Dear Everybody:
No news today--whatever dastardly thing Trump and his thugs are up to, it’ll keep to January second, at which time I’ll catch you up. And right now I want to kind of take stock of where we are:
This is the time of year that everybody does recaps of what happened in the previous year, but I’m not sure people want to be reminded of what happened in 2025. It was the year when:
--Trump took a sledgehammer to every department of government
--decimated Social Security, Medicaid, SNAP, the Post Office, and every other program he could get his hands on
--fired federal workers by the tens of thousands
--filed charges against his political enemies
--took over the Smithsonian and Ivy League Colleges and the Voice of America
--threatened to annex Canada and invade Panama and Greenland
--illegally blew up fishing boats in the Caribbean and murdered the survivors
--turned pirate and started seizing ships in international waters
--completely abandoned Ukraine and did his best to hand it over to Russia,
--threatened to abandon NATO
--alienated all our allies and allied himself with the world’s dictators
--helped Netanyahu bomb Gaza into a heap of rubble and expressed the desire to get rid of all the Gazans so he could build resorts and hotels on the land
--covered the Oval Office in cheap gilt
--stuck paintings and photos of himself everywhere in the White House (including his mug shot)
--put up a "Walk of Fame" so he could insult Biden and other presidents and glorify himself
--announced he was building a golden ballroom, a huge arch (which he insists on calling an "arc" for some reason) and a new "golden fleet" of battleships, and putting marble armrests on the seats in Kennedy Center, which he slapped his name on
--painted over the Black Lives Matter Plaza and tried to rename it after Charlie Kirk
--got Wall Street, tech titans, networks, colleges, and major newspapers to fold and do his bidding
--turned the Republicans in Congress into his (completely neutered) lapdog
--ditto the Supreme Court
--engaged in open corruption and enriched himself and his family to the tune of billions of dollars
--and tried to cover up his involvement in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
And for a while it looked like he was going to get away with everything he did.
But then a funny thing happened. People started fighting back.
--Protesters in Los Angeles, Portland, Chicago, and Charlotte came out in droves to protest and film ICE’s atrocities, dancing around in inflatable frog and unicorn costumes and utterly confounding ICE and the Border Patrol.
--They blew whistles, developed apps to alert immigrants to ICE’s presence, bought up vendors’ wares to get them safely off the street, and formed cordons to prevent ICE from arresting people.
--Governors and mayors and members of Congress stood up to ICE, too, risking arrest and injury.
--Jerome Powell, the head of the Fed, refused to cave to Trump’s demands to lower the interest rate and to step down.
--California’s Governor Newsom began trolling Trump, imitating his posts and making fun of him and his projects in a way that infuriated Trump.
--Everyday Americans of all ages, from kids to "gray-haired grannies," (as Stephen Miller contemptuously called them) joined ‘No Kings’ protests and "Tesla Takedowns" and other protests in record numbers, filling downtowns and lining streets and highways and highway overpasses with homemade signs declaring their devotion to democracy and their hatred of dictators and Nazis.
--The Pope weighed in strongly, defending immigrants, and clergy of all faiths showed up to protest and try to protect immigrants, sometimes getting hit in the head with pepper balls for their trouble.
--Groups like Marc Elias’s Democracy Docket and the ACLU filed lawsuits to stop the government’s predations and defend immigrants, federal workers, and people whose rights to free speech were being violated. And won over 95% of their cases.
--Grand juries refused to indict James Comey and Letitia James and other targets of his revenge.
--Juries refused to convict the sandwich guy and the guy who towed ICE’s car and the people who stood up to ICE and tried to stop them.
--Federal Judges stood up to Trump and demanded the return of immigrants from prisons in El Salvador and other countries, refused to allow Trump to deploy the National Guard, and protected civil and constitutional rights in hundreds of cases.
--Wisconsin stood up to tremendous pressure from Trump and elected a Democratic State Supreme Court.
--Indiana stood up to tremendous pressure from Trump and refused to gerrymander their election map.
--Democrats in Congress and the Senate introduced discharge petitions, held protests on the Capitol steps, and did everything they could to publicize and fight what Trump was doing, including providing the Epstein victims public forums to speak at.
--The Epstein victims, faced with death threats and renewed trauma, spoke out bravely about what had happened to them and demanded the release of the Epstein files.
--Admiral Alvin Holsey, the admiral in charge of the Southern Command of the Navy, resigned rather than follow illegal orders and spoke out strongly about exactly why he had resigned.
--Numerous US Attorneys and DOJ officials resigned rather than charge innocent people with crimes.
--Democrats all over the place, from Kentucky to Texas to South Carolina to Florida, won special elections in absolute blowouts.
--When Stephen Colbert was fired, he refused to fold and came back more fiery and fierce than ever in his monologues.
--Other comedians who were threatened, like Seth Meyers and SOUTH PARK, refused to be intimidated either and doubled down on their commentary.
--Artists, including the entire cast of HAMILTON, refused to perform at the Kennedy Center after Trump took it over and/or slapped his name on the building.
--When Trump tried to fire Jimmy Kimmel, people fought back and got him reinstated, and he has spoken out even more boldly than he did before.
--Countless celebrities like Cher, George Takei, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Taylor Swift, and the late, much-missed Rob Reiner, spoke out forcefully against Trump, using their fame to defend the country.
--Trump’s polls tanked, his military parade was a complete dud,
--A few Republicans in Congress, like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Thomas Massie, actually found their voices--and their spines--to speak out against Trump and defend the Epstein victims and managed to pull off a miracle--forcing Trump’s DOJ to release the Epstein files (which may well be Trump’s downfall.)
--Marjorie Taylor Greene in particular also opened (or revealed) a major crack in the Republican Party, paving the way for other Republicans to speak out.
--There have now been three instances where Republicans joined with Democrats to bring discharge petitions to the floor of the House.
--Republicans in both the House and the Senate are retiring and/or resigning. (Like rats leaving a sinking ship.)
--The Heritage Foundation, one of the architects of Project 2025, is facing collapse as nearly all of its people have left in a schism over the head’s embrace of Nazis.
--And I’m sure there’s a bunch of other stuff I’ve forgotten.
Dr. Who posted his own list of bright spots in 2025:
--1. We have seen Trump’s popularity numbers plummet to new lows never seen before in every category (economy, immigration, etc.) as well as overall, and they’re still dropping.
--22. A large number of the 2024 FAFO voters who entered the FO phase in 2025 are openly regretting their 2024 decision.
--3. The Courts, with the possible exception of the Supreme Court, are holding to stop the worst of Trump’s and his Project 2025 Team’s lawlessness, and so far they have mainly backed off and not completely ignored court rulings.
--4. Trump’s legal retribution campaign against his political enemies has failed miserably to the point where judges and grand juries have completely stonewalled the Trump DOJ’s incompetent prosecutors.
--5. The 2025 state and local elections were a complete wipe out for Republicans across the country.
--6. Many Republican incumbents are seeing the signs of the 2026 Blue Wave building offshore and are either running for the exits or in a few cases remarkably teaming up with Democrats against Trump and their own leadership in an attempt to preserve their political hides.
Jennifer Rubin listed a bunch of people who stood up against Trump and tyranny when no one else would: the AP (on the Gulf of Mexico issue), Media Matters, Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Rob Reiner, Governor Pritzker, Governor Newsom, Jerome Powell, Canada, Europe, the DOJ lawyers who quit rather than do illegal things, Indiana’s Senate, the Epstein survivors, the Kennedy Center artists and musicians who canceled their performances, and the grassroots.
--Jennifer Rubin: "Ultimately, ordinary people will lead us to brighter days for democracy. We look forward to making that journey with all of you."
And the anecdotal evidence of MAGA dissatisfaction keeps piling up:
--Trump’s approval rating among those earning less than $50,000 a year is now at 31%.
--Andrew Eggar: "I noticed a post-it note on my grandparents’ fridge. ‘I donated $10 to get a $2000 tariff check." At the end it said, I am charged to give $10 a month. I did not!’" He said his grandparents were furious about it, and even more furious when he told them there was no tariff check.
--The Patriotic Blonde: "I’m a three-time Trump voter. I worked two of his presidential campaigns. In ten months’ time, he’s inspired me to remove my Trump bumper sticker on my SUV and replace it with a "Fuck Trump" sticker on my SUV. I don’t care how you look at it. That takes talent."
--Mrs. Betty Bowers; "Tonight, my Uber driver said, ‘I never hear passengers say nice things about Donald Trump any more. Several years ago, I would hear praise all the time. No more.’ Just one sign things may be changing."
A bunch of my favorite commentators weighed in on what’s happened--and what they think’s going to happen:
--Simon Rosenberg: "Republicans are growing weary of defending the indefensible. Trump has gone too far, done too much harm to the country...he’s been far too corrupt and venal, is in clear physical and cognitive decline, is selling out our allies and emboldening our adversaries, lawlessly abandoning the Constitution, waging war against communities across the country, and even tearing down the East Wing to build himself a fucking gilded, imperial ballroom. And voters are pissed, Trump’s approval has cratered, Republicans are getting blown out everywhere. It’s an unbelievable and dangerous shitshow, and even Rs, as we’ve been seeing in recent weeks, are starting to buckle--for taken together it is just too much...it’s become clear Trumpism isn’t working and in different ways all across the country Rs are starting to say enough. The regime is weakening and defiance spreading...the rebukes, the humiliations, the losses Trump has suffered these last few months may be just the beginning of a gathering storm of opposition..."
--Clare said that it’s not just Trump’s biggest mistake was underestimating the courage of the American people, "but the amazing stupidity and ineptitude of the Trump administration itself. They are truly the gang that can’t shoot straight. Thank God!
--Jonathan Lemire: "President Trump spent much of the year as a steamroller, but as 2025 ends, he seems much smaller now. Republicans took losses and are starting to defy him. He seems out of touch and focused on legacy. And Epstein won’t go away...one of Trump’s greatest superpowers...was an ability to demand absolute fealty from Republican lawmakers. That is now eroding. And the first, most meaningful fissure has been about a dead man...The Epstein questioned spawned the first widespread Republican rebellion against the president and opened the door for GOP defiance on other issues, including the legality of the Venezuelan boat strikes and tossing away the filibuster...as poll numbers continue to dip, Republicans feel that a permission structure has been created for them to occasionally defy the president’s wishes. And for the first time, some in the GOP are beginning to consider life after Trump."
--Andrew F. Cockburn: "I believe next year will be better than this one was. The kakistocrats hit us with wave after wave of shit as soon as they came to power in January. We, our institutions, leaders, and allies have figured out how to clear much of it away. The stench still fills the air, but most of us are no longer drowning in it. They are not supervillains. They are just stupid, incompetent little assholes filled with hate, jealousy, and fantasies about shitty little assholes ruling the world."
On a personal note: When I was a teenager, I usually spent New Year’s Eve babysitting and watching Danny Kaye movies on TV. While I still love those, I have a couple of other good recommendations for New Year’s Eve viewing. One is an old movie, BACHELOR MOTHER, starring Ginger Rogers and David Niven, which is about a shopgirl who accidentally ends up with a baby and can’t convince anybody it isn’t hers. It’s a great movie for any time of the year, but it has a New Year’s Eve scene that makes it perfect for right now. The other one is a more modern movie, A LONG WAY DOWN, about a group of people who accidentally show up at the top of the same building in London on New Year’s Eve to commit suicide and become friends. It’s got Toni Colette and Pierce Brosnan and the delightful Imogen Poots, who I adore, and it’s just great. Even though it’s kind of a comedy, it never trivializes suicide or the reasons that bring people to do desperate things, and it will leave you feeling incredibly hopeful. Happy viewing! (And if you’re at a gala party getting smashed tonight, you can always watch them on New Year’s Day. Or the day after.)
Finally, here’s a comment from Meidas Touch which completely sums up the way I feel heading into this next year: "As the year closes, I feel more optimistic than I have in a long time. Last year, with Trump’s inauguration just weeks ahead, there was an impending sense of doom. Now, thanks to your resilience, there is hope. The Trump regime is spiraling, and more and more Americans are seeing the truth."
Things are looking up!
Keep calm and carry on,
Connie Willis