Everyone else is doing it, so I feel like I should write something about President Donald Trump.

Here goes, but first a disclaimer:

People who like Trump might become triggered by what follows. People who don’t like Trump may also be triggered.

As someone I used to work for once said, if everyone is mad, you’re probably on the right track. Or something like that.

I know that hasn’t stopped some of the columnists who appear on our opinion pages. You probably know their names and have read their pieces. You probably know which of them think Trump has made a welcome return to the White House and which of them believe that — take your pick — he is a fascist, bully, racist, misogynist, rapist, criminal and Hitler reincarnated. Some national pundits believe Trump is all that and more, including a threat to our democracy.

(Of course, if we’re being honest and accurate, the United States isn’t actually a democracy, in which a nation is ruled by the will of the majority. America is a representative republic.)

By now, you might be asking yourself where I stand on Trump. The answer is, well, complicated.

I’d be lying if I said I was excited about the possibility of another term for Trump when it first became clear that he was going to be the Republican nominee. But I’m not entirely sure whatever trepidation I felt was entirely about Trump. Some of it had to do with the inevitable clash between Trump and his followers — both in the media and among everyday folks — and the self-appointed resistance. Let’s be honest again: Some of them are the everyday people who read our newspapers and craft often eloquent and impassioned letters to the editor and Sound Off items, which appear in our weekend editions. But some of them are in the media and the entertainment business. Others are self-appointed influencers.

The thought of four more years of the back-and-forth we saw during Trump’s term did not really appeal to me. And again, if we’re being honest, Trump brought much of that vitriol from the resistance upon himself. He enjoyed the fight too much and often punched down, which is never a good look for someone with both money and the power of the presidency. Trump also quickly grew disillusioned with members of his team who dared not be in lockstep with whatever he happened to be doing or saying at any given time.

If you’re pro-Trump and doubting this, ask yourself if Trump wasn’t quite often his own worst enemy in that first term.

But all that said, the preceding four years under President Joe Biden were a major reason a slight majority of American voters chose to give the keys to the White House back to Trump on Nov. 5, 2024. Biden’s obvious cognitive decline in office didn’t help, but inflation, illegal immigration and global unrest — including two hot wars — made winning reelection unlikely.

But then came the other big reason Trump won another decisively — Kamala Harris. Democrats shoved Biden aside and anointed his vice president as their new nominee without even a hint of considering anyone else.

Again, if we’re being honest, that makes them hypocrites when it comes to crying out about democracy being at stake. That ended up being the left’s primary reason for people to vote for Harris, who was soon unmasked as an empty pantsuit. At least Hillary Clinton could talk about issues at home and abroad without giggling her way through softball interviews.

So Trump is back, the resistance is rising up again, and we’re exactly where we all knew — as early as late on Nov. 5 — we’d eventually be again: At each other’s throats in print, online and on television and radio.

Sigh.

All that to get to this: Democrats are afraid that Trump’s second term will be worse than the first, because now he has learned to vet his Cabinet and others around him, at least in terms of loyalty. Don’t expect any Rex Tillerson-type quotes — at not any time soon — about Trump being “a bleeping idiot.”

Those against Trump fear that will make this second and final Trump much worse than what came before, which aside from the pandemic, wasn’t all that bad for most Americans. Many voters seemed to believe that returning Trump to office was a better alternative than putting Harris in the White House.

Some disagree vociferously. You can read their arguments on these opinion pages, and watch them on TV and on the internet.

Who’s right? A lot of people on both sides think they know, but they don’t, no matter how passionate the arguments.

It’s been less than two weeks. I’m going to wait and watch it all unfold, as much as I’d rather do just about anything else. A big question for me already is what happens to all those federal grant and loan programs the Trump Administration wanted to “freeze” for a hard look at spending.

There are people, entities and school districts that will be in an instant lurch if that money goes away. Head Start, Meals on Wheels and many other programs rely on federal money to continue to serve clients, students and residents in the Mahoning Valley and across the nation.

On Wednesday afternoon, Trump’s budget office rescinded that freeze order after a couple of days of chaos, criticism and legal challenges. That’s good, because killing programs that are vital — especially to many of the folks who entrusted Trump with the presidency again — will probably result in a disastrous midterm for Republicans. The president should tread carefully with federal grants and loans.

But again, it will be two weeks on Monday. Everyone should take a deep breath — perhaps even a sigh or two — and wait a bit. If it’s a bad four years, those who hate Trump will need to conserve some energy now for possible use later.

Ed Puskas is editor of the Tribune Chronicle and The Vindicator. Reach him at 330-841-1786 or epuskas@tribtoday.com.