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Jonah Goldberg Columns category

Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
Jonah Goldberg: The inescapable answer to America’s problems? Fix Congress
Pretty much on a daily basis now, I find myself muttering or shouting, “If only Congress wasn’t broken,” or something to that effect. I’m happy to acknowledge that our problems have many causes. Still, here’s my answer to the question “What is one thing you would do to solve —...
Goldberg: Is Kilmar Abrego Garcia a criminal? Great question.
Is Kilmar Abrego Garcia a good person? I don’t know. In 2021 his wife petitioned for, and received, an order of protection against him after she alleged domestic violence; she said last week that their marriage grew stronger after they worked through that low point and that Abrego Garcia “has...
Jonah Goldberg: What will Trump’s tariffs ‘liberate’ us from?
I am writing this from the last days of our captivity. Indeed, by the time some of you read this, we will be free. If all goes according to the White House’s plan, April 2 will go down in history as America’s “Liberation Day.” Steve Bannon, a prominent unofficial Trump...
Jonah Goldberg: Congress wants to impeach judges instead of doing its job
Some Republicans want U.S. District Judge James Boasberg removed from the bench for allegedly interfering with the president’s authority — under the Constitution and the 1798 Alien Enemies Act — to deport members of a Venezuelan gang. Texas Rep. Brandon Gill and several colleagues introduced articles of impeachment charging that...
Jonah Goldberg: Trump administration has a free-speech problem
I have to wonder: When will Vice President JD Vance condemn his own administration? Last month, Vance, a self-described foreign policy “realist” who scorns the practice of describing countries as “good guys” and “bad guys,” caused quite a stir at the Munich Security Conference in Germany. He invited controversy, however,...
Jonah Goldberg: Trump’s pace can’t go on forever
Whether you’re feeling queasy or euphoric, or even a bit of both, about the opening weeks of the second Trump presidency, my advice is to remember Stein’s Law. Richard Nixon’s former chief economic adviser, Herb Stein, declared: “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.” I’ve found this to...
Jonah Goldberg: Many will lie about the consequences of Trump’s tariffs. The markets won’t.
Thank God for the stock market. The market is one of the only things Donald Trump can be expected to listen to — likely more than polls and certainly more than his advisers — even when he doesn’t want to hear what it’s saying. During his first term, Trump routinely...
Jonah Goldberg: Party unity no easy feat with leader like Trump
Donald Trump has long complained that Democrats are better at sticking together than Republicans are. He’s already revisited this gripe. In meetings with Republican leaders from the House and Senate and with the House Freedom Caucus, he reportedly insisted that Republicans need to be unified the way Democrats are. Whether...
Jonah Goldberg: Donald Trump is president again. Did you feel the vibe shift?
As a second Trump administration dawns — or, for his opponents, descends — on America, an interesting and unusual discussion has emerged over the broader meaning of Trump’s victory. One thing that makes it unusual is there’s more consensus than disagreement about the fundamental point: There’s been a significant “vibe...
Jonah Goldberg: The U.S. should acquire Greenland (peacefully). But Trump saying so makes it harder.
Whether it was Will Rogers or Tony Soprano, the old advice of “buy land; God’s not making any more of it” is good real estate advice, but it’s hardly an iron law. First of all, God does make more land from time to time. And so do humans. This raises...
Jonah Goldberg: The ‘deep state’ and ‘the swamp’ are both favorite Trump targets. Here’s the difference.
Donald Trump has promised to do many things once he reoccupies the White House. Among the most famous, and most desired by his biggest fans, is his vow to “drain the swamp” and “demolish the deep state.” The first and arguably most important challenge for such a project is definitional....
Jonah Goldberg: This is the trouble with Elon Musk’s debut as a federal budget negotiator
In the wake of a successful effort to kill a year-end spending bill and replace is with more limited legislation to keep the government open, Elon Musk declared victory last week on X (formerly Twitter), the social media platform he owns: “Your actions turned a bill that weighed pounds into...
Jonah Goldberg: The US economy is doing very well. But don’t give too much credit to Biden — or Trump.
One of Donald Trump’s closing campaign arguments was that he would deliver a new “golden age” for America. This week, he announced that this Trump-powered golden age has already begun. That’s fitting insofar as Trump has rapidly eclipsed President Joe Biden in setting expectations and even an agenda for America...
Jonah Goldberg: Why the American media and their critics won’t stop telling the same lie
The American media has a bootleggers-and-Baptists problem. “Bootleggers and Baptists” is one of the most useful concepts in understanding how economic regulation works in the real world. Coined by economist Bruce Yandle, the term describes how groups that are ostensibly opposed to each other have a shared interest in maintaining...
Jonah Goldberg: What if most Americans aren’t bitterly divided?
Among elites across the ideological spectrum, there’s one point of unifying agreement: Americans are bitterly divided. What if that’s wrong? What if elites are the ones who are bitterly divided while most Americans are fairly unified? History rarely lines up perfectly with the calendar (the “’60s” didn’t really start until...
Jonah Goldberg: Victorious Republicans are once again falling for the mandate trap
In September, I wrote, “No matter who wins, the next president will declare that they have a ‘mandate’ to do something. And they will be wrong.” I was wrong in one sense. Now, I still think the idea of mandates is always conceptually flawed and often ridiculous. The only relevant...
Jonah Goldberg: Amid a combative election, party realignment continued apace
The term “realignment” gets used and abused a lot, because people have agreed to use it without agreeing on a definition. Traditionally, realignments are said to have occurred when majority and minority parties switch places. Starting in 1932, FDR pulled Blacks and working class and immigrant whites into the Democratic...
Jonah Goldberg: Donald Trump or Kamala Harris? Here’s how I’m going to vote in this election and why.
Contrary to what some newspaper owners think, this is the time for endorsements. Look elsewhere if that’s what you came here for. Instead, I’ll just focus on how I personally think about the election, starting with my vote. I’m not going to vote for either of them. But that doesn’t...
Jonah Goldberg: Here’s why the race between Trump and Harris looks so impossibly close
The political analyst Samuel Lubell introduced the concept of the sun and moon parties in 1951. The sun party is the majority party, and “it is within the majority party that the issues of any particular period are fought out; while the minority party shines in reflected radiance of the...
Jonah Goldberg: Here’s what Ta-Nehisi Coates got right about Israel and Palestinians
The writer Ta-Nehisi Coates has gotten far more attention than he deserves for his new book, “The Message,” which contains a blistering condemnation of Israel. The response from Israel’s defenders has been equally and deservedly blistering. The heart of their criticism is pretty simple: Coates doesn’t know what he’s talking...
Jonah Goldberg: Donald Trump seems to think he’s losing. Would the Republican Party survive his defeat?
If Donald Trump loses the election, to hear him and his campaign tell it, the fate of the Republican Party should be the least of our concerns: his defeat would spell the end of the nation itself and all that we hold dear. But let’s assume Trump and company are...
Jonah Goldberg: The strategy behind Trump’s increasingly dark and disturbing rhetoric
Last weekend, Donald Trump delivered what even he admitted was a “dark” speech. Beyond the usual nonsense about America ceasing to exist if he loses, he called immigrants here illegally “vile animals” and “monsters” who “will walk into your kitchen, they’ll cut your throat.” The supposed enemy of censorship said...
Jonah Goldberg: Why the next president — whether it’s Trump or Harris — won’t have a mandate
Let’s skip ahead to after the election. No matter who wins, the next president will declare that they have a “mandate” to do something. And they will be wrong. The whole canard that a newly elected president is for some reason entitled to have their way is an invention. The...
Jonah Goldberg: The rhetoric of Harris and Biden isn’t what’s sparking political violence. Here’s why.
Another unwell person sought to kill Donald Trump, according to the FBI and other officials. We should all be grateful that no one was hurt and that the Secret Service and local law enforcement appear to have done their jobs properly. I’m also grateful to former President Trump for assigning...
Jonah Goldberg: The problem with Liz Cheney’s endorsement of Harris
Of all the living Republicans who have run on a presidential ticket, only two are publicly backing Donald Trump: Sarah Palin, the 2008 vice presidential candidate, and JD Vance, Trump’s current running mate. Everyone else is going a different way. Trump’s two-time running mate and vice president, Mike Pence, is...


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