In previous blog posts – (shorter lives report, child tax credit, and family values) – we spelled out the various ways in which European and other governments help families and the ways in which we as a nation fall short in those areas. Many, if not most, families generally include mothers. 
Here, in the month when we honor mothers, we look at some of the ways in which President Donald Trump, his supporters and enablers, and Republicans in elected offices are hurting mothers, mothers-to-be, those who function as mothers and families.
We have long known, of course, the depths of Trump’s basic misogyny. We do not have to look far to see how he behaved toward a particular mother: the mother of his youngest son. Trump had an affair with former Playboy Playmate of the Year Karen McDougal for several months after Melania gave birth to Barron on March 20, 2006. The nine-month affair ended in April 2007. Trump also had a sexual relationship with adult film star Stormy Daniels (Stephanie Clifford) in July 2006 – a few months after Barron’s birth. While Trump (the pathological liar) denies everything, Stormy Daniels’ testimony figured heavily in convicting Trump in 34 felony charges as part of the New York criminal case brought by DA Alvin Bragg.
By examining the issue of mothers in conjunction with Trump and his policies, we can learn from the past so we can be prepared for when (not if!) the Democracy Coalition reclaims power.
Women and mothers as workers. Trump has ostensibly fired the heads of several agencies that support women in the workplace. Trump (unlawfully) fired National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) member Gwynne Wilcox, the first Black woman to ever sit on the NLRB Board. (Wilcox is fighting back, in a “win some, lose some” situation.) Trump also fired Commissioners Jocelyn Samuels and Charlotte Burrows, and General Counsel Karla Gilbride, of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Both the NLRB and the EEOC, independent agencies with bipartisan leadership, help women in many ways. (Samuels and others are also fighting back.) In yet another cruel move, Trump is rescinding EO 11246, issued in 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson. 
That Executive Order (EO) instructed federal contractors to not discriminate against their employees on the basis of race, religion, sex, age, and more; discrimination has historically affected women, especially women of color, and thus mothers. Congress could, if it wanted to, challenge Trump’s move, especially given the fact that some courts have suggested that Congress has implicitly ratified EO 11246 and that “Congress has imposed many of EO 11246’s policies on private employers through Title VII” of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Trump should not have the last word on this issue, and citizens can make their voices heard.
Reproductive healthcare. Trump and his cronies are determined to blast the US back to the 1950s, if not earlier, when women had virtually no choice about their bodies; and now, in many states, women have lost much of that choice again after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 (thanks to the right-wing majority that Trump’s appointments created). The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act was passed in 1994; it “makes it a federal crime to use force, threats of force, or physical obstruction to prevent people from receiving or providing reproductive health care such as abortions.” 
The Trump Department of Justice is no longer enforcing the law except under what they perceive as severe and “extraordinary circumstances.” In March 2025, Representatives Jerry Nadler and over 72 other Democrats submitted an open letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi demanding that DOJ enforce the Act and protect women’s health clinics. It is unclear whether Bondi has responded or what the status of the Act is, but we citizens should pay attention to this issue.
In other misogynist (and ludicrous) moves related to women’s health, Trump has revoked EOs signed under President Joe Biden that protected and expanded access to reproductive healthcare; threatened funding for crucial women’s health research; and erased vital health information from public websites. The fact that the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) is enforced by the EEOC, Trump’s actions against the EEOC potentially threaten to “put 2.8 million pregnant workers at risk each year.” Of course, Trump’s war against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives throughout the government (and everywhere else he can think of) are bound to have long-lasting detrimental effects on women, mothers and families.
Food assistance. Republicans have historically wanted to find ways to cut the federal budget for food assistance; now that Trump is in the White House, their goals are being aggressively pursued. 
House Republicans are considering a “massive cut to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which helps low-income families afford groceries;” SNAP serves approximately roughly 40 million Americans each month and has long-term positive impacts “on food insecurity, health outcomes, medical costs, and performance in school for children.” Reducing SNAP benefits would obviously affect millions of mothers across the country as they struggle to feed their families. Republicans often argue that support programs should be handled at the state, not federal, level, which is sometimes feasible, but what the current GOP is proposing in the area of food assistance would almost certainly cause great harm to very vulnerable people.
Transgender issues. Trump, his cronies and millions of Americans seem to be obsessed with certain issues around sexuality. Despite the fact that transgender Americans probably account for fewer than one percent of the population (or about 2.3 million people), Trump’s EOs and other actions are attempting (often illegally) to regulate gender and gender identity and threaten gender affirming care among this tiny population. 
His EO to supposedly “defend women,” actually encourages the government to discriminate against transgender people. Using language like “ideologues who deny the biological reality of sex” and claiming the right’s narrow, insensitive and unfounded stance as “truth,” the EO subjects individuals to suspicion and surveillance and invites violence against those who do not conform to right-wing interpretations. Those affected include trans men who have previously given birth. The absence of any compassion toward people who do not feel they “fit” with the gender with which they’ve been assigned at birth is astounding – but par for the course for Trump et al.
Education. As of Fall 2024, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, about 8.4 million women – many of them mothers – were undergraduate college students. Another 1.9 million women were enrolled in graduate programs. If the many Trump EOs that impact education survive legal challenges, women, including mothers, will be significantly harmed, their goals thwarted and their futures derailed. According to the American Council on Education, Trump is on the warpath against more than 75 of Biden’s EOs that were meant to increase equity and economic opportunity for underrepresented students, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and Hispanic-Serving Institutions. 
Women will also be adversely impacted by Trump EOs that “repeal Biden-era environmental policies, including those that funded higher education sustainability and climate-related research initiatives.”
Conclusion
People who are mothers are not monolithic as a population or voting bloc. Mothers can be found among conservatives, Trump supporters, the LGBTQ+ population, and among all races and ethnicities. There are many reasons that women and others who are mothers might support Trump’s and other right-wing and traditionally conservative initiatives and policies, at least in theory if not in practice. There are valid arguments for reducing fraud and waste in government programs, for instance, and many women are fiscally conservative.
We must ask, though, what the optimal ways are in which mothers can survive and thrive in a democratic republic like ours. In any presidential administration, do policies serve the common good, follow the law, and demonstrate basic compassion and humanity, and are they based on facts and evidence – not rampant disinformation and unfounded conspiracy theories? If yes, they deserve support. If not, they must be resisted. To this end, what are our roles, as individual citizens and voters, and as members of communities to which we belong, in honoring, respecting and supporting mothers in the United States of America at this time in our history?