Public Comment

Donald Trump posted a grim New Year’s message for the United States: “Our Country is a disaster, a laughing stock all over the World! This is what happens when you have OPEN BORDERS, with weak, ineffective, and virtually nonexistent leadership…The USA is breaking down - A violent erosion of Safety, National Security, and Democracy is taking place all across our Nation. Only strength and powerful leadership will stop it.” 

Trump is determined to portray the US in the worst possible light. On January 20, when he becomes president, Trump will use this false characterization to justify declaring a state of emergency. Trump’s “strength and powerful leadership” will translate to authoritarian actions. What can we do about this? 

1.Start with a true understanding of the status of the United States: Writing in the New York Times ( https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/05/us/politics/trump-us-disaster-numbers.html ) Peter Baler notes: “…by many traditional metrics, the America that Mr. Trump will inherit from President Biden when he takes the oath for a second time… is actually in better shape than that bequeathed to any newly elected president since George W. Bush came into office in 2001.” Economist Mark Zandi said, “President Trump is inheriting an economy that is about as good as it ever gets.”  

Trump won the 2024 election because a majority of voters had suffered severe economic hardship. These voters ignored Trump’s faults. In the CNN exit polls, 73 percent of respondents to the question, “[Your] feeling about how things are going in the U.S.,” said they were dissatisfied or angry. These were overwhelmingly Trump voters. 

Trump voters get their information about the economy from Donald Trump. If Trump says the economy is failing and the nation is insecure, Trump’s base will agree. It’s up to the opposition to maintain a true perspective. 

2.Be prepared for a barrage of misinformation. On January 1, there was a terrorist incident in New Orleans where an individual drove a pickup truck into a crowd, killing 15. The FBI identified the assailant as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. citizen from Texas. Donald Trump claimed Jabbar was a foreign national who had come across the border and Trump blamed President Biden for the incident. This is an example of how Trump will bend a news item to serve his political purpose. 

When Trump becomes president expect the White House to routinely manipulate the news. Trump will generate false news about the economy. Immigration, crime, climate change, public health, and other issues of concern. Trump will use his presidential power to spread disinformation. 

It’s up to the opposition to call out this disinformation and speak the truth. 

3.Recognize that Trump will attempt to eliminate dissenting opinions. It’s disturbing to anticipate that Trump will turn the White House into a fount of misinformation. It’s even more disturbing to realize that Trump is intent on squelching dissent. 

Since Trump won the 2024 election, we’ve seen a series of media moguls make the pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago to pledge fealty to Trump. We don’t know yet what this means for the mainstream media but the trend at sites such as the Washington Post suggest that confrontation with Trump will be avoided. (I expect MSNBC to disappear or undergo radical change.) 

Trump world already controls Fox News and X. Now it appears MAGA has gained control of Facebook. Trump intends to stifle dissent. 

4.Prepare for a communication challenge. Once Donald Trump is inaugurated, he will try to control the media headlines each day. This is Trump’s nature: he cares more about getting attention than he does in keeping his campaign promises.  

Trump 2.0 will take full advantage of the communication leverage offered by control of the federal bureaucracy. At the same time, Trump will make every effort to squash contrarian views. When Trump takes a policy position, he will try to keep liberal commentators from communicating their dissent, whether on the economy. Immigration, crime, climate change, public health, or other issues of concern. Trump will attempt to make it appear that he has a mandate, and everyone agrees with him. 

The role of the opposition will be to broadcast disagreement with Trump. Beginning January 20, once a week the opposition needs to hold a press conference where they need to drive home this point: Trump is not keeping his campaign promises. The opposition needs to be aggressive about broadcasting their dissent. 

5.Challenge Trump on inflation. Trump won the 2024 election because he promised to fix the economy. Many Americans believed he would drive down inflation; they thought Trump would reduce the cost of food, housing, household and medical expenses. Recently Trump has admitted that it will be difficult to curb inflation. His economic agenda seems to be based upon reducing energy prices and levying tariffs. This won’t be sufficient. 

The Federal Reserve Board is not impressed by Trump’s plans. In their just-released December minutes, the Board “expressed concern about inflation and the impact that President-elect Donald Trump’s policies could have on efforts to reduce it.” 

Donald Trump won’t be able to fix the economy. His plans will make things worse. This is Trump’s vulnerability: he promised to fix the economy and can’t do it. 

Bottom line: Trump may live in an alternative reality but he can’t hide from inflation. 

h