An incomprehensible dread has set in, accompanied by a state of numbness. It is completely and utterly disappointing for the majority of this country to have voted for an individual who does not support the rights of women, people of color, immigrants, queer people, trans people, or anyone living on the margins. We are angered at how easily Americans decided that Trump was an acceptable individual to lead our country, but we’re more fearful of how Americans will be impacted by his inevitable tyrannical behavior.

Before things got dark on Tuesday night, students expected a lengthy, drawn-out ballot counting session. They discussed how Trump was unlikely to hand over power peacefully, how it was going to be down to the wire, how every vote mattered. None of this came to pass. Trump won quickly and decisively. 

With a Republican Senate majority and a House majority yet to be called, Trump is leading a Republican party far less willing to object to his policy goals than during his first term in 2016. The recent Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity has also massively expanded Trump’s power in office. 

Vengeance has been brewing since 2020. Trump has been laying the groundwork for his radical agenda. There is Project 2025, a far-right vision for the Trump presidency from conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, that plans to trample on our democratic institutions. 

While Trump claims that he is not involved with Project 2025, Trump and his administration are mentioned hundreds of times throughout its 900-plus pages, which were written largely by people who have served in Trump’s administration. Russell Vought, a former Trump staffer and author of a chapter of Project 2025, speaking to undercover journalists, said that he’s not worried about Trump’s public distancing from the project, saying that Trump “blessed” the project and “is very supportive of what we do.” 

Project 2025 presents an onslaught of dangerous plans and policies, such as restructuring the federal government, disbanding the Department of Education, crushing abortion access, destroying climate protections and threatening the civil rights of undersupported populations. 

The oppression of marginalized groups has been an essential piece of the Trump campaign, and his harsh immigration policies are no exception. While Trump promises to both close the U.S.-Mexico border and implement mass deportations across the country immediately upon entering office, it is difficult to imagine how this would be possible ethically, semantically and fiscally. The Trump administration’s immigration policies will not only threaten the livelihood of millions of undocumented immigrants, separating families that have lived in the U.S. for decades, they will be incredibly costly to enforce.

His victory represents a slap in the face to sexual abuse victims. In this country, a sexual predator can become president and walk away scot-free. This is the embodiment of privilege in the United States. Victims of sexual abuse are heavily discouraged from taking action against their attackers. ‘This could ruin his reputation,’ victims are told tirelessly—yet, it doesn’t.

He will be just fine, and he’ll run for president and win. 

A common slogan used throughout the Harris campaign was “We Are Not Going Back.” She repeatedly emphasized that the nation was fed up with the misinformation, division, antagonism and chaos that Trump brought in his first term. Harris sold a hopeful vision, that the values of Trump were not the values of the American people, that as a nation he and what he stands for would be rejected by a populace with a positive and inclusive view of what America should be. 

But the American people picked Trump. He won not only the Electoral College, but the popular vote. 

We are going back, and the hate and anger of Donald Trump didn’t motivate the American people to reject him, it got him a second term. The idea that our country is ready to put the reactionary values that Donald Trump represents behind us was deeply compelling. It captured us and many others, inspiring hope for a Harris victory. We wanted to believe that our nation was better, but we aren’t, and we need to reckon with the fact our country picked a man who tried to overturn the results of the last election, who has been convicted of sexual assault, a fascist. Trump is a fascist not only according to his political opponents, but also his former chief of staff. 

Questions of how and why this was the result flood our minds. It is common knowledge that Trump is racist, misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic and xenophobic. In combination with his two impeachments, extensive record of sexual assault and 34 felony charges, one would think there would be more than enough motivation for voters to keep him out of office. Yet, he secured the presidency with ease, instilling an all-consuming fear in those whose bodies are policed, objectified, and ultimately, dehumanized. 

This is the America we inhabit as we are all navigating adulthood—personhood. Unmistakably polarized and deeply unstable, this is the America we must organize under. Refuse to grow complacent under the oppressive institutions that rely on ignorance. Hold those in power accountable, hold us accountable, hold yourself accountable. 

This may be Trump’s America, but it is ours to change.