December 29, 2025

Donald Trump is shameless. He is incapable of shame because he lacks the ability to feel disgrace. When he is proven a fool, he is not embarrassed. When he is humiliated, he is unaffected. When he is disgraced, he does not notice.

Nothing about Trump’s shamelessness was new to me this year. I know who and what he is.

Nor was I particularly surprised by the behavior of those closest to him. While they know his vulgar shortcomings, they have agreed to ignore his buffoonery in exchange for his good graces. I am certain that, in their private moments, they feel some level of shame over the deals they have made.

What I did not expect — and what has made the greatest impact on me this year — is the willingness of so many others to sacrifice their dignity. Unlike shame, dignity is not something that can be foisted onto someone.

More importantly, the self-respect that is essential to dignity cannot be stolen. Losing one’s dignity is always an act of self-sabotage.

Trump’s ability to convince accomplished men and women to willingly forfeit their dignity is a mystery to me. But it is also the most defining feature of the current era.

Take, for example, the leaders of the legacy media outlets that settled bogus lawsuits with Trump. ABC News settled such a claim for $16 million. What exactly were the leaders of Disney afraid of? In a public fight between one of the most beloved brands and one of the most despised politicians, did they really think they would lose?

Likewise, CBS News settled an even more ridiculous lawsuit involving routine editing of a “60 Minutes” story. The common explanation is that the owners felt trapped because they needed regulatory approval to complete a sale of Paramount, the parent company.

If that was the real concern, why not go public with it and bring political pressure to bear? Why not sue the administration for such arbitrary government action? If necessary, why not simply call the deal off and keep your dignity?

Recently, CBS went ahead and proved that its real concern is pleasing Trump, pulling a “60 Minutes” episode from air that explored the treatment of migrants shipped to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison. It’s obvious what’s going on here. 

Then there are the tech CEOs who have prostrated themselves in front of Trump. Tim Cook gifted Trump a 24-karat gold plaque. Mark Zuckerberg has fawned over the president, calling him a “badass.”  And, of course, nearly all of the tech billionaires have put their money where their mouth is, donating  to various Trump causes and organizations.

Recently, a new trend has become popular: awarding Trump with fake prizes. FIFA — yes, soccer’s international governing body — made up an entirely fake peace prize simply to flatter Trump. Its leadership clearly has no shame, but do they also lack any dignity?

In some ways, the nation’s largest law firms kicked off the trend of forfeiting dignity when they made deals with Trump to provide free legal services for his pet causes. At the time, a few of these leaders falsely claimed this was essential to their firms’ survival. They never explained why clients would want to hire lawyers who lack the self-respect and dignity to fight unlawful actions.

But perhaps no group is worthy of more scorn than Republican elected officials. In a system of representative government, every candidate for office implicitly runs on a platform of personal dignity. Voters are casting a ballot for someone they believe has the character to serve the public good.

Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, in particular, are leaders charged with protecting the legislative branch from presidential overreach. The dignity of their offices is premised on their own self-respect. Yet they — like the caucuses they run — have proven themselves to be without dignity at all.

The loss of dignity by those charged with leading our industries, informing our citizenry, protecting the rule of law, and governing our country is no small matter. It cannot be dressed up as smart management or skillful politics.

Dignity, once lost, is virtually impossible to reclaim. It does not regrow. Its absence festers within a once-proud person who has become pathetic and weak. Such people eventually become objects of ridicule and scorn. They ultimately feel shame.

If 2025 was the year of dignity lost, we should resolve to make 2026 the year we uplift new leaders with their dignity intact.

In media, we can find those leaders in smaller, independent outlets that have not made the compromises or faced the corporate pressures that have felled so many legacy giants. In law, it will require looking to — and modeling — the behavior of firms that stood tall and fought back. In business and technology, we will have to discern who stood their ground.

The most challenging arena will be politics. We have a two-party system, and when one of those parties has collectively sacrificed its dignity, there is no simple path forward.

In the short term, electing Democrats is the answer. They may not be perfect, but they have not surrendered their dignity to Trump. Giving them power is essential to protecting democracy and restoring dignity to public life.

In the longer term, the Republican Party will need to renew itself to restore its dignity. This is not something those of us on the outside can do for them. All we can do is watch and hope that 2025 was the moral low point — and that the road forward is swift and dignified.