Today's Liberal News

Mohsen Mahdawi, Palestinian Columbia Student Targeted by Trump, Hails Court Ruling Blocking Deportation

An immigration judge has blocked the Trump administration from deporting Mohsen Mahdawi, a Columbia University graduate and green card holder who was detained last April at what he thought was a citizenship interview. Mahdawi grew up in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank and was an outspoken critic of Israel’s genocide in Gaza while attending Columbia. He spent two weeks in ICE custody before a federal judge ordered his release.

Trump’s Suddenly High-Stakes State of the Union

Here’s how much things have changed since Donald Trump last addressed Congress: A year ago, he shouted out a beaming Elon Musk, who was watching in the gallery.
At the time, Trump was triumphant. But tomorrow night, when he returns to the Capitol to deliver the State of the Union address, he will be trying to turn around a stumbling presidency. His prized tariffs have been sharply curtailed by the Supreme Court. His most visible immigration push—federal surges into U.S.

Sam Altman Is Losing His Grip on Humanity

Last Friday, onstage at a major AI summit in India, Sam Altman wanted to address what he called an “unfair” criticism. The OpenAI CEO was asked by a reporter from The Indian Express about the natural resources required to train and run generative-AI models. Altman immediately pushed back.

What the Roberts Court Is Actually Trying to Accomplish

By striking down President Trump’s tariffs, the Supreme Court has once again shown that it is no partisan instrument of Republican power. Chief Justice John Roberts, who wrote the decision, has a much more ambitious goal in mind.
A common myth holds that the current court is a 6–3 conservative institution that protects Trump and the GOP—that it is “enabling” him and giving him a “free pass” or a “blank check.” But basic accounting shows that this isn’t true.

The Revenge of the Dummymander

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Partisan gerrymandering—the practice of drawing districts in a way that is designed to aid one party and hurt the other—is one of the more pernicious phenomena in American politics today. It’s fundamentally antidemocratic because it’s designed to circumvent or at least dampen the will of voters.

Today’s Atlantic Trivia: What Did the Polls Miss?

Updated with new questions at 4:30 p.m. ET on February 23, 2026.
If you put any stock in the ability of IQ tests to assess intelligence, we humans have spent the past century steadily getting smarter. (And if you don’t put any stock in them, well, we humans have steadily gotten better at IQ tests.)
Because IQ is a standardized measure, humankind’s average score still sits at 100—but this isn’t your granddaddy’s 100.

As U.S. Olympians Take on the Trump Administration, Trump Attacks Them While Kash Patel Parties

As the winter Olympics come to a close, a number of athletes have drawn controversy for their political statements. U.S. athletes, in particular, have expressed conflicting feelings about representing the United States during the current political moment.
We speak with former athlete Jules Boykoff, who has written extensively on the Olympic games, about how politics intersect with the Games. “The Trump administration has politicized these Olympics from the very beginning,” he says.

Trump Lashes Out & Attacks Justices After Supreme Court Limits His Power to Impose Tariffs

The Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on Friday in a 6-3 vote. The justices ruled that the tariffs — which were imposed by a series of executive orders — exceeded presidential powers under a 1977 law that gives the president authority to regulate commerce only in the case of international emergencies. The ruling takes away a “leverage power tool by Trump,” says Lori Wallach, director of the Rethink Trade program at the American Economic Liberties Project.