What would the United States look like if Donald Trump had never stepped into the Oval Office? That’s the mind-bending question one Reddit user posed—and the internet didn’t hold back. In a post that quickly caught fire, user SophieCruzReddit asked, “If Donald Trump had never won an election, how do you think the U.S. would be today?” Over 13,000 people responded, offering everything from serious political takes to darkly humorous hypotheticals. The answers feel like glimpses into an alternate reality.
The thread quickly turned into a digital think tank, full of both frustrations and fantasies. One user imagined a world where student loan forgiveness was already a reality, crediting the momentum seen during Biden’s presidency and theorizing that without Trump’s time in office, major economic reforms could have gained traction much earlier. Another person suggested that a liberal-majority Supreme Court would be the norm today—something that’s become a pipe dream in the current political climate.
Some responses were personal. One commenter said they’d never have realized how many people in their lives held such disappointing views—an emotional nod to how politics has fractured families and friendships. Another envisioned a country where reproductive rights remained intact, where women didn’t have to constantly fight to keep control of their own bodies.
Others took a swipe at the media and political system as a whole. One user pointed out that without Trump, right-wing outlets would have relentlessly targeted Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris instead, while liberal outlets would have likely criticized their foreign policies. Another offered a biting observation: “Still the same kick-the-can-down-the-road nonsense from our milquetoast, spineless politicians… but at least we’d still have some stability.”
Many users also brought up the pandemic, suggesting that fewer lives may have been lost to COVID-19 under different leadership, although others pushed back, saying government failures went beyond any one administration.
Some even took the conversation further back in time. “We need to go all the way back to 2000,” one person wrote, arguing that the roots of today’s division began when the Supreme Court handed the presidency to George W. Bush.
And not everyone thought the question was helpful. A few users pointed out that Trump is a symptom, not the cause, of deep issues like authoritarianism, income inequality, and corporate greed. Others felt the whole exercise ignored ongoing injustices that happen regardless of who’s in power.
Still, one comment seemed to sum up a common sentiment: “Remember when the biggest criticism of Biden was that he was boring? Imagine if that was our biggest problem.”
Whether you see this thought experiment as cathartic, frustrating, or enlightening, it’s clear that Trump’s presidency has left a lasting mark—and imagining a world without it says a lot about the world we live in now.
How do you think things would be different if Trump never won? Join the conversation below.
