The Atlantic
April 2026
The Iran War’s Ramifications Have Only Just Begun
IRAN HAS JUST ANNOUNCED THAT THE STRAIT OF IRAN IS FULLY OPEN AND READY FOR FULL PASSAGE.”
We need to demonstrate we’re actually not prepared to leave the strait that way,
One of the ironies of this war is that Iran discovered that it had this weapon,
The ‘Great Man’ Presidency
His portrait rises above the faded text of the Declaration of Independence
Cole Allen Is Another Normie Extremist
The suspect in many cases turned out to be a white man radicalized by spending time in the internet’s dark crevices
When people don’t feel like the normative political system is responsive, they’ll lash out at the system,
The Secret Weapon Against AI Dominance
More than 90 lawsuits have been filed by creators against AI companies for copyright infringement
Child Care Is Buckling
If they take away enrollment-based pay, I will have to close.”
Literally, it feels like The Hunger Games.”
This ABC Showdown Is Different
The Perversion of the Voting Rights Act
Florida Republicans Are Gerrymandering. They Just Can’t Say So.
It’s the right thing to do for Florida,
I don’t think it’s a slam-dunk four-seat Republican gain.”
The reality is there’s a lot of Democrats in southeast Florida. There are a lot of Democrats in Central Florida,
Donald Trump’s Disturbing Welcome for King Charles
Trump’s speech stamped his imprimatur on an ascendant view of American history and politics—one that is controversial even on the American right, and that walks up to the edge of white nationalism
America is less of a place than an idea, and if it is an idea, and I believe that to be true, it is an idea that has been deep in the souls of man.”
For decades, the mainstream consensus on the left and the right alike seemed to be that America itself was just an ‘idea’—a vehicle for global liberalism. We were told that the entire meaning of America boiled down to a few lines in a poem on the Statue of Liberty, and five words about equality in the Declaration of Independence.”
In recent years, we’ve often heard it said that America is merely an idea, but the cause of freedom did not simply appear as an intellectual invention of 1776.”
Long before Americans had a nation or a constitution, we first had a culture, a character, and a creed,... Their veins ran with Anglo-Saxon courage. Their hearts beat with an English faith in standing firm for what is right, good, and true.”
America’s Politically Violent Have Their Own Ideology
The King’s Admirer in Chief
Enough is enough, turn it off. They’re all a bunch of con artists.”
She was just enthralled by the pomp and circumstance, the whole idea of royalty and glamour,
I was very jealous!”
In the shadows of monuments to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, honoring the British king might seem an ironic beginning to our celebration of 250 years of American independence,
This is truly one of the highest honors of my life,
She really did love the family, but I also remember her saying, very clearly, ‘Charles—look, young Charles. He’s so cute,’
The Devil Still Wears Prada, But Hangs Up Her Own Coat
The YOLO Presidency
Always the self-aggrandizer, the president now speaks of himself in historical terms
He’s been talking recently about how he is the most powerful person to ever live,
The hallmark of his entire life has been: Solve the problem that’s in front of my face, and I bet I’ll be able to solve the next problem when I get to it, but I’m not going to worry about it right now. And it leads to this inherently short-term thinking,
He’s clearly in his ‘I don’t give a fuck’ mood.”
What the hell do I care? I’ll be dead.”
So mighty a form must trample down many an innocent flower—crush to pieces many an object in its path.”
God knows what the next two years will look like.”
My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me,
I’m so busy that I don’t have time to do this—I’m fighting wars and other things,
The GREATEST and MOST BEAUTIFUL Triumphal Arch, anywhere in the World,
He’s not thinking about What do my polling numbers say right now? or What are they for in the midterms I’m not running in, or for 2028 when I don’t care?”
The Richest Grudge Match in History
Probably his whole life is from a position of insecurity. I feel for the guy.”
If you have someone that’s not trustworthy in charge of AI,... I think that’s very dangerous to the whole world.”
We can’t hear you,
The Ballroom Truthers Have a Theory
Within hours of the gunfire at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night—and initial, erroneous reports that the shooter had been killed—the usual swirl of misinformation and rumor was swirling in a particular direction
There was abundant media coverage of both attempts, but I don’t think I’ve seen evidence of anyone thinking he was responsible for the plots himself,
The Democrat judges who stopped the construction of a White House ballroom did so to enable an assassination of Trump,
This event would never have happened with the Militarily Top Secret Ballroom currently under construction at the White House,
There will be some shots fired tonight in the room.”
You need to be very safe,
A Ballroom Would Have Solved This
Calling Trump a Tyrant Is Not a Call to Violence
Yet it is lost on a large swath of the American right, who insist that calling Trump what he is causes at least some of his opponents—among them, the accused shooter Cole Tomas Allen—to believe that violence is justified against the president
Where did Allen get such ideas about Trump and the need to remove him, via murder?”... Almost certainly from the left, including from Democrats in positions of power. Barely a day goes by without some Dem calling Trump an autocrat, a king, a dictator, Hitler.”
You and many of your fellow Democrats have used some heated rhetoric against the president,
Anthropic’s Little Brother
The week after Anthropic announced Claude Mythos Preview—an AI model that has put governments around the world on edge because of its potential ability to hack into banks, energy grids, and military systems—OpenAI shared a program that is uncannily similar
Here are a few things worth keeping in mind, especially on Anthropic.”... The rival
I am happy everyone is switching to Codex,
Why New York City Spends So Much on Its Mediocre Schools
The city is projected to have a $5 billion deficit this year and is required by law to make up for that shortfall by raising revenue, cutting spending, or both
The teachers’ union is coming in asking for higher salaries,
How the Two-Hour Marathon Was Broken
Sure, a physiologist named Michael Joyner had floated the idea that such a feat might be humanly possible in a journal paper way back in 1991
I wanted people to know that whatever happened in the race, I was not to be doubted,
MAHA’s Perfect Villain
Inside, justices heard arguments for Monsanto v. Durnell, weighing whether to exempt the company that created Roundup from lawsuits alleging that it failed to warn users that its herbicide causes cancer
This is not a left or right issue,
The Shooting Is Not a Reason to Speedrun Trump’s Ballroom
I didn’t want to say this, but this is why we have to have all of the attributes of what we’re planning at the White House,
Nothing should be allowed to interfere with with [sic] its construction, which is on budget and substantially ahead of schedule!!!”
What We Learn About Trump in His Rare Moments of Self-Reflection
This was an event dedicated to freedom of speech that was supposed to bring together members of both parties with members of the press,
These assassins, they seem to be high-IQ people, but they’re crazy,
I don’t know how long it will last—the relationship, the friendship, the spirit after a very bad event took place,
Happened to me a little bit. And that never changes.”
I just want to say you did a fantastic job,
Everybody in that room, big crowd, record-setting crowd—there was a record-setting group of people.”
I can’t imagine that there’s any profession more dangerous,
I was going to get up and make an entirely different speech,
I’m not supposed to be here tonight,
It’s always shocking when something like this happens,
Excuse me. I’m not a pedophile. You read that crap from some sick person?”
These are crazy people and they have to be dealt with."
Vance Doubts Pentagon's Depiction of Iran War
I, too, love General George,
The truth is that under President Trump’s leadership, the U.S. military decimated the Iranian regime’s capabilities in just 38 days,
The American Pope vs. the American President
The pontiff has proved unwilling to subordinate his faith to politics, or to adjust his commitment to the Gospel in exchange for access to power
Even now, in sordid particulars,... the eternal design may appear.”
Wanting to inaugurate a kingdom of justice, fraternity and solidarity,... God has a special place in his heart for those who are discriminated against and oppressed, and he asks us, his Church, to make a decisive and radical choice in favor of the weakest.”
A Church that sets no limits to love, that knows no enemies to fight but only men and women to love,... is the Church that the world needs today.”