The Trump Tax: Costs on Our Mental Well-Being and How To Claim Some Deductions
Reflections on the cognitive burden readers have shared and what to do about it.
CANADA RESISTS
Aug 10, 2026
I had asked you all about the Trump Tax. That's the cognitive burden we are carrying around whether we want to or not. Here are the themes that emerged after analyzing over 109 different comments on the Trump Tax. As importantly as the tax, we need to look at ways to claim potential tax deductions! What we can do to minimize the price we pay without sacrificing information and the ability to resist?
The biggest finding is that I erroneous asked you about ‘hours spent’ on Trump each week. That turned out to be the wrong metric to use and you made that clear. It was more like “a ghost in our house constantly clanking his chains,” as one commenter pointed out, years might be a better unit of measurement. I came to understand there are two general flavours of taxation going on for you:
The Direct Tax
Direct tax are the activities you can assign hours or minutes to, such as reading the news, talking about him, helping the vulnerable, or protesting. With that in mind, people gave actual estimates ranged from a couple of hours a week/day to 20, 40, 70+ hours a week. Several said 168 hours (apparently the number in a week). This latter point captures the next tax flavour:
The Ambient Tax
This is the one you can’t count by hours but it is always there. You may not necessarily be thinking about Trump but he occupies some degree of your background processing. It’s cognitive occupation with questions floating around regarding what happened, what’s going to happen, when does this end. I think this comment captured it best: “an immersive state of mind…a generalized feeling of ‘What will he do next?’”
What Are You Actually Paying?
Based on your responses, I came up with seven lines of Trump Tax, though they also overlap a lot.
The Vigilance Tax
I think this was the most dominant theme. It reflects constantly being on edge for the next thing coming down the line. It’s the unpredictability that makes it so burdensome. And it is not remotely normal political concern. Some comments capturing this are: “Each day begins with ‘what has he done now?"; “I find myself needing to see if the next outburst changes something else”'; and “Just waiting for the next outrageous move.”
The Attention Tax
As we all know, Trump demands constant attention. Yet as one stated, he does not deserve any cognitive real estate. One commenter noted that she cannot concentrate at work because she’s continually checking the news. And a Canadian says the U.S. has displaced attention she once gave to Québec City, Québec and Canadian politics. She now knows American governors, attorneys general and local political developments she never would have followed before.
The Emotional Tax
The words you used to capture it were amazingly consistent: Anxiety, fear, anger, rage, grief, sadness, shame, exhaustion, helplessness and disillusionment. And it’s important to point out that it’s not just fear but rather feelings that have a moral component to them. You are repeatedly disturbed by cruelty, corruption, lying, abandonment of democratic norms and watching others tolerate conduct they consider profoundly wrong. You are not just worried for yourself, but more often than not, for what is or is going to happen to other people.
The Physical Health Tax
Although mentioned less than the above two, it is perhaps more consequential when it occurs. A number of you explicitly mentioned losing sleep, waking with a start, staying awake late worrying, panic attacks, eating in response to stress and seeking mental help support. One retired mental-health provider described developing major depression after the new administration began for which she sought out and received successful treatment. I have lost count of the number of subscribers who sound genuinely depressed.
The Social Tax
Trump doesn’t merely take individual attention, but he also colonizes social time. From conversations with spouses, get-togethers with friends, connections over fences, the recurrent discussion is “can you believe it?” As someone described, “Time seems to be spent ranting about the situation whenever we meet with our friends.” As subscriber Anne wrote, “Each day begins with ‘what’s he done now?’ followed by ‘what can I do today?’ I’d like to just go for a swim…”
The Resistance Tax
This one is a tax we want to keep on paying! And happily so. But it has likely replaced other things we used to be able to do. Respondents mentioned considerable time working on resistance efforts, from calling representatives, emailing, election-integrity work to organizing protests, donating, boycotting, helping vulnerable others. One estimated four hours a day when he added together news, activism, and supporting others.
The Opportunity Tax
Given the burden people are carrying, mentally and with their time, what is it they have had to give up since there are only a fixed number of hours in a day? In this regard, Trump creates a genuine opportunity cost for each of us. Subscribers mention abandoning plans, losing time meant for family that is instead spent on politics. One commenter worried about losing volunteers because people have had to direct their energy elsewhere. And of course we collectively wonder what governments, institutions and societies are not working on because so many resources are being diverted to react to Trump. So he creates both a personal opportunity cost, as well as a societal one. What could we have done this past 1.5 years? What could society have done?
How To Claim Some Tax Deductions
A number of you shared how you are already reducing your Trump taxation rate. Several mentioned limiting their consumption of news or selectively choosing their source. Another, a Canadian, has deliberately turned back to a focus on his province and country. One subscriber wrote about stepping away from political news for an entire month only to return and discover how little had changed. “I kept having to check the dates on everything.” Others mentioned coping strategies that involve focusing on things like gardening, faith, walks, activities, boycotts and bounded political action. Here are some other suggestions:
Audit Your Trump Spending
For several days, try to notice the difference between useful engagement and repetitive consumption. How much goes into each? Can you change it? Reading enough news to understand an issue is one thing but reading a dozen versions on the same development is another.
Shift from Surveillance to Briefings
Despite the pull, you absolutely do not need to monitor democracy like a trader following the stock ticker. Choose one or two points in the day when you deliberately find out what happened. Oh and if you’re like me, you might want to set a timer on that ‘finding out’.
Ask the Action Question
Is there something useful I can do with this information? If yes, do it. If not, another hour of processing it probably is not civic engagement but it is wear and tear on your well-being.
Cap Commiseration
Connecting with other people matters, more now than ever. And some degree of commiseration is a vital coping mechanism. Think support groups. But what is also important is getting away from politics to connecting on something that brings you so much more. After the third round of the Can you believe this? game, nobody is learning anything new and it can actually make you feel worse. So bring with you to conversations a lighthearted story or a question to redirect the conversation after you’ve had a chance to debrief with one another.
Take Back Some Territory
There have to be no politics zones in your life. Start small and grow these territories. This could be say during all meals, or a given friendship, or maybe you will make the bedroom off-limits. These are places that Trump and company are not allowed into. Protect them as sacred spaces.
Recover Displaced Attention
What have you been neglecting from your attention? What news are you missing? I keep asking myself what news would be covered if the Trump administration wasn’t dominating it daily? So dig and find out what happened in your town, province, state or country today that is not about the Trump administration. Especially for Canadians: the American presidency shouldn’t be allowed to become Canada’s local news.
Protect Sleep
Nothing Trump does at 9:47 p.m. requires our immediate attention. It will still be there tomorrow. And each night when you go to bed just think of how you might awake to the morning you keep waiting for. You know what I'm talking about. Sleep is important to your health but it also helps you cope better the next day.
Spend Distress on Action
If civic engagement is important to you, decide what you will actually do. Take some steps: make a call, give a donation, volunteer a shift, help someone get their passport ordered, or look up the next protest. Do THAT instead of going back to your newsfeed. You will have made a meaningful difference.
Do Not Equate Distress With Care
I have noticed an implicit moral logic often emerges when talking about the distress. The logic goes like this: “if this is terrible, I should feel terrible” and therefore “if I stop feeling terrible, perhaps I’m becoming complacent or worse, implicitly accepting it.” But they are not the same thing. You can believe something is profoundly wrong and serious and take action to fight it without also having to feel distress every waking hour. You are absolutely allowed to not feel bad 24/7.
Trump Cannot Be Allowed to Also Tax Joy
If you want to go swimming, please go swimming. Find a dog to pat or take him or her for a walk. Go on a trip to a place where politics seems to be invisible. Enjoy your garden. Start a non-serious book club. These are the things that make up the life we are fighting to protect. Do not give these things up to them.
Multiple things can and should happen simultaneously. You can take daily actions to fight the authoritarian regime or help those at risk, AND enjoy your life. That joy is critical to your mental well being, your physical health and the strength you need to keep resisting and helping others.
So please of course stay strategically informed, take some actions that matter, but also… go for a swim!
Thanks for Reading!
Canada Resists, yes, they have a Substack and they are on Newsbreak.
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