In February of this year, Kristina Becvar and I published a column in The Fulcrum reaffirming our mission amid a barrage of executive orders from the Trump Administration. We sought to clarify our role—not as partisan commentators, but as stewards of fact-based reporting and healthy self-governance.
We wrote then:
“Our challenge as a publication, dedicated to keeping our readers informed so we can repair our democracy and make it live and work in our everyday lives, is not to be overly reactive or partisan. At the same time, we must not ignore the dangers of the administration's degrading, hostile, and accusatory language and dangerous actions when they occur, while also acknowledging inappropriate responses when they occur.”
We continued:
“The Fulcrum must be mindful of the fact that Trump won a plurality of the vote and currently has a majority approval rating. If we are to serve our mission of engaging a broad spectrum of citizens from the left, right, and center in the political process, all working together to face tough challenges facing our nation, we must be mindful of this fact.
We believe it is our obligation to acknowledge that a varying percentage of the administration's statements and actions have merit and are based on truth while, at the same time, not normalizing the language Trump uses or understating the devastating impact many of his executive orders or other actions are having on millions of people in the United States and around the world.”
Since that column, The Fulcrum has published numerous pieces that have criticized President Trump for inflammatory rhetoric and for actions perceived as threats to constitutional norms, the rule of law, and the integrity of our elections. We will continue to do so—without hesitation and without apology.
But we must also resist the gravitational pull of binary thinking.
Too often, citizens, media outlets, and political leaders treat politics as a zero-sum game—where acknowledging an opponent’s success is seen as a personal or ideological loss. The Fulcrum rejects this premise. We will not be party to a worldview that sees governance as warfare and truth as tribal.
With that in mind, we recognize a significant development in the Middle East: an agreement that has led to the release of Israeli hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7, 2023, and that may lay the groundwork for a broader cease-fire in Gaza. President Donald Trump played a meaningful role in facilitating this outcome. While it is premature to declare this a historic peace accord, the hostage release marks the first step in a complex 20-point peace plan.
This is a powerful beginning. President Trump deserves credit for being fully engaged and for offering unconventional solutions that led to the release of hostages. His involvement, while not without rhetorical overreach—declaring peace achieved and forecasting a bright future for Gaza—nonetheless represents a commendable contribution to a fragile moment of progress.
As a nation, we must learn to hold praise and concern in the same breath. Truth is rarely binary. Americans are often seduced by partisan reflexes—embracing information that confirms their beliefs and dismissing evidence that challenges them. This tendency, while human, can blind us to the good deeds of those we dislike and the harmful actions of those we admire.
A healthy democracy demands more than loyalty; it requires discernment.
We must commit to a new politics of problem-solving—one grounded in reason, logic, and inquiry, where conclusions follow from evidence, not ideology. This new politics must create space for people of differing views to sit together, grapple with hard truths, and make the decisions that everyone knows must be made.
To do this, we must move beyond the blame game.
The challenges we face—climate instability, economic inequality, and democratic fragility are too complex for a simple “for or against” mindset. Meeting them requires rising above reflexive partisanship and embracing a more thoughtful, principled engagement.
At The Fulcrum, we remain committed to that path. Not because it is easy, but because it is necessary.
David Nevins is the publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.
