Today's Liberal News

Viet Thanh Nguyen on 50 Years After Vietnam War, Trump’s “Ugly American” Politics, El Salvador & More

We mark 50 years since the end of the U.S. war on Vietnam with the acclaimed Vietnamese American writer Viet Thanh Nguyen. On April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese troops took control of the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon as video of U.S. personnel being airlifted out of the city were broadcast around the world. Some 3 million Vietnamese people were killed in the U.S. war, along with about 58,000 U.S. soldiers.

DOGE Is Going Global: Elon Musk Is Inspiring Right-Wing Efforts Abroad to Gut Government Programs

Tech writer and critic Paris Marx discusses the first 100 days of the second Trump administration and the influence of billionaire Elon Musk at the helm of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which has slashed government programs and the civil service. Marx says even after Musk gave hundreds of millions to Trump’s reelection campaign, “it was hard to imagine that he would really play this outsized role in the actual governance of the country.

Former Social Security Chief Martin O’Malley Warns of “Collapse of the Entire System” Under Trump

Social Security recipients could soon see their benefits interrupted or delayed as a flood of cuts hits the agency, thanks to the efforts of Elon Musk and DOGE. Martin O’Malley, the former Maryland governor who served as Social Security commissioner under President Biden, says the system is on the brink of collapse as the Trump administration pushes out thousands of staffers and peddles lies about who actually benefits from its services.

“Abuse of Power”: Trump Admin’s “Bizarre” Arrest of Milwaukee Judge Shocks Legal Community

On Friday, FBI agents arrested a county judge in Milwaukee and charged her with obstructing justice and concealing an individual from arrest. After an undocumented immigrant, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, appeared before her in court on an unrelated misdemeanor charge, Judge Hannah Dugan learned that ICE agents were waiting in the hallway outside her courtroom to arrest him.

The Polls Are Sending Trump a Message

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.
“People are very happy with this presidency,” President Donald Trump said in an interview with The Atlantic last week. “I’ve had great polls.”
That wasn’t true then, and it’s even less true now.

How the U.S. Lost the Canadian Election

Donald Trump pushed the Conservative Party of Canada down the political stairs. Yesterday, on Canada’s election day, he tossed a farewell bucket of slop after the tumbling Conservatives, with a final Truth Social post urging Canadians to see their choice as a verdict on him personally. As Trump gleefully confided in an interview with The Atlantic posted that same day, he knew perfectly well that the overwhelming majority of Canadians hate him.

Dear James: A Riddle About Reading

Editor’s Note: Is anything ailing, torturing, or nagging at you? Are you beset by existential worries? Every Tuesday, James Parker tackles readers’ questions. Tell him about your lifelong or in-the-moment problems at dearjames@theatlantic.com.
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Dear James,
Why, even when reading a book that I’m thoroughly enjoying, do I always seem to want to finish it?
Dear Reader,
This is a fascinating question.

The Liberals Who Can’t Stop Winning

American liberals in search of hope can look to the Canadian election. Just five months ago, the country’s incumbent Liberal Party appeared headed for an epic defeat. It trailed the Conservative Party by 25 percentage points, and its leader, then–Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, had an approval rating of just 22 percent. Forecasters predicted that the Liberals would win 35 seats in the country’s 343-seat Parliament, compared with 236 for the Conservatives.

Russia Is in Demographic Free Fall. Putin Isn’t Helping.

Russia was in demographic decline long before the war in Ukraine. Now it’s in free fall.
Since 2022, hundreds of thousands of Russians have died or suffered critical injuries in Ukraine. The result: According to one demographer, Russians may have had fewer children from January to March 2025 than in any three-month period over the past 200 years. As of 2023, the country’s fertility rate—1.