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I decided to sleep in later than usual on January 20th. I had no interest in watching the inauguration; I wanted to prioritize my own health and wellbeing rather than stroke the ego of our 47th president. However, it became impossible to ignore his actions in the hours following his confirmation as our newest head of state. Talk of mass deportations, Medicaid cuts, reproductive healthcare restrictions, the rescission of Biden-era protections for LGBTQ+ Americans, Elon Musk’s “strange arm movement”, our government pulling out of the World Health Organization (WHO), and pardons for January 6th rioters filled my inbox, and concerned text messages came pouring in from friends and family.

In unprecedented times like these, I feel like the only thing I can do is write; so, I will write until my fingertips are whittled down to the bone.

A new age of authoritarianism is knocking at America’s door, and it is imperative that we look out for each other in critical times like these; President Trump is waging a war on his own citizens.

At the time of writing, the White House website, whitehouse.gov, reports 50+ official presidential actions since the President began his second term, killing policies pertaining to public health, climate change, LGBTQ+ rights and protections, the Affordable Care Act, protections for Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Alaska Natives, COVID-19 prevention measures, workers safety, prison reforms, immigration, executive branch ethics requirements, and more. Government websites are seeing a massive overhaul: travel and passport guides for LGBTQ+ Americans have been removed, the Constitution was taken down from whitehouse.gov, and the Spanish-language version of the site was removed. Spanish-speaking Americans were met with a 404 error and a button that simply said “go home”—distinct from the “go to home page” button on other parts of the site. While this certainly could be routine maintenance, it is worth remembering that government websites were scrubbed of information about LGBTQ+ people and climate change when Trump took office in 2017.

In the wake of his executive actions, I look back on his campaign promises and wonder—how on earth does this lower the cost of groceries for the average American? How does this benefit us as a nation? I’ve concluded it doesn’t. Cruelty and exclusion is the goal.

In the interest of full transparency, I’d like to disclose that I did not vote for Donald Trump. My opinions are my own. However, my community leans conservative, as does my family. I look at the disillusioned faces of my neighbors and ask myself, is this what you really wanted? I don’t know, and I don’t think I ever will. Maybe I don’t want to know.

I’ve lived in California for almost eleven years now, and I loathe the kind of person my neighbors, peers, and mentors have become. The same people who greeted me with open arms following my 3000-mile relocation from a coastal Massachusetts town became the people who hurled slurs and threats at me in hallways and public bathrooms. I feel no connection to these people anymore, but I can’t help but feel despair knowing that they’ve been duped into believing that our president has their best interests in mind.

I wonder what will happen to my former classmates working two jobs and relying on welfare in order to make rent. I worry about the people in my community who rely on the Affordable Care Act in order to receive regular medical treatments. I think about my former teachers suffering from long COVID. I may not feel kinship or connection with these people—quite the opposite, really—but the truth is, they’re more like me than they’ll ever be like Elon Musk or Donald Trump. I hope that one day, that realization will hit them. I believe that everyone can change, for better or worse.

Tomorrow, I will get up like I always do and resist the way I always have and always will, but for today, I plead to my community: remember your neighbors and remember their humanity, for you will face the same hardships as us. Your president—our president—has declared war on you and me, and none of us will be spared.