Coast to coast, the effects of the Trump administration

Farmers, parents and firefighters are caught in the grip of the autocratic moment.

Millions of Americans remain in a state of shock and despair at the rapidity with which the Trump administration’s cruel and wanton executive orders and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency are changing the shape of Americans’ lives and livelihoods.

In this space, we’ll regularly recount the effects across America of the Trump administration’s actions. For every action there is a reaction; for every push there is a pushback. So we will also use this space to celebrate those who are resisting, refusing to obey, and are instead standing up for the rule of law, the separation of powers, and the Constitution. These are the type of Americans you will see here:

· Farmers nationwide who recently modernized their equipment and turned to green energy, but are now foundering financially, as reported by the Des Moines Register . Grants they were promised under President Joe Biden have been rescinded, leaving farmers stuck with unfathomable bills and loans they can’t repay.

· In a sick double-punch, farmers were also victims of the Trump administration’s abrupt and illegal disbandment of the U.S. Agency for International Aid (USAID). U.S. farmers provided about $6 billion worth of crops to the agency to help feed the world’s poor. Now, America’s farmers will have to either find new markets, selling at a loss, or let crops rot in fields.

As Ohio Farmers Union President Bryn Bird told the Dayton Daily News: “Ohio farmers are ready to step up to feed the world…. The uncertainty that these programs being cut brings to the table makes it so we’re not able to fulfill that, and it just leaves a lot of uncertainty in our marketplace and in our farmers.”

· As if that weren’t enough, the administration’s roundup of suspected undocumented migrants has hit the agriculture industry particularly hard. Farmers in California said field and other agriculture-sector workers were afraid to come to work. As ABC7 in Los Angeles reported, “Farm workers’ rights groups are sounding the alarm about misinformation, saying it is scaring their employees. They have not seen an ICE raid in a field in the Central Valley under the Trump administration, yet people are staying home from work because they are scared.”

· Florida citrus farmers, hit hard by a disastrous hurricane season—with production for the 2024-2025 season 20% lower than the previous year even without government interference—now have to manage the threat of tariffs and the detainment of suspected undocumented migrants. Canada is one of the largest consumers of Florida oranges, according to the Florida Phoenix. “Trump has launched a ridiculous trade war with our politest ally, which is sure to hurt the demand for Florida citrus in the Great White North. He’s also started one with Mexico that will hurt citrus processors,” the Phoenix reported. “Meanwhile, his immigration roundup is sure to hinder the industry’s labor supply. Is it any wonder one of the remaining giants of Florida citrus, Fort Myers-based Alico Inc., announced last month that it’s getting out of the business?”

· Minnesotans who do business in Canada are also seeing their lives and livelihoods disrupted. The Minnesota Star-Tribune reported the effects when Canada paused remote border crossings: “That means [Darin] Fagerman instead must drive four hours to the Pigeon River port of entry near Grand Portage and then backtrack to Saganaga Lake on the Canadian side by vehicle and either two boat rides or a 25-mile snowmobile trek.” Fagerman is one of many Minnesotans upset as Canada Border Services Agency officials say their program to renew such permits or process new ones is under review. The officials have not said how long the process will take.
“Besides affecting cabin owners, the indefinite pause on the permit applications and renewals could complicate the work of fishing guides this summer. It’s already prompted some canoeists to cancel wilderness trips to Quetico Provincial Park, across the border from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.”

· In Detroit and elsewhere, state and local elected officials are warning parents that their children’s school programs, even those for students with developmental delays or physical disabilities, might end. State Senator Mallory McMorrow told the Detroit Free Press, “If your child is in a special needs program, if your child has an IEP, if you want that program protected, call your local official, your state official, and your federal official because at the end of the day, they work for us.” The paper reported that elected officials “were particularly concerned about the major funding streams that support students with disabilities and other vulnerable children.”

· Californians recovering from a recent spate of deadly and destructive wildfires have a new worry: Not enough firefighters, thanks to the Trump administration. Though the typical start of wildfire season is two months away, climate-change induced droughts and extreme weather across much of the Western and Southern United States mean wildfire is even more unpredictable. Nonprofit news agency ProPublica reported that it “spoke to a dozen firefighters and others who assist with the federal wildfire response across the country and across agencies. They described a range of immediate impacts on a workforce that was already stressed by budgetary woes predating the Trump administration. Hiring of some seasonal workers has stalled. Money for partner nonprofits that assist with fuel-reduction projects has been frozen. And crews that had traveled to support prescribed burns in Florida were turned back, while those assisting with wildfire cleanup in California faced confusion over how long they would be allowed to do that work.”

No matter how desperate such cuts and scenarios are, Americans are not standing by idly. On Presidents’ Day, thousands marched—many in bitterly cold weather—against the Trump administration in a series of “No Kings Day” protests organized by volunteer nonprofit organizing group #50501. The message apparently did not translate in Mar-a-Lago, though. Just days later, Trump referred to himself as king on social media. His post, which included a fake Time magazine cover depicting him wearing a monarch’s crown, was pilloried worldwide.

Meanwhile, the Sad King and his administration are defending themselves from dozens of lawsuits on everything from illegal dismissals of federal employees—including inspector generals and probationary employees across the federal government—to illegal access to private information. (See more at State Democracy Defenders Fund.)

Jamie Riley is senior editor at The Contrarian. She is a former editor at the Washington Post, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

---