On Jan. 20, 2025, Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. Jan. 20 was also my 20th birthday. For nearly a decade, Trump has arguably been one of the most prominent figures in American politics, beginning with the launch of his first presidential campaign on June 16, 2015. That’s already half of my life, and we just signed up for four more years.
In 2016, in preparation for my 12th birthday, my family had already begun making plans to travel from California to D.C. to attend the inauguration of our 45th president, whom we believed would be former U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. In the wake of the election, my family was in shock. I remember little of that birthday, but I do remember watching part of the inauguration proceedings from a televised broadcast in my 6th grade history class.
As the election neared this past November, I began allowing myself to hope that this time would be different, that for my 20th birthday, we might get to celebrate the election of the first female U.S. president. I began entertaining the prospect of traveling to D.C. again, this time for the inauguration of former Vice President Kamala Harris. Obviously, these hopes were crushed once again. This time, however, the shock had worn off. The politics of Trump have become mainstream, and his victories have lost the shock value they once held.
In the face of the constant stream of breaking news that has followed Nov. 5, it comes as little surprise that so many of us feel a sense of helplessness about what can be done to mitigate the possible consequences of the emboldened Trump administration. After years of nonstop news—from Trump’s first term, to COVID-19, to the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza—many of us were already exhausted. The 2024 election was just the final straw.
On the 20th, I decided to avoid the news for as long as possible—Trump and his day-one actions were not going to be my core memory that day. Instead, I spent time with my family, baked a cake, read a book, and stayed away from my phone until later in the day. In the late afternoon, I caved and began reading the formidable amount of news I had missed, but I succeeded in enjoying a mostly Trump-free day. I’m glad I did.
Now, as the end of Trump’s second week in office approaches, the news has become even more inescapable. It has become difficult to use the internet at all without seeing a mention of some new egregious action from the new administration. Perhaps this overwhelming flood of executive orders and proclamations is by design: if the Trump administration takes action on dozens of fronts at once, we can’t possibly respond to them all. On this point, they are correct; trying to process each and every move of the Trump White House individually (while also having a life) is a fraught endeavor.
We live in an age of information, and for better or worse, we can precisely control where we get our news and what our news feeds focus on. Considering the state of today’s world, I think it’s perfectly acceptable to craft your internet presence in such a way that allows you to interact with the news on your own terms. Interact with the news in ways that will ensure you learn about developments you care about, but don’t flood your notifications or social media feeds with the newest controversy. It is obviously important to stay conscientious and take action when possible; however, that doesn’t have to equate to allowing the news to invade all parts of our lives. There are plenty of ways to stay informed which are less intrusive than getting notifications or reading the news all day. This could look like anything from a daily podcast, like The Headlines by The New York Times to a newsletter online, or even the news as posted in highlights on social media.
Trump may have won the presidential election, but he is not entitled to our attention every day at every hour. There are ways to stay informed and take action without letting him absorb every part of our lives for the next 1,450 days, and there is no shame in taking a step back when necessary. If there’s one thing we’ve learned from the first Trump administration, it’s that he won’t be giving us any breaks—we’ll have to find our own moments of solace.
Peyton De Winter is a member of the class of 2027 and can be reached at pdewinter@wesleyan.edu.