Author: rpnadmin

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks as President Donald Trump looks on, at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. Alex Brandon/AP hide caption toggle caption Alex Brandon/AP WASHINGTON — The U.S. military said Monday that it had conducted another strike against a boat it said was smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing one person. In a social media post, U.S. Southern Command said, “Intelligence confirmed the low-profile vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.” Southern Command provided no evidence that the vessel was engaged…

Politics / December 22, 2025 Plutocrats, pundits, and government officials joined together in a racist smear campaign against a queer Palestinian student at Brown University. Ad Policy Candles are lit by framed photos of mass shooting victims Mukhammad Aziz Amurzokov and Ella Cook at a makeshift memorial near Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, on December 15, 2025.(Bing Guan / AFP via Getty Images) To survive a school shooting is traumatic enough, but to then face a nationwide racist smear campaign that falsely accuses you of being the murderer is even worse. That was the fate of Mustapha Kharbouch, a…

President Trump departs after speaking at his Mar-a-Lago club on Monday in Palm Beach, Fla. Alex Brandon/AP hide caption toggle caption Alex Brandon/AP WASHINGTON — President Trump has announced a bold plan for the Navy to build a new, large warship that he is calling a “battleship” as part of a larger vision to create a “Golden Fleet.” “They’ll be the fastest, the biggest, and by far 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built,” Trump claimed during the announcement at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. According to Trump, the ship, the first of which will be named the…

Politics / December 22, 2025 The new editor in chief at CBS News has shown she’s not merely stupendously unqualified—she’s ideologically opposed to the practice of good journalism. Ad Policy CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss hosts a town hall with Erika Kirk on December 10.(Michele Crowe / CBS News via Getty Images) The mega-rich have always been willing to hire, promote, and fund people willing to unquestioningly run interference for their interests while making them feel like their near-pathological selfishness, hoarding of money and power, and total disregard for the public interest is somehow morally justifiable. CBS News…

Former Vice President Mike Pence takes part in the 2025 Atlantic Festival at PAC NYC on Sept. 18, 2025 in New York City. Michael Loccisano/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Michael Loccisano/Getty Images More than a dozen staff members at the influential conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation are leaving the organization to join a group founded by former Vice President Mike Pence. The mass departure follows turmoil within Heritage and the larger conservative movement over the role of right-wing influencers who’ve promoted antisemitic and other extremist ideas. Those tensions were on display at Heritage after its president, Kevin Roberts,…

Books & the Arts / December 22, 2025 The remaking of Trump’s Washington, DC The ballroom and his other proposed building projects are many things, but they are not exactly works of architecture. Ad Policy Donald Trump, October 2025.(Demetrius Freeman / Getty). This article appears in the January 2026 issue. The $300 million ballroom that former real estate developer and current president Donald Trump is building where the East Wing of the White House once stood is many things. The 90,000-square-foot room is a perfect expression of Trump’s unfailingly plutocratic worldview. It is a flex of his tragically warped idea…

A Paraguayan woman whose relative was detained by federal agents scuffles with officers in the halls of immigration court at the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building on in New York City in July 2025. Spencer Platt/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Spencer Platt/Getty Images An immigration judge issues a stern warning: “If you don’t show up, there is a good chance the court will order you removed.” She speaks to an immigrant from El Salvador in a quiet immigration courtroom in Hyattsville, Md., in November. Clad in an all-black dress jacket and shirt, the immigrant — who was identified only…

Economy / December 16, 2025 The agency is unlawfully giving up on fighting disparate impact discrimination—meaning it’s “open season” on employees. Ad Policy Amazon delivery driver Leah Cross has alleged that Amazon’s delivery quota amounts to workplace discrimination. Pictured here, a driver makes deliveries in Lakewood, Colorado, in 2023.(RJ Sangosti / MediaNews Group / The Denver Post via Getty Images) In August of 2022, just after Prime Day, Leah Cross started working as an Amazon delivery driver in Colorado. She took the job because she had long heard that it was a decent and paid well. She thought it would…

Erika Kirk greets Vice President JD Vance during Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest 2025, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Phoenix. Jon Cherry/AP hide caption toggle caption Jon Cherry/AP PHOENIX — Vice President JD Vance said Sunday the conservative movement should be open to everyone as long as they “love America,” declining to condemn a streak of antisemitism that has divided the Republican Party and roiled the opening days of Turning Point USA’s annual convention. After a long weekend of debates about whether the movement should exclude figures such as bigoted podcaster Nick Fuentes, Vance came down firmly against “purity tests.” “I…

Objection! / December 16, 2025 In making frequent, ill use of the “shadow docket,” the high court is not just handing Trump policy victories. It’s upending the rule of law. Ad Policy (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images/Bloomberg via Getty Images) This article appears in the January 2026 issue, with the headline “Hidden Injustice.” Courts play an important role in authoritarian regimes. They legitimize the actions of despots by declaring them “legal” or “constitutional.” They ensure institutional compliance with the regime’s rules. And they make politically unpopular decisions that align with the authoritarian’s goals while giving the authoritarian political distance from…