QUICK POPS

Biden gets mild applause but no jeers in commencement speech describing ‘heartbreaking’ situation in Gaza

President Joe Biden speaks to graduating students at the Morehouse College commencement.

2024 Elections

‘Politically calculated’: Trump confronts his RFK Jr. problem on vaccines

The former president is accusing Kennedy of being a “fake” anti-vaxxer.

By Lisa Kashinsky, Kimberly Leonard and Brittany Gibson

Trump at NRA convention floats 3-term presidency

The former president has more recently shut down the proposition of seeking a third term, which is barred by the Constitution.

By Myah Ward

Letter from Idaho

North Idaho Has Drifted to the Extreme Right. One Republican Thinks It’s Hit Its Limit.

By Cassidy Randall

LETTER FROM GEORGIA

‘They Say They Will Wait for Me There to Beat Me Up’: A Week of Attacks Rocks Georgia

By Paul Salopek

MORE TOP HEADLINES

An illustration featuring grayscale photos of Hannah Arendt, Josef Stalin and Adolf Hitler

Q&A

‘A Truer Reality Beyond Reality’: Hannah Arendt's Warning About How Totalitarianism Takes Root

By Joanna Weiss

Then President Donald Trump, left, and then Democratic nominee Joe Biden speak during the debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn

Q&A

‘Political Malpractice’: Debate Commission Chief Says Trump Blew It

By Ryan Lizza

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi gestures during a funeral ceremony.

Foreign Affairs

Helicopter carrying Iran’s president suffers ‘hard landing’

By Associated Press

Legal

‘None of them have clean hands’: Dems rebuke Alito, SCOTUS over flag controversy

By Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing

Foreign Affairs

State Department issues unusual worldwide LGBTQ+ travel alert

By Kierra Frazier

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Visit Magazine

Joe Biden sits at a table and signs a document while people around him watch.

Column | Capital Letter

Trade War: What Is It Good For?

Biden is playing with Trump’s deck of cards on trade. But tariffs aren’t a solution to everything.

By Victoria Guida

Donald Trump speaks outside a convenience store surrounded by people.

Column | Fourth Estate

Fox News Is Flipping Trump’s Trial Coverage on its Head

The conservative network is curating its coverage to boost Trump.

By Jack Shafer

Former President Donald Trump gestures as he returns to the courtroom after a break in his trial.

Law And Order

An Oral History of Trump — As Told on the Witness Stand

The Trump trial is a bracing reminder of the dawn of the Trump era and its transactional nature.

By Calder McHugh

Photo illustration of an intern badge on a lanyrad with multiple hands reaching out at the bottom to grab it.

COLUMN | CAPITAL CITY

It’s Suddenly a Lot Harder to Snag the Lowest Rung on the Washington Ladder

Remote work and higher pay have made internships harder to find.

By Michael Schaffer

Illustration of Sarah Huckabee Sanders holding a the top of a dollhouse version of the Arkansas capitol building replacing the Arkansas flag with a MAGA flag.

The Friday Read

‘A Governor Who Doesn’t Seem to Have Much Interest in Governing Arkansas’

Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ increasing number of critics think she’s too worried about her national profile.

By Dana Liebelson

A photo-illustration of John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson with the Capitol building in the background. A large hand points to Adams.

History Dept.

A Trump-Biden Tie Would Be a Political Nightmare — But Maybe a Boon to Democracy

The political upheaval of 1824 changed America. The same could happen in 2024.

By Joshua Zeitz

Flags of the member states of the African Union stand in a row.

Column | Compass

African Countries Are Failing to Make a Dent in Washington’s Diplomatic Scene

It’s partly a question of resources, but it’s also about political will and hustle.

By Nahal Toosi

Pro-Palestinian protesters are pictured.

Culture Club

Can Eurovision Survive Israel’s War in Gaza?

Politics has always lurked at the edges of the campy song contest. But it’s center stage now.

By Charlie Sohne

Former President Donald Trump and attorneys Todd Blanche, Emil Bove and Susan Necheles attend his trial.

Column | Rules of Law

Trump’s Lawyers Are Making Major Mistakes

Trump has no one to blame but himself.

By Ankush Khardori

The Rocky Mountains seen from a car mirror parked at the border of the Blackfeet reservation.

Letter From Montana

Montana’s Tribal Voters Could Determine the Makeup of the Senate

Following a major turnout dip in 2022, Native American voters are now a key target in the Montana Senate race, where their votes could make or break Jon Tester’s chances of heading back to the Hill.

By Natalie Fertig

Column | On Politics

The DNC Is Preparing for the Worst in Chicago — Without the Help of the City’s Mayor

As Democrats plan their convention, they’ll have to address the elephant in the room: How to mitigate the threat of disruptions and work with a rookie mayor who unabashedly sympathizes with the protesters.

By Jonathan Martin

An illustration featuring a large grayscale photo of Victoria Nuland surrounded by grayscale photos of Donald Trump, the NATO banner, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping

Exit Interview

She Was at the Top of the State Department. Now She’s Ready to Talk.

As Victoria Nuland steps down, she gets real about a world on fire.

By Nahal Toosi

INTERACTIVES

Photo illustration of Joe Biden signing a bill (center) paired with photos surrounding him of (left to right): A broadband tower outside the Comporium, Inc. building in Brevard, NC, ; Biden walking with workers in Chandler, Arizona, at the Intel Ocotillo Campus; The Brent Spence Bridge in Cincinnati, Ohio; and Biden speaking to a roomful of people at the Pieper-Hillside Boys & Girls Club, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Biden’s biggest challenge: How do you even spend $1.6 trillion?

Tracking the Trump criminal cases

TRUMP HUSH MONEY TRIAL

Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) listen as former President Donald Trump speaks to the media during his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 16, 2024 in New York City.

Gaetz posts picture from courthouse with allusion to Proud Boys

“Standing back and standing by, Mr. President," the Florida Republican wrote on social media.

By Kyle Cheney

Defense attorney Todd Blanche cross examines Michael Cohen in Manhattan criminal court.

Trump’s lawyer confronted Michael Cohen with a bang (and an expletive). Then things fizzled.

By Erica Orden, Ben Feuerherd and Kyle Cheney

‘Travesty of justice’: Johnson slams Trump hush money trial

Mike Johnson comes to Trump’s defense

By Natalie Allison

FILE- Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, left, and attorney Michael Cohen, right, during a visit to the Pastors Leadership Conference at New Spirit Revival Center, Sept. 21, 2016, in Cleveland. Donald Trump’s fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen returned to the witness stand Tuesday, testifying in detail how former president was linked to all aspects of a hush money scheme that prosecutors say was aimed at stifling stories that threatened his 2016 campaign. Trump is the first former U.S. president to go on trial. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci, File)

Does Michael Cohen want to see Trump convicted? The answer won't surprise you.

By Kyle Cheney

CONGRESS

Rep. Glenn Thompson, joined by fellow House Republicans, speaks at a press conference.

House unveils $1.5 trillion farm bill after long delay

The legislation is one of the few must-pass bills left for Congress this year.

By Meredith Lee Hill

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) gives an interview in her office.

AOC hits back at Fetterman after he quips House is worse than ‘Jerry Springer Show’

By Anthony Adragna

Sen. Elizabeth Warren walks at the U.S. Capitol.

‘I wanted to send a message’: Democrats break with Warren, Biden on crypto

By Jasper Goodman and Eleanor Mueller

Bob Good arrives for a House Republican Conference meeting.

House conservatives try to plan Trump trial visit

By Olivia Beavers and Jordain Carney

2024 ELECTIONS

Clockwise from top left: Volunteers at the Donald Trump campaign headquarters in Iowa call voters; President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign event; Biden campaign volunteers celebrate during a campaign watch party in South Carolina; Trump holds his hands out while walking out at a campaign event.

Unpacking the presidential money machines

A POLITICO analysis of campaign finance filings shows clear contrasts between Trump’s and Biden’s sprawling political operations.

By Jessica Piper

Donald Trump speaks at the Minnesota Republican Lincoln Reagan Dinner.

Trump attacks Biden and CNN over debates during Minnesota GOP event

By Alex Isenstadt

Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally.

Why Trump keeps dreaming he can flip Minnesota

By Adam Wren, Natalie Allison and Burgess Everett

Rep. Jamaal Bowman (left) and his challenger George Latimer, debate.

The most powerful pro-Israel group in American politics isn't... talking about Israel

By Nicholas Wu and Madison Fernandez

LEGAL

Giuliani’s 80th birthday surprise — getting served with indictment papers

After weeks of successfully evading Arizona prosecutors, Trump’s former lawyer was served a notice of indictment in Arizona’s 2020 election subversion case.

By Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing

Wael Hana, right, leaves a courthouse in New York.

USDA official explains early worries about meat monopoly in Menendez case

By Ry Rivard

Robert Hur sits at a desk with a group of people behind him.

Conservative group tries to accelerate court fight over Biden-Hur audio

Democrats contend that Republicans want to use the recording as clips for campaign ads.

By Josh Gerstein

Bob Menendez (center right) leaves with his wife Nadine Menendez outside the Manhattan Federal Court.

Nadine Menendez, co-defendant in Sen. Bob Menendez's bribery trial, diagnosed with advanced breast cancer

By Katherine Dailey

WHITE HOUSE

Russian President-elect Vladimir Putin takes the oath of office May 7, 2024.

White House not thrilled by Macron’s D-Day invite to Russia

“Perhaps this will remind the Russians that they actually fought real Nazis once, not imaginary ones in Ukraine,” an administration official said.

By Eli Stokols and Alexander Ward

Raphael Warnock, Joe Biden and Sanford Bishop walk together.

Morehouse graduates brace, anxiously, for Biden visit

By Lauren Egan

President Joe Biden speaks at Gateway Technical College in Sturtevant, Wisconsin.

President Biden announces moves to relax weed restrictions

By Natalie Fertig

Department of Justice special counsel Robert Hur testifies before the House Judiciary Committee.

White House to Republicans: You’re not getting audio of Biden’s interview with Hur

By Josh Gerstein and Jordain Carney

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

A police line is placed outside the entrance of the F. D. Roosevelt University Hospital, where Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot and injured, is treated in Banska Bystrica, central Slovakia, on May 15, 2024.

Roots of Robert Fico's shooting lie in Slovakia's bitter divides

Minister fears country is "on the verge of civil war" after attempted assassination.

By Tom Nicholson

A demonstrator holds up her smart phone with the light switched on during an opposition protest in the center of Tbilisi, Georgia, on May 14, 2024.

Georgians fighting for Europe fear Brussels missing in action

By Jakob Hanke Vela and Gabriel Gavin

First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Nov. 7, 2023.

Rubles and bullets: Putin puts an economist in charge of the military

By Eva Hartog

A person works on a laptop on June 19, 2017.

Timeline: Europe under cyber siege in 2024

By Seb Starcevic

STATES

Vermont’s data privacy law sparks state lawmaker alliance against tech lobbyists

State lawmakers from Maine to Oklahoma say the lessons they learned from battling industry over privacy bills can provide a new playbook to fight back.

By Alfred Ng