By GREGORY L. MOORE
I didn’t vote for Donald Trump, but I accept that he is my president. There’s nothing I can do about that. For my friends who voted for him, congratulations on the win. But I don’t plan to sign up for the stress and chaos I experienced during his first administration — and that is almost guaranteed to happen again after he is sworn in on Jan. 20.
I’m doing that to protect my own mental health.
When Trump took office in 2016, I was closing out a 40-year career in journalism that ironically started with my infatuation with what Woodward and Bernstein did in toppling the corrupt administration of President Richard Nixon. Like so many journalists of my generation, I had stardust in my eyes and wanted to be a crusading journalist just like them.
I became a government reporter and later an editor who, for 34 years, was committed to holding the powerful to account. As a reporter, I wrote stories about police brutality, abuse of power by landlords, corruption by county commissioners, and sweetheart deals between city officials and the private sector.
I was a reporter and editor at The Cleveland Plain Dealer, managing editor of The Boston Globe, and editor-in-chief at The Denver Post. That work did not come without sacrifice. I estimate I had dinner with my family maybe 100 times — not counting weekends, holidays and vacations — over the course of my career. My kids used to scold me for watching television news during dinner, and my wife pried my cell phone out of my hand in our bed after I had fallen asleep.
So when I was trying to downshift after retiring from the business in March 2016, I was still addicted to those habits. I would watch the TV news constantly, and I was glued to my social media feeds, keeping up with the tweets, commentary and analysis about the young Trump administration.
It was fascinating to watch him disrupt the norms of Washington and politics in general. But after a while, it wore on me. I was constantly tense and stressed, worried about the direction of the nation, the world, and my investments as I followed Trump’s tweets and listened to the polarizing talking heads arguing about various policy pronouncements. I did that for four years. Perhaps many people don’t remember what that felt like. But I sure do.
I resolved after Nov. 5 not to repeat what I did from 2016 to 2020. Nope. Not a chance.
Stressed out anti-Trumpers are constantly asking me how I plan to deal with the reality of Trump 2. I tell them I not only accept it, but am resigned to it — something the president-elect probably would not have done had he lost the 2024 election (have you heard anything about a rigged election since he won?).
But I’m not just slumping in my chair. I’m taking control and I’m doing it by taking a break from political news. I’ve decided to turn off the TV and to ramp down my consumption on social media. That is going to be hard for me to do as a former newsman, but already I’m feeling better. I know what’s going on with Trump’s cabinet selections but I’m not paying attention 24–7 like I did eight years ago. I’m keeping up just enough to be conversant.
I’m going to engage with political news in appropriate moderation, treating this period as I would any form of entertainment or hobby. I don’t go to concerts or the circus every day. I have other things going on in my life. That’s how I am treating our current political environment.
In the last eight years, I have developed a different relationship with the news that I devoted my life to. There used to be a time where I’d stop at a store or gas station anywhere in the country and buy a copy of every newspaper in the place — and I would read them all. The news had a venerated place in my life and home. My kids knew to be quiet when I was watching the news. They might write on walls and break lamps and other things, but they would never desecrate a newspaper no matter where I left one.
But I don’t read printed newspapers any more. I spend a lot of time with several online news sources and digital magazines to which I subscribe. I plan to keep all of them in 2025, and look forward to the many other different topics I will find there and enjoy. So when friends ask me what I’m going to do during this expected tumultuous news environment with Trump, here is what I tell them:
No more evenings watching CNN, Fox and other programs or starting my mornings with CNN or Morning Joe or Good Morning America. No more slavishly checking in with cable news throughout the day and scrolling every 20 or 30 minutes through my social media feed.
Since the election, I have broken that habit. Now, I start my day working out. My goal is to tap into the political news stream about 10 hours a week. I still occasionally check in to network nightly news and cable programs. But I have cut my scrolling time by 60 percent and I’m aiming for more. Already, I notice my stress level has gone down tremendously.
I don’t know if I can maintain this indefinitely, but I want 2025 to be more about me. I want to expand my learning. I want to binge watch a bunch of streaming shows I haven’t had time for in the past. I have finished two just since the election. I read a lot of books so I plan to read even more. And I want to spend the next year either learning French or improving my Spanish.
I do intend to devote time talking to fellow Americans — especially my neighbors and friends — to better understand who they are, what they think and worry about, and why they voted how they did. I am especially interested in learning more about Trump voters. No judgment, just discovery.
Already, the conversations I’ve had with folks who voted for Trump, yet supported other candidates who are his polar opposite, have been enlightening. It is worth the time.
The point is: I don’t plan to curl up in a ball of despair. This is going to be a period of calm and personal enhancement. Whether you are all-in on Trump or dispirited about the election result, everyone should figure out how they are going to handle the next four years with civility and growth. It will be good for your mental health.