Is anyone else meaningfully less happy living here since Trump 2.0 started?

[Anonymous]

I used to love living here. Now, I feel overwhelmed and sad most days, like
Trump is destroying everything on a macro level — and making us all in DC less safe (and afraid) on a micro level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to love living here. Now, I feel overwhelmed and sad most days, like
Trump is destroying everything on a macro level — and making us all in DC less safe (and afraid) on a micro level.

Other than in your mind, how has Trump affected you? Honestly.

I hate trump, but he has no tangible impact on my life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to love living here. Now, I feel overwhelmed and sad most days, like
Trump is destroying everything on a macro level — and making us all in DC less safe (and afraid) on a micro level.

Other than in your mind, how has Trump affected you? Honestly.

I hate trump, but he has no tangible impact on my life.

Not PP, but I cannot count the number of people I know whose jobs have been impacted over the past year. Feds and contractors who lost their jobs. Researchers who lost their jobs. PIs who had to fire people. PhD students who had their admissions offers revoked.

Not to mention NIH employees who were doxxed.

[Anonymous]

Not Pp either, but my spouse had to get a new job and it pays less. Also, spouse health insurance isn't covered. We've had to re-think our entire retirement plan.

Their entire field is basically very important and timely but being eliminated (government response to climate change.)

The mood here in DC is low. People are grumpy.

I'm with you OP. I wish I could leave DC. Not practical for me to do so, but for the first time since I moved here in 2000, I wish I could.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to love living here. Now, I feel overwhelmed and sad most days, like
Trump is destroying everything on a macro level — and making us all in DC less safe (and afraid) on a micro level.

Other than in your mind, how has Trump affected you? Honestly.

I hate trump, but he has no tangible impact on my life.

Clearly you are not a fed. Or a person with a brain or heart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to love living here. Now, I feel overwhelmed and sad most days, like
Trump is destroying everything on a macro level — and making us all in DC less safe (and afraid) on a micro level.

Other than in your mind, how has Trump affected you? Honestly.

I hate trump, but he has no tangible impact on my life.

+1

Hasn't impacted my life but I know he has impacted other lives in a negative way and that's why I pledge to pay more attention to what I'm voting for going forward. Hope the rest of you do the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to love living here. Now, I feel overwhelmed and sad most days, like
Trump is destroying everything on a macro level — and making us all in DC less safe (and afraid) on a micro level.

Other than in your mind, how has Trump affected you? Honestly.

I hate trump, but he has no tangible impact on my life.

That's nice for you, PP, but I lost my job. So yeah, Trump/Musk has had a major impact on my life.

Oh, and those prices for electricity, groceries, eating out, just about anything are continuing to go up and up and up.

Trump's regime has definitely had a very negative direct impact on my life.

[Anonymous]

Well, my grocery prices have not gone down at all, and that makes me unhappy. My health insurance premiums will go up about 12% next year — I’m still waiting for that health care plan Trump promised during his first term (“Two weeks…!”). A lot of my friends lost their job and had to leave the area, so I’m disappointed in that. My son is applying to grad school in science and because of less funding, it’s going to be infinitely more competitive for him. My DD is also graduating this year and has no prospects as yet.

More than anything, I am heartbroken at the inhumanity of this administration. It’s cruel and self-serving and so full of hate and hypocrisy. The faux “Christianity” is disgusting — really, what would Jesus do? Not this. It’s gross.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, my grocery prices have not gone down at all, and that makes me unhappy. My health insurance premiums will go up about 12% next year — I’m still waiting for that health care plan Trump promised during his first term (“Two weeks…!”). A lot of my friends lost their job and had to leave the area, so I’m disappointed in that. My son is applying to grad school in science and because of less funding, it’s going to be infinitely more competitive for him. My DD is also graduating this year and has no prospects as yet.

More than anything, I am heartbroken at the inhumanity of this administration. It’s cruel and self-serving and so full of hate and hypocrisy. The faux “Christianity” is disgusting — really, what would Jesus do? Not this. It’s gross.

And I’m also sad that Trump has made a mockery of the United States. The FIFA presentation was full-on mockery, and Trump cannot see that. He was the butt of the joke.

[Anonymous]

I agree OP! I witnessed an ICE raid happen while driving my kid to school at a house we were passing. It was devastating to watch. The checkpoints were massively inconvenient after a long day at work to have an extra 45 min added to my commute. My DH is a Hispanic immigrant so we worry about the denaturalization bill introduced in Congress. To add insult to injury, after all this our grocery prices are still high and Trump dismisses affordability as a Democrat hoax. He is the dumbest and yet deeply mean president. The man is incapable of leading and the GOP are spineless gelatinous garbage who go along with everything.

Yes, DC is less safe. Especially if our MPD has to escort NG. Absurd. Go away NG!

[Anonymous]

Bullying at school is out of control. We can’t afford the groceries or new car that we could under Obama. My kids have become atheists after seeing the nastiness and hypocrisy of what passes for “Christian” in this country.

[Anonymous]

I hate it.

2025 has been one long year of severe anxiety and depression. I hate leaving the house, I am too anxious to drive and have everything delivered, I live in my robe. I forget the last time I’ve taken a shower. I dress out of the clean clothes in the dryer because I don’t see the point of putting them away. I don’t see people, I don’t go to anything social.

I’m not mentally well.

[Anonymous]

Going to DC to see a show or go to a museum used to be my "treat". Now, it's a liability. The whole experience is different. There are far fewer people out and about, and those who are seem more conflict-prone. Whether it is or not, it feels decidedly less safe and less welcoming. I hate seeing the NG folxs standing around, especially armed. I respect them; they're just doing their job, but that job was unnecessary from the start. I hate that Trump et al. seem to be conjuring reasons to make it necessary, and succeeding.

We're a fed family, so the shutdown was also horrifically burdensome. One of us was furloughed, the other working without pay. I don't think I need to go into how that cause frustration and resentments at home. We've been through shutdowns before, but the malice in this one was so different. The lack of respect for what we do, the general vibe of "break the feds", it's horrid. We're just trying to do our jobs, and to serve our country.

I'm former military, but I don't even want to mention that IRL these days. The politics of our military and how they're being "reshaped" are a guaranteed conflict, no matter who I speak with. I used to be proud of my service. These days, I mostly worry for the men and women still in uniform and what they may be asked to do.

So yeah, I would say that I am meaningfully, measurably less happy since Trump 2.0 began. I'm also much less hopeful that it is a mess that can be caught and cleaned up in 4ish years. Trump is bad for morale, intentionally, and a surprising number of people don't seem to understand that (yet).

[Anonymous]

Yes. Third generation Washingtonian, born and raised, and we're leaving

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to love living here. Now, I feel overwhelmed and sad most days, like
Trump is destroying everything on a macro level — and making us all in DC less safe (and afraid) on a micro level.

Other than in your mind, how has Trump affected you? Honestly.

I hate trump, but he has no tangible impact on my life.

NP
DC had Fed job offer rescinded.
I need to go on ACA in July (DH retired and COBRA runs out) and I am fearful of ACA going away
We have had multiple friends lose their Fed jobs and more retired earlier than planned.
DH retired earlier than planned - was a contractor.
We ended up moving/retiring to a state that is more likely to have health insurance we can purchase should ACA be eliminated.

Those are the biggies.