President Donald Trump meets with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times) By THE EDITORIAL BOARD The realities of geopolitics have long required the United States to ally itself with foreign leaders who commit terrible deeds. Defeating foreign threats often requires the help of countries that fall far short of being liberal democracies that respect human

The stage before President Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Md., Feb. 24, 2017. (Doug Mills/The New York Times) By ROSS DOUTHAT It didn’t take long for the controversy over Nick Fuentes and his influence in conservative circles to become a proxy war over something bigger than one antisemitic talker: namely, the question of right-wing “post-liberalism” and whether this te

President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela at a news conference in Caracas, Venezuela, Sept. 15, 2025. President Donald Trump has yet to make a decision, but his advisers are pressing a range of objectives — from attacking drug cartels to seizing oil fields — to try to justify ousting Maduro. (Adriana Loureiro Fernández/The New York Times) By BRET STEPHENS Donald Trump said Friday that he had “sort of” made up his mind about his plan for Venezuela, but he “can’t tell you what it w

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Nov. 10, 2025. “Today’s Supreme Court has been far too tolerant of Trump’s steamrollering of Congress,” The New York Times editorial board writes. (Doug Mills/The New York Times) By THE EDITORIAL BOARD The Constitution gives the authority to tax and spend not to the head of state, but to the elected representatives who are closest to the people: the members of Congress. Money is po

The White House in Washington, seen in reflection of a broken mirror, on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (Will Matsuda/The New York Times) By ROSS DOUTHAT For those of us with a sincere, nonpartisan interest (I swear) in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, it was a good week: First the Democrats, with an eye to hammering Donald Trump, released a few redacted Epstein emails in which the president’s name featured prominently; then Republicans, presumably with an eye to burying the Democratic

Capital Area Food Bank volunteers provide food to federal workers during the government shutdown in Beltsville, Md., Oct. 25, 2025. (Lawren Simmons/The New York Times) By JESS BIDGOOD The longest government shutdown in American history is over, but there are two sets of images from these past few weeks that could endure well beyond it. The first shows the lines snaking out of food pantries after the Trump administration chose not to use available funds to keep full food stamp

Tucker Carlson, the internet personality and former Fox News host, speaks at a campaign rally for former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, at Madison Square Garden in New York on Oct. 27, 2024. “Carlson’s interview with Nick Fuentes, the Hitler fanboy with a sizable social-media following, [...] has at last forced conservatives to reckon with the sewer pipe of antisemitism bursting through their walls,” columnist Bret Stephens writes. (Hiroko Masu

Bad Bunny on stage during his residency at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot in San Juan, Aug. 9, 2025. Is Bad Bunny’s comparison of Puerto Rico and Hawaii in his song “Hawaii” an apt one? Contributing columnist Gregorio Igartúa has his doubts. (Amy Lombard/The New York Times) By GREGORIO IGARTÚA Special to The STAR In his song “Hawaii,” singer Bad Bunny presents a misleading narrative about the historical relationship between Hawaii and the United States. He als