The ability to trust and predict a leader’s ethics or actions is deeply important. Trump is a unique character, in that he brings out the worst in those who like him AND the worst in those who don’t. Also, he’s unique in his ability to say nothing and everything at the same time, depending on the impact of taking him at face value (“That’s not what he said” vs “He said that, but that’s not what he meant”).

The amount of grace afforded to Trump via the MAGA/GOP decoder ring is a sign of things to come. Every argument about the harshness of words or policy from the man who is supposed to lead ALL OF US will be a denial of the negative impact Trump makes…that is, unless or until a supporter is personally railroaded by his policies or lack of policies. But we’ve crossed the point of no return, so we all are going to be punished for the ballot box being used as anger management these past 3 presidential election cycles.

Reminder: that method hasn’t solved anything, has it? Rather, everything has become worse.

Some people I love heard the fear in my voice or through my keystrokes about how his campaign PROMISES will destroy my stability and the response was either “that’s not going to happen,” or a simple “thumbs up” in acknowledgment of the wounds I just ripped open for everyone to see.

Thumbs up. No empathy, no comfort. Mind you, this person requested that anyone openly share their fears of Trump Presidency 2.0, so opening the wounds was prompted. I initially assumed the intent was to gain some insight, but the impact was that any of us who shared our deepest vulnerabilities were essentially left on Read. It felt cruel after a few hours. But then it felt like a trap after a few days.

Again, he brings out the worst in all of us.

To summarize the chaos of the campaign that won by a small margin of 1.5%: When Trump says he’s not tied to Project 2025, we have to ignore his actions (appointing authors of that movement to his cabinet) because his words (denying he knows anything about it) are what matter. But when he says we should suspend the Constitution (Truth Social in 2022), we have to ignore his words because they don’t mean what they seem. Furthermore, when he repeatedly talks about annexing Canada, we can’t assume his intentions because, hey, “it’s just Trump being Trump”.

Basically, we can’t trust what he says, can’t assume what he means, and we can’t judge him by his actions.

Welcome to 21st century politics. When Trump is done with his term, I predict his supporters would NEVER accept anything close to this behavior being carried out by anyone else. Maybe someday, his behavior radiating from another person will rightfully be seen as undignified.

Until then, protect your peace and protect your loved ones. If you can, try to protect those who didn’t provide any care when your wounds were exposed…because they are also exposed and will be hurting when the impact of their choices hit them.

It’s hard to spend so much energy on worry, but I also have seen the people I love become humans I don’t even recognize anymore…burning down the house knowing that I’m still inside.