Handle with care by Mary Long

There’s a curious thing happening in today’s world, and it doesn’t come riding in on horseback or through parliamentary decrees. It comes via tweet, Truth Social post, and over-amplified stage rant. It comes in the form of reality distortion, of history mangled into partisan pudding, of science mocked with MAGA flair. And the most theatrical ringmaster of this circus? Donald J. Trump, US president, reality TV star, walking lawsuit, and self-declared savior of a truth he keeps inventing.

You’d be forgiven for thinking you’ve stumbled into a bad sequel of 1984, ghost-written by a Fox News intern. But no, this is the timeline we live in, the era where fake news is no longer a slur, but an industry. An export product. A power tool. Trump’s manipulation of truth isn't just domestic, it has become a global virus, infecting democracies, seeping into education, twisting scientific consensus, and making historians roll in their graves (and social media feeds).

This isn't merely the antics of a narcissistic former president desperate to reclaim lost relevance. No. This is a cultural and intellectual arson. Trump’s war on truth is a strategic offensive, fueled by conspiracy theories, self-interest, and a base that prefers emotional slogans over empirical data. In this world, scientists are “liars,” historians are “liberal shills,” and history itself? “Unpatriotic.”

Let’s take a short stroll through this alternate reality, shall we? In Trumpworld, the pandemic was a hoax, global warming is a myth invented by Chinese scientists, and the 2020 election was stolen by Hugo Chávez from beyond the grave, presumably using Wi-Fi and a time machine. You laugh, because it’s absurd. But these are beliefs held by millions. Repeated enough, with flags and fury, they become hardwired into political identity. Truth becomes treason, and fiction becomes policy.

He’s turns facts into enemies of the people.

Even George Orwell didn’t predict that reality itself would become a partisan issue. “Two plus two equals five,” he wrote. But in Trump’s America, it’s more like: “Two plus two equals whatever I need it to be today, folks and by the way, Crooked Joe can’t even count to four!” Oh yeas, he’s still at Joe!

So here we are, watching the slow erosion of shared truth while commentators ask, “When will people finally react?”

But that’s the wrong question.

The right question is: What will it take?

Because the signs are there. Teachers censored, books banned, scientists harassed, journalists attacked. And all while a large segment of the world shrugs. “It’s just politics,” they say. No. It’s gaslighting on a global scale. It’s the rewriting of modern mythology in real-time, and the rest of us are the hapless extras in his fever dream of greatness.

Even beyond America’s borders, Trump’s toxic style has inspired a generation of mini-Trumps: populists who shout over data, who fabricate enemies to distract from their failures, who cling to patriotism as both shield and sword. This is no longer a national disease it's a pandemic of delusion. From Europe to Latin America, politicians learn that if you repeat a lie enough, you don’t just get believers, you get voters.

Now here’s the twist in the tragicomedy: the world has begun reacting, in whispers, in satire, in footnotes of academic papers, in silent sighs behind classroom doors. But not in the unified, thunderous voice that history demands. Not yet.

Maybe it’s because we’re afraid of being called “elitists.” Maybe it’s because outrage fatigue has turned us all into reluctant spectators. Or maybe we’re waiting for someone else to take the first step.

Well, let’s be clear: history won’t wait.

Scientists need defending, not demonizing. Historians must be empowered, not ignored. Truth must be sacred again, not a sacrificial lamb at the altar of ego.

We cannot outsource the defense of reason to fact-checkers and late-night comedians. We cannot let algorithms shape the boundaries of what’s real. We must teach our children to question but also to research. We must stand up when facts are under siege. And we must do so before the very notion of “truth” becomes as quaint as a rotary phone.

Trump didn’t invent the post-truth world. But he commercialized it, franchised it, and wrapped it in a red hat. And unless the world reacts loudly, clearly, unapologetically, we will all wake up one day in a museum where truth is just another relic behind glass.