Dana Black: Trump presidency is going just as we warned

The first six months of the new state and federal administrations have unfolded just as many Democrats warned. So many people who turned out to support Biden in 2020 stayed home in 2024 because maybe they didn’t believe another Trump administration would be that bad. Voters told us we were being hyperbolic and that our American democracy will hold. They didn’t believe it mattered who was in the Oval Office because we have three co-equal branches of government.

Now we are witnessing the consequences of their inaction. Project 2025 is rolling down the hill, and it doesn’t appear that anyone in a position to do so has the fortitude to stop it.

We told you the Republicans’ immigration policies were not going to target only dangerous criminals here illegally but would target any Black and brown immigrant, whether here legally or not. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is disappearing people to countries the immigrants have no affiliation with. We have deported American citizens and ignored court orders to bring them back. We are building concentration camps in the Florida swamps to house detained people to dehumanize them. ICE is showing up at courthouses to arrest and detain people who are there for their immigration hearing, attempting to obtain refugee status. You know, coming here to do it the right way.

People are so frightened by the masked ICE agents that they don’t send their children to school. When this horrific chapter of American history is written, will it be required reading like “The Diary of Anne Frank,” where we learn of families hiding
in fear?

We told you the Republicans’ plan to gut our social safety nets to provide tax breaks for the wealthy would be harmful to the most vulnerable among us. On our nation’s birthday, the president signed what they call the One Big Beautiful Bill. A bill, now law, that most analysts believe will add trillions to our national deficit while cutting funding for services that support working-class, low-income families and people with disabilities.

Nearly $350 billion in cuts to education, most of which is to higher education, and the addition of a federal voucher program to pay for private schools. Add in Indiana’s gutting of degree programs at our public colleges and universities, and this will make it incredibly difficult for young people from challenging circumstances to stay in Indiana and obtain a well-rounded education. This is not creating opportunities for everybody but rather limiting opportunities to only those who can afford it.

Not to mention the $287 billion in cuts to SNAP and $900 billion in cuts to funding for health care programs like the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid.

In a celebratory moment on July 3, the president of the United States said: “But all of the things that we’ve given [Democrats], and they wouldn’t vote. Only because they hate Trump. But I hate them, too. You know that? … I really do; I hate them. I cannot stand them, because I really believe they hate our country. You want to know the truth.”

See, he thinks this is about him. It was never about him but his vision for the United States and the policies he implements. His followers who blindly follow him are the Americans who will suffer the most. At 79 years old, it is safe to say Trump is not long for this life. But his actions will have negative outcomes for generations.•

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Black is former deputy chairwoman for engagement for the Indiana Democratic Party
and a former candidate for the Indiana House. Send comments to [email protected].

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