An Open Letter to Trump Supporters

I want to speak directly to those of you who have supported Donald Trump, whether in 2016, 2020, or now. Not to mock you, not to belittle you, not to treat you as misguided or foolish—but to engage with you honestly about what we're witnessing in America today.

I understand why many of you were drawn to Trump initially. When he emerged on the political scene, he spoke to genuine frustrations that the political establishment had ignored for too long. He named realities that many Americans were experiencing—the hollowing out of manufacturing communities, the sense that Washington elites viewed your concerns with contempt, the feeling that your way of life was disappearing while no one in power seemed to care.

These weren't imaginary problems. They were and are real. The system wasn't working for many Americans. The establishment—both Republican and Democrat—had failed to address economic insecurity, cultural alienation, and the sense that someone needed to speak plainly about what was happening to communities across America.

Two plus two equals four. There are twenty-four hours in a day. And no amount of partisan rhetoric can erase the legitimate grievances that drove many Americans to support an outsider promising to upend a system that wasn't serving them.

But I want to ask you, sincerely: Is this what you thought you were voting for?

Did you vote for the systematic deportation of people to face torture without due process? Did you vote for the dismantling of civil service protections so that government agencies could be purged of career experts and filled with loyalists? Did you vote for private companies to take control of Treasury systems? Did you vote for the President to declare he can simply ignore court rulings he disagrees with?

I don't believe most of you did. I believe you voted for someone who would shake up a broken system, who would put American interests first, who would speak bluntly rather than in the carefully crafted language of professional politicians. I believe you wanted accountability from institutions that seemed unaccountable, change in a system that seemed resistant to change, and recognition for communities that felt forgotten.

But what's happening now goes far beyond those legitimate desires. It represents a fundamental assault on the constitutional order itself—not because it's delivering conservative policies or challenging liberal orthodoxies, but because it's dismantling the very structure of democratic governance.

When a president claims he can simply ignore court rulings, he's not challenging “the establishment”—he's rejecting the Constitution's separation of powers. When asylum seekers are deported to face torture without hearings, this isn't “putting America first”—it's abandoning the most basic human rights principles our nation was founded upon. When career civil servants are purged and replaced with loyalists, this isn't “draining the swamp”—it's creating the conditions for unchecked corruption and abuse of power.

I'm not asking you to embrace progressive policies or abandon conservative values. I'm asking you to recognize that what we're witnessing isn't conservative governance—it's the dismantling of democratic governance itself.

The framers of our Constitution understood the dangers of concentrated power. They built a system of checks and balances precisely because they knew that liberty cannot survive when power accumulates in the hands of a single person or faction. The separation of powers isn't a liberal invention—it's the foundation of American liberty that conservatives and liberals alike have defended for generations.

When Trump declares he won't enforce laws he disagrees with, when he claims the power to ignore court orders, when he asserts “absolute immunity” from prosecution, he's not standing up for American values—he's rejecting the most fundamental principle of our Republic: that no one, not even the president, is above the law.

I believe most Trump supporters don't want an autocracy. You don't want a country where the president can ignore courts, where people can be deported without hearings, where government becomes the personal instrument of a single leader rather than the servant of the American people. That's not what made America great—it's what the founders fought against.

The tragedy of our current moment is that legitimate grievances with the status quo have been channeled into support for a project that isn't about reform or even revolution—it's about the replacement of democratic governance with something else entirely. The MAGA movement didn't begin this way for most supporters, but this is where it has been led.

I'm not asking you to embrace my policy preferences or political philosophy. I'm asking you to look clearly at what's happening to our constitutional system—to recognize that the current administration's actions threaten the very foundation of American liberty, not just liberal policies or progressive causes.

Our disagreements about taxes, regulations, immigration policy, or cultural values are the normal stuff of democratic debate. But whether the president must obey court orders, whether people deserve due process before being sent to face torture, whether government agencies should serve the public or a single leader—these aren't policy disagreements. They're questions about whether we remain a constitutional republic at all.

Two plus two equals four. There are twenty-four hours in a day. And no matter how much you may agree with particular policies or appreciate a leader who speaks to your concerns, the Constitution matters more than any temporary political victory.

I believe in an America where we can vigorously debate policy differences while standing united in defense of constitutional governance. Where conservatives and liberals alike recognize that protecting the system that allows us to resolve our differences peacefully through democratic processes matters more than any single election or policy battle.

This isn't about asking you to become less conservative or more liberal. It's about asking all of us to be more committed to the constitutional order that makes our political disagreements possible without tearing the country apart.

The founders created a system where we could disagree—often passionately—without destroying the nation itself. Where power would be constrained, where rights would be protected, where no one person or faction could claim unlimited authority. That's the American experiment. That's what's at stake.

I don't know if my words will reach you. I don't know if the political division in our country has grown too deep for this kind of conversation. But I believe I owe it to you—and to our shared citizenship—to speak directly and honestly about the constitutional crisis we face.

Not as enemies, but as Americans who, despite our differences, share something precious and fragile: a system of self-governance that has, for all its flaws and failures, created the conditions for liberty to flourish in ways unprecedented in human history.

That system is in danger now. Not from policy debates or cultural disagreements, but from the rejection of constitutional constraints on power. I believe most Trump supporters care deeply about American liberty and the Constitution. I'm asking you to consider whether the current path of the administration truly honors those values—or threatens the very foundation upon which they rest.

Our future as a constitutional republic depends on finding our way back to a shared commitment to the rule of law, the separation of powers, and the principle that in America, we resolve our differences through democratic processes rather than the will of a single leader.

This isn't about left versus right. It's about whether the American experiment in self-governance will endure. I believe it's worth saving—and I believe most Trump supporters, if they look beyond the partisan rhetoric and cultural battles of the moment, believe that too.