As I edited a trio of stories in the May print edition that deal with the consequences of the Trump administration’s actions since he returned to office on Jan. 20, one word kept coming to mind.
Cruel.
Our cover story chronicles various cuts, either made or proposed, to portions of the country’s “safety net.” Kevin Fitzgerald talked to local seniors who are worried that as part of a proposed $1.5 trillion spending cut over the next decade—much of which would fund tax cuts, primarily going to the wealthiest Americans—they could lose some or all of their Social Security and Medicare benefits.
While seniors are justifiably concerned about what could happen, many of the nation’s food banks—including FIND Food Bank and its affiliate food-distribution outlets locally—are dealing with the consequences of something that did happen: a sudden and unexplained cancellation of $500 million in food shipments from the federal government. According to Debbie Espinosa, FIND’s president and CEO, that meant the unanticipated cancellation of 10 truckloads of food that would have gone to our valley’s most vulnerable citizens.
Cruel.
Next: Haleemon Anderson talked to local public-lands advocates about the havoc being wreaked by the on-again, off-again layoffs, cuts and cancellations coming down from the Trump administration and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. In February, 1,000 National Park Service employees were laid off without warning; those jobs were later restored as the result of court orders, but all NPS employees are bracing for whatever may come next. Also in February, a fact sheet issued by the Trump administration announced that the designation of the new Chuckwalla National Monument—an accomplishment that a large bipartisan coalition worked on for years—would be rescinded. Soon after, that mention was removed from the fact sheet, without explanation. Today, rumors are flying, and seemingly nobody knows what’s going on, or what’s happening next.
Nick Graver, a graduate student in conservation biology who’s done much of his work in Joshua Tree National Park, told the Independent that he believes confusion is the point of many of the federal government’s inconsistent and baffling actions.
Cruel.
“Every student deserves access to education without fear,” said acting COD President Val Martinez Garcia.
Let’s put aside the various policy arguments in play here. Even if you believe our government is bloated, and that spending needs to be cut, that can be done without cancelling shipments to food banks without explanation or warning. Even if you believe employees need to be laid off, that can be done rationally, with compassion and explanation. Even if you think it’s a problem for undocumented students to be attending our colleges, changes can be made without purposefully creating terror, which is what Trump advisers like Stephen Miller wants.
No matter where you stand politically, you can’t rationally deny that the Trump administration’s actions have been haphazard, needlessly unexplained, and terribly cruel.
And if you’re OK with that, you can neither call yourself humane, nor Christian, nor moral. You’re just someone who doesn’t give a damn about your fellow humans.
Note: This is the editor’s note that appeared in the May 2025 print edition. Much of this was originally published online in the April 17 Indy Digest.