Politics

Latest

Photo-illustration in red and blue of Tulsi Gabbard and the top of the U.S. Capitol Building. — Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Aaron Schwartz / Sipa / AP; Daniel Pierce Wright / Getty.

What Everyone Gets Wrong About Tulsi Gabbard

Other than raw ambition, only one through line is perceptible in a switchbacking political career.

January 21, 2025

Turning Point Inaugural Eve Ball — Andres Kudacki for The Atlantic

The Trump Faithful Return to D.C.

This past weekend, a pro-Trump throng arrived in Washington not in protest, but in triumph.

Andres Kudacki and Russell Berman

January 21, 2025

Franklin Graham delivers the invocation at Donald Trump's inauguration. — Chip Somodevilla / AFP / Getty

On Donald Trump and the Inscrutability of God

How I’m praying for the new president

January 21, 2025

A color photograph of Trump supporters storming the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021. — Jason Andrew / The New York Times / Redux

Republican Leaders Once Thought January 6 Was ‘Tragic’

Republicans used to denounce the violent insurrectionists of January 6. Their rhetoric is no longer operative.

Annie Joy Williams and Gisela Salim-Peyer

January 20, 2025

Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and others at Donald Trump's inauguration — Shawn Thew / Getty

The Tech Oligarchy Arrives

Donald Trump’s inauguration signaled a new alliance—for now—with some of the world’s wealthiest men.

Michael Scherer and Ashley Parker

January 20, 2025

Trump delivers inaugural address — Kevin Lamarque / AFP / Getty

How Donald Trump Got Ready for His Close-Up

The inaugural festivities placed the president’s flair for stagecraft on full display.

Jonathan Lemire

January 20, 2025

Donald Trump being sworn in — Morry Gash / AP

The Gilded Age of Trump Begins Now

His second inaugural address promised a “golden age,” but the ideas in it evoked the late 1800s more than any recent presidency.

David A. Graham

January 20, 2025

Trump rally-goers raise their fists — Carrie Schreck / Redux

‘If There’s One Person Who Keeps Their Word, It’s Donald Trump’

At Trump’s last rally before returning to the White House, an ecstatic audience anticipated a historic presidency.

January 20, 2025

An older photograph showing a crowd (looking blurry due to movement) in front of the U.S. Capitol building during an inauguration ceremony. — John Wood / Library of Congress

The First Known Photograph of a U.S. Presidential Inauguration

An image of the 1857 inauguration of President James Buchanan

January 20, 2025

Donald Trump raises his fist in the air, and rioters raise American flags. — Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Samuel Corum / Getty; Angela Weiss / Pool / Getty.

What Trump Did to Police Officers

On January 6, 2021, Trump’s supporters attacked scores of law-enforcement officers as the president stood by.

January 20, 2025