"The lesson here: Never underestimate Trump's willingness to keep playing a losing hand to protect himself, even if it leads to ruination for others," writes columnist @bychrisbrennan.bsky.social. bit.ly/3VKxvJ4

Democrats offered negotiation. Republicans offered disinformation. That's why our government shut down. The MAGA cover story strips Americans of health care while lying about Democrats giving health care to undocumented immigrants. My USA Today newsletter: www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...

Donald Trump's Republican shutdown doesn't just close our federal government. It also delays an inevitable vote in the U.S. House on releasing the Epstein files. Convenient coincidence for Trump? Or is that his real motive? My USA Today column: www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

How can Donald Trump make a deal to avoid a shutdown when he offers to meet, then cancels, then agrees again to meet when he is blamed for the cancellation, then meets briefly but doesn't negotiate and instead just demands surrender? My USA Today column: www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

"That's the threat: Publish something the Pentagon doesn't want published and a journalist may get kicked out of the Pentagon," writes columnist @bychrisbrennan.bsky.social. bit.ly/42evWqn

Donald Trump’s corrupt criminal case against James Comey will collapse in court. But Trump already won what he wanted, abusing his power (and your tax dollars) to push an opponent into a very public and massively expensive predicament. My USA Today column: www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

NEW: There are enormous holes and oddities in the Justice Department's hastily assembled case against Jim Comey We breakdown why this case may struggle out of the gate — and thanks to Trump's constant commentary — may never reach a jury. w/ @joshgerstein www.politico.com/news/2025/09...

Pete Hegseth trying to restrict what journalists can report about the U.S. military, and then pretending to be a victim of the reporting on those attempted restrictions, is a page right out of Donald Trump's political playbook. My USA Today column: www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

"Democrats in Congress might have finally found a viable political message to fight back against their Republican colleagues and President Donald Trump," writes columnist @bychrisbrennan.bsky.social. bit.ly/4gNTA31

Why is Donald Trump yammering on about the UN escalator? Because the twin dictates of Trumpism are 1) always value symbolism over substance, and 2) always act the victim if anything messes with that symbolism. My USA Today newsletter explains: www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...

The purpose for the artwork stated on the permit application is “to demonstrate freedom of speech and artistic expression using political imagery.” wapo.st/4gFthvN

A government shutdown could delay the oath of office for a new U.S. House member who will provide the last signature needed for a discharge petition to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files. And Trump won't negotiate. Hmmm. My USA Today column: www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

In my USA Today column today I predicted that Trump would refuse to meet with Congressional Democrats on the continuing resolution to fund the government, despite saying on Saturday he'd be "happy" to meet. Trump just declared there will be no meeting. www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

Trump ordered Republicans in Congress to box out Democrats on continuing government funding. House Speaker Mike Johnson went further, jamming his GOP colleagues in the Senate. Trump and his allies own a shutdown if it comes next week. My USA Today column: www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

SCOOP — Part of the reason Disney/ABC may have rushed to sort things out with Kimmel is because tomorrow they have a planned price increase for Disney+ streaming, a Disney source tells me. With subscriptions hemorrhaging since last week, they couldn’t risk losing more users with this announcement.

(“These pretzels are making me thirsty” voice)

He didn't know how to pronounce "acetaminophen" during a press conference on acetaminophen. He looked as though it was literally the very first time he's even seen the word "acetaminophen" during a much-hyped press conference blaming acetaminophen for autism.

Donald Trump just now in the White House, speaking about autism: “There’s a rumor and I don’t know if it’s so or not…” before declaring a flat-out fact. This is not how science works.

Which White House staffer gets to tell Trump that Jimmy Kimmel was not, in fact, fired after all?

I was reliably told celebrating political violence was cause for government reprisal and private sector termination.

"This isn't random, incident-based chaos. This is coordinated censorship in the name of corporate profits," writes columnist @bychrisbrennan.bsky.social. bit.ly/4nehAyN

Americans should hold Donald Trump and FCC Chair Brendan Carr accountable for bullying Jimmy Kimmel off the air. But we should also blame capitulating corporations like ABC/Disney for valuing profits more than the First Amendment. My USA Today column: www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

Donald Trump can't escape his Jeffrey Epstein scandal – even across the pond, as my USA Today newsletter explains: www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...

A reminder: Donald Trump presents himself as an expert on all things. He only says "I don't know" when asked about topics he needs to avoid. He was just asked a question about Jeffrey Epstein in a news conference with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Suddenly, Trump is no expert.

My USA Today column today described how Trump and his adminstration are exploiting Charlie Kirk’s killing to attack the First Amendment rights of critics. Here’s an example, and evidence that Trump is counting on institutions like ABC to just give in. www.usatoday.com/story/entert...

Charlie Kirk being gunned down by a sniper is not just a tragedy to Donald Trump. It's also an opportunity for Trump to overstep, to crack down on the very thing Kirk saw himself as championing – free speech. My USA Today column: www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

"If you hear him make a startling comment, it is only a matter of time before he acts startled to hear his own words repeated back to him," writes columnist @bychrisbrennan.bsky.social. bit.ly/3Vf45CA

Nothing makes Philly love something more than people NOT from Philly hating on it. #BrotherlyShove #FlyEaglesFly www.inquirer.com/eagles/tush-...

Not to interrupt production at the takes factory but they should probably identify and catch the actual killer before we decide what it all means.

No shiny participation trophy holds more allure for Donald Trump than a Nobel Peace Prize. And his campaign for that honor hit some bumps in the road this week, thanks to his pals Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu. My @USAToday newsletter explains: www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...

"It all smells familiar, like a house that has caught on fire. Something explodes, high and to my right. I flinch as others, who have been here all day, don’t bother to lift their heads. The fire grows larger." #September11 (Photo: Jim MacMillan)

This echoes Winston Churchill's 1939 tweet, after Germany invaded Czechoslovakia: "Yo, Hitler, 'sup with that?"

RFK Jr. has a notorious predilection for making controversial statements and then acting flabbergasted while insisting he never said what he clearly said. Don't take medical advice from him. And don't accept his word on anything, ever. My USA Today column: www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

"Trump and Johnson want to appear transparent with the Epstein files while keeping them secret," writes columnist @bychrisbrennan.bsky.social. bit.ly/41DTC7p

Members of Congress – Republicans and Democrats – often get a head start on stock trading that your average American investor doesn't get. They should support a bipartisan bill to reform this, or voters should send them packing. My USA Today column: www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

You can't make a financial deal with someone who won't allow your input – and who is also violating the terms of your last financial deal. Democrats in Congress have just one move in a government shutdown fight: Do nothing. My USA Today column: www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

An early season win that feels nothing like victory now feels as much a part of Eagles culture as wearing Kelly green and chanting “Dallas sucks.”

Uh, oh. Looks like Donald Trump has a bad case of parade envy as his bestest buddies from the international authoritarian club fly to China to yuk it up with Xi Jinping. My USA Today newsletter explains: www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...

U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie called for American to ask their representatives if — as a Jeffrey Epstein victim put it — they “stand with the truth, or with the lies that have protected predators for decades." My USA Today column on how to contact your House member. www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

Wait…what if this has nothing to do with crime and is, instead, all about juicing the base to distraction while soaking them for a little more of their cash? #DistractionTactics

The thing to remember about U.S. Space Command headquarters being relocated from Colorado to Alabama is that nobody in U.S. Space Command has the authority to release the Epstein files. But Donald Trump does. And he hasn't released the files. And he's in them. #DistractionTactics

We just passed another of Donald Trump’s toothless deadlines for Russia to stop the war in Ukraine. There is bipartisan support in Congress to sanction Russia. Now is the time for Congress to force Trump to hold Russia accountable. My USA Today column: www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

"If Trump's massive budget bill was so terrific ‒ as Trump keeps claiming ‒ then why is it so despised?" writes columnist @bychrisbrennan.bsky.social. bit.ly/4lULpTj

RFK Jr looks like he’s been sampling the diseases at the CDC

Which Jeanine Pirro should we believe? The one who spread 2020 election disinformation on Fox News? The one who grudgingly acknowledged that Joe Biden was sworn in. Or the one who said 2020 was a "free and fair" election? My @USAToday newsletter explores: www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...

Donald Trump didn’t just criminalize the burning of American flags (because he can’t.) He issued an executive order about flag burning (which is rare until the government tries to ban it.) My USA Today column explains the law and his #distractiontactics. www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

Remember the 2015 "Jade Helm" panic, when hard-right politicians pushed bogus claims of a looming invasion of Texas and Obama military dictatorship? Turns out, they're cool with that now as long a Trump plays the part of generalissimo. My USA Today column. www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

JD Vance is accomplished at reinventing himself. But can he rebrand Donald Trump’s One Big Ugly Bill, while staying silent about permanent tax cuts for billionaires? That’s a heavy lift. And Vance doesn’t look up to it. My USA Today column: www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

"We can't grow numb to the notion that Trump consistently picks Putin over America," writes columnist @bychrisbrennan.bsky.social. bit.ly/4mTH3go

Donald Trump is now siccing the DOJ on DC Police statistics for contrasting with his narrative. Sounds familiar, right? For Trump, math is never about 1 + 1 = 2. He has always seen as a method for managing perceptions, as my USA Today newsletter explains: www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...