Six months. It may not be long enough to grow a baby or build a house or land a liquor license, but it is enough time to break a country. To disembowel its institutions, to lay waste to its ideals, to darken its spirit, to make it crueler and harder and more fearful than before.
As Donald Trump’s second presidency approaches the half-year mark, I wanted to consider this turbulent period as a whole, instead of in the daily, death-by-a-182-cuts way I had been. So I spent a few days looking at every New York Times front page since January 20, noting down phrases, fragments, lines that struck me — some about the chaos in Washington, others about the broader world. I ended up with nearly 800 shards of news.
That was my first round of this reliving. But I wanted to remix and reorder these shards in a way that better captured what it has been like to live through this period. And chronology, here, was not my friend. It missed the disorienting, destabilizing, whiplash feeling of this time. It kept the reader from making certain non-obvious but important connections. From the brilliant book Alphabetical Diaries, by Sheila Heti, a different possibility came to me: re-array the fragments alphabetically. Remove the linearity and the false sense of order it lends. Allow new patterns, new themes, to grow visible, and the frazzled randomness of it all, too.
After a good deal of paring down, the result is now below. It is very much in keeping with the mission and work of The Ink over these chaotic months: to explore not just what is happening but how people experience it; to understand the phenomena driving modern American life in psychological as much as political terms; to pay attention to language and its uses by power.
This is a post to be read when you have some time on your hands. At first, you may not feel drawn to the idea of reliving these six months. But I would encourage you to think again. Presented this way, I think, the half-year gone by, the half-year we have shuddered through and fought through and endured through, becomes a document of who we have been.
A
30-second descent, a 10-year roller coaster. A disgusting abomination. A fantastic guy. A sloppy error. A ban on gender ideology. A battle against Armageddon. A beleaguered party at a crossroads. A bitter, expensive contest for control. A black eye that he attributed to a punch from his young son. A bloody test of power. A branding bonanza. A campus scales back D.E.I. A chain saw to the apparatus of governing. A children’s book starring King Donald. A chill stifles debate. A constant fight against enemies. A country in disarray. A crackdown could redefine who is American. A day to remember what has been lost. A dizzying rhetorical tactic of shifting positions like quicksand. A dizzying rush of major policy changes. A fusillade of actions that have upended American life. A heavy storm or two. A liberal 77-year-old congressman waving his cane. A lift to a flailing party. A lift to the rich, at the expense of the safety net. A little bit yippy, a little bit afraid. A man of destiny, saved by God to save America. A mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal. A nationwide network of military detention facilities. A nonstop distortion of basic facts. A partly melted red Lexus. A payday in migrant bail. A plan put forward without details or consultation. A plan to name and shame enemies. A premeditated, cold-blooded assassination. A private Signal group chat that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer. A rift among U.S. Jews. A rush to cash in. A shifting mix of grievance, short-term political calculation, long-held belief and the experience of his first term. A showdown. A shower, then mostly cloudy. A smoke screen to continue coercion and extortion. A sprint to save the dead. A threat to investigate deportation flights. A top-secret briefing for Elon Musk on the U.S. military’s plan for any war that might break out with China. A toy maker in China struggles. A warning about democracy. A woman needed to be prepared. A.I. is saving lives. A.I. is wearing down democracy. Adams case is blueprint for courting a president. Adams case is dismissed. Agencies cancel $400 million in federal funds for Columbia. Agency deregulation leaderboard. Alarm as Trump takes Putin’s side. All but a few have snapped into line. All of our actions are maximally transparent. Almost entirely along party lines. Always chicken out. America is losing its pull for best minds. America’s decline is over. An abhorrent handover of remains. An unprecedented start? An abundance of sunshine, light winds. An ambitious move that could shatter the rules. An American pope. An emulsion — a détente between substances that wouldn’t otherwise mix. An escalating tit-for-tat. An existential threat to the rule of law. An extraordinary flexing of power by a private individual. An extraordinary injection of funding for his immigration agenda. An identity crisis about identity politics. An increasingly no-holds-barred atmosphere in Washington. Angelou’s Caged Bird is out, but Hitler’s Mein Kampf stays. Anger at Musk erupts in cabinet room. Anger at town halls. Anti-Hamas demonstrations in Gaza. As Bezos weds, superyachts join the gondolas. As ears closed, pope amplified those unheard. As firms chase profits, firefighting pays price. As protests flare, Mexican flag adds to tension. As tariffs rise, so do schemes. Ask the Houthis how he’s doing. Attention, shoppers in all aisles: Tariffs are increasing our prices.
B
aby steps into dystopia. Back to Square 1. Bannon vs. Musk. Be cool! Be less thirsty. Behind the rush to discard rules and reshape life. Benefits for Musk empire. Better strap in. Biden battling prostate cancer. Big fun, until it melts. Biggest tumble in stocks since pandemic. Bill could lift debt by $3.3 trillion. Billionaires are signing seven-figure checks. Black and Hispanic women hit harder. Black Lives Matter mural lost. Blame a predecessor. Bogus emergencies. Bondi pursues death penalty in C.E.O. killing. Breakfast diners feel the pinch. Breezy, turning milder, plenty of sunshine. Bristling tension and angry defiance have given way to accommodation and submission. Broad retreat on pollution. Brushing off concerns. Brushing off due process.
C
an you believe this? Canada and China hit back. Capitalizing on comeback. Celebrating the year of the snake. Celebration and uncertainty. Challenge everything. Champagne region frets. Chaos builds at Pentagon. Chaos greets federal staff. Chaos? Trump fans see a strong start. Chilling action by the government intended to shut down debate. China hints at hardball. China raises tariffs again. China swiftly punches back. Choked by siege, Gaza aid nears total collapse. Chorus of vengeance at purged Kennedy Center. Claims about a Venezuelan gang invasion. Clash in California. Clinical trials left in lurch. Clouds giving way to sun, windy. Colleges apply police tactics on protesters. Columbia agrees to alter policies. Completely and totally obliterated. Confusing time to own a Tesla. Confusion reigns. Considering both peace and war. Conspiracy’s convenient return. Contradictions provide Trump political cover. Cory Booker set a record. Could immigrants win citizenship on a reality show? Countries from all over the world are talking to us. Countries vow reprisal. County in Texas rejected system for flood alerts. Crippling industries and raising costs. Critics and rivals are not just wrong, but evil. Critics of Trump mute themselves. Crypto auction sells White House access. Crypto dealings. Crypto gala. Crypto perfects art of the spiel. Cut taxes for a few years, avoiding the need to account for their cost over the long term. Cuts endanger U.S. response to calamities.
D
angerous heat. Decree is a warning. Deepening peril of disease. DEI snitches. Delay in tariffs. Delete, delete, delete. Democrats mine for money to seize online mojo. Democrats search for a spark. Democrats’ plan to connect: Yak about sports. Denouncing antisemitism, Trump also fans its flames. Deportation buildup. Deportation pledge runs into reality. Deportation raids for farms, hotels and eateries. Desperation, chains and fear. Despite Trump-friendly tack, Harvard faces threat. Difficult to say no. Dim view of government functions as woke, weaponized or wasteful. Disdain toward Europe. Dismantling the department once and for all. Distress and fury. Do not contradict the president. Do you feel like harming yourself or others? DOGE savings could be offset. Don’t even think about it. Dozens of medical and scientific studies are ending. Driven by vengeance, Trump shreds rules on his crusade.
E
conomic upheaval. Economy girds for a shock. Economy shrank. Education department can be gutted. Education in limbo. Educators fight back. Effort to fog the dangers. Emboldened president jumps ethical barriers. Emergency rulings fuel president’s aggressive agenda. Emirate gaining clout. Empty farms and terrified workers. Epstein files: Phase 1. Erosion of I.R.S. Error-filled quest to cut. Europe fears peril to NATO from within. Every day I’m awake is a punishment. Everyone is freaking out. Everything will continue to fly. Evictions follow the merest brush with the law. Exemptions on phones and computers. Exodus at Civil Rights Division. Exodus depletes nuclear agency. Explosions everywhere.
F
.B.I. arrests judge. F.B.I. stretched rules. Factions duel. False assertions over white genocide. Fear and confusion. Fearful in the Hamptons. Fearful of challenging Trump’s agenda and inciting his wrath. Few repairs seen for smashed economic order. Fewer therapists and more frustrations. Fight! Fight! Finding unity has rarely felt more divisive. Fire up the deportation planes. Fireball over capital. Fired, rehired, fired again. Fires, mudslides, atmospheric rivers. Firm on Never again. Flood of false claims. Fog of paranoia. Food banks fight for scraps. For Gen Z, concert tickets are worth the debt. 14,000 babies in Gaza could die in the next 48 hours. Frantic search for girls swept away from a summer camp.
G
.O.P. dilemma: tax the rich. G.O.P. revolt. G.O.P. tax bill may help richest above all others. Game of chicken. Gaza nears starvation. Give in or fight? Global reprisals. Gloves are off. God sent me President Trump. Government gangsters. Groundbreaking pope.
H
ad not reached a final judgment,” Ms. Collins said. Hamas signals it will deal. Harvard debates Trump deal. Harvard loses ability to take any foreigners. Harvard says it won’t obey. Has anybody ever had a better two weeks than this? Hate crime in flame attack. Hazard zone. He blamed the Biden administration. He blamed the helicopter pilots. He blamed the Obama administration. He does not intend to be thwarted this time. He freed even the most violent. He gets us. He has equated diversity with incompetence. He lies! He opposed illegal immigrants, but he fell in love with one. He relished signing one executive order after another. He stood elevated on a platform looking down on supporters. He turns out to be the great unifier of Europe. He was taking so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that it was affecting his bladder. He who saves his country does not violate any law. He will end an era. He’s on a mission from God and nothing can stop what is coming. Here I am. Honestly, I wanted to cry. How a law firm decided to fold. How a senator arrived at yes from hard no. How Covid haunts us. How dinner party banter inspired federal takeover. How G.O.P. wove Trump’s ad libs into tax policy. How I raised three amazing children, including the richest man in the world. How is it going at the border? How Israel sent A.I. into combat. How many people live in Iran, by the way?
I
am a law enforcement officer authorized to apprehend, restrain and remove alien enemies. I am not afraid of you. I am of America and for America. I can’t breathe. I can’t tell you I’m a yes; I can’t tell you I’m a no. I don’t care what the judges think — I don’t care what the left thinks. We’re coming. I don’t mind Elon turning against me. I just thought the end was inevitable. I keep my fingers crossed. I love freeing people. I want all of them fired. I was really glad to have my Crocs. I was saved by God to make America great again. I will say a prayer for victory. I.R.S. will give migrants’ data to ICE officials. I’m giving them a period of time, and I would say two weeks would be the maximum. I’m just waiting to see how it pans out. ICE arrests city comptroller. ICE faces pressure to unmask. If I want him out, he’ll be out. If you’re in the country illegally, you’re not off the table. If your daughter is not accounted for, you have been notified. Immigrant’s arrest stuns a deep-red town. In immigrant detentions, filth and despair fester. In pursuit of retribution. In the name of manhood. In wilderness, party searches for a way out. Inside the D.N.C., chaos and a shortage of cash. Israel and Iran said to reach cease-fire. Israel and Iran trade blasts. Israel halts aid for Gaza. Israeli attack that kills 15 medics. It is a privilege to have foreign students attend Harvard University, not a guarantee. It may be years before there is a full accounting. It may have already arrived. It might be nothing. It really is like Godzilla versus King Kong. It would not belong to the Palestinians anymore. It’s a broken dream. It’s a tinderbox. It’s about undermining the very idea that transgender identities are legitimate. It’s going to be every country for itself. It’s like drinking from a chalice of poison. It’s not better anywhere. It’s time to launch the concluding moves.
J
D Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others. Jettisoning Ukraine in favor of Russia. Journalists under scrutiny. Joyous Palestinians honked car horns. Judge calls case chilling. Judge warns White House on contempt. Justices allow president’s ban on trans troops. Justices back straight woman who filed discrimination suit. Justices block deportation. Justices debate power of judges. Justices duck. Justices grant DOGE access to private data. Justices pave way for Trump to fire federal workers. Justices put limit on judges’ power. Justices temporarily block use of enemy law. Justices uphold a treatment ban for trans minors.
K
eep markets guessing. Keeping the funk alive. Keeping Trump happy. Key to Trump’s success: Knack for habitual lying.
L
abeled alien enemies and banished. Lawless conduct. Lawmaker forcibly removed. Legal checks on president fade further. Let bird flu spread on farms. Let’s try not to panic just yet. Lift this brutal blockade. Lost their jobs but kept their belief in tariffs.
M
ade in America becomes trade war casualty. Make America healthy again. Making tax cuts look free. Mamdani’s singular focus on the city’s affordability crisis resonated. Man deported in error. Mangione pleads not guilty. Marijuana pushed to limit. Market reeling. Markets dive. Markets surge. Meeting young men on their own turf. Melania Trump has rarely been seen. Memecoin is a bonanza for a few, but a loser for most. Mexican ship hits Brooklyn Bridge. Mexico must be respected. Military might, protest power. Millions at risk of Medicaid loss. Minnesota politician dies; suspect carried a hit list. Minority enrollment drops. Missiles fly. Moguls have rushed to Mar-a-Lago to pay homage. Moment they knew it was time to own a gun. Money dysmorphia. More executive orders than any modern president. More than 56,000 immigrants were in government custody. Musk asserting broad authority. Musk fades from Washington. Musk in position to reap billions. Musk is far short of goal. Musk may use his tech skills to pare costs.
N
ational guard to L.A. Navy scuttles Harvey Milk. Never at this frequency. Never say never. New ICE playbook: Arrests at immigration court. New travel ban draws a muted reaction. New weapon against press. Newark panic. Newark’s mayor led a predawn demonstration. “No Kings” marches are expected to draw a contrast to the president’s parade. Nobody can protect you. Nobody is above the law. Nobody was texting war plans. Nobody’s going to spit on our military. Not normal. Nothing has happened that makes you feel that things are better. Nothing will stand in our way.
O
f course I will respond. Officials resign in protest. On an island of billionaires, the rich’s filth has to go somewhere. Once-fringe birthright theory is in Supreme Court’s spotlight. One Big Beautiful Bill. One of the most brazen ideas that any American leader has advanced in years. Operational need to enable the expansion of the military operation to defeat Hamas. Opponents getting wise to his ways. Our patience is growing thin. Our people and their resistance have the upper hand.
P
aramount agrees to pay Trump. Pardon for a donor’s son after a $1 million dinner. Party divided on resistance. Peace is far off. Peddling hoaxes. People are very worried. People around the world with experimental drugs and medical products in their bodies, cut off from the researchers who were monitoring them. People try anything they can to get the eggs. Pick a side. Picking up the pieces with a J6 identity. Pleasing Putin. Policy bill clears Congress. Political elites and warmongers are carelessly fomenting fear. Politicians never care about the problems we have. Polygraphs used to gauge loyalty to F.B.I.’s leader. Power has become his leitmotif. Power of a single judge. Power play. President finds a rival who can punch back. President fueled conspiracists. Will they revolt over Epstein? President ousts top U.S. general as part of purge. President tries to divert blame. President’s digital money start-up. Program aimed at white Afrikaners. Progressive Democrats see an open lane. Can Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez fill it? Proposing to turn Gaza into a resort town and Canada into a 51st state. Protests expand. Public ignorance could lead to authoritarian rule. Purge of not just policies, but words.
Q
atar Is Said To Give Trump Official Plane. Quick reversal.
R
efusing to kneel down and compromise with a bully. Repatriation is an opportunity. Retribution. Revisionism. Revoking birthright citizenship, freezing federal spending, shutting down an agency, removing leaders of other agencies, firing government employees subject to civil service protections and threatening to deport people based on their political views. Royal flourishes and monarchical claims.
S
anders and Ocasio-Cortez electrify Democrats. Scholars raise alarm. Scouring the rubble for the dead. Senators decide not to shutter U.S. government. 700 Marines go to L.A. Several lapses in aviation safety net. Shapes the policy on crypto, and cashes in. Shattering the bounds. Shelves empty and prices surge. Shipping slows. Shock waves through stock markets. Shocks the conscience. Shoving, shouting, children crying, passengers fainting and agents blocking exits. Sixfold increase in funds to detain immigrants. 1,600 calls per minute, a sharp increase from the usual 40. So much for being Mr. Nice Guy! Soft power is out. Hard power is in. Some hit back, most bend. Some sympathized with those who expressed exhaustion. Sons promote deals to enrich president. Speaker on tightrope. Specter of empty shelves and a recession. Specter of shutdown. Spending plan would hobble safety net aid. Squeeze of tariffs crosses globe. Still standing after an inferno. Stop at nothing.
T
agging Teslas with swastikas: Hate crime or attack on Musk? Talk of annexing West Bank. Targeting California. Tariff shock waves circle the globe. Tariff whiplash. Tariffs did violence to the constitutional structure. Tariffs threaten way of life. Testing executive power. Testing the unity of his coalition. The BLU-118/B, a laser-guided bomb designed to travel deep into confined spaces. The breadth is breathtaking. The chaotic last-minute maneuvering. The decision to vaccinate is a personal one. The demoralization and fear gripping blue America. The dollar plunged. The effort to crush the Palestinian cause. The first principle is that nations don’t have shared interests; they have inherent conflicts of interests. The government crackdown is extending to the political opposition. The Israeli government said it would allow a basic quantity of food. The largest single action stripping any group of noncitizens of immigration status in modern U.S. history. The Manhattan Project of our time. The most expensive piece of legislation probably since the 1960s. The new doxxing: Reporting. The notion of there being any shared factual reality. The pink-pussy hats are gone. The potential to kill tens of millions of Americans. The prepared citizen movement. The problems keep coming for Newark Liberty International Airport. The Riviera of the Middle East. The rock lying on my heart has been removed. The S.S. United States is going down for good. The silence grows louder every day. The sky was just red. The so-called nation builders wrecked far more nations than they built. The steamroller that sputtered. The sweetness of the unity siren. The Trump bump. The weight on my chest has lifted. The White House war to root out woke elements. The world exploited American generosity. There have never been 100 days like this. There is a sense of fear that is taking hold in our country. There is no candy-coating the bill’s impact. There is nothing to talk about. There’s a thin line between skepticism and paranoia, between reasonable guesses and wild invention. They go into effect tomorrow. They rushed outside and saw home after home consumed by flames. They started a war. They’re all bending and saying, Sir, thank you very much. This is a great time to buy!!! This is a time to hit back hard. This is just the beginning. This is what American justice looks like. This order aims to destroy the foundation of civil rights protections in this country. Thousands of campsites and trails could close. Threatening his enemies yet to come. 350,000 Venezuelans could be deported. Time for the American people to know the truth. Tit-for-tat rates. Today’s Israel: More secure, more isolated. Tough guy act for allies and foes alike. Tracking data makes migrants easy pickings. Trade war cascades. Trade war looms. Trans athletes lose support from Newsom. Trump and Musk shatter alliance in an angry burst of public insults. Trump and the late King Louis share a common view of the world: The state, it is me. Trump and Vance scold Zelensky. Trump backs off. Trump bans transgender students from sports. Trump blamed diversity efforts. Trump blares profits, eliciting barely a peep. Trump calls Zelensky dictator. Trump elbows past Congress. Trump eroding cyberdefenses. Trump flirts with defying court orders. Trump lawyer defies a judge. Trump pauses many tariffs. Trump presses to clean out the Gaza Strip. Trump pushes college leader out. Trump’s disinformation mill. Trump’s influence on $TRUMP. $TRUMP — a digital currency called a memecoin. Try to lie low. Trying to discern what is unfolding. Tumult pushed Trump to a U-Turn. 1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package). 22 states sue. 2 killed near Jewish museum. Two visions of U.S. take to the streets.
U
.S. and Europe, in trade battle, play game of chicken, and beef. U.S. attacks Iran’s nuclear sites. U.S. embraces climate denial. U.S. primacy under threat. Undoing years of climate policy in a few weeks. Unfettered by the truth, he tries to make his reality America’s. Unimpeded president relishes victory laps. United States DOGE Service. Unless I like the number, I’m against the number.
V
.A. workers see chaos in services. Vaccine shift. Vance implores Europe to accept extreme parties. Variable cloudiness. Vast new arsenal of global tariffs. Vast tent city for deportees. Vehicles sit abandoned, covered in ash. Violent action tied to politics is new reality. Virus-laden raw milk. Vladimir, stop!
W
all Street braces for more chaos. Warnings circulated for years. Watches, Bibles, fragrances and cryptocurrency tokens. Waving a ceremonial sword he had been given almost as if it were a scepter and he were a king. Way forward is to go in reverse, by about a century. We are in the midst of a constitutional crisis. We are ready to receive you on this side of the border. We destroyed the Iranian nuclear program. We don’t need anything they have. We don’t want them. We expect your immediate compliance. We have a lot of countries coming in to make deals. We have launched a new era of American possibilities. We have received direction from leadership to cancel all pending awards and terminate grants. We have survived. We need Greenland. We never have seen anything like this. We want to know the truth. We will begin the complete restoration of America. We will begin the process of returning. We will have Gaza. We’re going to do more with less. We’re going to do things that people will be shocked at. We’re going to have a very dangerous country if we’re not allowed to do what we’re entitled to do. We’re going to have troops everywhere. We’re going to shut it down, and shut it down as quickly as possible. We’re the United States of America. We’ve been here before, and we’ll be here again. What happened to learning? What is happening? Where am I going to go? Where Anne Frank hid. White people, he warned, “cannot be expected to meekly swallow this demographic assault.” Who am I to judge? Why do we have to keep doing this? Will there be some pain? Yes, maybe (and maybe not!).
Y
ou all fix it. You say things others refuse to say. You’re tough.
Such an arduous compilation. In black and white it feels like a horror show that you want to close ur eyes at worst parts and then realize most of it wld fall there and u wld have to exist blinded most of ur days and struck deaf.
My shortened version is the following
After three generations of expanding America’s social safety net, the current administration is fundamentally and detrimentally changing course. Through their policies, Congress and the President are jeopardizing the lives of the most vulnerable—Our poor, Our elderly, Our military veterans, and Our children.
In addition, under a smokescreen of unprecedented, unrelenting chaos, the government has apparently legalized the crimes of kidnapping, unadjudicated imprisonment, and human trafficking. These actions are directed against another defenseless population, Our immigrants.
These are all examples of “social murder.” The term was coined in the mid-nineteenth century in reference to the exploitation of the industrial working class and their families by the political and social elites, resulting in unsafe working conditions and squalid living conditions, in turn leading to disease, injury, and premature death.
You may be shocked by this term, but clearly these are the inevitable results of the actions undertaken by the present administration and consequently the loss of Our Own Humanity.
Under these conditions, Silence Is Complicity. Organize. Criticize. Give Voice to the Voiceless. Let anyone who will listen know that: This Government Does Not Represent You, and We the People Are Not Okay.
Have written and erased two tortured responses 😩 in answer to a slower second reading. In some ways it feels like there is little difference between a chronological collection of headlines/snippets and an alphabetical one. The result either way is one of randomness and the chaotic state we are in, which makes me think I am in Winslow Homer’s “Gulf Stream.” A long-ago memory keeps popping up, of wading into the ocean and looking down at my feet in the sandy bottom and actually being able to see them. The light refracted on the surface to create the same correction that I thought only my very thick glasses could do. You never know where a moment of clarity will come from. Also all this madness is driving me much deeper into confronting basic values and beliefs, about courage, democracy, love, justice, our planet, practicing unconditional positive regard….Will I have the strength to hold fast?