'Even authoritarian regimes need a measure of public support — the consent of at least some of the governed'
'Opinion, comment and editorials of the day'


'Trump is behaving as if he has no opponents that matter'
Jamelle Bouie at The New York Times
In the "right-wing world," there is a "belief in the immateriality of popular political opposition to Trump — a sense that it is less the response of ordinary people with agency than it is a plot by outside agitators," says Jamelle Bouie. Trump has "never recognized the legitimacy of opposition against him," but to succeed in any conflict," a "skilled leader needs the ability to take a read of the land." His "refusal to recognize dissent may end up being his "fatal miscalculation."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
'Israel sees the truth as a threat to be eliminated'
Dave Zirin at The Nation
Oscar-winning documentarian Hamdan Ballal was recently thrown into jail. Basel Adra, his codirector on "No Other Land," told The Associated Press: "We came back from the Oscars and every day, there is an attack on us. This might be their revenge on us for making the movie. It feels like punishment." In an effort to "silence Ballal" and keep Palestinians from "speaking truth," Israel's "solution is to just kill the artists," says Dave Zirin.
'Intuition severed from science cannot solve the mental health crisis'
E.J. Dickson at The Cut
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. proposed opening "wellness farms" where "children addicted to drugs" or "taking prescribed psychiatric medications, like SSRIs and Adderall," could "detox," says E.J. Dickson. "The idea that health may be arrived at by a type of purity, by throwing away chemical compounds and healing ourselves with fresh air, has deep emotional appeal" — but "wellness farms, like so much else proposed in the second Trump administration," may easily become a "means of control."
'The only thing certain with the Trump administration is uncertainty, and Europe must plan accordingly'
Michael John Williams at Foreign Policy
There was once a "firm European belief in the steadfast commitment of Washington to the security of Europe," but "today, that no longer holds," says Michael John Williams. "Europe must act in accordance with this reality." Luckily, "plans for a European nuclear deterrent exist in the archives, and the European Union would do well to dust them off." Without America, Europe "finds itself unarmed in a dangerous, nuclear world."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Anya Jaremko-Greenwold has worked as a story editor at The Week since 2024. She previously worked at FLOOD Magazine, Woman's World, First for Women, DGO Magazine and BOMB Magazine. Anya's culture writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Jezebel, Vice and the Los Angeles Review of Books, among others.
-
Uruguay shaken by 'phantom cow' scam
Under the Radar Cattle seen as a safe investment in beef-mad nation – but the cows, and people's life savings, are nowhere to be found
-
Critics' choice: Steak houses that break from tradition
Feature Eight hours of slow-roasting prime rib, a 41-ounce steak, and a former Catholic school chapel turned steakhouse
-
Tash Aw's 6 favorite books about forbidden love
Feature The Malaysian novelist recommends works by James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, and more
-
Deportations: Miller's threat to the courts
Feature The Trump administration is considering suspending habeas corpus to speed up deportations without due process
-
Asylum: Only white Afrikaners need apply
Feature Trump welcomes white Afrikaner farmers while shutting down the asylum program for non-white refugees
-
Trump pauses all new foreign student visas
speed read The State Department has stopped scheduling interviews with those seeking student visas in preparation for scrutiny of applicants' social media
-
'The benefits of such a program go beyond just the data'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Law: The battle over birthright citizenship
Feature Trump shifts his focus to nationwide injunctions after federal judges block his attempt to end birthright citizenship
-
The threat to the NIH
Feature The Trump administration plans drastic cuts to medical research. What are the ramifications?
-
Courts try to check administration on deportations
Feature The Supreme Court will allow the Trump administration to end protected status for Venezuelans, but blocks deportations under the Alien Enemies Act
-
House GOP pushes ahead on deficit-boosting tax bill
Feature Republicans push a bill that will lock in Trump's tax cuts, cut Medicaid and add trillions to the national debt