TikTok users say content critical of President Trump is being suppressed after the app resumed U.S. service, with some reporting that searches for anti-Trump terms show “No results found” on U.S. accounts while appearing normally elsewhere. Users have also shared examples, including a VPN test circulated on X, and claim reposts criticizing Trump’s policies can trigger connection errors despite other functions working. The complaints arrive shortly after TikTok returned following a brief shutdown tied to Trump’s promise to issue an executive order allowing it to keep operating in the United States. TikTok denies any policy or algorithm changes, attributing the reports to temporary instability as U.S. operations are restored and noting posts can be flagged for multiple reasons during this pe...

Marc Andreessen argues that Silicon Valley once operated under an unwritten “Deal” in which entrepreneurs made fortunes, laundered reputations through philanthropy and liberal social causes, and faced little political friction, but says that bargain collapsed after 2016 amid “wokeness,” hostile media, and Democratic skepticism of tech. The author counters that the industry’s rise from scrappy disruptor to concentrated power, alongside broader economic inequality and real public experiences with tech platforms, better explains why deference faded. A new alignment is emerging in which tech elites court a Republican administration promising lower taxes and fewer rules while replacing virtue-signaling with anti-progressive “vice-signaling” and seeking friendlier cultural terrain on platforms l...

Ezra Klein and Lawfare editor Quinta Jurecic track how the early “muzzle velocity” of Trump’s second term is colliding with institutional pushback, especially from the courts, as the administration pursues sweeping actions like dismantling USAID, freezing congressionally authorized spending, and issuing a birthright-citizenship order that judges have blocked. They explore what is merely aggressive versus outright illegal, why chaotic implementation matters legally and politically, and how the executive branch can create “facts on the ground” faster than litigation can unwind them. The conversation also examines Elon Musk’s informal role in cutting through agencies, the administration’s pressure campaign against civil servants and the FBI, and why Congress has largely ceded its power—turnin...

The article argues that Trump’s staffing choices, mass firings, legal defiance, and impulsive directives are not just disruptive but indicative of a shift from rule-bound governance to “patrimonialism,” where the state is treated like the leader’s personal domain and loyalty matters more than competence or procedure. Drawing on Weber and recent scholarship, it contrasts this with bureaucratic proceduralism and notes that patrimonialism can arise even under democratic elections, as seen in leaders like Putin, Orbán, and Modi. Because patrimonialism distrusts independent institutions and expertise, it hollows out state capacity, encourages favoritism, and increases capricious decision-making, sometimes paving the way toward more overt authoritarianism. The piece contends that recognizing thi...

Ezra Klein and Financial Times columnist Jillian Tett examine what could be driving the Trump administration’s willingness to risk economic “pain,” arguing it reflects a shift from neoliberal economics toward a power-first, mercantilist approach that links tariffs, finance, tech, and military leverage. They discuss the debated idea of “Mar-a-Lago Accords” as an attempt to keep the dollar dominant while weakening it, the internal factional battles shaping erratic tariff strategy, and the risks of unintended consequences as allies and investors hedge away from U.S. dependence. A recurring theme is that much of the agenda may be less about coherent economic optimization than about cultural power and tribute-style politics, with particular attention to bond-market fragility, debt sustainabilit...

Silicon Valley investors are discussing Greenland as a potential site for a low-regulation “freedom city” as the Trump administration escalates efforts to acquire the island from Denmark, including refusing to rule out force. Reuters reports the idea has been taken seriously by Trump’s ambassador pick to Denmark, Ken Howery, and aligns with a broader tech-backed movement for charter or startup cities aimed at broad regulatory exemptions to spur innovation. Supporters envision advanced technology and infrastructure projects on Greenland, while the administration frames U.S. interest in strategic and security terms amid concern about Russia and China and points to the island’s minerals and military importance. Greenlanders and their new prime minister have criticized the U.S. approach and po...

The article argues that Trump and El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele are using a cooperative arrangement to bypass U.S. courts by sending detainees to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center for indefinite imprisonment without trial, allowing the administration to claim it cannot retrieve even those mistakenly deported. It portrays this as a deliberate “trapdoor” under constitutional protections, enabled by funding and executive control asserted without congressional authorization and by Bukele’s open defiance of U.S. judicial orders. The piece contends that beyond Trump’s personal authoritarian instincts, a “post-liberal” faction within the right has helped shape a second-term project aimed at using state power to punish opponents and coerce civil society institutions. It warns that, despite t...

Drawing on warnings from dissidents and journalists such as Maria Ressa and Garry Kasparov, the article argues that the U.S. is entering an accelerating phase of democratic backsliding under Trump’s second term and that delays in resisting it quickly reduce citizens’ leverage. It describes an authoritarian playbook moving at deliberate speed: purging independent expertise from government, centralizing executive power, undermining truth and the press, and pressuring institutions like the judiciary, universities, and federal agencies to comply. The piece emphasizes that authoritarians often telegraph extreme intentions until the public becomes desensitized, with social media amplifying propaganda and normalizing abuses before they occur. It concludes that checks and balances depend on indivi...

Chris Hayes and Gia Tolentino discuss how AI-generated images, deepfakes, and engagement-farming “slop” are eroding people’s ability and motivation to distinguish what’s real online, especially as genuine footage of events like Gaza and ICE raids can feel both hyperreal and unbelievable. They explore how this constant mix of fakery and real-world horror creates a deadening, politically demobilizing “permission structure” to detach, worsened by fragmented algorithmic realities that make shared civic understanding harder to rebuild. The conversation links this media environment to policy and power, arguing that distorted phone-and-TV narratives can shape how leaders perceive events and even drive real actions on the ground. They also make the case for renewed reliance on human institutions l...

Ezra Klein and Matt Iglesias break down the structure and consequences of the Senate-passed “One Big Beautiful Bill,” focusing on trillions in tax cuts that skew toward wealthy households and businesses alongside deep cuts to Medicaid, nutrition assistance, and clean-energy incentives. They explain how Medicaid savings would largely come from tighter provider-tax rules and work requirements that function as administrative hurdles, pushing millions off coverage without boosting employment and shifting costs into medical debt, uncompensated care, and rural hospital closures. The conversation also argues that adding trillions to the deficit in a high-rate environment is likely to raise interest rates and living costs, undercutting claims of pro-growth fiscal policy. On energy, they discuss ro...

The article argues that US-led systems once trusted by allies now function like coercive platforms, akin to Cory Doctorow’s “enshittification,” where control over essential infrastructure enables extraction once users are locked in. It describes how the dollar-clearing network, US-linked weapons ecosystems like the F-35’s maintenance, software, and intelligence dependencies, and Starlink’s dominance can be weaponized to punish or pressure targets, citing cases involving Hong Kong’s Carrie Lam, an ICC prosecutor, and Ukraine. With Trump’s second term framed as explicitly “monetizing” hegemony, allies are confronting the high costs of exit and scrambling to build alternatives in finance, defense, and communications. The piece concludes that US tech firms’ alignment with the administration bl...

The article argues that the social-justice surge ignited by George Floyd’s murder reached a peak in 2020 but was followed by riots and disorder that fueled a lasting backlash and helped normalize a logic of political violence that later surfaced on the right, culminating in January 6. It contrasts the “mortal” Floyd, situated in the stresses of the pandemic and his personal circumstances, with an “immortal” Floyd whose death video became a replicable symbol that many interpreted as proof the state had forfeited legitimacy. While millions joined largely peaceful anti-racism protests worldwide, significant episodes of looting and destruction—often opportunistic and unrelated to the cause—shaped public perception and intensified polarization. The author contends that pandemic upheaval and mor...

The article argues that the United States has crossed into authoritarianism under Trump, citing militarized street presence, disappearances of immigrants, politicization of government, attacks on elections and courts, coercion of institutions, and a lack of internal checks from Congress, the Supreme Court, or the executive branch. It contends that major media outlets normalize these developments by treating them as isolated political stories rather than evidence of systemic democratic collapse, often outsourcing the harshest conclusions to quoted critics. The author notes that more mainstream voices, including historians, MSNBC hosts, and leading Democrats, are now openly using terms like authoritarianism and fascism. It calls for news organizations to adopt journalism that explicitly fram...

Chris Hayes argues that Donald Trump is openly flirting with dictatorial power while portraying himself as “tough on crime,” even as he uses the justice system to target opponents and reward allies. The discussion centers on a sweeping pattern of pardons and special treatment for convicted or accused criminals—including January 6 rioters, Ross Ulbricht, corrupt officials, fraudsters, alleged traffickers, and moves benefiting figures like the Tates and Ghislaine Maxwell—framed as evidence of a “pro-crime” presidency. Guests Dan Frumkin and former DOJ pardon attorney Liz Oyer describe this as an unprecedented, chillingly authoritarian “pay for play” approach that swaps rule-of-law norms for loyalty, access, and wealth. The tone is urgent and alarmed, with concern about militarized enforcemen...

The CDC has quietly scaled back FoodNet, its active foodborne disease surveillance network covering 10 states and about 54 million people, from monitoring eight major pathogens to tracking only Salmonella and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli. Internal talking points indicate the change is driven by funding shortfalls amid broader federal cuts that have reduced CDC staffing, though the agency says it will preserve FoodNet’s infrastructure and focus on core activities. While the CDC has other systems to track infections, experts note these are largely passive and lack FoodNet’s active case-finding. Food safety specialists warn the reduction could slow outbreak detection, weaken trend data, and reduce pressure to maintain or strengthen food safety regulations.

The article argues Democrats may be overcorrecting from 2024 by treating Trump’s authoritarian moves as mere “distractions” and focusing almost exclusively on cost-of-living and policy harms like Medicaid cuts. While that economic focus reflects what moved persuadable voters last cycle and Democrats’ reluctance to fight on immigration or crime, the author contends it risks minimizing an immediate, accelerating threat as Trump consolidates power through aggressive claims of authority, pressure on institutions, and talk of deploying forces in cities. Grassroots Democrats, the piece says, are responding more to leaders like J.B. Pritzker and Gavin Newsom who confront these actions directly, suggesting the party’s base wants a more urgent defense of democratic institutions. The conclusion is t...

Drawing on Watergate, the article recounts how prosecutors like Jill Wine-Banks and James Quarles kept working after Nixon’s “Saturday Night Massacre,” and how Leon Jaworski ultimately forced release of the White House tapes that led to Nixon’s resignation, showing both presidential efforts to obstruct and the limits imposed by institutional resistance. It then traces the long U.S. tradition of appointing outside prosecutors to avoid Justice Department conflicts, noting that even when targets evade indictment, investigations can still inflict serious political and personal damage. The author argues Trump grasped this threat during Mueller but is positioned in a second term to prevent or crush any similar probe, aided by a compliant attorney general and strengthened by the Supreme Court’s b...

John Heilman talks with epidemiologist Michael Osterholm about the weakening of America’s public health system under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., focusing on what Osterholm sees as rampant misinformation, politicization, and institutional damage to agencies like the CDC and vaccine advisory processes. They parse Kennedy’s claims about chronic disease, autism, and COVID, distinguishing legitimate concerns (like obesity and uneven health outcomes) from misleading statistics and conspiratorial framing, and discussing how scientific guidance evolved during the pandemic without constituting deliberate “lies.” Osterholm argues the biggest danger is that cuts to public health capacity and hostility toward vaccines—especially mRNA platforms—leave the U.S. and the world less prepared for th...

Chris Hayes focuses on what he frames as an accelerating Trump-era campaign to intimidate and control dissenting media, using Jimmy Kimmel’s show being “preempted indefinitely” after incorrect comments about the Charlie Kirk shooter as a case study in how political pressure can translate into corporate compliance. The discussion connects this episode to broader patterns of authoritarian media capture in Hungary, Turkey, and Russia, arguing that U.S. regulatory leverage (FCC licensing, merger approvals) and lawsuits are being weaponized to chill speech and reshape ownership toward pro-Trump allies. Guests Ben Rhodes and New York Times investigations editor David Enrich reinforce the theme that even isolated programming decisions send a wider warning to journalists and broadcasters, with Enr...

The article argues that JD Vance’s objection to calling Donald Trump and MAGA “fascist” ignores evidence offered by former Trump chief of staff John Kelly and by Umberto Eco’s framework for identifying recurring fascist traits, many of which the author says fit the movement. It urges Americans to treat the label as a warning and to respond by abandoning, ceasing to enable, refusing neutrality toward, or actively opposing MAGA through peaceful political means. A second piece contends that Trump’s broader campaign of intimidation has pushed institutions like media companies, law firms, and colleges into self-protective capitulations that embolden further threats. It concludes that resistance can work, citing Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook’s lawsuit against an attempted firing as an examp...