What you can do now

A baker’s dozen of important steps to fight Trump fascism

Friends,

In light of Trump’s worsening cruelty, vindictiveness, and ever more belligerent attacks on democracy, many of you ask: “What can I do now?” Here are a baker’s dozen of recommendations. (I’ve shared some of these with you previously but wanted to give you a revised and larger version.) If you have others, please feel free to share them with all of us in the comments.

1. Protect the decent and hardworking members of your communities who are undocumented.

This is an urgent moral call to action. As Trump’s ICE accelerates its roundups, detentions, and deportations, many of our hardworking neighbors and friends are being disappeared. ICE is rapidly becoming Trump’s police state enforcers.

One of Trump’s executive orders allows ICE to arrest undocumented immigrants at or near schools, places of worship, health care sites, shelters, and relief centers — thereby deterring them from sending their kids to school or getting medical or legal help they need. This is nuts.

So-called “sanctuary” cities and states have laws prohibiting their schools, public hospitals, and police from turning over undocumented individuals to the federal government or providing information about them.

These are sensible policies that are good for us all. Otherwise undocumented people who are ill, including those with communicable diseases, won’t go to public hospitals for treatment. Parents will be afraid to send their children to school. Crime victims who are undocumented will hesitate before reporting crimes for fear that they could then face being deported.

If you trust your mayor or city manager, check in with their offices to see what they are doing to protect vulnerable families in your community. Join others in efforts to keep ICE away from hospitals, schools, and shelters.

If you hear of ICE raids anywhere in your city or county, let others know: establish a hotline of ICE raid information and a “first-responder” list of people who will go where those raids are occurring, advise people of their rights, and, if necessary, block ICE directly. Your voice and organizing are critical in fighting back against this tyranny.

I recommend you order these red cards from Immigrant Legal Resource Center and make them available in and around your community: Red Cards / Tarjetas Rojas | Immigrant Legal Resource Center | ILRC. You might also find these of use: Immigration Preparedness Toolkit | Immigrant Legal Resource Center | ILRC.

2. Protect LGBTQ+ members of your community.

Trump is also making life more difficult for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other people through executive orders, changes in laws, alterations in civil rights laws, and changes in how such laws are enforced.

His bigoted rhetoric has also unleashed hatefulness in bigoted people.

I urge you to work with others in being vigilant against prejudice and bigotry, wherever and however it might break out. When you see or hear it, call it out. Join with others to stop it. If you trust your local city officials, get them involved. If you trust your local police, alert them as well.

3. Help protect officials in your community or state whom Trump and his administration are targeting for vengeance.

Some may be low-level officials, such as election workers. Some are judges. Some are elected officials. If you hear of anyone seeking to harm them, immediately alert local law-enforcement officials.

4. Participate in or organize boycotts of companies that are enabling the Trump regime — starting with Elon Musk’s X and Tesla and any companies that advertise on X or on Fox News, as well as companies like Jeff Bezos’s Washington Post and Amazon that have surrendered to Trump.

Don’t underestimate the effectiveness of consumer boycotts. Corporations invest heavily in their brand names and the goodwill associated with them. Loud, boisterous, attention-getting boycotts can harm brand names and reduce the prices of corporations’ shares of stock.

5. To the extent you are able, fund groups that are litigating against Trump.

Much of the action now is in the federal courts. We should all be deeply grateful to federal judges who are standing up to the Trump regime. The groups initiating litigation that I know and trust include the American Civil Liberties Union, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, Center for Biological Diversity, Environmental Defense Fund, Southern Poverty Law Center, and Common Cause. They can always use your help.

6. Spread the truth.

Get news through reliable sources, and spread it. If you hear anyone spreading lies and Trump propaganda, including local media, contradict them with facts and their sources.

Here are some of the sources I currently rely on for the truth: Democracy Now, Business Insider, The New Yorker, The American Prospect, The Atlantic, Americans for Tax Fairness, Economic Policy Institute, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, The Guardian, ProPublica, Labor Notes, The Lever, Popular Information, Heather Cox Richardson, and, of course, this Substack.

7. Urge friends, relatives, and acquaintances to avoid Trump propaganda outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, X, and, increasingly, Facebook and Instagram.

They are filled with hateful bigotry and toxic and dangerous lies. For some people, these propaganda sources can also be addictive. Help the people you know wean themselves off them. Pay absolutely no attention to anything Trump or his Cabinet or his assistants or his “spokespeople” say; they are lying.

8. Push for progressive measures in your community and state.

Local and state governments retain significant power. Join groups that are moving your city or state forward — toward protecting and enlarging voting rights, stricter environmental standards, abortion rights, and labor rights — in contrast to regressive moves at the federal level. Lobby, instigate, organize, and fundraise for progressive legislators. Support progressive leaders and candidates.

9. Encourage worker action.

Most labor unions are on the right side — seeking to build worker power and resist repression. You can support them by joining picket lines and boycotts and encouraging employees to organize in places you patronize.

10. Organize and mobilize for upcoming elections.

Wherever you live, your organizing and mobilizing is critical. Even if you live in a red state or red district, you can help win back the state legislature, governorship, senators, and representatives. If the people who represent you are doing a good job, make sure they stay in office.

Some of you are in districts that will be holding special congressional elections before the 2026 midterms; they’re especially important. Some of you are in states like Texas that are redistricting to gerrymander additional Republican seats. Your loud and tenacious resistance is critical here as well. As to the 2026 midterms, make sure good people are running, and support them with all you have.

11. Call your senators and representatives — constantly.

I’ve worked on Capitol Hill, and I know that senators and representatives keep count of how many calls they receive on any given topic. They give special weight to calls coming from their own constituents. So don’t hold back. Call, and call again, and call again. If they’re Republicans, tell them to get a spine and stop supporting Trump or you’ll make sure they’re not reelected. If they’re Dems, tell them to get more of a spine than they’ve shown to date.

The main Capitol switchboard number is (202) 224-3121. This number can be used to connect with any office in the House or Senate.

12. Keep the faith. Do not give up on America.

Remember, Trump eked out a narrow win — a tiny 1.5 point plurality — of people who voted. In the House, Republicans have a lead of only seven seats out of 435. In the Senate, Republicans lead by six out of 100. (Remember, Republicans lost half of 2024’s competitive Senate races, including in four states Trump won.)

We can’t give in to Trump and his neofascists or give up the fights for social justice, equal political rights, equal opportunity, and the rule of law. The forces of Trumpian repression would like nothing better than for us to give up. Then they’d win it all. We cannot allow them to. We will never give up.

13. Beyond these, please be sure to find room in your life for joy, fun, and laughter. Do not let Trump and his darkness take you over.

Just as it’s important not to give up the fight, it’s critically important to take care of yourself. If you obsess about Trump and fall down the rabbit hole of outrage, worry, and anxiety, you’ll burn out and won’t be able to keep fighting.