10 Tips to Prepare for a New Trump Presidency

Now that Donald Trump was elected As President of the United States for the second time, many of the millions who did not vote for him are seeking solace from the election results.

Journalist Daniel Hunter of Waging Nonviolence offer 10 tips to help us prepare and stay afloat during another Trump presidency. The guidance emphasizes that in order to take effective action, one must not contribute to the dictator’s ability to stoke fear, isolation, exhaustion and disorientation.

“Looking into an even more destabilized future is not easy. If you’re like me, you’re already tired,” Hunter shares. “The prospect of even more drama is frightening. But authoritarianism will not disappear, regardless of the election results.”

Throughout the election, Hunter has been busy preparing for the possibility of another Trump presidency. By describing potential scenarios, conducting training, and collaborating with colleagues who have lived under authoritarian regimes, he developed his 10 tips for managing the new Trump administration while maintaining internal peace.

“So for us to be useful in a Trump world, we have to pay serious attention to our internal state,” Hunter says, which is key to avoid perpetuating “Trump’s goals of fear, isolation, exhaustion, or constant disorientation.”

1. Trust yourself

Amid widespread social mistrust—with many mistrusting the government, medical professionals, the media, and even family and friends—Hunter suggests starting with trusting yourself. He encourages you to tune into your inner voice and realize how what you see, hear and feel affects your overall well-being. After checking in with your feelings and emotions, you can put your phone down for a few hours, get some rest, or come to terms with your fears.

Essentially, it’s “developing a defense against how madness can become internalized,” Hunter writes.

2. Connect with people you trust

Hunter notes that social exclusion is the basis of fascism and dictatorship, urging readers to stay connected with interest groups that share similar values. Drawing on Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism, he emphasizes that loneliness is a key component of autocracy. To combat this, he encourages getting outside, participating in social groups and finding like-minded people. These connections help build trust, allowing people to explore their own thinking and support each other to stay sharp and grounded.

“We must consciously bridge this distance,” Hunter writes.

3. Allow yourself to grieve.

Grief is a human emotion that should be accepted, not bottled up. And Hunter suggests starting by listing and resolving the feelings that arise. He remembers staying up late with a friend after Trump won in 2016 and just letting his emotions flow.

“We alternated between furious outpourings and tears. We were grieving. We cried. We held each other. We sighed. We went back to listing all the bad things we knew we had lost and the things we thought we might lose,” he shared.

Through this process, Hunter and his friend were better prepared mentally for what the next four years would bring. Instead of bottling up his emotions and constantly saying, “I can’t believe he’s doing this…”, Hunter released his feelings on election night and began to move toward a place of acceptance.

“Believe me. Believe it now. Grief is the path to this acceptance,” he writes.

4. Let go of what you can’t control

There will be so many pressing issues that will arise during a Trump presidency that accepting that we can’t solve everything will be difficult, Hunter is quoted as saying.

“Trump’s first day likely includes pardoning the Jan. 6 insurrectionists, reallocating money to build a wall, withdrawing from the Paris climate accord and firing more than 50,000 government workers to begin replacing them with loyalists. There is no reason to believe that the second day will become much calmer,” he writes.

To counter the chaos that often fuels autocracy, Hunter advises abandoning the belief that we must solve all problems. While this can be difficult for natural activists, he warns that “the desire to act on every issue leads to poor strategy.” Instead of focusing solely on public statements or symbolic actions such as rallies and protests, look for more effective ways to interact.

5. Discover your path

Referring to your book scenarios On how the Trump presidency might unfold, Hunter outlines several paths of resistance to counter the looming chaos. One path, Protecting People, aims to support those directly affected, such as transgender people, people seeking abortions, and immigrants. Examples include creating committees to welcome immigrants, creating anti-abortion funds, or training volunteers in security skills to respond to white nationalist violence.

Other paths include Defending Civil Institutions, where people come together to defend institutions designed to protect civil rights, Disrupt and Defy, where people intervene to stop bad policies or show resistance, and Creating Alternatives to support more democratic processes. .

“Your path may not be clear right now. This is fine. There will be many opportunities to join the resistance,” Hunter notes.

6. Refuse to comply in advance, avoid self-censorship.

Hunter quotes two major media outlets as ‘cowardly’ refusing support a political candidate as an example of self-censorship. Trump did not need to directly threaten these media outlets; their own management instructed them to “wait it out,” Hunter notes.

“If autocrats teach us any valuable lesson, it is this: political space you don’t use, you lose,” he writes.

Recognizing that we have the ability to choose when to speak out, Hunter encourages those who care to “use the political space and voice that you have.”

7. Redefine your political landscape

Hunter explains how Trump’s presidency changes the political landscape and potential outcomes. He emphasizes the importance of listening to people with different political or personal views and interacting with them to broaden our views. He also encourages practicing empathy and being aware of the reality of who holds power.

8. Face the reality of power

Taking to the streets for mass protests without a clear goal will only increase frustration, leading to disengagement and radical action unrelated to any strategic plan.

“We are not going to stop him from doing these things simply by using persuasive tactics or showing that MANY of us oppose them,” Hunter writes.

Referring to the inverted triangle as a tool for analyzing power, Hunter explains how strategically toppling the pillars of Trump’s support may be more effective. Mass non-cooperation exposes people to greater risk and reprisals. However, it also represents the potential for achieving the liberating government that we all truly deserve.

As an example, Hunter cited the 2019 Trump government shutdown as flight attendants prepared for a national strike. The strike could ground planes across the country, disrupting a key transport network. Within hours of announcing an “immediate mobilization” for a strike, Trump backed down.

“This tipping point of mass non-cooperation will be unpleasant. It means convincing a lot of people to take huge personal risks for a better option,” Hunter writes.

9. Manage fear and turn violence against it.

Managing fear is not about suppressing it; it’s about constant redirection. Citing activist and intellectual Hardy Herriman’s research on political violence, Hunter explains that for political violence to backfire, it is necessary to abandon intimidation and confront these threats, causing them to lose their power.

Hunter cites the example of Bayard Rustin, who turned threats of police arrest in response to outdated anti-boycott laws into a moment of courage. Rustin organized a group of civil rights activists who went to the police station and demanded arrest, positioning themselves as leaders and turning the repression into a powerful spectacle. Some leaders not included in the police list also publicly demanded arrest. The defendants were greeted with cheers from the crowd as they held their arrest papers high, turning the fear of arrest into a moment of triumph.

10. Imagine a better future

Regardless of who is in power, there’s a whole world out there there is beauty that we can look at instead of enjoying the state of government and how it affects our country.

“On the days when I can’t sense any of these political possibilities (more than not), I draw ever closer to the lifespan of trees and rocks, heading toward spiritual reminders that nothing lasts forever,” Hunter writes.

“The whole future is uncertain. But by using these things, we are likely to have a more hopeful future and experience in these turbulent times.”

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