By Tom H. Hastings
How did it start?
I’m from Minnesota and my Dad took me canoeing in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness as a boy. Eventually, as an adult, I became a guide. I learned about the peatbog slow burns that could keep the embers of a forest fire smoldering underground for years until surface conditions were so ripe that the peat reignited and erupted into huge conflagrations.
Similarly, despite sincere efforts to douse the flames of racism, xenophobia, sexism, and nationalistic jingoism, the glowing coals were largely underground after the Civil Rights movement, women’s movement, and the peace movements (against the war in Vietnam and then against nuclear weapons) made so much progress.
Donald Trump kicked up the cultural sparks in all three cases and started what I believe is legitimately called our Trumpster fire, surfacing live embers into an environment ready for a fiery backlash amongst aggrieved sectors of America, clearly acting out of the rage Trump spoke. It evolved into a political rally culture featuring racism, sexism, and hatred of those who came to America seeking refuge—often from the wars overseas that the US either started or fueled. His crude speech was exactly what angry sectors of the US loved, and they elected him—twice.
What is charred beyond all recognition?
What have we lost that cannot be remedied? A partial set of examples:
- Certainly the murdered US citizens and legal immigrants by ICE, DHS, or Border Patrol agents both on the streets and while in custody.
- The 168 Iranian schoolgirls, victims of a US war crime bombing in Trump’s unprovoked war of choice.
- US citizens now dead because Trump led the terrible legislative process that has defunded health insurance so dramatically that millions of working Americans cannot afford it and are uninsured—6 million Americans lost coverage in 2026.
- Thousands of children harmed by contracting measles in the US—first in Samoa–after RFK Jr. lied about the vaccine that had previously helped the US gain status in the world as “measles-free.” The harms include cases of measles that resulted in encephalitis, brain damage, and, in rare cases, death.
- Women who have died or otherwise been harmed by Trump’s Supreme Court nominees who have been confirmed and who overturned Roe v Wade, allowing states to outlaw abortion however strictly they wish. A Tulane University study shows the direct correlation between higher maternal mortality rates in states with more draconian anti-abortion laws.
- World trust in America. As we parents teach our children, trust takes time and integrity to build, but can be ruined quickly by bad actions. Trump has insulted, berated, betrayed, and greatly harmed allies for his two terms. This will take a long-term toll on the possibility for the international community of nations to begin to reconstitute with the US as a valued, trusted, and respected member.
What might be salvageable?
Even though Trump and his wrecking crew have ended the Dept of Education, USAID, many laws and regulations protecting the health of humans and nature, much of the Social Security Administration, cut staff and funds for the Veterans Administration, put anti-science activists led by RFK Jr. in charge of creating harmful public health policies, and much of the Dept of Justice, all that can eventually be rebuilt as we eventually negotiate a fire sale. It will take work, plus political will and skill. Removing the worst of the worst—Trump appointees who oversee all this arson—will clearly be crucial in starting the recovery process.
How do we put it out?
Like any major wildfire, the first order of business is to begin containment. This will largely be the responsibility of civil society, both using the inside game—e.g., lawsuits, voting, lobbying, running for office, letters to editors—and the outside game—e.g., boycott, protest, nonviolent civil resistance.
We are seeing promising signs all over the country that people are beginning to both step up with inside game actions and even outside game actions. Key will be strategically integrating, sequencing, and amplifying those actions.
Literally the only actions that can slow progress toward putting out this Trumpster fire have been and will be violent actions. The idea behind integrating the inside game and outside game in a town, a state, or nationally will be to do so to achieve greater and greater wave-amplification, so that the outcomes of actions can operated at peak effectiveness. Any violence tends toward the opposite—wave cancelation.
May the political and cultural rains ultimately extinguish this Trumpster fire for the good of us all. Then the long replanting and nurturing can begin restoration.
Dr. Tom H. Hastings is Coördinator of Conflict Resolution BA/BS degree programs at Portland State University. His views, however, are not those of any institution.