Today's Liberal News

Trump Weighs His Options Against Putin

President Donald Trump has long made “No retreat, no surrender” his guiding ethos, refusing to apologize or acknowledge mistakes and declaring that he’s the brawler in chief for the American people. His instinct to pump his fist and yell “Fight, fight” in the moments after being shot on the campaign trail became a defining image of his victory last year. He scowls in his official portraits—and in his mug shot—and has stared down world leaders most American presidents would deem friends.

The Atlantic Hires Missy Ryan as Staff Writer

The Atlantic is announcing the hire of Missy Ryan as a staff writer, as part of a continued expansion of national security coverage. Missy has written about foreign policy, defense, and national security for more than a decade at The Washington Post, where she reported from dozens of countries, including Iraq, Ukraine, Libya, Lebanon, Yemen, and Afghanistan. She will join The Atlantic next month.

America’s Pro-Disease Movement

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In this episode of The David Frum Show, The Atlantic’s David Frum discusses how misinformation, distrust in science, and extremist rhetoric are fueling a deadly resurgence of preventable diseases in the United States—and urges clear and responsible leadership to protect public health.

“To Save and to Destroy”: Viet Thanh Nguyen on New Book Exploring Otherness, Refugees, Gaza & More

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen reflects on the first 100 days of the second Trump administration, the president’s chaotic trade war, detentions and deportations of pro-Palestinian advocates and more. Nguyen has just released a new book of essays, originally delivered as lectures, that explore otherness and belonging in U.S. history. “I think otherness is a universal condition,” says Nguyen.

Viet Thanh Nguyen on 50 Years After Vietnam War, Trump’s “Ugly American” Politics, El Salvador & More

We mark 50 years since the end of the U.S. war on Vietnam with the acclaimed Vietnamese American writer Viet Thanh Nguyen. On April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese troops took control of the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon as video of U.S. personnel being airlifted out of the city were broadcast around the world. Some 3 million Vietnamese people were killed in the U.S. war, along with about 58,000 U.S. soldiers.

DOGE Is Going Global: Elon Musk Is Inspiring Right-Wing Efforts Abroad to Gut Government Programs

Tech writer and critic Paris Marx discusses the first 100 days of the second Trump administration and the influence of billionaire Elon Musk at the helm of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which has slashed government programs and the civil service. Marx says even after Musk gave hundreds of millions to Trump’s reelection campaign, “it was hard to imagine that he would really play this outsized role in the actual governance of the country.

Former Social Security Chief Martin O’Malley Warns of “Collapse of the Entire System” Under Trump

Social Security recipients could soon see their benefits interrupted or delayed as a flood of cuts hits the agency, thanks to the efforts of Elon Musk and DOGE. Martin O’Malley, the former Maryland governor who served as Social Security commissioner under President Biden, says the system is on the brink of collapse as the Trump administration pushes out thousands of staffers and peddles lies about who actually benefits from its services.

“Abuse of Power”: Trump Admin’s “Bizarre” Arrest of Milwaukee Judge Shocks Legal Community

On Friday, FBI agents arrested a county judge in Milwaukee and charged her with obstructing justice and concealing an individual from arrest. After an undocumented immigrant, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, appeared before her in court on an unrelated misdemeanor charge, Judge Hannah Dugan learned that ICE agents were waiting in the hallway outside her courtroom to arrest him.

The Polls Are Sending Trump a Message

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“People are very happy with this presidency,” President Donald Trump said in an interview with The Atlantic last week. “I’ve had great polls.”
That wasn’t true then, and it’s even less true now.