What I Learned from the Last Trump Presidency

Critical reflection on how lessons from the first Trump presidency can inform emerging struggles and grassroots organizing. 

As we transition into another four years of Trump, there are important lessons we need to learn from in order to guide us forward. It’s important to understand the root causes of this turn towards right-wing populism, to understand the deep-rooted issues that people in America are facing. Plenty of research shows that the diminishing material conditions for many Americans are in large part the motivating factors behind Trump’s victory.

If we are to combat the future of fascism, here and abroad, we have to hold our ground and build a multi-racial, anti-capitalist struggle with America’s working-class and forgotten people. We need to collectively fight and take down the wealthy elite by organizing towards improving the material needs of people living in the United States, by focusing on wages, housing and food.

What I learned from the last Trump presidency is that constantly reacting to his policy changes brought us back years in regards to our political power. We found ourselves aligned with liberal Democrats which by default denied any fact that life under the Democrats was no different. If we are serious about our critiques of the Democratic Party and how they offer nothing but maintaining the status-quo, we must immediately engage in offensive measures rather than fall into the trappings of the last presidency: reacting to a barrage of executive orders.

In the last Trump presidency, we failed to build a strong movement that would offer any real alternative to right-wing populism. Instead of offering other avenues for the poor and working classes to improve their material conditions and build solidarity with one another; our reactionary tactics only succeeded in distancing us from the poor and lumped us into the liberal-elite wokism of the Democrats and their pussy hat soldiers.

Where we can grow strength right now is showing working-class people an alternative to right-wing populism, which means organizing strongly for higher wages, lower rents, healthier food, and more accessible healthcare. This is the only way that we can show people in the United States and globally, a true alternative to fascist populism.​​​​​​​

Look to your city to see what it needs, what are the choke points and vulnerabilities, build an alternative force that will lay the path towards our collective liberation.

Photo by Jean on Unsplash