Does Anyone Know What's Happening in Iran?
Plus: Spencer Pratt’s mayoral campaign rattles Los Angeles, Trump’s “Anti-Weaponization Fund" sparks backlash, and the editors revisit Project 2025
Iran
Why Has Trump Stopped Selling Weapons to Taiwan?
The administration is avoiding conflict with China to focus on war in the Middle East. Taiwan’s democracy hangs in the balance.
President Trump Doesn't Need Congressional Approval for His Actions as to Iran
Congress can only stop Trump’s actions in Iran by passing a concurrent resolution of both Houses over Trump’s veto, or by declining to fund the war in next year’s budget.
War Powers Vote Is the Latest Embarrassment for House Speaker Mike Johnson
Johnson is seemingly incapable of standing up to the Trump administration, even when one of Congress' core responsibilities is at stake.
Why Does Trump Keep Bringing Up Decades-Old Foreign Grievances?
Instead of making the case for war in Venezuela, Iran, and Cuba, the White House has been digging up conflicts from long ago.
The U.S. Government's Shifting Excuses for Bombing a School in Iran
The Trump administration has come up with contradictory reasons to avoid admitting to an obvious, terrible mistake.
There Was No Delcy Rodríguez in Iran
The Trump administration thought it was repeating the Venezuelan model in Iran—when it was doing something much more ambitious and risky.
Trump Is the High-Prices President
Trump's signature policies are pushing prices higher—and voters are pushing back.
Thomas Massie Loses, Proving That Deficit Hawks and Foreign Policy Doves Aren't Welcome in Trump's GOP
If this is how the Republican Party treats the libertarian-leaning lawmakers in its midst, then libertarians should take note and act accordingly.
A North Carolina Goodyear Plant Is the Latest Victim of Trump's Misguided Tariffs and Costly Iran War
Another example of the flawed logic behind the Trump administration's tariff policies: You can't make a tire without rubber, and the U.S. doesn't produce rubber.
Pete Hegseth Can't Explain Why America Needs a $1.5 Trillion Military Budget
Sen. Mark Kelly says it "feels like that number was just kind of pulled out of thin air."
New Attacks in Hormuz
Plus: a different type of pizzagate, Kevin Warsh as the new Jerome Powell, and more...
John Fetterman: 'I'm a Very Pro-Capitalist Democrat'
Sen. John Fetterman discusses the state of the Democratic Party, immigration, foreign policy, and the dangers of political extremism.
Congress' Energy Crisis Solution: Bring Back an Office That Funded Women's Empowerment Initiatives Overseas
Instead of holding the president accountable, lawmakers are trying novel ways to reduce energy prices caused by Trump’s war in Iran.
Even Dictatorships Don't Fight Wars This Way
The American public never got a satisfying explanation for why Trump attacked Iran in the first place.
The War Comes for Your Wallet: Inflation Hits 3.8%, Highest Level in 3 Years
Prices are now rising faster than wages, just like during much of the Biden years. The war in Iran is largely to blame.
Gavin Newsom's Free Diaper Disaster
Plus: AOC attacks billionaires, Trump heads into Xi talks weakened by the Iran conflict, and redistricting battles escalate nationwide
How Much Has the Iran War Actually Cost? A Lot More Than $25 Billion.
Direct military costs have exceeded $70 billion by one estimate, and Americans have paid more than $37 billion in higher energy costs since the war began.
Just Don't Call It a War
Plus: AOC says you can't earn a billion dollars, Mythos, hantavirus, and more...
Trump's Bluff to Iran Didn't Work
After trying to open the Strait of Hormuz by force, the U.S. is ready to accept an Iranian proposal it had rejected.
Damned if You Do
Plus: Ella Emhoff's SSRIs, measuring childhood independence, the hantavirus cruise ship, and more...
Can We Ever Trust the Government To Be Honest About War?
Trump joins a long line of presidents unwilling to be transparent about the causes and goals of their adventurism abroad.
The Truce That Wasn't
Plus: Homeschooling discourse, AI regulation, Christian cell network blocking porn, and more...
Congress Gave Away Its Authority To Declare War and Enabled Trump's Iran War
Congress hasn't voted to declare war since 1942, yet the legislative branch constantly refuses to rein in presidents.
Why Do Big City Democrats Keep Electing Socialists?
Plus: Trump announces “Project Freedom” in the Strait of Hormuz, King Charles visits the U.S., and a listener asks why voters keep rewarding bad politicians.
Project Freedom
Plus: Rudy Giuliani hospitalized, rules relaxed for foreign physicians, cities without children, and more...
Civilians Across the Middle East React to the Iran War: 'A Fear That Settles in Your Heart'
"Now they are hitting everything. Nowhere is safe. But don't worry, we are okay," one Iranian woman texted her American relative.
A Pointless War: How Iran Hawks Finally Got Their Way
President Donald Trump and his predecessors spent decades putting the U.S. on a path toward war against Iran.
Trump Had 60 Days To End the Iran War. Instead, He's Just Pretending It's Over.
Legally, Trump must either cease operations or ask Congress for approval. He did neither, and Congress just went on recess.
How High
Plus: FISA reauthorization passes the House, a very capitalist museum, escalation in the redistricting wars, and more...
War Hawks' 'Credibility' Obsession Makes America Less Credible
Trump is making the same mistakes Nixon did, doubling down on pointless threats to save face.
The Shooter's Manifesto Was Uncomfortably Normal
Plus: Mamdani’s city-run grocery plan, the Trump administration considers a Spirit Airlines bailout, and Iran peace talks drift without a clear endgame
'Shoot and Kill'
Plus: California fails to unmask ICE agents, the illogic of medical-only marijuana rescheduling, driverless cars in D.C., and more...
Rubio Falsely Accuses Iranian Exiles of Being Soleimani's Nieces
The State Department and ICE claimed to have caught Islamic Republic nepo babies “enjoying a lavish lifestyle.” Instead, they tore apart an innocent family.
How the Media Failed American Foreign Policy
America is a global empire that needs information about itself in order to function.
Neither War nor Peace With Iran
The Trump administration is stuck in a standoff that is unstable and damaging to the entire world.
The Lobster Triumphs
Plus: Tit-for-tat gerrymandering, D.C.'s flowing fountains, more war in the Strait of Hormuz, and more...
The Trump Administration Is Worried About High Fertilizer Prices. Its Top Trade Official Lobbied for Them.
Before joining the Trump administration last year, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer lobbied for tariffs that limited fertilizer imports and drove up prices for American farmers.
Trump's Pro-Union Labor Secretary Out
Plus: Scandal at the Department of Labor, the real reasons people use psychedelics, more problems with Trump's triumphal arch, and more...
Can New York Survive Mamdani's Tax Plan?
Plus: Trump orders psychedelic drug research, Palantir calls for national service, and confusion surrounds Iran and the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump Signs Psychedelics Order
Plus: ship seizures, the best free bread in America, and more...
Trump's Iran Deal Looks a Lot Like the Previous Ones He Hated
What exactly was the point of killing thousands of people and destroying the world economy?
The U.S. Military Has Finally Left Syria
After considering a permanent U.S. presence, the Trump administration instead evacuated American troops once and for all.
Pete Hegseth's Pulp Fiction Prayer Isn't the First Time He's Used Religion To Justify Illegal War in Iran
From the war to its mass deportation campaign, the Trump administration is expanding the power of the state under the guise of religion.
Congress Declines Again To Rein in Trump's Iran War
Republicans can’t decide whether the war is too early to stop, too late to stop, or nonexistent in the first place.
Another Drug Boat Bombing
Plus: The U.S. blockade widens, Los Angeles teachers get a pay bump, the sunny side of a treeless national mall, and more...
Trump's Illegal War in Iran Is Financed by Your Taxes. That's a Good Reason To Stop Paying Them.
If Congress will not deploy the power of the purse to restrain a lawless administration and an illegal war, then it falls to the public to do so.
How the Iran War Could Backfire
Emma Ashford discusses Trump’s incoherent Iran strategy, the failures of post–Cold War foreign policy, and why a multipolar world limits American power.
