we have been standing still for the last eight years.”

Drew Myers, a student at Penn State, said the sense of division exists not only between parties, but also between people and the government.

With Election Day less than two months away, the Trump campaign is doubling down its efforts in Pennsylvania. The commonwealth is on the short list of states the Republican has to win in order to clinch the election.

Trump’s currently lagging in state polls, though the margin may be shrinking. But his campaign is hoping turning out more people who don’t vote regularly may help him out.

One pro-Trump PAC is taking that idea to the extreme. It’s targeting a voting group that doesn’t even use the internet—the Amish.

So, who are these voters?

Protestors gathered at the Allen Street Gates in State College Thursday to rally against Donald Trump, marking the final day of the Republican National Convention and Trump's official acceptance of the GOP nomination. Around 20 people stood curbside along College Avenue holding signs that read “Take Action Now,” “Jews Against Trump,” “Fight Climate Change Here” and, of course, “Dump Trump.”