Political Wire

  • Front Page
  • Members
    • Subscribe
    • Sign In
  • Trending
  • Resources
    • Politics Extra
    • Political Job Hunt
    • Political Dictionary
    • Electoral Vote Map
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter
  • Contact Us
Members should sign in for the full experience.

D.C. Mayor Calls Trump’s Police Takeover ‘Unsettling’

August 11, 2025 at 6:04 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington, on Monday called President Trump’s announced takeover of the city’s police force ‘unsettling and unprecedented’ but appeared resigned to cooperate with it, stressing at a news conference that there was little she could do to block the move,” the New York Times reports.

“Ms. Bowser’s tone was strikingly diplomatic, an approach in keeping with the more muted posture she has adopted toward Mr. Trump during his second term, as compared to more fiery statements during his first term opposing similar threats to the city’s limited autonomy.”

The Guardian: “Red meat to throw to his base.”

DeSantis Says He’s Ready for Redistricting

August 11, 2025 at 6:01 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Gov. Ron DeSantis said he’s prepared to redraw Florida’s congressional districts – with or without new census numbers,” the Tallahassee Democrat reports.

Said DeSantis: “I don’t know how quick they can do it but if they did do it and came up with something in the next six months and they gave us a seat that would require us to redraw the lines.”

He added: “Short of that, we’re in a situation where we believe there’s defects in the current map … even if they don’t revise the current census, I think it is appropriate to be doing it.”

Harvard Nears Settlement with Trump

August 11, 2025 at 5:57 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Harvard University and the Trump administration are nearing a potentially landmark legal settlement that would see Harvard agree to spend $500 million in exchange for the restoration of billions of dollars in federal research funding,“ the New York Times reports.

“Negotiators for the White House and the university have made significant progress in their closed-door discussions over the past week, developing a framework for a settlement to end their monthslong battle.”

“The talks could still collapse, as President Trump and senior Harvard officials need to sign off on the terms of the deal.”


You're reading the free version of Political Wire

Upgrade to a paid membership to unlock full access. The process is quick and easy. You can even use Apple Pay.

    Upgrade Now

  • ✔ Become a member to get many great benefits -- exclusive analysis, a trending news page, a private podcast, no advertising and more!
  • ✔ If you're already a member, log in for the full experience.



This Isn’t About Crime

August 11, 2025 at 5:54 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Jonathan Chait: “Donald Trump is famously reluctant to commit troops abroad but salivates at the prospect of using them against Americans at home. That is the context in which one must understand his takeover of the Washington, D.C., police force; his deployment of the National Guard; and his threats to occupy other cities.”

“Trump claims that he is acting to quell a spike in violent crime. And although he might very well feel sincere concern about crime, this does not explain his actions any more than concern about fentanyl smuggling (which he no doubt also genuinely opposes) motivates his trade restrictions against Canada.”

“The most obvious reason for skepticism about Trump’s desire to fight crime is that he is the most pro-criminal president in American history.”

Trump Pulls Military Into Another Political Issue

August 11, 2025 at 5:50 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump’s decision to send at least 800 National Guard troops into the streets of Washington to fight crime is the latest example of how the president has used the military to advance domestic policy priorities,” the New York Times reports.

House GOP Backs Up Trump on D.C. Crime Push

August 11, 2025 at 4:19 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“House Republicans moved quickly Monday to follow President Donald Trump’s lead as he took unprecedented action to target Washington’s locally elected government — further heightening the GOP’s scrutiny of the capital city and its Democratic elected leaders,” Politico reports.

Summit of Stupidity

August 11, 2025 at 4:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Two Grumpy Old Men: “I basically suggested that Witkoff was underqualified. And possibly rather dim. That he simply does not grasp the goals and subterfuge of the former KGB agent residing in the Kremlin since 1999. That Trump’s golf and business buddy was being played. Just like his boss has been for the past seven months.”

“Some of my readers thought that was too harsh. It turned out that, if anything, I was being too nice.”

“Steve Witkoff and his boss have consistently displayed an impressive lack of knowledge of even the most basic tenets of international relations and the war in Ukraine.”

Trump’s Bid to Release Transcripts Was a Smokescreen

August 11, 2025 at 3:54 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A federal judge rejected a Justice Department request to unseal grand jury transcripts from the Ghislaine Maxwell case, saying they contain virtually nothing new about Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes.

In his ruling, Judge Paul Engelmayer said the Trump administration’s premise — that the Maxwell transcripts would shed meaningful light on Epstein’s network or the government’s investigation — was “demonstrably false.”

Join now to continue reading.

Members get exclusive analysis, bonus features and no advertising. Learn more.

If you’re already a member, sign in to your account.

Why the Far-Right Beats the Far-Left

August 11, 2025 at 3:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Garry Kasparov: “The far-right positions itself as trying to preserve or restore something, whether some racial-demographic balance or the nation’s bygone glory days. The far-left, by contrast, is seen as trying to disrupt, overthrow—a total departure from tradition.”

“Understood through this lens, we can see why people, against their better judgement, treat MAGA as a safe bet. The writing has been on the wall for years. In 2019, nearly half of all Americans said that the Democratic Party was moving too far to the left, while only 37% felt the Republicans had moved too far to the right (and Trump was two years into his first term at this point!).”

Trump Is Already Meddling in the Midterms

August 11, 2025 at 2:57 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Chris Brennan: “They’re building the machine now to meddle in the 2026 midterm elections 15 months from now.”

“And those machinations are built on two lessons learned from 2020: Attack the election with everything you have before it happens, and stock the Trump administration only with officials who will do exactly what he says on elections, no matter what the law says.”

Mamdani Campaigns Linking Cuomo to Trump

August 11, 2025 at 2:53 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, launched a tour Monday of the city’s five boroughs with a central message linking former Gov. Andrew Cuomo to President Donald Trump,” CNN reports.

Trump Says He’s Going to ‘Feel Out’ Putin at Meeting

August 11, 2025 at 2:49 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump said on Monday that he plans to use a Friday summit in Alaska to gauge whether Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to end his war on Ukraine — and said he’d been disappointed in the past in Putin’s actions,” NPR reports.

Said Trump: “This is really a feel-out meeting, a little bit.”

He predicted he would know “probably in the first two minutes” whether a deal would be possible.

Financial Times: How Trump can win in Alaska. 

Protesters Gather Near White House

August 11, 2025 at 2:47 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“About 150 people gathered a block north of the White House on Monday as President Trump laid out his plans to federalize the police force in Washington, D.C., protesting what they said was the president’s latest attempt to assert control over the city,” the New York Times reports.

USA Today: Trump warns protesters amid DC crime crack down: “You spit and we hit.”

Trump Extends China Tariff Truce for 90 Days

August 11, 2025 at 2:46 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Donald Trump is extending a tariff truce with China for another 90 days, stabilizing trade ties between the world’s two largest economies,” Bloomberg reports.

What Trump Gets Wrong About Putin

August 11, 2025 at 2:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Anne Applebaum: “This is not a war for territory. Putin doesn’t need another hundred square kilometers of Donetsk province. His goals are ideological. He wants to to destroy all of Ukraine, to make Ukraine part of a new Russian empire or sphere of influence and to use that victory to undermine NATO and the European Union.”

Mrs. MAHA

August 11, 2025 at 1:40 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Cheryl Hines told the Wall Street Journal she is standing by her husband, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: “We love each other and are still married and whatever we’ve been through is behind us.”

Trump’s Envoy Got It Wrong

August 11, 2025 at 1:25 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Bild: “Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is said to have completely misunderstood some of the Russians’ statements and misinterpreted them as a concession from Putin. He had misunderstood a ‘peaceful withdrawal’ of the Ukrainians from Kherson and Zaporizhzhia demanded by Russia as an offer of the ‘peaceful withdrawal’ of the Russians from these regions.”

Said a Ukrainian official: “Witkoff doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

Daily Beast: Trump envoy’s embarrassing gaffe could blow back on president.

Trump’s Gift to Putin

August 11, 2025 at 1:22 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Heather Cox Richardson: “Putin generally cannot travel outside Russia because he has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, including the theft of Ukrainian children. And yet Trump is welcoming him to the United States of America.”

“This welcome gives Putin the huge gift of letting him touch down on U.S. soil after he invaded Ukraine in defiance of the policy established after World War II to prevent another such devastating war. In 1945 the United Nations charter declared that ‘all Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.’ The United States was the key guarantor of this principle until Trump took office.”

John Bolton: “This is not quite as bad, as Trump inviting the Taliban to Camp David to talk about the peace negotiations in Afghanistan, but it certainly reminds one of that. The only better place for Putin than Alaska would be if the summit were being held in Moscow.”

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • …
  • 8057
  • Next Page »

Get Smarter About Politics

Members get exclusive analysis, a trending news page, the Trial Balloon podcast, bonus newsletters and no advertising. Learn more.

Subscribe

Your Account

Sign in

Latest for Members

  • Trump’s Bid to Release Transcripts Was a Smokescreen
  • Can Trump Really Take Over D.C.?
  • Weekly News Quiz
  • The Great Crime Paradox
  • Powermandering

About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

Praise for Political Wire

“There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them.”

— Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press”

“Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all.”

— Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report

“Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”

— Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report

“The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom — nicely packaged, constantly updated… What political junkie could ask for more?”

— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia

“Political Wire is a great, great site.”

— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”

“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”

— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post

“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”

— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit

“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”

— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.

Copyright © 2025 · Goddard Media LLC | Privacy Policy | Corrections Policy

Political Wire ® is a registered trademark of Goddard Media LLC