U.S. Rep. Nick Langworthy, at center left, invited members of law enforcement, including Chautauqua County Sheriff James Quattrone, second from left, to his office in Washington earlier this month.

Making a visit to The White Inn for the first time since the renovations became public, U.S. Rep. Nick Langworthy was in awe. After a brief tour of the dining areas and lobby locations by Robin Putnam, event and dining room manager, the congressman expressed optimism about the Fredonia site that has been given a second chance due to plenty of investment and hard work.

It is something that village residents have embraced since its reopening in November and has even been graced by celebrities that include NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley. Simply speaking, the upgraded East Main Street restaurant and hotel continues to make an impression on everyone who visits.

Almost as importantly, it has given the Fredonia community a needed boost of confidence. Downtown has brought back an important destination.

It is a bit like the second chance voters gave President Donald Trump last November when he was returned to the White House by a large margin. Concerns with high inflation and what some perceived as a lack of energy from President Joe Biden allowed Trump to again become larger than life.

To his most loyal followers, Trump always has the right answer. For his foes, his decisions are based on what is best for him, not the country.

For the first 25 days, it has been a whirlwind. Executive orders, federal freezes and a clamping down on illegal immigrants have received plenty of publicity in the early days of the 47th presidency.

Langworthy, who represents portions of Western New York and the Southern Tier in District 23, likes what he is seeing from the commander in chief. On Jan. 28, the Republican congressman was in Chautauqua County to express support for Trump and the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers who were high profile that week while removing dangerous undocumented immigrants from the nation and region.

Later that day, our staff learned through Sheriff James Quattrone that ICE had been in the north county that week as well. “This is the centerpiece of President Trump’s agenda,” Langworthy said. “It’s what we ran on. We’re going to secure the border and we’re going to get the criminal element and those threats to national security out of the country.”

In his 90-minute conversation with The Post-Journal and OBSERVER, Langworthy indicated that those who have come to this nation legally are not the ones who are being targeted. “Those people have documents and are approved. … If a farmer’s playing by the rules of engagement, there’s no issues. … If these people, while they have been here, are law abiding, there’s no issue.”

Another major piece to the Trump agenda is energy. Washington’s policy for U.S. independence clashes with how New York state sees the future for power suppliers.

There is no doubting the green alternatives have benefits for the environment, but they lack the juice necessary to keep America in operation. Langworthy voiced his doubts on Albany’s affection for solar and wind.

“I think that these are wildly wasteful and the new reports have come out that these renewables can get no closer than 20 to 25% of the grid for the whole country,” he said. “No matter how much money you shovel at it, it’s not going to get past 25% of the total. So you’re still going to have nuclear, you’re still going to have natural gas.”

He then said Gov. Kathy Hochul needs to “wake up” and called for the three shuttered power plants in Western New York — Somerset, Tonawanda and Dunkirk — to be repurposed to run on natural gas. He noted the infrastructure is already there “to get to a cleaner tomorrow.”

Other topics Langworthy discussed included:

— Tax breaks for renewables that continue to build in the county. “My philosophy is local control. If the Town Board … promotes that and their voters continue to support them, far be it for me to tell them they can’t. But I also don’t think that we should subsidize it on the backs of the federal taxpayer because it’s not lucrative.”

— New York’s high Medicaid costs. “If we just adopted California’s standards alone, we’d save billions and billions of dollars every year. … They’re obviously a socially liberal state that is extremely generous with the benefits. But New York is so above and beyond what California is, that we are the shame of the whole program.”

— Hochul’s $252 billion spending plan. “There’s got to be some self reflection and we have to put pressure on the state government to get with the program. The era of free money is over. We have over $36 trillion in federal debt (with) way too much racked up in the last half decade … with the over-reaction on COVID.”

— Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency efforts. “I think they’re going to find real savings. A big part of it is a federal workforce that’s run amok that doesn’t want to come back to work. If you haven’t come back to work on the fifth anniversary of the COVID lockdown, maybe your job is not as important as you thought it was.”

John D’Agostino is editor of The Post-Journal, OBSERVER and Times Observer in Warren, Pa. Send comments to jdagostino@observertoday.com or call 716-487-1111, ext. 253.