To be honest, it’s been difficult for me to conjure up the energy to write about Trump’s second term. It’s not that there’s nothing going on (he’s been up to plenty!), or that I don’t have the time. Instead, the reason is more personal: I think I have less to say because we lost.

We lost in 2016 too, as you may recall. But 2016’s result sparked movement, energy, and momentum that was woefully missing during that year’s presidential campaign. A “resistance” was everpresent, from elected Democrats and disgruntled ex-Republicans to on the ground from activists and voters. It generated massive planned and spontaneous protests, viral clips, online chatter, a flurry of “flavor of the week” Democratic officials and hopefuls running for various higher offices, and – it bears restating – energy. Energy from both electeds and voters. 

This energy manifested in a sweeping 2018 midterm victory, an impeachment of the president, a crowded contest for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, Joe Biden’s election over Donald Trump, and a sharp rebuke of the outgoing president in the form of subsequent victories in the Georgia Senate elections and another impeachment. More personally, I felt like there was a lot to say about why Democrats were overperforming, why Trump’s various acts were electorally questionable, and what was going to happen next. 

But here we are again, and this time the Democratic Party feels lethargic, voters and activists look tired, and Republicans are ascendant. I don’t mean to undervalue or overshadow the fact that there are many, many people still organizing, engaging in small or large acts of protest, employing more creative or long-term strategies to slow or stop this administration, and running exciting campaigns. But the sheer scale, or lack thereof, at a national level is stark. There are few, if any, unifying moments to validate the “resistance” to Trump this time around. Many elected Democrats who were faces of the resistance during Trump I are kowtowing to the president this go-around, there’s no Democratic victory in an Alabama Senate election to boost the spirits, and Democrats are unpopular – largely thanks to disapproval from their own voters!

It’s early yet – it has not quite yet even been a year since we found out Trump would be returning to the White House, but 2025 stands as a listless contrast to the ardency of 2017. So why? What’s different this time?

For one, he won. The only consistent explanation I keep coming back to is this one. In 2024, Trump won unequivocally, undeniably, and outright. In 2016, Trump won on the technicality of the Electoral College, while Hillary Clinton convincingly won the popular vote – 2016 felt like the system screwed Democrats over, that they were the majority who had victory stolen from them. But in 2024, even if Trump’s popular vote victory may have been the slimmest margin for a popular vote winner in over 50 years, Democrats suddenly could not claim that the plurality of voters preferred them. The results plainly said the opposite: Americans thought they were worse.

Does this really explain the lack of enthusiasm and general malaise of Democrats in office and at home? I think, more than we admit, it does! Underlying “the resistance,” the 2018 midterm, and Trump’s first impeachment was the notion that a majority of the electorate explicitly did not want Trump to be president. A plurality of voters actively wanted Clinton but the electoral system denied them that, and therefore, seeking reprieve in fighting against or seeking to topple the administration was an act of majoritarian democracy. In the eyes of many, Trump was an aberration brought about by a fluke of the system, and his ouster was justified because the country did not want him to begin with!

Now, operating on that same belief would not just be divorced from reality, but would be anti-democratic. That’s a far less comfortable position to be in as a Democrat who feels Trump should not be president because of – take your pick, or choose them all – criminal convictions, sexual assault allegations, authoritarian tendencies, purported incompetence, controversial policy positions, relationships to controversial figures, etc. The voters knew these things and did not care. To deny the country the result of that decision, another Trump presidency, or insist it is unfair or must be stopped, would be something of an affront to the idea we should all stand for (and Democrats have, just frankly, been much better at accepting of late): we acknowledge and accept the results of our elections.

To put it more bluntly, Democrats are unable to muster the energy to fight Trump at a basic level because they’ve lost a fundamental tenet of their case: that Trump is some unholy deviation from what the country wanted. You can’t make that case anymore when the country did actually want him this time. So, you kind of just have to take a step back, make a few policy disagreements known as the party in power enacts its agenda, and try again next time. Absent that, you’re kind of just telling the voters they were wrong – and that’s probably not the best way to curry favor for the next election.

If this sounds a bit like Trump apologism, I don’t really mean it that way. What should give Democrats some resolve is that none of this ought to be mistaken for Trump’s outright favorability. Just because Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Democrats were unpopular in 2024 does not mean Trump is beloved by all. Trump’s approval rating is abysmal. The only postwar president he has ever had an average approval above at this point in their term is… himself, back in 2017. Trump and the modern Republican Party have an incredible ability to overstate and overplay the size of their mandate, now taking a plurality vote with a 1.5% margin of victory as having justified a dizzying array of massively unpopular policies, pushing the president’s approval underwater even on issues like immigration and the economy, where he previously held large advantages. With any luck, this will eventually and ultimately catalyze voters to turn away and look elsewhere in the 2026 midterms – and the 2028 presidential election. There’s plenty of evidence that he’s already losing substantial ground with demographic groups he improved with a year ago.

Democrats can still shape policy at the state level, they should push for achievable compromises with their congressional minorities, and absolutely must continue to challenge Trump’s overreaches in court. They should also take heart in Trump’s unpopularity and use what tools they have – but that doesn’t mean they can rewrite the outcome of 2024 or assert that the voters were wrong. The voters spoke, and the message was undeniable and without caveat: they didn’t want what Democrats were selling. The proper response to total loss is not outrage or denial, but acceptance, reflection, and preparation. That’s why resistance feels muted. Democrats have no choice but to do the democratic thing: take it on the chin, treat Trump as America’s lawful and desired choice, and do better next time.