After the Devastation of Trump’s First Year, These Popular Rebellions Offer Hope |
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When President Trump was reelected in 2024, few predicted the speed and ferocity with which his administration would dismantle basic human rights, economic security, the global diplomatic order, and environmental protections. Even fewer anticipated how readily elected officials from both parties and many institutions — universities, courts, major corporations — would bow down or cut deals.
The damage of the first year of Trump 2.0 has been immediate and sustained. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spread terror through U.S. cities and towns, detaining and disappearing people into an expanding federal apparatus operating beyond public accountability. In January, ICE agents surging in Minneapolis shot and killed 37-year-old poet and mother Renee Nicole Good, the fifth to die during the federal government’s aggressive immigration crackdown, in addition to the 30 or more who died in ICE custody. The Trump administration has especially targeted communities of color, women, poor people, and LGBTQIA people. Meanwhile it has hollowed out our consumer protections, food safety standards, and public health infrastructure. And, in spite of his claim to a Nobel Peace Prize, Trump carried out military attacks on seven countries, culminating with his attack on Venezuela and threats of further military action.
The year has been devastating. But the power of ordinary people has begun to turn things around, and MAGA is fracturing and flailing. 2026 has the potential to be the year the strength of the resistance becomes unstoppable, building on the uprisings that blossomed during the first year of Trump 2.0 — or it could be the year that authoritarianism is fully entrenched in the United States. The choices millions of Americans will make in the coming months will make the difference.
Institutions we thought would protect democracy wilted during the first year of Trump’s second term, but ordinary people rose up. Neighbors protected neighbors from ICE raids and boycotted companies that backtracked on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Voters elected unapologetically progressive leaders. Workers went out on strike. Communities fed families when the government would not, and rebuilt after floods and fires when federal agencies failed. State and local officials — along with some courageous universities and businesses — stood up to Trump administration bullying. There is much to learn from all of these successes.
Some observers seemed to think that the election of Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York City came out of nowhere. It didn’t. It grew out of years of organizing by the Democratic Socialists of America, the Working Families Party, labor unions, and community groups. More than 100,000 volunteers supported the campaign, mobilizing thousands of first-time voters. Millions of dollars poured in to defeat him, including from 26 billionaires. But Mamdani won anyway, speaking to the concerns of ordinary people with bold and practical solutions: free child care, affordable housing, support for small businesses, and more. He promised to tax the ultra-wealthy to finance his programs, and he defended human rights — especially for immigrants. “To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us,” he said in his election night address.
Democrats and progressives swept other 2025 campaigns, including governors’ races in Virginia and New Jersey. Democratic Socialist Katie Wilson was elected mayor of Seattle, and Democrats increased their margin in the hard-fought Wisconsin Supreme Court. Californians voted nearly 2-1 in favor of redistricting after Texas redrew its election map. Meanwhile, candidates endorsed by Trump won in only a third of their races.
The lessons for 2026 are clear:
Throughout the first year of the Trump........