Thoughts on Enduring Trump’s Second Presidency

Image Credit: René DeAnda

On a Saturday morning in December 2024, I pictured running an electric razor from my hairline to the nape of my neck. The mental image was fleeting, but it was cathartic as hell.

“I get where Britney was coming from,” I told a coworker a few days later, and I meant it.

I’m no stranger to stress, and December 2024 was actually one of the least stressful Decembers of my adult life. Still, I found myself stressed out enough, exhausted enough, that I experienced bouts of stress-induced nausea and briefly fantasized about giving myself a buzz cut — a hairstyle I’ve never tried, but I can only imagine is freeing.

Trump’s second inauguration is days away, and it’s got me thinking about the stress-filled hellscape that was his first term. It’s got me thinking about how exhausting it was to wake up to a fresh batch of anxiety-inducing headlines; how embarrassing it was as an American to witness a new political shit-show daily; how enraging it was knowing an alleged sexual assailant was running my country.

It’s also got me thinking about how I coped last time, and how I’ll cope this time; what made enduring Trump’s first presidency harder, and what made it more bearable.

Staying high isn’t an option for me this time around, because aging has completely changed my relationship with THC; I can’t consume the stuff anymore without feeling paranoid. Fortunately, though, I’ve been taking an effective and affordable anti-anxiety medication since 2022, and anxiety management is largely what I used cannabis for.

Exercise is still an option, and I recently purchased a gym membership. I also live near several walking trails. I’m not on social media these days, and I suspect that can only help. I'm not currently a news writer or a politics reporter, and I reckon that’s also going to make a positive difference in my mental health as I endure Trump 2.0.

Even so, since the 2024 presidential election, I’ve been dreading the damage, trauma, and deaths a second Trump administration might bring to my nation, and the many nations the U.S. interacts with. I’m worried about the future of healthcare and the Department of Education. I’m worried about the future of immigration. I’m deeply concerned about Project 2025 coming to fruition; I fear a major reversal of civil liberties.

I know I’m far from the only American — or person, for that matter — bracing for four more years of chaos and bullshit, and I wish I had a panacea for managing the stress and exhaustion that Trump’s second rodeo in D.C. will likely bring.

I know what typically reduces my stress and refills my cup: being with my pets, being creative, spending time in nature, spending time alone, spending time with the people I love, contributing to my community, taking care of my home, and taking care of my body; and I’m sure I’ll be leaning even more heavily on these activities to self-soothe over the next four years.

I won’t pretend to know what’s helpful for anyone other than myself; but as a a survivor, I live my life hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. If I were going to give advice on managing the stress and exhaustion of a second Trump presidency, that’s the advice I’d give.