We’ve Been Had: Broken Promises, Broken Trust

The 2024 campaign was built on bold pledges. The 2025 reality has been built on broken ones.

From Ukraine to our own health care system, promises have been abandoned, allies alienated, and ordinary citizens left behind while wealth and spectacle take center stage.

The Curtain Pulled Back

For years, we’ve been told to believe in a show — a spectacle dressed up as leadership. But behind the curtain, the stage is empty. The promises of unity, prosperity, and greatness have been revealed as hollow. We’ve been sold slogans instead of solutions. We’ve been had.

Promises Made, Promises Broken

During the 2024 campaign, bold pledges were made: ending wars overnight, cutting costs for working families, restoring peace abroad. Yet the reality has been starkly different. Instead of relief, families face higher prices, broken trust, and a widening gap between promise and reality.

📊 Promise vs Reality: The Great Divide

Promise (2024 Campaign) Reality (2025 Term)
End the war in Ukraine within 24 hours Conflict continues; U.S. support scaled back, leaving Ukraine vulnerable and allies frustrated
Eliminate taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security No legislation passed; workers still taxed, relief never delivered
Cut car insurance rates by half No measurable reduction; premiums remain high or have increased
Deliver “0% inflation” Inflation persists; families face higher costs for essentials
Mass deportation of 20 million migrants Legal challenges stalled; only hundreds deported
Restore peace in Europe and the Middle East Wars and instability continue; U.S. credibility weakened
Strengthen NATO and global alliances Allies alienated; NATO commitments questioned
Make health care more affordable Programs cut, premiums rising; families forced to choose between medicine and rent
Build prosperity for all Wealth gap widens; lavish spending on White House renovations contrasts with neglect of the poor

Abandoning Ukraine

Perhaps nowhere is betrayal more visible than in Ukraine. Promises of unwavering support have given way to hesitation, mixed signals, and dwindling aid. The Ukrainian people — fighting not only for sovereignty but for democracy itself — have been left exposed. America’s retreat signals to aggressors that resolve can be broken, that freedom can be bargained away.

Turning Our Backs on the Vulnerable

At home, the betrayal is just as stark. Health care — once promised as more affordable — has become harder to reach. Programs for the less fortunate have been cut, premiums have risen, and families are forced to choose between medicine and rent. Meanwhile, the wealthy thrive, insulated by privilege and policy.

The contrast is grotesque: while ordinary citizens struggle, money is spent on gold trim in the White House and a massive, unneeded ballroom. Luxury for the few, neglect for the many.

How to Stop the Madness: The Power of Midterms

The chaos we face is not inevitable. Democracy gives us tools to correct course, and the midterm elections are one of the most powerful. When citizens show up, they reshape Congress, rebalance power, and hold leaders accountable.

  • Voting as leverage: Midterms decide who sits in the House and Senate — the very bodies that can investigate, check, and, if necessary, remove a president through constitutional processes.
  • Accountability through representation: By electing officials committed to oversight, transparency, and the rule of law, citizens ensure that no leader stands above the people.
  • Mobilizing communities: Grassroots organizing, voter registration drives, and civic education campaigns can turn frustration into action.
  • Protecting democracy: Every ballot cast is a declaration that democracy belongs to the people, not to spectacle or unchecked power.

Stopping the madness requires more than outrage; it requires participation. The midterms are not just another election — they are a referendum on accountability.

A Call to Courage

This is not about one man alone. It is about us — the people — reclaiming our voice. It is about demanding accountability, refusing to be spectators in our own democracy, and rejecting the notion that division is destiny.

We’ve been had. But we don’t have to be had again.