Grief as a Call to Action: Facing the Next Four Years

From grief to grit, finding strength to defend our future.

Sometimes, life comes at you with an unrelenting force. That’s how 2025 has begun. A terror attack on New Year’s Day, a nation mourning the loss of Jimmy Carter, and wildfires consuming Los Angeles with a fury that defies comprehension—all in just 20 days. The grief is palpable, a shadow that looms heavier by the day.

Can you feel it too? This ache in the air will only intensify today and going forward. I had a front-row seat to the turbulence, chaos, and divisiveness that defined Donald Trump’s first presidency. I spent countless hours grappling with policies that I knew, deep down, would leave lasting scars on our country and on the values that make America what it is. Now, with his return—emboldened and vengeful—I am overwhelmed by a profound sense of mourning.

This isn’t theoretical. I know what’s coming. I know what this presidency will do to our nation, our institutions, and our people. I lived Trump 1.0 from the inside while you lived it from the outside. I fought hard to stop this from being our reality again. I am grieving for our democracy, which will face irreparable harm under his leadership. It’s no longer a question of if. His first term revealed a blatant disdain for the principles that have sustained our republic for more than two centuries—rejecting the peaceful transfer of power, undermining and attacking the free press, and dismantling truth itself. A masterclass in how to destroy trust in institutions. As someone who proudly worked in government for many years, I never got used to it. I was continually astonished by his disregard for even the most basic norms.