In 2025, Donald Trump scared people. Institutions too. That was the point.
To kick off his second term, Trump, emboldened by a Republican-led Congress that would rather bend the knee than govern, dismantled the executive branch and largely ignored the judiciary. He pardoned insurrectionists and investigated his enemies. He upended foreign policy and has wrought chaos at home. Throughout it all, he threatened universities, law firms, journalists, and anyone he thought might stand up to him.
For a while, it worked. Powerful institutions folded. Media companies blinked. Cowardice became a strategy. That was Round One. Trump was winning.
But now we're in Round Two—and something is changing.
From Minnesota officials telling Trump's Justice Department to bring it on, to Catholic cardinals denouncing his imperial bullying, to foreign leaders pushing back against his tariff tantrums, people are finally confronting the bully. Even the perennial cowards of corporate America may soon realize that Trump's madness is bad for business.
The New Republic is exposing the fear, the sycophancy, and the moral rot that allowed Trump to run roughshod over American life.
If you believe 2026 does not have to look like 2025, help by making a contribution today.
