White House
The Lede
How Much of the Government Can Donald Trump Dismantle?
His war on the “deep state” ties into a long debate about the power of bureaucrats to thwart the President’s agenda.
By Jeannie Suk Gersen
Letter from Biden’s Washington
The Capital Has a Bad Case of Year-End Panic
Worries about a second Trump term and the end of aid to Ukraine are entirely justified.
By Susan B. Glasser
Letter from Biden’s Washington
The Boss and His Botched Coverup
The latest charges against Donald Trump show him and his Mar-a-Lago band to be as lame as the Watergate plumbers.
By Susan B. Glasser
Q. & A.
How Trump Compares with Presidents Who Burned Their Papers
The Harvard historian and New Yorker staff writer Jill Lepore sees historic parallels—as well as willful and unprecedented behavior by the freshly indicted ex-President.
By Tyler Foggatt
Daily Comment
What Ron Klain Learned in the White House
Joe Biden’s exiting chief of staff is a case study in the slow accumulation of expertise.
By Evan Osnos
News
When Americans Lost Faith in the News
Half a century ago, most of the public said they trusted the news media. Today, most say they don’t. What happened to the power of the press?
By Louis Menand
The Political Scene Podcast
Why Chief of Staff Is “the Hardest Job in Washington”
With news of Ron Klain’s departure from the Biden Administration, our political roundtable looks at the power and pitfalls of running the White House.
Comment
The Biden-Documents Mess
House Republicans are ramping up conspiracy theories, but one thing seems clear: the government’s documents system has an overclassification addiction.
By Amy Davidson Sorkin
Letter from Biden’s Washington
There’s Only One Thing to Call Biden’s New Scandal: Political Malpractice
And that’s assuming things don’t get worse.
By Susan B. Glasser
A Critic at Large
What the January 6th Report Is Missing
The investigative committee singles out Trump for his role in the Capitol attack. As prosecution, the report is thorough. But as historical explanation it’s a mess.
By Jill Lepore
Letter from Biden’s Washington
A Second Trump Term Would Be a Scary Rerun of the First
Remember those “Jurassic Park” velociraptors learning how to open the door?
By Susan B. Glasser
Our Columnists
How Much Damage Are the January 6th Hearings Doing to Trump?
Even as Republican support for another Trump Presidential bid appears to be slipping, he can’t be counted out.
By John Cassidy
Annals of Inquiry
How Far Is the West Prepared to Go for Ukraine?
If further escalation is a possibility, defense contractors and cold warriors in Washington won’t define it—the Ukrainians will.
By Benjamin Wallace-Wells
2021 in Review
Joe Biden’s Year of Hoping Dangerously
It was a brutal start for the new President.
By Susan B. Glasser
Annals of Espionage
Are U.S. Officials Under Silent Attack?
The Havana Syndrome first affected spies and diplomats in Cuba. Now it has spread to the White House.
By Adam Entous
Letter from Biden’s Washington
The Presidential Press Conference in the Biden Era Is as Awful as Ever
Under Trump, we had to listen. But now? There must be a better way.
By Susan B. Glasser
Shouts & Murmurs
The Biggest Changes to the White House Under President Joe Biden
Cords plugged back into phones in Oval Office; “World’s No. 1 President” crystal goblets gone; basement portal to Hell caulked over.
By Scott Jacobson, Todd Levin, Jason Roeder, Mike Sacks, and Ted Travelstead
Daily Cartoon
Daily Cartoon: Wednesday, January 20th
Inspecting the Oval Office.
By Adam Douglas Thompson
Daily Cartoon
Bonus Daily Cartoon: Hold On a Sec
“Hold on a sec, I wanna check if democracy still exists.”
By Peter Kuper