On the one hand, there’s no sugarcoating how progressives feel as President Trump retakes office: rough.
Trump and his allies in Congress are already rolling out plans to cut taxes for billionaires, slash services for the rest of us, pollute the planet, and deport people who’ve lived here their whole lives.
But if you look closely, you’ll see signs people aren’t just going to accept all this. Here are five that caught my eye from this past election year.
1. Populist anger is boiling over.
Americans have had it with economic elites. Union activity has been on an upswing for a few years running now, with union petition filings in 2024 significantly up over 2023.
After a successful national strike in 2023, the United Auto Workers won an election in Tennessee in 2024, a major breakthrough in the traditionally anti-union South. And more Amazon warehouse workers and drivers are pushing to unionize, breaking open one of America’s most anti-union corporations.
Also last year, communities in places like Wisconsin fought back against a private equity takeover of nursing care. And nationally, popular anger positively exploded over the greed of health insurance companies.
Trump likes to play a populist on TV. But if he moves to slash workers rights, cut taxes for CEOs, and erode health care access and other services, he’ll have a fight on his hands.
2. The peace movement is back.
The movement for a ceasefire in Gaza drew support from a vast, diverse coalition of young people — with support from different faith communities (including many Jewish groups), as well as unions, environmentalists, and many others.
They haven’t succeeded yet. But they’ve won broad, bipartisan public support for a ceasefire, an arms embargo on Israel’s extremist leaders, and a foreign policy informed by human rights. Politicians won’t be able to avoid this issue anytime soon.
3. Climate wins are slowly adding up.
Our leaders continue to fail us on climate, with the fires in Southern California driving that point home dramatically. But an alternative vision is slowly taking shape.
The Biden administration’s signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act, is unleashing record investments in green jobs, fueling unprecedented growth in renewable power across the United States. The more local support initiatives like these win, the harder they’ll be for Trump and his allies to reverse.
4. Most people support their immigrant neighbors.
One of the worst moments of the 2024 campaign was the ridiculous slander of Haitian Americans in Springfield, Ohio by Donald Trump, JD Vance, and other right-wing figures.
But Springfield natives showed up to support their Haitian neighbors, most of whom are in the country perfectly legally and have revitalized the community. Locals flocked to Haitian restaurants, churches, and community centers to show their solidarity, prompting even state and local Republicans to speak out against their leaders’ dangerous lies.
There’s a lesson here. While hardline immigration measures can poll well in the abstract, people feel much differently when members of their own communities are affected. When it comes down to it, most people don’t want their neighbors deported.
5. Even where Democrats lost at the polls, progressive issues won.
Forget “red states” and “blue states” — there’s support for progressive ideas in all 50 states.
In the last election, several states that voted for Trump also passed ballot measures to raise the minimum wage, guarantee paid leave, protect abortion access, and liberalize their marijuana laws.
It’s a trend that’s been building for years. Once you filter out the noise around candidates and just ask people about progressive policies directly, even “red state” voters tend to say yes. The key is to make candidates themselves run on those policies — without watering them down.
In short, our politics are a mess right now. But our country isn’t “lost” — only our leaders are. When Americans organize around our common decency, it’s going to get a lot harder for bullies like Trump to walk over us.
Peter Certo is the communications director of the Institute for Policy Studies and editor of its OtherWords.org op-ed syndicate. This op-ed was adapted from an earlier version for InsideSources.com and distributed by OtherWords.org.
