By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times @mikemcgann.bsky.social
If you read social media, as I do, there is a lot of doom posting about the return of Donald Trump to the White House.
And yes, for those of us not in the billionaire class, it is likely going to suck on some level for most of the next four years. Yes, Trump is corrupt, incompetent and wildly immoral. And, of course, a convicted felon.
A lot of people – angry about whatever (COVID, the fact that white men will soon be a minority group or just boredom) — voted for this guy, either not knowing or not caring what the impact would be. I suspect there will be a reckoning for that choice.
Meanwhile, the left is struggling with how to respond.
My suggestion: don’t.
Focus on protecting yourself and your family and be patient. Trump and his agenda will explode like a SpaceX rocket, because he has surrounded himself with incompetent egomaniacs who will ultimately spend more time fighting with each other than getting things done in Washington. Getting things done in DC with a wildly capable, disciplined and experienced team is hard enough; with the group Trump is assembling it will be chaos.
I know this violates the instinct to “DO SOMETHING.” Although often attributed to Napoleon, I believe it was Sun Tzu in “The Art of War” who wrote: “Never interrupt your opponent while he is in the middle of making a mistake.”
From the moment Trump takes office again, noon on Monday, everything that happens will be on his watch, his responsibility, even if events are beyond his control. Assuming Trump tries to implement his policies, there will be a lot of self-inflicted pain.
Round up immigrants? Great. Who is going to pick the crops? Tend to your home? Do so many of the jobs white folks won’t consider lowering themselves to do? That should prove interesting — waiting for Trump supporters to start asking why tomatoes cost $8 or no one will come to clean their house or mow their lawns.
Should Trump start a trade war with tariffs on Canada, Mexico and Europe, we’ll see a spike in prices (if you were mad about 6% inflation, just wait until you see numbers in double-digits, as many economists predict). Those high prices will ripple through the economy, boosting interest rates. Consumer spending will drop, resulting in layoffs, which will further cut spending by consumers. A recession would be very likely.
Trump wants to gut labor rights, even abolish the National Labor Relations Board. I wonder how that will work out for some of the white, male union dudes who couldn’t bring themselves to vote for a woman of color. I hope the pay cuts and job losses in union households will be worth the choice to vote for Trump.
And then there’s the planned “tax cut” which will likely lead to higher taxes for most people, especially homeowners — except the very rich.
There’s literally dozens of other things that will play out like this — and some difficult, painful lessons will have to be learned.
And yeah, for many of us, it is going to difficult. This is why I suggest focusing on you and your family’s needs in the short term. There will be a time to take action, but it will have to wait until large portions of MAGA world are feeling the pain and are willing to redirect their anger toward Trump and his billionaire pals.
So, take a deep breath and be prepared to sit back and watch the chaos and hope it does minimal damage to you and yours. It’s not sexy, I know, but sometimes you have to let your opponents destroy themselves. This is one of those times.
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Similarly, it looks like we’re watching Democratic U.S. Senator John Fetterman go so far off the reservation that it seems inevitable that he will face a 2026 primary (unless Fetterman switches parties — a rumor that has been popping up of late in some political circles).
As Fetterman’s instincts seem to push him past the political center to the right — more so since he was elected to the Senate — this should create no small amount of political drama. Expect a well-known southeastern PA Democrat to look hard at a primary challenge unless Fetterman can mend a lot of fences.
