What you can do to fight the Trump agenda

A list of lists of how to resist

Source: The Visibility Brigade

“What can I do?”

That’s the question a lot of you are asking.

I’ve spent the last week exploring that question. And the overarching answer, based on my research, is that you should reach out and make connections with others, help them when you can, and protect them when it’s necessary.

Those are wonderful aspirations, but they are a big vague. So in addition to pointing you toward some great resources, I’ve put together an eclectic list of somewhat more concrete things you can do to resist the Trump agenda.

RESOURCES

First, some great lists from others:

• A Practical Guide to Democracy on the Brink, from Indivisible. (Also from Indivisible, What we can do about ICE raids)

• How *you* can protect democracy, from Protect Democracy

• 10 Things We Can All Do to Protect Democracy, from Marc Elias at Democracy Docket

• What you can do, from Robert Reich

• Democracy is Crumbling. Is Anybody Doing Anything? Yes. And You Can Too, from Sherrilyn Ifill

SOME OVERALL ADVICE

• “Stay engaged: When all the news is about Trump and pardons and lies, it is easy to want to retreat and stop paying attention. Don’t. It is precisely when things are hard that we must all lean into remaining vigilant and informed.” (Source: Marc Elias)

• “Use your town square: Every one of us has a town square. It may include our social media accounts, our local book club or dinner table. Use your town square to speak out in favor of democracy and against what Republicans are doing. Do not shy away from difficult conversations; seek them out. Engage the curious. Educate those who seek information. We all have a role to play, so don’t assume your voice is too faint or your platform too small.” (Source: Marc Elias)

• “Reaching out beyond your immediate circle of control can feel daunting, especially if you’re introverted. But becoming involved with collective decision-making and action is a crucial part of sustaining democracy. So to really have an impact, you need to build a strong local network.” (Source: Protect Democracy)

• “Yes, this administration is dangerous and cruel, but they are also shockingly dim and incompetent. Opportunities are everywhere. Make everything as hard as possible. Resist every demand. Refuse entry without a warrant. Don’t take the buyout.” (Source: Alexandria Occasion-Cortez on Bluesky )

CONTACT YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS

Indivisible provides the authoritative guide on how to contact your elected officials:

• If you’ve got a Democratic member of Congress: “That means your job is to support, cheerlead, or berate your Democratic Representative and/or Senators to be active fighters for every battle we fight on the Trump agenda. That work should be loud and public — whether positive or negative.”

• If your Republican member of Congress is vulnerable in 2026, or in a Senate race: “Demand your swing representative and/or senators show up in public. Make them explain where they stand at this moment of great divide. And make clear to them, and the broader community they represent, that folks paying attention in their district/state disagree with the MAGA agenda and want to see them vote against it.”

• If your Republican representatives are safe in 2026: “Your job is to tell the story in your own community — recognizing you aren’t likely to shift their vote in the short term.”

• And if you’ve got Democrats in local, city, and state offices: “Over the next two years, your Democratic elected officials will make choices every single day about whether to stand up to MAGA or whether to go along with it. Your spirited, determined advocacy will ensure that the good ones know they’ve got a movement behind them as they fight back — and the bad ones know they’re on notice.”

And it’s working. The New York Times reports that “Congressional phone lines have been jammed to the point of failure, according to lawmakers and officials on Capitol Hill, in a stark reflection of a political system buckling to a breaking point under an emboldened and unbound Mr. Trump.”

MUTUAL AID

• “As people lose jobs as a result of the draconian cuts planned by Trump and Musk, now is a good time to start or join a Mutual Aid group in your community. People will need help given the abruptness with which people are being let go of their jobs or compelled to relocate. The American Friends Service (Quakers) offers helpful information on how to create a mutual aid network to support those in your community. But there are many existing mutual aid programs around the country that are doing great work.” (Source: Sherrilyn Ifill)

• “Participating in mutual aid: This could be working with immigrant rights groups on deportation defense, raising money for, or volunteering with, local actors helping patients access abortions, or supporting your local teachers union in their fight against a new draconian education policy.” (Source: Indivisible)

DEFEND UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS

• “Know your rights: Understanding your rights is the first step in protecting yourself and your community. Immigrant advocacy groups like the ACLU and the National Immigration Law Center have created essential ‘Know Your Rights’ resources that outline what to do during encounters with immigration agents, whether at home, at work, or in public. These resources include critical information about your legal protections, how to respond calmly and safely, and what to avoid saying or doing.” (Source: Indivisible)

• “Protect our children with the Safe Schools for Every Student toolkit: Trump’s decision to strip ‘sensitive locations’ protections has left schoolchildren vulnerable to ICE enforcement, spreading fear among immigrant families. Our new toolkit empowers local Indivisible groups to demand school boards adopt policies that keep schools safe for every student, regardless of immigration status.” (Source: Indivisible)

• “Preparation is key. Resistance begins long before ICE agents arrive. Legal organizations and advocacy groups must aggressively promote know-your-rights education opportunities and ensure cost-free resources are accessible in multiple languages. Communities can organize defense teams to monitor ICE activity and provide immediate support. Churches, libraries, and other trusted spaces can reaffirm their roles as sanctuaries, both symbolically and materially.” (Source: Raeghn Draper in The Nation)

LGBTQ+ SUPPORT

• “Protect LGBTQ+ members of your community… Work with others in being vigilant against prejudice and bigotry, wherever it might break out. When you see or hear it, call it out. Join with others to stop it.” (Source: Robert Reich)

• Speak out for trans rights in front of state legislatures, school boards, city councils. (Source: Advocates for Trans Equality)

BOYCOTTS

• “Organize or participate in boycotts of companies that are enabling the Trump regime, starting with Elon Musk’s X and Tesla and any companies that advertise on X or Fox News.” (Source: Robert Reich)

• The Latino Freeze movement is calling for Latinos to stop shopping at big stores and restaurants like Target, Walmart, McDonald's and other places that recently rolled back their diversity, equity and inclusion programs. (Source: Latino Freeze)

• Social media accounts are urging a 24-hour “economic blackout” on February 28, at least in part to protest companies that have rolled back their DEI programs. (Source: The People’s Union)

CHANGE YOUR NEWS DIET

• “To defeat authoritarianism, we must commit to a healthier information diet. Doomscrolling can increase anxiety or have a numbing effect that impedes our ability to act in the real world. Shifting your information consumption away from social media, cable networks, and pundits and toward more in-depth, and — above all else — accurate information is a useful first step in protecting democracy (and feeling better about the world).” (Source: Protect Democracy)

• “Urge friends, relatives, and acquaintances to avoid Trump propaganda outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, X, and, increasingly, Facebook and Instagram. They are filled with hateful bigotry and toxic and dangerous lies. For some people, these propaganda sources can also be addictive; help the people you know wean themselves off them.” (Source: Robert Reich)

ALERT THE MEDIA

• “Support local journalists. If there's a protest happening, make sure they know about it. Ask them to cover it, if possible. If they don't/can't cover it, start blogging or record a video about it. We need to keep people informed. Who knows? Maybe it will penetrate the right-wing media bubble.” (Source: Donna Halper on Bluesky)

• I would add here: When you become aware of people losing their jobs, or companies losing business, or government services being curtailed, or important regulations being ignored – tell your local media. Post on social media. The damage being done by the Trump agenda needs to be publicized.

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

Targeted civil disobedience can garner needed media attention.

• The Washington Post reports that “Dozens of American students at a U.S. military installation in Germany walked out of their middle school on Tuesday as part of protests aimed at an official visit by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, underscoring the scope of disillusionment with the Trump administration’s crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.”

• Similarly, students in southern California have engaged in repeated walkouts to protest Trump’s immigration policies. .

MISCELLANEOUS

• Post guerilla artwork.

• Put up highway signs. Consult the Visibility Brigade’s toolkit.

• “Support local businesses. Avoid expenditures that are not essential. Start collectives for fixing things, sharing. Save $. Carpool. Start community gardens. Plan local events for sharing truths and having fun. Make music and sing songs of resistance. Build community. Starve fascism.” (Source: tcote04202 on Bluesky)

• “Find memes that work and infect other people with them. Use words like Trumpflation liberally. President Musk. Why do I have to pay taxes when billionaires don’t? Why pay congresspeople when Trump makes the laws? Create as many as you can, notice the ones people repeat and focus on them.” (Source: Panderp on Bluesky)

• “WRITE (everyday, weekly, or often). Keep a journal of these days. Express yourself as fully as you can in its pages. If you don’t like writing, draw or weave or throw pots. Whatever. Have a creative way to work through your fears, losses, or doubts. You may think you don’t want to remember any of this. But one day, you — or someone who comes after you — will be grateful to know your story of now. And writing or art can clarify things for you.” (Source: Diana Butler Bass on Substack)

ON THE VALUE OF GATHERING

“It’s critical for us to build communities right now, to show up and take hold of a storyline in public that will let us reestablish a democracy,” writes journalist Andrea Pitzer. “It's critical for people to know that a majority of Americans don't support Trump or Musk.”

She continues:

It won’t always be a protest—it can be as simple as a community fair. Anything that brings us together in a constructive activity in public bolsters democracy and raises awareness of our common stakes in the country. The more people we draw in, and the more people who see these events, the greater the likelihood that the actual state of our towns and cities, as well as the country, can become apparent to those who would otherwise be unaware of what’s happening.…

We need to connect in groups close to home. This is not a sentimental idea; it’s a way to assert power. We need to gather in public to make connections and assert control right now, before it becomes harder or even impossible. (Source: Andrea Pitzer)

And I’ll end this list with a wise comment from Sherrilyn Ifill: “People are doing things. You will meet those people when you start doing things.”

In Lawsuit News

Keeping track of all the lawsuits against the Trump agenda is nearly impossible at this point, but Just Security is giving it a shot, and last I checked they list 58 of them(!).

Keeping track of the actions that have been temporarily blocked by court order is a bit easier. I believe that currently totals nine:

• Ban on birthright citizenship

• Freeze on federal grants and loans

• Resignation offer for federal workers

• Dismantling USAID

• Transfer of transgender prisoners

• Cuts to NIH research payments

• Musk team access to Treasury data

• Firing the head of the Office of Special Counsel

• Removal of web pages at CDC and FDA

Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick interviewed former Judge Nancy Gertner, who told her:

When you go roaring into court and you say, “This is illegal!” and a judge responds, “Yes, it is,” you begin to create a narrative so people have a sense of what the metes and bounds of our democracy are.

So far there have not been losses that I know about, but even if there were, it is critical to challenge these behaviors—not just to stop them, but to let people know that there are challenges to these behaviors. The public has to know about the constitutional and other challenges to these acts. The judges have to know about it as well. These are the boundaries of our democracy.

Protect Democracy’s Erica Newland and Jules Torti write about the lawsuits: “There is good reason to be very, deeply concerned about the fate of our country. But for the first time in what feels like a long time, we also started to feel a tiny glimmer of something different: hope.”

Some of the newer cases merit special attention.

• Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell co-led 21 other Democratic attorneys general in suing the Trump Administration on Tuesday for unlawfully cutting $4 billion in funds that support cutting-edge medical and public health research at universities and research institutions across the country. Within seven hours, the judge granted a temporary injunction.

• Three Democratic state attorneys general filed a lawsuit on Friday against Trump’s Jan. 28 executive order, which seeks to cut off federal funding from institutions that provide gender transition care to people under 19.

• Public Citizen and Democracy Forward filed a lawsuit on Thursday on behalf of the American Foreign Service Association and American Federation of Government Employees arguing that Trump’s attempt to dissolve the U.S. Agency for International Development exceeds presidential authority and has had disastrous humanitarian consequences. The judge granted a temporary restraining order on Friday. But the plaintiffs on Monday filed a motion charging that the defendants were not fully complying with the order..

Protest Watch

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow compiled a wonderful visual record of protests last week around the nation.

Since then, there have been more, especially in Washington, D.C., including a protest on Monday outside the Consumer Financial Protection Board offices

Federal workers and their supporters protested outside the Capitol on Tuesday.

And in New York, thousands gathered on Saturday at Union Square to protest Trump executive order targeting gender-affirming care.

The Importance of Not Giving Up

Two experts in democracy and authoritarianism – Harvard professor Steven Levitsky and University of Toronto professor Lucan A. Way – have a new essay for Foreign Affairs about “competitive authoritarianism.” They explain:

What lies ahead is not fascist or single-party dictatorship but competitive authoritarianism—a system in which parties compete in elections but the incumbent’s abuse of power tilts the playing field against the opposition.

And they conclude their essay this way:

Opposition under competitive authoritarianism can be grueling. Worn down by harassment and threats, many of Trump’s critics will be tempted to retreat to the sidelines. Such a retreat would be perilous. When fear, exhaustion, or resignation crowds out citizens’ commitment to democracy, emergent authoritarianism begins to take root.