One Year In
Deep breaths.
A year into Trump’s second term, and I swear I’ve got a few more gray hairs than I did last January. It’s been a rough, exhausting, demoralizing year for most Americans. And we need to be brutally honest about what this first year has looked like: an unmitigated fucking disaster for the vast majority of people in this country—including plenty who still somehow believe Trump is going to deliver for them.
He’s not.
He’s a president who cares more about himself, his wallet, his image, and his every whim—of which he has many—than he does about a single person in this country. And if you’re wondering why it all feels so chaotic and relentless, here’s the truth: this isn’t chaos. It’s the plan.
We have to frame this moment by looking at what he promised in 2024 and where we actually are. Because this year hasn’t just been “bad.” It’s been revealing. It’s shown us exactly who he is—and exactly what kind of country Trump and his loyalists are trying to build.
He vowed to make life more affordable for every American. That on day one, prices would come down immediately—on milk, eggs, and gas.
He assured the job market would boom under his leadership.
He pledged the dawn of a new economic golden age for our country.
One year in? Prices are up across the board. The job market is a mess. This past year marked the worst year of hiring since COVID hit in 2020, with nearly 1.1 million jobs lost. Sixty percent of Americans are still living paycheck to paycheck. The only people thriving in Trump’s America are a handful of corrupt billionaires who think they’re engineering a new world order—while the rest of us are lucky if we get the scraps. That’s the whole con: they promised you relief and delivered a system where the rich get protected and everyone else gets the bill.
He promised to secure the border—and to his credit, he’s largely done that. But he also promised that by unleashing ICE, he’d be removing violent offenders, drug dealers, hardened criminals. What he’s actually done is build a private army of ICE loyalists who sow chaos in American cities, neighborhoods, and schools. We’ve lived it here in Chicago. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. I’ve seen the images from Minneapolis, too. It is devastating. And I’m going to say something that shouldn’t be controversial—but somehow is in Trump’s America: when the government starts terrorizing communities to score political points, that isn’t “law and order.” It is a full-blown oppressive dictatorship. We must face this truth and call it for what it is.
Trump, who swore an oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution, has not only created the conditions for people to be killed but has also openly supported and advocated for them—like Renee Good and Geraldo Lunas Campos, the man choked to death in ICE detention this month. Or Silverio Villegas Gonzales, the father who was shot and killed by ICE agents in Chicago after dropping his children off at school. And he’s been unapologetic. In fact, he uses the chaos as justification to label anyone who opposes him—activists, politicians, whoever—as domestic terrorists.
That word—“terrorist”—is doing a lot of work for them. It’s how they justify violence. How they justify killing our friends, family, neighbors, peers. It’s how you make indiscriminate brutality sound like patriotism.
He has brought violence and terror to our communities, our schools, our neighborhoods, our streets. Our home. You are less safe because of it. And if you’re feeling overwhelmed—if you feel like you can’t even keep up with the damage—understand this: that’s not accidental. This is the playbook: exhaust people until they stop resisting.
On foreign policy, the self-nominated “peace president” swore there’d be no new wars—and that in fact, he would end wars. Remember that? Said “America First” meant no more military action on behalf of oil companies. He committed to bring peace to Ukraine.
Donald Trump is now the first president in U.S. history to bomb eight countries in a single year in office. A man who can normalize that kind of violence abroad will not hesitate to bring it home.
He brought the promise of peace. Then he stabbed it in the back—in the middle of the night—in Venezuela. Said he’d focus on rebuilding things here at home. Hasn’t done shit. There’s no major infrastructure bill. No serious effort to fix our crumbling roads, bridges, or transit.
There is no plan to help everyday, hardworking Americans. No vision for creating a safer, more prosperous future for our country. No long-term project other than power.
Empty vessels make the most noise.
The only thing the federal government seems interested in funding is more AI data centers—which will jack up energy costs for everyone while gutting the job market, especially for young people fresh out of college. Handouts for the future billionaires, austerity for everyone else.
And then there’s corruption—and this nation is drowning in it. This is the guy who promised to “drain the swamp,” and instead became the biggest fucking swamp monster we’ve ever had. There has never been an easier time in American history for someone to commit fraud, run drugs, assault someone—or hell, just write a big enough check—and get a direct line to the president. Pardon after pardon, deal after deal. Let me be clear: this is a protection racket, not governance. Any other president would’ve had their legacy torched for a fraction of the shit Trump’s pulled.
He’s still cutting shady deals overseas, especially in the Middle East, selling out the American people so he can slap his gaudy name on another building. Don’t even get me started on the $400 million jet from Qatar. Or the meme coin. I could go on for hours. And the point is: this isn’t even subtle. It’s happening in broad daylight because they’ve decided rules don’t apply to them anymore.
And it begins with the man in charge. I’d call him a gangster, but that would be an insult to gangsters. Even Michael Corleone or the Goodfellas crew would look at this administration and say, “Jesus, that’s a bit much.”
And I keep asking the same question: is anyone better off than they were a year ago? And the answer, over and over again, is a resounding no. Electing someone like Trump was a desperate cry for help from Americans who are struggling and tired of a system that does not work for them, that serves only the interests of the rich—and he’s turned around and sold them straight down the river.
Rural hospitals are closing across the country. Farmers and ranchers are getting crushed in this economy. Trump hasn’t lifted a finger for them—but he made sure to bail out Argentina for $50 billion. Imagine that. You think the average American isn’t pissed off? Even a lot of his supporters are waking up to this mess. More and more people every day are starting to see it. Because at a certain point, propaganda can’t cover the rent. It can’t fill the fridge. It can’t save your kid’s school. It won’t get you a job. Reality breaks through.
We’ve got a deranged, dangerous, and deplorable dictator who doesn’t care about anyone but himself, surrounded by insidious sycophants seeking to destroy everything that’s great about this country. Who spends more time whining about not getting the Nobel Peace Prize or fantasizing about stealing Greenland than actually governing. Who’s always a step away from triggering World War III.
I’ve protested presidents before. I’ve watched this country go through wars, financial crashes, pandemics, and riots. But I have never seen this specific kind of fear spread so quietly—the kind where people stop speaking freely, stop trusting institutions, stop believing they’ll be protected if they tell the truth. That’s what it looks like when a government starts conditioning a population to stay silent.
And here’s the deal—I end a lot of my rants like this, because it’s the truth: we continue to need a strong protest movement in the streets to scare the living hell out of these people.
But maybe protests alone aren’t enough—especially when the people in charge don’t actually feel the consequences. Maybe it’s time to talk seriously about a general labor strike. Not as a fantasy, not as a hashtag, but as a real strategy working people in this country could build toward. A strike is what happens when working people decide they won’t keep cooperating with their own oppression. No buses. No warehouses. No ports. No compliance. No quiet consent.
We also need to build a better opposition. A better Democratic Party. One that’s not afraid to use power—to actually wield it—to undo what Trump has done and build something new. Something better. Something that moves us forward instead of dragging us backward. One that fights like it actually believes democracy is worth saving.
And yeah, I’m furious and tired and angry. But I’m also still optimistic. Because the American people—most of them, anyway—haven’t bent the knee to this wannabe tyrant. We’ve seen the worst of America this year. But we’ve also seen the best. And I want to be clear: the “best” isn’t just vibes. It is proof.
We’ve seen people rally to protect their neighbors, colleagues, and classmates being hunted by ICE. We’ve seen folks stepping up to get medical care to their communities when rural hospitals shut down. We’ve seen people rise up, resist, organize, show up. And Americans are resisting in ways that actually create friction—real consequences. Workers organizing walkouts. Teachers and administrators protecting kids from intimidation. Neighbors building rapid-response networks and mutual aid so families aren’t isolated when ICE shows up. Local officials refusing to cooperate with unconstitutional directives. Independent journalists and whistleblowers dragging the truth into the light when those in power would rather disappear it.
And that’s what’s going to get us through this: not one big moment, not one perfect leader, but a million small acts of resistance. Every day. It’s in the rallies, the videos, the organizing. It’s in being a good parent. It’s in taking care of yourself. It’s in showing the fuck up when it matters. It’s in refusing to let cruelty become normal. It’s in refusing to let corruption become inevitable.
I know the people reading this are doing the work. So keep going. Keep your head on a swivel. Make smart choices. Stay safe. And whatever your act of resistance looks like—do it today, do it tomorrow, and keep doing it until we get out of this mess. They want you numb. They want you exhausted. They want you doomscrolling until you stop believing resistance matters—because the most valuable thing a wannabe dictator can steal isn’t your vote. It’s your belief that anything you do can change the outcome.
Don’t give them that.
Don’t let the bastards grind you down.
But maybe protests alone aren’t enough—especially when the people in charge don’t actually feel the consequences. Maybe it’s time to talk seriously about a general labor strike. Not as a fantasy, not as a hashtag, but as a real strategy working people in this country could build toward. A strike is what happens when working people decide they won’t keep cooperating with their own oppression. No buses. No warehouses. No ports. No compliance. No quiet consent.
I could paraphrase this section, but it's too important. It's inspiring. I believe we must adopt this as our main goal for 2026. We must! I would like to add that we reach out to our friends around the world to stop buying from US. One big weekend at a time. It will sting and may cause pain and loss for the strikers. But we will prevail. Trump would lose his mind (what's left of it) and my favorite nemesis, Mr. Miller, would be really, really pissed.
Thank you for reading and, hopefully, an addition to this fantastic idea.
Here's a suggestion, Mike. You're a Democratic strategist and fundraiser. How about sponsoring a contest for pithy, short ads generated by anyone, professionals, or those with a smartphone? Keep the entries public, and let the participants vote up the ones they like. Reward early winners, if only a bit. Attach fundraising. Allow even a dollar towards favored ads. Target the venues and timing to put such ads on TV, social media, etc. Let the best go the farthest.
A rapid-response set of ads could copy the start or parts of the Republican ads, deconstructing them. Or, like in Aikido, use their attacks to let them fall on their faces.
In that, well-financed bots magnified riling, negative ads in previous elections, fund bots that track the crazies and laugh them off, much as Bill Jubran does.
I crash whole pages of worthy appeals from Democrats because I don't know whether my meager $5 here or there would go to the most advantageous place. Like compassion fatigue, I get ad fatigue. I somehow got on Trump's appeal emails. I noticed the same colors, the same fonts, the same emotionalized appeals as I see elsewhere. What percentage of the money raised goes to the companies creating such ads? Do they play to both sides, lucratively?
And, thanks for publishing without requiring a paid subscription. A mere $8 to every worthy substack or candidate would drain me fast. I appreciate those who allow reading and comments. (Like this one.)