Today's Liberal News

Trump Finally Drops the Anti-Semitism Pretext

The intensely hostile letter that Education Secretary Linda McMahon sent to the leadership of Harvard yesterday has a lot going on. But the most notable thing about it is what it leaves out.
To hear McMahon tell it, Harvard is a university on the verge of ruin.

An ‘America First’ Deal With the Houthis

For anyone who has wondered what an “America First” foreign policy looks like, Donald Trump provided a vivid example today when he declared a cease-fire with the Houthis, the Yemeni militia that has been under U.S. bombardment for the past seven weeks.
The Houthis have “capitulated” and agreed to no longer target American ships, Trump said, interrupting a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney with an impromptu announcement that appeared to take some of his own team by surprise.

‘It’s All Cronyism Going Forward’

Matthew J. Memoli has had an exceptionally good year.
At the beginning of January, Memoli was a relatively little-known flu researcher running a small lab at the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health.

Trump’s Kennedy Center Debut: Les Mis and Six-Figure Checks

President Donald Trump’s promised cultural renaissance will begin with misery—specifically, Les Misérables.
Trump plans to attend a showing of the musical at the Kennedy Center next month and host a private fundraising reception beforehand, marking the first performance he will attend at the center as president and his first effort to raise funds for the institution he now runs, two people familiar with the fundraiser told us.
In his first term, Trump rejected Washington, D.C.

Dear James: When My Husband Speaks, My Brain Turns to Mush

Editor’s Note: Is anything ailing, torturing, or nagging at you? Are you beset by existential worries? Every Tuesday, James Parker tackles readers’ questions. Tell him about your lifelong or in-the-moment problems at dearjames@theatlantic.com.
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Dear James,
I’ve been married to the best guy for almost 14 years. He is an awesome dad to our wild boys, makes exceptional burgers, and is weirdly fun to watch TV with.

Israel’s “Horrific Trifecta” of Starvation, Siege & Bombings Creates Maternal Health Disaster: Nurse

Pediatric nurse Sandra Adler Killen has just returned from a third medical mission to Gaza, where she says, “We have this horrific trifecta of starvation, of lack of medicine and supplies, and bombings.” She calls Israel’s ongoing assault and siege of civilians in Gaza an “annihilation,” with skyrocketing rates of anemia, birth defects and premature births.

Palestinian Poet Mosab Abu Toha on Winning a Pulitzer: I Can’t Celebrate While Gaza Is Starving

Palestinian writer Mosab Abu Toha has just been awarded the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for his essays about the Palestinian experience in the face of the U.S.-backed Israeli assault on Gaza. He joins Democracy Now! to discuss his work, the necessity of advocating for Palestinian rights, and the violence of Israeli occupation. Abu Toha, who evacuated Gaza in late 2023 after being arrested, beaten and detained by the Israeli military, now resides in Syracuse, New York.

Trump’s Newest Grift: Molly White on First Family’s Cryptocurrency Empire & Gutting of Regulations

Donald Trump has raised nearly a billion dollars from his various cryptocurrency schemes, says researcher Molly White. “He is really allowing for bribery and the types of corruption that we’ve never seen in the American presidency,” White says. She lays out how the Trump family profits from cryptocurrency while directly influencing policy and regulations, encouraging the transfer of wealth to the industry despite its “enormous risk of fraud and collapse.