During Trump’s presidential campaign, he talked a big game about helping working people. He spoke to the economic pains that families were feeling. He said that the system is “rigged” every day. Now that he’s president, has he done anything to actually make that problem better? Nope – Trump has further rigged the economy in favor of the wealthy and well-connected. In reality, he has surrounded himself with lobbyists, billionaires, and grifters who feed off government favors. In many cases, these special interests even run the government themselves — abusing their power and the public’s trust to scratch each other’s backs and turn their billions into hundreds of billions more. In reality, Republicans passed a bill that takes meals away from hungry children and seniors, strips health care from millions, and marks the largest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in our history. They smiled, clapped, and cheered when it was signed into law. In reality, Trump has done everything he can to tip the economic scales toward billionaires and corporations even more than they already were. He’s taken every opportunity to stir up racial hatred in this country and place the blame for his economy on vulnerable people. That’s his whole political strategy. What can we do about it? Democrats must earn back the trust of working people to chart a different direction for our country. And we do that by embracing bold economic policies that will make a real difference in the lives of working people. We know these ideas are popular. American voters showed up in force for Democrats who unapologetically ran on aggressive affordability agendas — like in New York City, Virginia, and New Jersey. We’ve got to keep championing those ideas and not shy away because we’re afraid of upsetting corporate billionaires. For inspiration, I think back to Franklin Roosevelt. When FDR said he would take on corporations and Wall Street, he didn’t mince words. He called out the “privileged princes” and “economic royalty” running corporate America. And when the titans of commerce went after him with vicious attacks, he didn’t back down. Instead he declared, “I welcome their hatred.” What did we get out of this approach? Social Security. Unemployment insurance. Abolition of child labor. Minimum wage. The right to join a union. Even the very existence of the weekend. All we need today is that courage. Courage to stand up to billionaire and corporate donors. Courage to make the wealthiest and most powerful people in this country a little uncomfortable. Courage to shake off any instinct to show how eager we are to compromise and stand by a half-baked plan. At every turn, Democrats need to expose the hypocrisy between what Trump says he’ll do for working families, and what he actually does for billionaires and corporations. We must speak to the real economic anxieties that families are feeling right now, and have the courage to fight for the policies that will make their lives easier — even if cynics say it’ll never happen. And we need to be unwavering when it comes to standing up for immigrant families, trans people, patients seeking an abortion, and everyone else who will be targeted by this administration. I know times are hard right now, and things feel scary. That is the point: Donald Trump and the Republicans want us to feel powerless, get tired, and give up. But the political position we’re in is not permanent. America does not have to be this way. Every step toward progress in American history came after the darkness of defeat. Abolitionists, suffragists, Dreamers, advocates for marriage equality, and marchers for civil rights behind Dr. King all faced impossible odds, but they persisted, and they won. Right now, a clear majority of Americans disapprove of what Trump is doing — the only president who has ever been less popular is Donald Trump in his first term. The razor-thin majority that lets Republicans control the House was decided by a little more than 7,000 votes. That’s certainly no mandate. So next year, a majority of Americans will have the chance to speak up and loudly reject Republicans in Congress in the midterm elections. And that’s a chance we can’t afford to waste with half-measures and nibbling around the edges. I promise you: I am going to do everything in my power to ensure that Democrats make the right choices when it comes to our priorities and our economic policies. And I’m going to fight every day to resist the far-right and billionaire agenda that harms so many people. If you believe in this fight, please pitch in $15 or anything you can so we can succeed in 2026.  | 
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