Columnists Anita Chabria and Mark Z. Barabak look back on 2025

Is there a dumpster somewhere to burn and bury in this year of turmoil, 2025?

We approach the end with equal parts relief and anxiety. Surely we can’t be expected to endure another such turbulent rotation around the sun?

It was only January when Donald Trump returned to the White House, apparently carrying crates of gilding for the walls. Within weeks he declared a border emergency; set in motion plans to dismantle state institutions; fired scores of federal workers; and tariffs, tariffs, tariffs.

By spring, the administration was attacking Harvard as an example of strong-arming higher education. By June, Trump’s oddly misnamed Big Beautiful Bill had become law; It gave billionaires $1 trillion in tax breaks and funded a deportation effort (and armed force) that fundamentally reshaped American immigration law and ended any pretense of targeting the “worst of the worst.”

The fall and winter brought suspicious boat bombings in the Caribbean, further alienation from Ukraine, a crackdown on opposition to Trump by classifying it as left-wing terrorism, and congressional inaction on health care that left many people struggling to stay insured.

That’s the short list.

It was a year when America tried something new, and while fans of the MAGA movement largely celebrated it, our columnists Anita Chabria and Mark Z. Barabak have a different perspective.

Here, they renew their annual tradition of looking back on the past year and offering some thoughts on what the new year might bring.

Kabriya: Wow, that was a big deal too. I can’t say that 2025 is the perfect year for the American experiment, but it will definitely be written into the history books.

Before diving into pure politics, I’ll start with something positive. At the No Kings rally in Sacramento, I met a married couple dressed as dinosaurs. Portland FrogAn activist wearing an inflatable amphibian suit.

When I asked why, my wife said to me, ‘If you don’t do something as soon as possible, democracy will disappear.’

Crowds attend No Kings Day in downtown Los Angeles in October.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

I like that so many Americans are not just protesting policies that hit them personally, but are also coming together to support democracy broadly. For many, this was their first time taking such action, and they were doing so in a way that expressed optimism and possibility rather than being consumed by anger or despair. Where there is humor, there is hope.

Barabak: Does it only hurt when I laugh?

in 2024 lots of americans He voted to reinstate Trump (warts, felonies and all) in the White House, mainly in the hope that he would lower the cost of living and make eggs and gasoline affordable again.

While eggs and gas are no longer exorbitant, the cost of just about everything else continues to rise. Or, in the case of beef, utility bills, and insurance, it adds up quickly.

The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts is another of the long-standing institutions Trump has tarnished.

(Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press)

Meanwhile, the president seems more interested in tarnishing his name on every object he covets than in improving the lives of voters; One of the most recent examples is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

(The only place is Trump not I want to see your name in those voluminous Epstein files.)

I wonder: Why are we standing there? Why don’t we brand these as the United States of Trump-erica and then boast that we live in the “hottest” country on Planet Trump?

Kabria: Stop giving him ideas!

You and I agree that this has been a difficult year full of nonsense, but we disagree on how seriously we should take Trump as a threat to democracy. As the year draws to a close, I’m more worried than ever.

It’s not the ugly antics of ego that worry me, but the destructive policies that will be hard to undo, if we ever have the chance.

The race-based witch hunt for deportations tops that list, of course, but the destruction of both K-12 and higher education; the dismantling of federal institutions and thus cutting off our scientific strength as a nation; the growing oligarchy of tech industrialists; The quiet installation of election deniers in key election positions – these are all hammers that are hammering at our democracy.

We now see open antisemitism and racism on the MAGA right, and many people acknowledge this in a worrying way. The far right has promoted the frightening yet foolish argument that “heritage” Americans are a higher class of citizens than non-whites.

Vice President J.D. Vance speaks at the University of Mississippi in Oxford.

(Gerald Herbert / Associated Press)

Recently, Vice President J.D. Vance made a speech “You no longer have to apologize for being white in the United States,” he announced, and Trump said he wanted to begin naturalizing legal immigrants. Both men claim that America is a Christian nation and eschew diversity as a value.

Do you still think that American democracy is safe and that this political moment will pass without doing lasting damage to our democratic norms?

Barabak: I’ll start with some differentiation.

I agree that Trump is planting seeds, or more specifically enacting policies and programs, that will sprout and cause harm in the years to come.

It alienates our allies, terrorizes communities with biased anti-immigrant policies that go far beyond any reasonable tightening of border security, and starves science and other research programs. The list is long and depressing, as you suggest.

But counting trumpets and angels, I believe there is nothing the voters can’t fix.

To quote, there is no other organism on the planet that is more sensitive to heat and light than a politician. We’ve already seen anti-Trump backlash in a number of elections this year in both red and blue states. A strong rejection in the 2026 midterm elections will do more than editorial tut-tutting and protest marches combined. (Neither of which are bad things.)

A stressed-looking poll worker at a polling station in Los Angeles Union Station.

(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

The best way to preserve our democracy and uphold America’s values ​​is for unhappy citizens to voice their dissent at the ballot box. And to address at least one of your concerns, given the legal checks and the decentralized nature of our election system, I’m not too worried about Trump somehow invalidating the results.

Giving lawmakers the power in Congress to hold Trump accountable would be a good start to repairing at least some of the damage he has done. And if this turns out to be a Republican defeat, it will be pretty fun to watch the president run for the hills as much as his one-time allies’ weak knees will allow.

Kabria: MY GOD! This is a holiday miracle. We agree!

I think the midterms will be mixed, but I don’t think this will be an election where Trump or anyone else will directly try to undo the overall results.

However, before 2028, I think the ground will be set to cast more doubt on our election integrity and we will see false fraud allegations and lawsuits.

So if Democrats gain control of something, anything, the midterms could very well be reset. We probably won’t see past damage repaired, but we may see enough opposition to slow the pace of what’s happening now and offer transparency and oversight.

But the 2026 election only matters if people vote, which historically isn’t something large numbers of people do in the midterms. At this point, there are very few people who haven’t heard of the November bets, but that still doesn’t mean lazy, busy, distracted people weigh in on this one.

If proposed restrictions on mail-in ballots or voter identification go into effect in even just some states, that would also change the results.

But there is hope, there is always hope.

Barabak: On that note, let’s remember a few of the many good things happening in 2025.

MacKenzie Scott donated $700 million to more than a dozen black colleges and universities; This showed that not all tech billionaires are selfish and corrupt.

The Dodgers won their second championship, and although San Francisco Giants fans were unhappy, their seven-game thriller against the Toronto Blue Jays was a World Series for the ages.

The strength and resilience shown by the survivors of January’s SoCal firestorm was also something to behold.

Besides your performing dinos, are there others who deserve credit?

Pope Leo XIV waves after giving his Christmas Day blessing from the main balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.

(Gregorio Borgia / Associated Press)

Kabria: Even though I’m not Catholic, I was surprisingly inspired Pope Leo XIV

So I’ll leave us some of his advice for the future: “Be representatives of the community, capable of destroying the logic of division and polarization, individualism and self-centeredness.”

Many of us are tired and suffering from Trump fatigue. For what it’s worth, it may be a dump in unpopular terms, but we’re all in this together.

Barabak: As every year, I would like to end by thanking our readers.

Anita and I wouldn’t be here, which would make some people very happy, but not you. (And a special shout out to paid subscribers. You’re helping keep the lights on.)

We wish everyone a happy, healthy and successful year.

We will meet again in 2026.