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WASHINGTON

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is known, in Washington, as a relentless pragmatist.

Jake Sullivan on Israel & Ukraine

A very, very candid conversation with the national security adviser about the Israeli intelligence failure, Bibi-Biden, Ukraine, Xi, and much more.
Julia Ioffe • November 14, 2023
Peter Hamby • November 13, 2023
Biden’s Kennedy Curse
The real, existing threat from Kennedy is right there, out in the open, staring at Democrats in the face.
The media fixation on Romney-Manchin is out of proportion to the real threat that almost nobody is talking about: Kennedy could very well be on the debate stage alongside Biden next fall, a nightmare scenario that could allow Trump to waltz into the White House.
Tara Palmeri • November 10, 2023
The Biden Bunker Mentality
President Biden Departs the White House for Illinois
News and notes about what people are really discussing around town this week: the Democratic divide over the president, Nikki Haley’s poll positioning, and third-party second-guessing.
Abby Livingston • November 8, 2023
Biden Poll Jitters & A ’24 Pre-Mortem
A conversation with strategist Tom Bonier, the Democratic data guru, about last night’s surprising election result, the Times poll freakout, and how Trump broke the political forecasting business for a generation.
Julia Ioffe • November 8, 2023
Horror in the Holy Land
Reflection on the tragedy in Israel, tragedy in Gaza, and where we go from here.
The public panic over those polls was so widespread that the Biden campaign emailed confidential talking points to friendly surrogates.
Peter Hamby • November 7, 2023
Biden’s Trump Kryptonite
Amid a party-wide freak-out over a set of terrifying New York Times polls, Democrats are guardedly watching Tuesday’s elections for signs that the immense backlash over abortion bans, which turbocharged last year’s midterm results, can still deliver them the White House.
President Biden Speaks on his Bidenomics Economic Plan and Its Investment in Passenger Rail at an Amtrak Facility in Delaware
Abby Livingston • November 6, 2023
The Biden Anxiety Meter & The Axelrod Effect
Measuring the level of the political freak-out under the dome as Democrats absorb the latest Biden-Trump poll and weigh their dwindling options.
Abby Livingston • November 3, 2023
Fast Times at Rayburn High
News and notes on who’s up and who’s down as Republicans return to D.C. and the Johnson honeymoon ends.
The pro-gun, anti-vaxxing, conspiratorial Kennedy appears to be cannibalizing a portion of the Trump base.
Tara Palmeri • November 2, 2023
’24 Enters the Third-Party Voyeurism Phase
As we chug further along toward a predictable presidential contest between unpopular Boomer candidates, the likelihood of fringe third-party candidates shaking up the race is becoming increasingly inevitable. Among the questions around town: Could Biden face a Perot, or a Nader?
Tina Nguyen • November 1, 2023
Does Mike Johnson Have a Clue?
Democrats aren’t the only ones accusing the newbie of waging “political games” with his too-clever-by-half proposal to offset Israel aid by gutting the I.R.S. “He may be playing with fire,” a Republican lobbyist told me. But others see a speaker willing to use the gavel more aggressively, and more creatively, than his predecessors.
Julia Ioffe • November 1, 2023
The Israel War Crime Complexifier
Israel has the right to defend itself and deter further invasion, but foreign policy insiders, and now Sullivan and Biden, are increasingly discussing the thresholds for retaliation, particularly under the covenants of international law. What does that mean for Israel—and Hamas?
Minnesota congressman Dean Phillips infuriated the White House by brazenly planting his flag in New Hampshire.
Peter Hamby • October 31, 2023
Dean Phillips’ Prairie Home Rebellion
The little-known Minnesota congressman Dean Phillips believes he can successfully primary Biden by leaning hard (of course) into the gerontocracy argument. But neither time, nor math, appears to be on his side.
As the war on the ground enters new phases and delivers new casualties, the information war also intensifies.
Baratunde Thurston • October 29, 2023
Grieving Two Peoples
A conversation with Noam Shuster-Eliassi, the Israeli comedian and peace activist, on living through the hell of physical war and the turbulence of social media distortion—and the complexity of grieving for both the Israelis and Palestinians.
When Johnson was elected on Wednesday, McCarthy’s closest allies and senior aides woke up to the harsh reality that it was time to pack up the speaker’s office.
Tara Palmeri • October 27, 2023
Kevin McCarthy’s Bridesmaid Era
McCarthy, who has long demonstrated an extraordinary comfort with the longest of long games, and an unparalleled ability to withstand humiliation, must now confront his next act. Or will he hold on for another day?
It’s an open question whether Mike Johnson will be on the curb soon enough, yet another victim of this ungovernable conference.
Tina Nguyen • October 26, 2023
Mike Johnson in the MAGA Meat Grinder
The MAGA contingent of the House G.O.P. conference—the two dozen-ish lawmakers who made McCarthy’s life hell—aren’t putting the same screws to Mike Johnson. But they have their demands of the newbie boss, too.
Ambassador Dennis Ross was Bill Clinton’s Middle East envoy, and the chief U.S. negotiator in the 2000 Camp David Summit.
Julia Ioffe • October 25, 2023
Memories of the Two-State Solution
A conversation with Dennis Ross, the chief U.S. negotiator in the 2000 peace talks, about why they fell apart, how Israelis came to believe that the Palestinian problem could be managed, and how Oct. 7 exploded that fiction.
Tom Emmer’s speakership bid collapsed on Tuesday afternoon.
Abby Livingston • October 24, 2023
Darkness on the Edge of Town
News and notes on an unprecedented era in congressional history.
Peter Hamby • October 23, 2023
Biden, Gen Z & The Illiberal Left
The uncompromising politics and tortured jargon of campus activists are no longer confined to college campuses. Democrats in Congress say they’re worried that young progressives attacking Israel are providing ammo for right-wing opponents and hurting their own cause.