Trump Won, What Now?

Donald Trump’s victory is the political equivalent of an earthquake.

Only once before has a former president been elected after previously losing his reelection bid. More importantly, he has also promised revolutionary policy changes through executive action.

We should take Trump at his word when he pledges to fulfill those promises. Given his experience as president and with a new slate of loyal senior staff and secretaries and congressional leaders, we should also assume that he will be more effective this time around in implementing his agenda.

So, what does that mean for you?  

Everyone will be impacted in some way

If Trump is even partially successful in achieving his goals, every industry, organization, and person in United States will be impacted in some way. And that is true whether or not you oppose or support those changes.

Organizations will be impacted if entire funding programs are curtailed or eliminated; if every federal agency loses many of their top professional staff, leading to significant shifts in policies; if agencies like Justice, the FBI, IRS, the Federal Reserve, etc., lose some or most of their independence; and if aid funding, and exchange and other international programs are curtailed or shifted to new priorities, etc. 

On a personal level, many people will be impacted if there are platonic changes in social, educational, and health policies; if undocumented (and some documented) people are arrested, detained, and deported en masse; if steep tariffs are placed on imported goods; and our U.S. foreign policy is reoriented away from our allies in Europe and from international institutions.

So, what should you do now?

Opt in, not Out

It may be tempting to believe that engaging in policy efforts during the next few years will be too difficult or that you can leave the work to someone else. We do not believe either of those things are true. 

We have successfully led advocacy efforts during dramatic changes in political leadership in this country, including during the first Trump administration. We know from experience that it is possible to prevent major policy changes even when the odds seem stacked against you. It is also possible to influence policies as they are being developed. Lastly, we know that pursuing bipartisan approaches to public policy is an option even during a time of political polarization.

As for letting someone else do the work, we believe that the changes Trump is promising will impact you either directly or indirectly at some point. Getting involved early in the effort, in whatever way possible, will be critical to success in the long run.

Focus your energy and time

The promised changes will be a lot for any one person or organization to handle. You should decide what matters most to you and focus on those issues.

Once you have identified your priorities, if you are a manager in an organization that does not already engage in public policy work, decide who on your team will be assigned the responsibility of tracking proposed changes, figuring out how to get involved, and coordinating internally and externally with others.

If you are considering engaging in advocacy as an individual contributor, a solo practitioner, or in your personal capacity, figure out how much time you can carve out, how you will get involved, and who needs to support you so that you can succeed.

Get Some Training

It takes time to learn how to advocate for or against policies, engage your stakeholders, and/or develop relationships with key government officials. You should start very soon exploring the training you or your colleagues need.

There are terrific people out there who conduct advocacy training and can provide advice. We provide those services, too. Feel free to reach out if you have questions. Also, Ilir Zherka wrote a short book on advocacy strategies that you might find useful. It’s called Winning the Inside Game.

Trump’s policy agenda will impact all of us. You should start preparing now to engage in the advocacy efforts in some way. Feel free to reach out to us if you want to talk or have questions - we are here to help: connecting@civicaconsultants.com.