When President Trump took office, his disappointing enemy saw his return greet with a sense of resignation rather than a mass resistance.
The protesters were at home. Companies and executives rushed to like curry. Even some Democrats overtured Trump as they boasted that he and his allies had a popular opinion on their side.
But for just over 100 days since his second semester, species opposed to Trump's agenda have grown and expanded across the country as enforcement power grows and expands. The opposition is stronger than ever before.
The size and frequency of demonstrations are increasing. City Hall became uncontrollably militant, pushing many Republican lawmakers to avoid facing voters entirely. Collective efforts by universities, nonprofits, unions, and even some law firms have slowly begun to oppose the administration.
“There's momentum coming out,” Illinois Gov. J.B. Pretzker said he was the Democrat who first took office in 2018 due to aversion to Trump's first term. “I feel like there are people who now stand up and talk and get out and think this is the right thing to do and get worse before it gets better.”
The national movement has not yet blossomed. Opposition parties do not have a leader, a central message or a goal of sharing that goes beyond Trump's rejection. Even as some Democrats become more aggressive, their deeply unpopular parties struggle to clarify a unified line of attack – or there are many strategies that are totally except for hoping that the president's approval ratings continue to fall.
Banita Gupta, who was deputy attorney general during the Biden administration, said Congressional Democrats are following mostly on the line of opposition to Trump, rather than leading.
“There was a sense of despair early on, he had all the levers and no one was standing up, but that momentum changed,” she said. “People may not understand what Congressional members are doing, but lawyers, supporters and regular people are challenging the administration.”
Still, many Trump's opponents worry that what's going on isn't enough to stop what they're afraid of as slides into authoritarianism.
“It appears we are facing the destruction of the United States,” said Jason Stanley, a Yale professor and fascism expert. “No one is making it clear that this is attacking what it means to be America.
Combat in the court
Trump is still moving forward. He restructured foreign and domestic policies, threatened open court rebellion, tore the federal government and retaliated against perceived enemies.
White House aides dismissed opposition to him as coming from Democrats and “superficially paid 'defenders'.”
“They're losing everywhere. They never match the organic enthusiasm behind his movement,” said White House spokesperson Anna Kelly. “While Democrats throw attacks at the wall and see what sticks, President Trump has quickly provided his campaign promises with more than 140 executive orders so far.”
These orders are filled with a flood of historic lawsuits. As of this week, at least 123 court decisions have suspended some of the administration's moves, according to a New York Times analysis.
“The liberal legal group, Democracy Forward, has presented 59 assignments to the Trump administration,” said Sky Perryman, chief executive of Democracy Forward, the liberal legal group.
Perryman said the plaintiffs included public school districts, religious groups, small business owners, doctors and even Republicans fired by the president. The pushback “transcends typical politics,” she said.
Beyond the courts, Trump's opponents have limited options. Republicans have taken control of Congress and abandoned Trump's role as a checker. Democrats are over 23 years old and do their best across just 15 state governments, as Republicans.
Unlike Trump's first term, he currently targets universities, law firms, nonprofits and broadcast networks, using official authority to deepen American life and culture.
His division and conquest strategies were of significant success. Several goals have succumbed to his demands, including top law firms and Columbia University. Like the democratic fundraising platform ActBlue, others are being consumed by confusion.
However, sectors fearing being targeted are beginning to pursue a more collective approach. Nonprofits and Charitable Foundations have formed organizations that share best practices for legal defense and financial protection. More than 400 higher education leaders have signed letters denounced university “political intervention.”
“The people trying to lead the next step in the resistance and opposition to Trump are not the ones who are trying to get the band back in 2017,” said Cole Reiter, the American executive director of government censorship, a new group of progressive organisations and trade unions against Trump. “We're setting up a new coalition.”
After Harvard sued his administration, the university became more openly opposed to Trump, according to Wesleyan University president Michael S. Ross.
“I think at first, everyone was pretty shocked by the scale and the speed of this attack on fundamental American freedom,” he said. “Now I don't want people to fall off that list. They don't want them to be seen as collaborators with authoritarianism.”
Newly skeptical masses
Trump's aggressive pursuit of his agenda came at political expense.
Polls say his approval ratings have been historically low for the president early in his term, with the majority of voters saying he has “got too far” and he is full of his power. Some of the frustration is also economical. His constantly changing tariffs raised expectations for a recession and hindered consumer confidence. And in Wisconsin, conservatives were subjected to a major defeat in court elections.
His administration's actions also drip down in the personal areas of voters' lives.
Dr. Susan J. Cresley, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said Trump's widespread spending reductions and proposals have had an extraordinary impact on children, parents and the country's pediatric system.
Fear of government-led autism registration has made some families more reluctant to attend doctor appointments, she said. Others worry that a child's mental health care plan could be threatened. And as the country confronts the fatal measles incident, prominent vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. serves as Secretary of Health.
“What we see in the exam room is that all appointments take a long time because our parents are confused and uneasy,” Dr. Cresley said. “There's a certain amount of anxiety, and it's lined up even those that used to be a simple well visit.”
Democrats hoping to “play hardball”
Democrats haven't fully utilized those concerns yet. However, recently, several candidates of a competitive race have strengthened their language for the president, reflecting the Liberal voter desire to fight.
Georgia Sen. John Ossoff, a Democrat facing re-election next year, said last Friday at City Hall that the president's actions “already exceeded previous standards for bluff each.” Three days later, Democrat Mikie Sheryl, running for governor of New Jersey, wrote in an essay in which Democrats “have to play hardball and disrupt norms and systems” to fight Trump.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Waltz, the party's recent vice presidential candidate, noted that there is no single Democrat defending resistance to Trump.
“The desire for leadership is a natural person, but I think people are leading this,” he said. “I don't think anyone can actually do that. It's pretty difficult to lead a party.”
Waltz predicted without hints of humor that Trump would soon start dressing in military uniforms, saying it was a “just a matter of time” before arresting his democratic political rival.
When asked if he saw him in danger, Walz said, “That wouldn't surprise me.”
Voters who want a “result”
But other Democrats say they want more ingredients from liberal leaders than simply oppose the administration.
“If I wake up every day as mayor to protest Donald Trump, I won't be re-elected,” said Cleveland Mayor Justin M. Bibb, head of the Democratic Mayors' Association. “If I protest every day, people don't mind. They want to see me bring about results.”
The real-world impact of Trump's movements is still being handled by many Americans.
Last Sunday, at St. Mark's Anglican Church in Washington, about 30 parishioners gathered for a session to help them handle their collective grief about what the president has done in their lives. They shared stories about losing their jobs and seeing life's work by hostile regimes.
Julie Murphy, the parent coach who led the session, said it happened three blocks from the Capitol, where many of the parishioners work, but could have been held anywhere in the United States.
“The reaction is coming,” she said. “It empowers me to think I'm not alone.”
