It serves no purpose anymore to rage about what an awful man Donald Trump is, how unhinged he frequently acts, or why he should be held accountable for his crimes; he will be the president of the United States for the next four years and we must deal with that.  No doubt, President Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress will seek to surreptitiously enact their radical policies – and they will succeed if we don’t know what they are attempting.  That is why my advice is to stay well informed as best you can and fight like hell against their authoritarian agenda. 

So, how do we do that during the next four years?  Unfortunately, it will be more challenging than ever.  Most of the important statistical information for articles by media organizations, thinktanks and public policy non-profits comes from 13 federal government agencies, including the Census Bureau, the IRS, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Federal Reserve. 

Judging from his past performance, Trump will reject any data that doesn’t make him look good.  Consequently, if he implements his Schedule F plan to replace career civil servants with easily fired loyalists, I suspect that some government reports will be eliminated – perhaps in the name of efficiency – or will contain questionable or incomplete results either by design or due to incompetence.  Republicans have claimed for decades that the government can’t be trusted and now they are likely to prove it.

Social media organizations like X, Facebook and Instagram are catering to Trump and have ceased doing fact checking of user posts.  Like other sites on the Web, they will be filled with even more misinformation, some of it coming from Russia, China, Iran and other foreign adversaries.  I would not rely on anything that appears on social media, including recordings, photos and videos.

Even some mainstream for-profit news outlets, like the Washington Post and some major TV networks, may become more like Fox News that continuously provides positive stories about Trump and avoids any news that might upset him.  How widespread this becomes remains to be seen.  Therefore, we need other sources of information to judge their performance.

I suggest The Atlantic for enlightened coverage of politics and economics, The Bulwark for revealing what is going on in the Trump administration and Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American for a good analysis of current events and interesting political history.  Non-profits like USAfacts and the Peterson Institute for Internation Economics (PIIE), among others, will provide important research reports.  Also, keep an eye on the stock markets.  They are good indicators of the nation’s economic health, regardless of government claims.

Here are some facts that I wish every American voter realized: Tariffs are not paid by China as Trump claims.  They are paid by U.S. importers and usually passed along to consumers.  Undocumented immigrants are not taking American jobs as Trump claims nor surging crime rates.  The U.S. has had a shortage of workers since July 2021 and violent crimes and property crimes were considerably lower in 2024 than 2020.

Soon, however, the buck will stop with Trump.  So, he and the Republicans in Congress will have to start performing.  Yet, I don’t see how they can do it with the policies and priorities they have advanced, including extending tax cuts for the rich, slashing government agencies and programs, deporting much needed immigrant labor and imposing across the board tariffs that will likely surge inflation.

House Budget Committee chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) is circulating a “menu” of possible spending reductions that members can consider for a reconciliation bill that could pare $5 .7 trillion from the federal budget over 10 years.  These reductions would offset the cost of Trump’s tax cut extensions and border security measures and would not be subject to a Senate filibuster.  They would cut billions of funding for Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps and Obamacare.

But Trump won 2,600+ counties in 2024, many of which are rural, poor and heavily dependent on government benefits.  It is likely that Trump’s needy voters will get a bitter taste of his populism.  But, more on that in future posts.

Today, however, my focus is on Trump’s plan to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. This program could cost $315+ billion, according to the American Immigration Council (AIC), and result in a decrease of between 4.2% to 6.8% ($1.1 trillion to $1.7 trillion) of annual GDP.  To put this loss in perspective, the Great Recession (2007-2009) cut GDP by 4.3%, as reported by Forbes in 2023. 

Furthermore, undocumented immigrant households have paid tens of billions in federal, state and local taxes in recent years, according to the AIC, and boosted Social Security and Medicare trust funds with tens of billions of badly need funding.

Significant deportations would also cause an economy crippling loss of laborers.  Almost 14% of construction workers, almost 13% agricultural workers and seven percent of hospitality workers were undocumented in 2022, according to AIC data.  But among specialty trades, like drywallers, painters and roofers, over 30% are undocumented and so are 24% of workers processing agricultural products for sale.  No doubt these percentages will be significantly higher in 2025.

That is enough for this post; I will be writing about more Things Americans Need to Know soon.  In the meantime, you can learn about how you can help protect democracy by clicking HERE.