Jonah Goldberg: Does either party actually want to win the Senate race in Texas?
One of the worst features of the election primary system in our polarized “Red vs. Blue” time is the tendency of primary voters to flock to the candidate they most want to “destroy” the other party, not the candidate best positioned to do so. Let’s say a zombie is scratching...
Jonah Goldberg: Things are about to get worse for Mike Johnson
Here’s a conundrum for Republican politicians going into 2026, and even 2028. What do you do when you’ve turned the GOP into a Trump-branded, populist, anti-establishment party but your party controls the government and it’s not going very well? One time-tested answer: ritual human sacrifice. Which is why the next...
Jonah Goldberg: You can’t hide from war crimes by calling them ‘fake news’
Since September of this year, the United States military has been blowing up boats allegedly trafficking drugs in the Caribbean. Whether these attacks are legal is hotly debated. Congress hasn’t declared war or even authorized the use of force against “narco-terrorists” or against Venezuela, the apparent real target of a...
Jonah Goldberg: Leaked ‘wish list’ for peace in Russia-Ukraine war is hardly America First
Last week, a 28-point “peace plan” for the Russia-Ukraine war surfaced. It was apparently fleshed out in Miami over cocktails by President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Witkoff’s Russian counterpart Kirill Dmitriev. Many critics immediately derided it as a “Russian wish-list.” That was before we...
Jonah Goldberg: Presidents can no longer be trusted with pardons
Ours is a system of “checks and balances.” The president can do this or that, but the courts and Congress can put a stop to it. When the courts rule that the executive branch can’t do something, Congress can write a new law saying the president can do it. When...
Jonah Goldberg: Has Trump already lost the Latino vote?
For generations, foreign policy eggheads debated the question, “Who lost China?” I’m wondering if election analysts might soon ask, “Who lost the Latinos?” Almost exactly one year ago, President Trump won an impressive election victory. It wasn’t the landslide his boosters claim, but it was decisive. And Trump’s record-breaking success...
Jonah Goldberg: Can socialism ever be more than just a fad in America?
Here we go again. Socialism is making a comeback, according to friend and foe alike. A new NBC poll now suggests that a majority of registered voters don’t like capitalism. A Gallup poll in September also found that support for capitalism was slipping. A Data for Progress poll around the...
Jonah Goldberg: Donald Trump isn’t a dictator, but his goal may actually be worse
Julius Caesar still casts a long shadow. We have a 12-month calendar — and leap year — thanks to Julius. July is named after him (though the salad isn’t). The words czar and kaiser, now mostly out of use, simply meant “Caesar.” We also can thank Julius Caesar for the...
Jonah Goldberg: Despite infighting, Democrats can still unite around 1 common goal — Trump
The only thing the parties can agree on is that Donald Trump is the central issue of our time. Let’s start with a recent headline: “It’s 2025, and Democrats Are Still Running Against Trump.” “After a year of soul-searching and introspection by Democrats about what they should stand for after...
Jonah Goldberg: Lasting peace requires accepting Israel’s right to exist
President Trump took a rhetorical victory lap in front of the Israeli parliament Monday. Ignoring his patented departures from the teleprompter, which violated all sorts of valuable norms, it was a speech Trump deserved to give. The ending of the war — even if it’s just a ceasefire — and...
Jonah Goldberg: Mad about politics? Blame Congress.
The judiciary isn’t supposed to be the primary check on the executive, the legislative branch is. Whatever you think about American politics and government, whether you are on the right, the left or somewhere in the middle, you should be mad at Congress. I don’t just mean the Republican-controlled Congress...
Jonah Goldberg: Why everyone is rushing to label themselves an ‘independent’
Independents are so hot right now — and will be for the foreseeable future. According to a major survey commissioned by CNN, nearly half of all Americans — 44% — call themselves independents while only 28% and 27%, respectively, identify as Republicans or Democrats. I have a theory as to...
Jonah Goldberg: Trump now has the NRA standing up for trans rights
Given the tsunami of news demanding your attention you might have missed an interesting trial balloon launched by the Department of Justice last week. Officials briefed reporters on preliminary discussions among the department’s top brass to ban transgender people from buying guns. This was in the wake of last month’s...
Jonah Goldberg: What makes Trump’s power grab different?
For many, the evidence is in: Donald Trump wants to be an autocrat. If you haven’t read an op-ed or heard a radio, TV or podcast commentator make that case, it’s probably because you’ve tried hard to avoid doing so. It would require virtually never watching cable news, including pro-Trump...
Jonah Goldberg: Republicans won’t let hypocrisy get in the way of a little tyranny
Even before America became a country, Americans already had a habit of freaking out about even minor violations of abstract principles. “In other countries, the people … judge of an ill principle in government only by an actual grievance,” observed Edmund Burke, the great British statesman and philosopher, in 1775....
Jonah Goldberg: Trump’s overtures to Putin have gained us nothing and cost the Ukrainians dearly
“I think the meeting was a 10 in the sense that we got along great.” That was President Trump’s rating — with 10 being the highest possible score, in case you were wondering — of his tete-a-tete with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last Friday. Trump explained why he...
Jonah Goldberg: Tariff ‘Mission Accomplished’ hype is just that
On May 1, 2003, George W. Bush announced, “Major combat operations in Iraq have ended.” He was standing below a giant banner that read, “Mission Accomplished.” At the risk of inviting charges of understatement, subsequent events didn’t cooperate. But it took a while for that to be widely accepted. We’re...
Jonah Goldberg: Kamala Harris won’t cure what ails the Democratic Party
William Henry Harrison, the ninth president of the United States, was the last commander in chief born a British subject and the first member of the Whig Party to win the White House. He delivered the longest inaugural address in history, nearly two hours, and had the shortest presidency, being...
Jonah Goldberg: Why MAGA’s ideologues can’t always get what they want
MAGA has a problem, in the form of Donald Trump. Put simply: MAGA wants to define what MAGA (or “America first”) means, and Donald Trump wants it to mean whatever he says at any given moment. I should offer a little definitional clarity and political nuance. Make America Great Again...
Jonah Goldberg: Stephen Colbert’s swan song is zeitgeist moment
There’s a lot of schadenfreude on the right, and even more lamentation on the left, about the cancellation of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.” Donald Trump leads the schadenfreude caucus. “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings,” Trump crowed on social...
Jonah Goldberg: Yes, Mr. President, they’re still talking about Jeffrey Epstein
“Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?” President Trump shot back at a reporter during a Cabinet meeting. “This guy’s been talked about for years. … I mean, I can’t believe you’re asking a question on Epstein at a time like this, where we’re having some of the greatest success...
Jonah Goldberg: Elon Musk’s America Party is a long shot
“Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom,” Elon Musk declared on his social media platform, X (formerly Twitter). Another billionaire quickly replied on his social media platform, “I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely ‘off the rails,’ essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over...
Jonah Goldberg: Is bombing Iran deja vu all over again?
After a short and successful war with Iraq, President George H.W. Bush claimed in 1991 that “the ghosts of Vietnam have been laid to rest beneath the sands of the Arabian desert.” Bush was referring to what was commonly called the “Vietnam syndrome.” The idea was the Vietnam War had...
Jonah Goldberg: Maybe the latest Democratic disarray means they’re coming to their senses
Randi Weingarten, the head of the American Federation of Teachers, and Lee Saunders, the president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, resigned from their positions on the Democratic National Committee. This could be great news. I don’t really know, because the actual reasons remain murky. “While...
Jonah Goldberg: Trump deploys, protesters respond. This will not end well.
“Here we go.” “I knew it would come.” “This won’t end well.” Those were my initial reactions to President Trump’s announcement that he had activated the California National Guard and to sources on Monday saying Marines would serve as backup. I’m not claiming much prescience. Like his breakup with Elon...
