"I refuse to be trolled": How to resist Trump and maintain peace

American democracy and society have been sick for a long time. Donald Trump’s election to the White House in 2016 was a symptom and not the cause of these deep problems. There is extreme income inequality and the gangster capitalist regime that profits from it, racism and white supremacy, a growing lack of faith in democracy and other governing institutions such as the news media and the elites more broadly, widespread social atomization and loneliness, collective exhaustion and lack of sleep, anti-intellectualism, mass death and trauma from the COVID pandemic, a broken educational system, a media culture of spectacle and distraction and an overall sense that “a return to normal” is not that great and “playing by the rules” and “working hard” to achieve the “American Dream” was a cruel joke and has been for a very long time.

Too many political observers — especially the institutionalists and centrists — incorrectly convinced themselves that Trump’s first victory was an acute aberration, in what was fundamentally a sound democracy that had widespread support and legitimacy among the American people. These supposed experts willfully repeated that same error years later, because to admit they were catastrophically wrong would be a narcissistic injury both to them personally but also to the larger political class that has given them much of their identity and social capital.

With Trump's 2024 victory over the Democrats, Trump and the MAGAfied Republicans take control of the presidency and both chambers of Congress. Trump and the MAGA movement also expanded their base of “populist” support in the form of a rainbow coalition of malice, rage and resentment, creating what could potentially be a realigning political force in American politics that will dominate for years if not decades to come.

Donald Trump has promised to be a dictator on “day one” of his presidency. All the evidence points to Trump immediately following through on his autocratic vision and what he and his agents describe as a “shock and awe” campaign against “the enemies within” and the “poison” in the “blood” of the nation. Per Trump and his agents’ own words and meaning, this will likely be a very “bloody" and "traumatic" story.

It is true that President Biden achieved many great policy successes for the American people in terms of the economy, the social safety net, infrastructure and manufacturing, defeating the COVID pandemic, restoring the country’s respect and influence abroad and broadly trying to remedy the worst of the great damage caused by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans and the larger antidemocracy movement. But Biden and the Democrats were defeated in the 2024 election because they failed to effectively and consistently communicate those successes to the American people.

In all, President Biden’s time in the White House will, in the mid to far future, likely be looked back upon as some interregnum and intervening years in the larger Trumpocene. In many ways, the Biden administration and what it embodied was like a beloved relative or favorite pet that is very ill and the family convinces themselves that because today (or the last few weeks of months) has seen improvement things will somehow miraculously be fine in the end. As the world saw on Election Day, that is not what usually happens in the real world.

If American democracy and society were sick and ailing before, Trump’s return to power in a few weeks may be terminal. Even more tragically, this is the poison that the American people chose for themselves: Donald Trump won the Electoral College and the popular vote.

On what appears to be America’s now semi-permanent democracy crisis and state of emergency, Steven Levitsky, who is the author of numerous books including “How Democracies Die” and “Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point”, told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes during a recent interview that, “I’ve been trying to think of a happy ending and it’s getting harder and harder."

The problem is, as I mentioned earlier, relatively ending well has often emerged after a period of really bottoming out. You really see political elites sort of doing the right thing after really horrible experiences of authoritarianism, thinking about places like Chile and Uruguay, Spain and Portugal and South Korea too.

I think, there will be an election in 2028. I’m not as pessimistic as some. I don’t think we’re sliding into fascism. I think there’s a very good chance that the Democratic Party wins the 2028 election, but it’s not clear how we rebuild a consensus in favor of basic small D democratic politics.

Ultimately, Donald Trump and MAGA’s repeat ascendance to power reflects how American democracy and society in 2025 exist in a state of competitive authoritarianism and what is, in many ways, a shambling corpse.

In an attempt to make better sense of our collective emotions (and tumult and upset) in these weeks before Trump’s return to power, reflect on the previous year and the election, and what may come next, I recently spoke to a range of experts.

Rick Wilson is a co-founder of The Lincoln Project and a former leading Republican strategist. He is the author of two books, "Everything Trump Touches Dies" and "Running Against the Devil: A Plot to Save America from Trump - and Democrats from Themselves."

Look, we’re obviously disappointed with the outcome of the election, but we always knew it would be close. This country remains very evenly split and Trump doesn’t have nearly the mandate that his minions are trying to portray. The House of Representatives is as close as it gets and has a weak Speaker who’s completely unable to manage the chaos caucus.

It was a chaotic year with more moving parts than any election in modern history and we knew all along it was a toss-up. But while we lost an election, we weren’t wrong about the threat Trump poses and we aren’t wrong about the chaos that’s coming. Look at the end-of-the-year budget battle where Trump and Musk threw a wrench into the works at the last second without any regard for the consequences.

As Inauguration Day grows closer, we are gearing up for another fight and plan to take it to Trump every single day. We will contest his insane cabinet picks and continue to tell the world when the emperor’s not wearing any pants. We refuse to bow down to an undemocratic administration. The future of the nation remains at stake. We already see Trump trying to silence the media and push corporations into not opposing his plans. Someone needs to step into the void and rally the opposition.

As for what comes next, Trump meant what he said on the campaign trail and he’s following through. He’s looking to implement tariffs that will hammer the middle class, will try to deport millions of people by putting the military on American streets and will retreat from the world leaving dictators like Putin to run roughshod all over Europe. That’s the nightmare scenario.

But one constant remains — Trump cannot help himself. He’s an agent of chaos who has to inject himself into every story, whether it’s helpful or not. He nearly derailed the budget to cause a shutdown and weakened Johnson even more. He empowered Musk and is now upset he’s stealing the spotlight and his influence.

And as always, I remain hopeful that the American people will see the terrible consequences and push back to correct his oversteps.

Jennifer Mercieca is a historian of American political rhetoric. She is a professor in the Department of Communication and Journalism at Texas A&M University and author of several books, including "Demagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump."

It's hard for me to look back on 2024 without feeling nihilism — nothing mattered. The truth about Trump didn't matter. The threat that Trump poses to the nation and the world didn't matter. The legacy media didn't matter. The Harris campaign didn't matter. If none of those things matter, then what are we even doing talking about it — who is this for, who will read it and will they care?

I've been thinking a lot of a line that Jean Baudrillard wrote in "The Ecstasy of Communication": "Let us be Stoics: if the world is fatal, let us be more fatal than it. If it is indifferent, let us be more indifferent. We must conquer the world and seduce it through an indifference that is at least equal to the world's. To counter the acceleration of networks and circuits the world will seek slowness, inertia." Let us be Stoics. If the nation is indifferent to the threats to democracy, let us be more indifferent. They'll miss democracy when it's gone.

Trump's return is still surprising. It's understandable. It was predictable. But it's still surprising to me that power-mad anti-democratic forces succeeded in taking over the nation and electing the most dangerous person in America as president.

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I'm looking at Trump assuming office in 2025 with dread, calling to mind what Daniel Webster said about Andrew Jackson taking office in 1829. "His friends have no common principle — they are held together by no common tie. My opinion is that when he comes, he will bring a breeze with him. Which way it will blow, I cannot tell." Though, unlike Jackson in 1829, we have a pretty good idea of what kind of "breeze" Trump will bring with him. My goal is to face 2025 realistically. I hope to focus on the things that I can do to help defend democracy in America — mostly by staying in my lane and explaining anti-democratic rhetorical tricks. And I refuse to be trolled. It is what it is.

I believe Trump when he says he's going to be a dictator on day one. I do not believe Trump when he says that he'll only be a dictator on day one. No one assumes dictatorial power and then gives it up.

Good luck to us all!

David Pepper is a lawyer, writer, political activist and former elected official. His new book is "Saving Democracy: A User's Manual for Every American."

I enter the New Year knowing that Trump and his allies’ promises pose many risks to our nation, the democracy we’ve known, our communities and the lives of countless Americans. So, clear-eyed about these risks, of course, I worry.

At the same time, with weeks passed since the election, the word that best describes my current mood is “resolute." Why? Because I know that people in this country have overcome worse than what we must overcome now — waging their battle for democracy from far more perilous ground than where most of us stand today. Still, they overcame it all. So can we.

Another lesson from past periods of democratic backsliding is that how we react now shapes the extent of the damage done by the forces subverting democracy and the rule of law. There will be damage either way. But history tells us that the risk of anti-democratic moments like this is that they can set in for long periods of time — lifetimes, even. Or they can be overcome in far shorter periods of time.

So, what we do in the coming days, weeks and months will likely determine if we spend the rest of our lives feeling the worry we feel now, or if we are able to overcome our challenges far sooner than that. I resolve to make it the latter. One reason the passage of time amid these dark moments is dangerous is because of how quickly the collective memory of Americans evolves and can fade entirely. This underscores an especially weighty responsibility on those of us of a certain age: to preserve and pass on our lived memories of how liberal (the classic definition of the word), representative democracy operates in its best days. We must not allow the current times to settle in as the new normal as memories of better times disappear.

We must also stay resolute because Trump and his minions will act quickly. They will throw as much at the country at once as they can. Test boundaries and barriers. Offend our sensibilities. And this will happen on multiple fronts to keep us occupied and distracted, despondent and in chaos. And that means the coming months are key. How we respond NOW is key. Every win early win matters. Finally, there is the inevitability that although they won narrowly, the right will act as if they won with an overwhelming mandate. They are already framing the election that way and using that “big mandate” to justify everything so far. This means they will overreach. That overreach will include dangerous and disturbing actions. It will involve policies that harm the lives and well-being of everyday Americans.

And, importantly, it will involve decisions that prove to be politically toxic at the moment, or over time. This overreach after a very close election presents a near-term opportunity.

We must seize it. To use another phrase — they will break it; we must ensure they own it.

And to do so, the timing works in our favor. Think of it this way — the next four years are the second Trump term.

And the inevitable failures of his overreaching policies, incompetence and toxic and divisive politics will become clear amid the build-up to the midterm of Trump’s second term. And we all know what happens in the midterms of second terms, right? 2006….2014…Now….2026.

It’s the midterm of Trump’s second term. His assurance that he knew nothing about Project 2025 will have proven to be a lie; those and other toxic policies will have hurt everyday Americans by the millions; his entire approach will have offended a wide swath of Americans; his extremism will motivate others who sat out this election, or didn’t believe the worst of our warnings.

But that will only happen if we are on offense and engaging Americans everywhere to see it all and respond. So that’s where I am. Resolute. To keep going.