On Tuesday Night, Trump Will Double Down on His Broken Promises

On Tuesday Night, Trump Will Double Down on His Broken Promises

On Tuesday Night, Trump Will Double Down on His Broken Promises

Trump’s victories have not been victories for the American people he claimed to represent.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week we cross-post an excerpt from Katrina vanden Heuvel’s column at the WashingtonPost.com. Read the full text of Katrina’s column here.

Tuesday night, President Trump will give his first State of the Union address, a ritual designed to make even the self-proclaimed “stable genius” look presidential. His speech will celebrate his first year, likely boasting about successes—economic growth, higher wages, victories against the Islamic State—that in fact began under President Barack Obama. Most striking, however, will be the contrast between the accomplishments he will tout in this speech and the populist promises he made in his campaign and inaugural address.

On Inauguration Day, Trump indicted the Washington establishment: “For too long, a small group in our nation’s capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost…. Politicians prospered, but the jobs left and the factories closed. The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country. Their victories have not been your victories. Their triumphs have not been your triumphs.” This, he promised, would change, because “what truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people.”

Has there ever been a promise so completely dishonored in one year?

Read the full text of Katrina’s column here.

We cannot back down

We now confront a second Trump presidency.

There’s not a moment to lose. We must harness our fears, our grief, and yes, our anger, to resist the dangerous policies Donald Trump will unleash on our country. We rededicate ourselves to our role as journalists and writers of principle and conscience.

Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.

Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.

The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

I urge you to stand with The Nation and donate today.

Onwards,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

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