A Short Guide to Combating Trump's Alternate Reality

If we don't start aggressively challenging Trump's bizarro reality, we're going to become part of it.

by Jeremy Novak

Donald Trump is skilled at altering reality through sheer force of will. Things that were once thought politically impossible he suddenly makes possible.

He’s overcome a lot of obstacles on the way to the top—twice. From sex scandals to felonies to attempted coups, there’s not much else he could have done to hurt his chances politically, but there he sits in the oval office—on his days off from golfing.

But it’s not just about political success. He’s altered the culture and, thus, our lived reality.

The sex scandals have instigated a national wave of treating accused men as the victims of “hypersensitive” accusers; the felonies created sentiment that what’s corrupt is our judicial system, not corrupt criminals; and the coup attempt has suddenly Made Coups Great Again, with prominent congressional Republicans giving full support of Jan. 6th insurrectionists, including proposing reparations.

We can counter this by simply not talking about his unreal concepts as if they are real; by never legitimizing them.

And I don’t mean elected Democrats. We, as citizens, are the ones in control of the country’s culture. We need to choose our desired reality and live it and believe it. This will shape reality away from Trumpism and help to guide our political leaders into action.

Here’s a few examples of how we can push back against Trump’s version of reality.

DOGE

The Department of Government Effi—wait….stop there.

This is a glaring example of something that is simply not real, yet legitimized by how people talk about it, including its opponents.

First, it’s not a “department”. An actual federal department must be created by Congress. It’s not really anything other than a single person (Musk) who was granted permission to ransack our government’s computers and national databases.

Would Republicans be okay if the next Democratic administration allowed a random person like, say, Oprah Winfrey, to have a team of tech geniuses break into the government’s computers and issue money to people they thought deserving? (YOU get a check, and YOU get a check!). We all know the answer.

Former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger said it best with a recent Substack note:

It is very rare that DOGE is ever talked about in this context. It’s always in the context of being a legitimate organization performing a vague government function. But all it is a reality television show about a criminal data infiltration gang. It’s the largest data breach in American history, done in full public view.

Referring to it as anything else would be inaccurate. So stop calling it DOGE. Instead, call it a criminal gang when talking to your friends, family, and neighbors.

Executive Orders

When Trump issues an Executive Order (EO), the obligatory headlines follow:

“Trump signs executive order to stop federal funding for NPR and PBS” (NBC News, May 2, 2025).

“Trump order seeks end to birthright citizenship in US” (Politico, Jan 20, 2025).

“Trump signs executive order that will upend US voter registration processes” (The Guardian, March 25, 2025).

Executive orders are not law. They aren’t meant to challenge the law or define the law. They are just tools to proclaim how the Executive Branch will focus its resources.

But many of Trump’s EOs are basically proclamations of new laws or novel interpretations of current law. By signing and issuing them, Trump creates news and foments nationwide discomfort. He makes them things to deal with; things that can’t be ignored. Legal action is required to stymie their effects.

We can’t all sue the government, but we can at least stop legitimizing Trump’s EOs by how we talk about them. Let’s describe them instead as rally talking points. Trump’s EOs are designed to get publicity, fire up the base, and make it appear as if the government is getting a lot accomplished — nothing more.

They are also the primary basis for the administration’s claim that this is the most productive first 100 days of a presidential term ever.

And in this twisted way, it is the most productive 100 days ever—for signings of EOs. Trump’s signed 142 of them. Here’s a graph of Trump’s EOs at this point in his term compared to other modern presidents. This isn’t flooding the zone, it’s unleashing a tsunami into the zone.

Graph courtesy of Deutsche Welle

But Trump has not really accomplishing anything other than using up a lot of ink, paper and air time. So it’s time to start talking about Trump’s EO’s for what they are: a waste of government resources.

“Cabinet Meetings”

The monthly cult worship sessions that involve Trump and his cabinet members are called “Cabinet Meetings”, as if they are real cabinet meetings.

But they are not like any other cabinet meeting in American presidential history. They are mental spa sojourns for Trump, where his cabinet members massage Trump’s ego with effusive praise, in the hopes of achieving a happy ending for their beloved leader.

Here’s some sample quotes from the most recent one from April 30.

“Mr. President, your first 100 days has far exceeded that of any other presidency in this country ever, ever. [I’ve] never seen anything like it, thank you.” - Attorney General Pam Bondi

“[You’re] not just courageous, you’re actually fearless. You probably assembled the greatest Cabinet ever.” - Interior Secretary Doug Burgum

“I just want to say thank you, as a veteran of our military, for assembling what is the greatest national security team that I have ever seen” - EPA head Lee Zeldin

These praise parties are anything but “cabinet meetings”, yet are treated as such by the media, and thus the rest of us. They can be ignored, or even ridiculed. But they should not be given the dignity of being called “cabinet meetings”.

Let’s just call them “cabinet parties”, or “cabinet galas”. Why pretend they’re anything but?

Our power to shape reality

Trump has the power of the office to make anything he wants seem real and important. And this is one thing he’s skilled at doing.

But we have it in our power to respond with equal measures of our own reality. By calling out his efforts for being the illegitimate farces they are, we can shape the country’s reality as we see fit.

Reality needs to be directed away from Trumpism and towards decency and sanity.

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