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Opinion|The New Resistance: Steadying or Upending Democracy?

“I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration,” an Op-Ed written anonymously by a senior official in the Trump administration, has drawn among the largest number of reader responses we’ve seen at The New York Times. More than 15,000 were published online.

The author describes a faction within the administration working, as one commenter put it, to “steady the ship,” and readers passionately debated the ethics of this subterfuge. Selections from their comments, edited for clarity and length, are below.

A step toward sanity

I am glad there are people in the White House who have steady hands and are striving to guide Mr. Trump on the right path. I am still hoping that Mr. Trump grows into the presidency and that he continues to make America first in his decisions. We should think as Americans first and get away from identity politics. — Cali, Thousand Oaks, Calif.

My husband and I are registered in opposite parties, but we are both moderates and are united in our belief that this president cannot and will not lead us anywhere good. We sleep better knowing that resistance exists where it can actually have effect. Now if only others would come out from under their rock and voice their support. — Jan, Nebraska

These men and women aren’t changing or subverting policy, they are trying to keep the ship stable while Captain Queeg rolls his metal balls and gets increasingly more paranoid and rash. No, we didn’t elect these men and women, but we don’t elect many who make policy that affects our daily lives. I’d take a crew of them over a bunch of sycophants and yes men. — Jackie, Pennsylvania

Read the Op-Ed written by a senior official in the Trump administration Democracy can’t work like this

The way to save a tottering democracy is hardly more secrecy and subterfuge. Anonymous articles like this one, from within some “quiet resistance” within the administration, seem ill conceived and wrongheaded in every way. It makes the press seem conspiratorial and less accountable, it makes the administration seem more divided and out of control, and it makes us, the people, seem irrelevant. — plsteiner, Connecticut

Thanks for affirming why we needed to elect President Trump. These establishment bureaucrats think they run the place instead of our elected representatives. Their era is on its way out. — BGko, Los Angeles

I already knew that our president had no moral underpinnings at all, but the office of the presidency is to be respected. I am deeply uncomfortable with a shadow government keeping him in line when, clearly, the members of the shadow government find him unfit to hold the office. This is as egregious a violation of democratic norms as anything the president has done. — Melissa L, Florida

The author and their like-minded colleagues are willing to tolerate an amoral president to move forward their own agendas. Our government is not supposed to work this way. They have two options: carry out the president’s wishes, consistent with the laws of our land, or resign. The third option, picking and choosing how they want to run the government, sets a dangerous precedent. To be clear, I am not defending President Trump, but the solution this author offers is equally dangerous. — Padfoot, Portland, Ore.

Read more reactions by readers to the anonymous op-ed
Opinion: I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration
Opinion: ‘Anonymous’ vs. Trump: Resistance From Within
Sept. 6, 2018

The biggest danger is policy, not subterfuge

The author is fine with the radical policy objectives pursued by this administration, including giveaways to the ultra-wealthy, extensive deregulation that weakens our ability to fight climate change, inequality and the extraordinary politicization of our courts. Keeping the president’s most idiotic ideas from being implemented is small comfort when the Republican Party’s most dangerous ideas are being implemented daily. — Cam K, New York

So, sir or madam, in the interests of lower taxes and a bigger military industrial complex, you have reasoned that so long as you can work to minimize the damage to our great nation, it is worth keeping our nation in peril, worth continuing to divide us and continuing to make us look weak to our enemies and unreliable to our allies. Forgive me if I don’t stand up and salute you. A nation at risk over a political agenda. You and the rest of the staff will be judged very harshly by history. Not for what you tried to prevent, but how you did nothing to stop it even though you were able to. — Glenn Gibson, New Windsor

So, now that they’ve got their Supreme Court guy confirmed, the tax cuts for the rich in place, environmental reforms reversed, education policy upended, they are courageously resisting? Spare us your anonymous courage. — Cowboy Bob, Vermont

The 25th Amendment is the only solution

First, the fact that unelected officials are using deception and other methods to control a president whom they obviously think is unfit to serve is a constitutional crisis in its own right. Second, properly invoking a portion of the Constitution would not provoke a constitutional crisis; rather, it’s the constitutionally sanctioned response to one. This piece offers little more than hollow reassurances that there are adults in the room, cold comfort for a nation whose democratic norms are under assault and weakening by the day. — JK, Ann Arbor, Mich.

So our country is being run by anonymous insiders whom we have not elected? I found some of the statements to be inspiring, but at the end of the day, the ringmaster must be thrown out of the circus. Words are cheap, even if effective. We are in dire need of action here: Any of these behind-the-scenes “saviors” are severely remiss if they fail to act. — Joey Dee, New York

This isn’t your drunk uncle at the family reunion. This is supposed to be the most powerful person on the planet and the leader of the free world! If you really want to save our nation, then you should start the process to remove him, immediately. If not, your Op-Ed isn’t worth much more than Donald Trump’s word. — Aaron, Seattle

The anonymous author should approach the leaders of both parties, warn them of the unstable president and arrange for removal of the president through impeachment or the 25th Amendment. The time for “Don’t worry, I’ve got this covered” is over. I’m not sure I trust an anonymous player to act in the best interest of America. Only strong and loud voices will suffice in this battle for our collective soul. — Patty, Louisville, Ky.

A signal to America’s allies and enemies

It seems to me a foundational pillar of the presidency and our government has collapsed, and a self-appointed cabal is in control. The chain of command in the White House and, by extension, in the armed forces is broken. What sort of signal does that send to our enemies who would exploit this leadership incoherence? — Mark, Los Angeles

It would appear to this reader from across the Atlantic that this piece is confirmation of a coup d’état in the United States. The anonymous author of the Op-Ed and their fellow “adults in the room” are ruling the people without a mandate from the people. And justifying it, anonymously, in the Fourth Estate. — Daniel, Dublin

I am a citizen of one of your neighbors and allies. As such, it is extraordinarily comforting to know that the government of the United States is not as broken and dysfunctional as it appears. The other two branches of your government seem unwilling or incapable of serving as a check against the bizarre and destructive actions and ideas of your president. Yet the executive branch clearly still attracts Americans who put their country before their personal or short-term partisan political interests.

These are the words of someone who understands how and why America became the envy of the free world. They are also the words of someone who understands how fragile that position becomes when the values that guided the creation of your country, and the rule of law that flows from those values, are undermined for short-term partisan gain. — Scott Nicoll, Vancouver, British Columbia