Courage, Not Capitulation, Is The Only Answer To Trump 2.0
History shows that appeasing an authoritarian emboldens their ambitions. Capitulation isn't neutrality; it's complicity. Those seeking self-interested, short-term gains risk long-term consequences.
Thank you for reading! In the face of unrelenting disinformation, clear truth-telling and independent media are a necessity. We have to spread the truth as forcefully as gaslighters spread their lies. If you value in-depth analysis through a pro-democracy lens, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber to my newsletter. Paid subscribers empower this work and gain access to exclusive community features. Your subscription makes a difference.
After Donald Trump won in 2016, there was shock and widespread resistance as Democrats, foreign leaders, and the business world grappled with the unexpected. Now, a decade into the Trump era, there is a pervasive understanding of how he operates. This transactional President-elect is easily influenced by money, flattery, and displays of obedience. Post-2024 election, efforts to manipulate and appease Trump are already underway.
Multiple foreign leaders, business executives, media outlets, and even some Democrats are seeking to cozy up to Trump in an effort to garner favorable treatment or to avoid retribution. There’s a fine line between appeasing Trump for existential reasons, as foreign leaders are understandably doing, and publicly bending the knee out of self-interest in a way that emboldens a wannabe authoritarian. The latter is what’s happening with some business leaders and media outlets.
New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg has called this “the Great Capitulation.” While a lot of this is certainly capitulation, it’s also the kind of classic corruption, influence-peddling, and cronyism I wrote about in my recent article. But these efforts will only yield short-term results, as they enable a president with authoritarian ambitions.
Let’s start with the CEOs who have made quick moves to get on Trump’s good side.
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, Jeff Bezos’s Amazon, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are donating $1 million each to Donald Trump’s inauguration fund. Zuckerberg, who Trump previously threatened to jail, went as far as to visit Trump at Mar-a-Lago, dine with him, and reportedly held his hand over his heart as a version of the national anthem sung by the January 6 choir played.
These donations to Trump go far beyond simply showing support in exchange for the incoming windfall the renewal of the Trump tax cuts will give them. Trump has had a contentious relationship with Zuckerberg and Bezos in the past, and Altman’s OpenAI has an ongoing lawsuit with Elon Musk. Bezos is also likely seeking expanded subsidies for his space company, Blue Origin, which competes for government money with Musk’s SpaceX. All of these companies will be impacted by the regulatory environment or lack thereof, the Trump Administration implements.
Earlier this month, Jeff Bezos attended The New York Times’ Dealbook Summit and told Andrew Ross Sorkin he’s hopeful about the Trump Administration, specifically due to deregulation: “I’m actually very optimistic this time around. ... I’m very hopeful about his — he seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation. My point of view, if I can help him do that, I’m gonna help him.”
Billionaires clearly see themselves as beneficiaries of the incoming Trump Administration, just like the first term. Except this time, they aren’t doing any initial performative opposition to Trump and are openly embracing him from the start. They appear to believe they’ll thrive in the oligarchic system Trump is seeking to cultivate, but authoritarianism doesn’t end well for anyone, as historian and authoritarian expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat pointed out in her latest piece. But nonetheless, the people who actually have the means to withstand Trump’s wrath are kissing his ring.
An instance where a billionaire and media outlet currying favor with Trump intersect is TIME Magazine. The outlet still has phenomenal journalists, but its owner just undercut their journalistic integrity. Last week, TIME Magazine declared Trump its “Person of the Year” and published an unhinged interview, which, of course, isn’t unusual or worthy of criticism. What’s unusual is the fact that Trump celebrated it by ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, and TIME owner and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff enthusiastically congratulated him.
Naming someone TIME’s “Person of the Year” doesn’t automatically indicate it’s an endorsement. That person may simply have been the most influential and not necessarily a good person. For example, in 1938, TIME named Adolf Hitler, and it was far from an endorsement. However, when it comes to Trump, Benioff removed any doubt that this cover was, in fact, an endorsement.
We’ve seen a lot of obedience in advance from far too many media outlets, as historian Timothy Snyder puts it. From Bezos blocking The Washington Post from endorsing Kamala Harris to a similar move at the Los Angeles Times, this was happening even before Trump won. Now, it’s kicking into a higher gear as Trump ramps up his threats against the media, feeling empowered by a recent unexpected legal win.
ABC News sent a jolt through the media ecosystem when they decided to settle a defamation suit with Trump that they could’ve won. ABC News, which is owned by Disney, came to a $15 million agreement after Trump sued over statements made by anchor George Stephanopoulos. When covering the E. Jean Carroll case, Stephanopoulos said that Trump was found liable for “rape,” even though the official ruling found him liable for sexual abuse. But New York Judge Lewis A. Kaplan had previously ruled that Carroll’s use of the word rape was “substantially true,” and Trump couldn’t challenge that in court:
“…Mr. Trump, in fact, did ‘rape’ Ms. Carroll as that term commonly is used and understood in contexts outside of the New York penal law…”
That ruling from Kaplan could’ve strengthened ABC’s case if they continued to trial. As Media Journalist
pointed out in her piece titled “ABC News Just Showed Trump Exactly How to Silence Journalists,” legal experts believe ABC News would’ve likely won the case if they hadn’t settled, given the powerful protections of the First Amendment and the nature of this case. In defamation cases, you also have to prove "actual malice" and knowledge that the information was false. None of those factors appear to be present here.Speculation about the reasons for the settlement vary. An ABC Executive anonymously told CNN that they settled because “This problem needed to go away.” However, an article published on Wednesday by The New York Times indicated that the reason was multifaceted. For their part, the article claims that Disney felt they could lose the case in front of a Florida jury, that an ongoing legal fight with the sitting president could damage their company, and that the case could make it up to the Supreme Court - which could lead to the overturning of the landmark New York Times v. Sullivan case which would erode press freedoms.
Whatever the intent, the outcome was the same: a chilling effect that reverberated throughout the media and an emboldened Trump who is already suing more media companies.
Rolling Stone reported that the settlement was “immediately met with quiet anger and frustration” within ABC News “among a number of its producers, editors, and other journalists involved in investigative and political coverage.” Rolling Stone quoted one ABC reporter who expressed worry about what this means for the future:
“It is frightening. My fear is this sets a tone for the next four years and that the tone is: Do not upset the president … That’s not our job. I’m not the only person here who saw this as a big win for Donald Trump and a surrender [by us].”
This ABC settlement has clearly made Trump feel empowered. In a press conference on Monday, Trump mused about how he plans to sue more media companies, specifically calling out The Des Moines Register for their Ann Selzer poll that erroneously found Harris winning Iowa.
On Monday night, Trump made good on his threat, filing a lawsuit against The Des Moines Register and its parent company, Gannet, claiming fraud and election interference. So, Trump has sued a news organization for simply publishing a poll. It’s an unbelievable overreach.
Make no mistake, this is meant to scare not only mainstream media outlets but also independent media and individual journalists who have fewer legal resources. We can’t let his threats change our coverage of the truth. Fearless media will be increasingly necessary over the coming years.
When it comes to foreign leaders, their efforts to appease Trump can be more easily excused. America’s foreign policy on trade and approaches to countries currently at war will have wide ramifications. For example, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in a desperate state and relies on US aid to Ukraine, so it’s not unexpected that he would seek to cultivate a positive relationship with Trump - especially given Trump’s previous comments about ending aid to Ukraine and carving out a “peace” deal that benefits Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It makes sense that foreign leaders would learn from Trump’s first term and opt for carrots over sticks, with leaders effusively praising Trump and even deleting their past social media posts that criticized him.
Nonetheless, it’s chilling that U.S. allies feel the need to feed the ego of the President of the United States rather than appealing to the best interests of the United States, which a president is supposed to put above himself.
During Trump’s first term, when he met resistance to his crazy proposals, he would soon get distracted and move on to another fight - with the plot to overturn the 2020 election being the exception to this. If Trump’s authoritarian maneuvers are enabled with zero pushback in a second term, from both within and outside of his administration, we will surely see more of them. Pushing back is a necessity.
There are going to be plenty of junctures during the second Trump Administration when it’ll be easier to look the other way from an authoritarian action. There will be moments when appeasing him is the path of least resistance, and the fear of retribution feels insurmountable. But it’s in those moments when it matters most to speak out.
What we need right now is courage. We need business leaders to put their country over their short-term profits and actually embrace the principles they once claimed to have. We need journalists to remain fearless and steadfast in what will be a tumultuous four years for press freedom. We need Democrats to act like a real opposition party, both at the federal and state level, and refuse to yield to Trump’s extremist agenda. And we need everyday Americans to not give up on advocating for a better America.
Appeasement isn’t neutrality; it’s complicity. Resisting authoritarianism requires bold opposition, not silent surrender. Capitulation to Trump’s agenda isn’t pragmatic—it’s dangerous. Those who seek short-term gain risk long-term consequences for American democracy.
Unfortunately, as I’ve outlined in this piece, many people and organizations are falling in line instead of standing their ground. And we’re already seeing some influential content creators who made their name as anti-Trumpers beginning to make their pivot to a pro-MAGA stance. I won’t name names because I don’t want to feed their clout chase, but you’ve likely heard of them.
Trump’s presidency won’t just test our guardrails; It will test our character. Far too many people are revealing their true natures, proving they didn't abandon their principles - they never had any principles to begin with. Either you meant what you said about Trump before the election, or you didn’t. I sure did. You won’t see me pivot to becoming a MAGA grifter, that’s for sure.
I documented every day of Trump’s presidency during his first term. I also spent the past year writing and making appearances on MSNBC warning about Project 2025. I’ve been opposing authoritarianism and disinformation in America for the past decade, and I have no plans to stop now that it’s about to get more difficult. I hope you stay in the fight, too.
Now more than ever, Ahmed. Thanks for all the informational links as well. It’s becoming a full time job to keep up.