In an undated image provided by Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, Sarah Josepha Hale. (Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA via The New York Times) By BRET STEPHENS Although the Thanksgiving story is typically associated with the harvest feast of Pilgrims and Wampanoags in Plymouth, Massachusetts, 404 years ago this fall, the national holiday Americans celebrate every fourth Thursday of No

A member of the Bolivarian Militia of Venezuela at a rally in Caracas, Venezuela, Sept. 23, 2025. (Adriana Loureiro Fernandez/The New York Times) By MICHELLE GOLDBERG On Monday, the United States formally designated Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his allies in government as members of a foreign terrorist organization called Cartel de los Soles, a group that doesn’t exist. “There’s no such thing as the cartel,” Phil Gunson, a senior analyst at the International Crisis

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) after a news conference on the Epstein Files Transparency Act outside the Capitol in Washington, on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025.(Damon Winter/The New York Times ) By MICHELLE COTTLE Today’s Republican Party is big on manliness and masculine virtues. The MAGA right in particular is forever obsessing over who is the biggest, the strongest, the most fearless among them. This is why, watching President Donald Trump’s fight to keep a lid on the Epstein fil

An attendee during a former President Donald Trump campaign rally at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe, Pa., Oct. 19, 2024. (Damon Winter/The New York Times) By NICHOLAS KRISTOF What’s the secret formula that has made the United States the dominant superpower in the world today? I’d point to three fundamental ingredients, each of which is now being weakened. When I think of the historical legacies of our generation and of President Donald Trump, I wonder if they w

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