Begin with the hair—which, after all, Alysa Liu invites us to do. It’s hardly the halo of an ice angel. Her dyed-blond and black circlets have a welcome element of scornfulness, a taunting of judgement. The hair says: Figure skating submits young women to continual verdict, assaults their self-esteem over a toe point or pound of weight, but here is someone who will not comply, who has found her own ebullient, levitating, and self-approving form.
Cameron Spencer / Getty
Youri Duplessis-Kergomard of Team France leads Oliver Davies of Team Great Britain, Terence Tchiknavorian of Team France, and Melvin Tchiknavorian of Team France in the men’s ski cross 1/8 finals on Day 15 of the 2026 Winter Olympic games, at Livigno Air Park, on February 21, 2026.
Editor’s Note: Washington Week With The Atlantic is a partnership between NewsHour Productions, WETA, and The Atlantic airing every Friday on PBS stations nationwide. Check your local listings, watch full episodes here, or listen to the weekly podcast here.
On Tuesday, President Trump will deliver the first State of the Union address of his second term. On Washington Week With The Atlantic, panelists joined to examine what to expect from the president’s speech as his poll numbers fall, and more.
During President Trump’s first term, Pentagon officials took a highly unusual step to diminish the likelihood of war: They shared their plans for a large-scale conflict with Iran with top White House officials. They reasoned that if advisers saw the risks that the plan entailed, they would choose another path, people familiar with the matter told me.
The gambit was successful. At least twice, the president weighed ordering an attack on Iran, only to be dissuaded by aides from moving forward.
Last week, the polling firm Gallup announced that it would no longer survey presidential-approval ratings. This news stirred suspicions. President Trump’s numbers are declining badly, much worse than Joe Biden’s at the equivalent point in his presidency. Gallup’s most recent presidential-approval poll, in December, had Trump at 36 percent—well below the RealClearPolitics poll average of 42 percent. Trump is known for taking punitive action.
Our friends at Planet Money have written a book! Author Alex Mayyasi takes us through a few of the best chapters.
After letting the health secretary have his way in 2025, Trump is reining him in now that it’s an election year.
Mariana van Zeller joins Felix Salmon for a look into the hidden economics of black and gray markets.
Alphabet issues century bonds, the majority of Trump’s tariffs were paid by US citizens, and Felix defends fakes.
Regrettably, I must support the Dunkin’ commercial.
President Trump called Commissioner Marty Makary to the White House to discuss his frustration with the agency handling of vaccine issues, sources told POLITICO.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed Jim O’Neill, whom Trump will nominate to lead the National Science Foundation, from the CDC job last week.
Lawmakers delayed negotiations despite a drumbeat of warnings. That was just the first problem.
They want the Supreme Court to allow physicians to buck the medical establishment when they advise patients and the public.
The health secretary turned his agencies toward skepticism of processed food and vaccines, but he’s faced pushback at every turn — including from Republicans.
Outward’s hosts sit down with the host and co-creator of When We All Get to Heaven.
The neighborhood changes, the church moves, people forget and remember “the AIDS years,” but AIDS isn’t over.
The AIDS cocktail opens new possibilities. And MCC San Francisco tries to use the experience of AIDS to make bigger social change.
The church’s minister gets sick and everyone knows it.
The church’s “it couple” faces AIDS, caregiving, and loss as part of a pair, part of families, and part of a community.
The president stopped in Marjorie Taylor Greene’s old district to defend his economic record.
A brief swing through the farm state underscored administration fears about the midterms.
Sixty-one percent of voters told a CNN poll released Friday that they disapprove of the way Trump is handling the economy.
If you’re hoping for grocery prices to go down, I’ve got some bad news.
Of all the kingly and capricious powers that Donald Trump enjoys exercising as president, the ability to threaten arbitrarily large tariffs is his favorite. Who could ever forget “Liberation Day” in April 2025, when America declared economic warfare on the rest of the world? Or, at least it was his favorite power—before the Supreme Court ruled today that many of the tariffs he had imposed in the past year were illegal.
Patrick Smith / Getty
Benjamin Lynch of Team Ireland competes in the first run of the men’s freeski halfpipe final on Day 14 of the 2026 Winter Olympic games at Livigno Snow Park on February 20, 2026.
Updated with new questions at 3 p.m. ET on February 20, 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.
In the 1630s, King Charles I tried to tax English people without the consent of their legislature. He lost his head.
In the 2020s, Donald Trump tried to tax Americans without the consent of Congress. He just lost his case.
A tariff is a tax. The Trump tariffs imposed in and after April 2025 were projected to raise as much as $2.3 trillion over 10 years. The Constitution assigns authority over taxes, including tariffs, to Congress.
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Updated at 1:49 p.m. ET on February 20, 2026
The Trump tariffs are dead. Long live the Trump tariffs?
This morning, in a 6–3 opinion, the Supreme Court struck down the bulk of the president’s sweeping global tariffs.
