I am not suggesting that there is no room for negotiation. That is the job of our elected lawmakers — Senator Chuck Schumer; Representative Nancy Pelosi; Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader; and Paul Ryan, the House speaker — whose responsibility it is to minimize harm and maximize concessions on the way to compromise.

But private sector and nonprofit leaders must no longer take the bait. To work with this administration in any capacity is to normalize it, and all of the hate and bigotry it represents. That is the very real danger we face as the months drag into years, and each successive outrage fades from memory. We will all be tempted — by lucrative contracts, federal grant dollars or flashy ribbon cuttings — to seek a middle ground that does not exist. At times, it will be easier to give an inch than to stand firm.