Discussions

Photo: Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg/Getty Images In many respects, the choice of Fox News personality Pete Hegseth to become secretary of Defense was Donald Trump’s most precedent-defying second-term Cabinet nomination given the enormous magnitude of the job, the nominee’s manifest lack of experience for it, and various concerns about his personal conduct, management capacities, and attitudes toward […]

Photo: Pat Benic/Bloomberg/Getty Images The state funeral for Jimmy Carter was attended by all five living presidents and their spouses — except Michelle Obama. Though CNN reported that the former First Lady missed the January 9 memorial due to a scheduling conflict, searches for “is Michelle Obama sick” spiked on Google. Thankfully, it does not

Photo: Doug Mills/The New York Times/Redux I don’t often talk publicly about my basketball career but here goes. In college, I led Rutgers University to three straight Final Fours, including a national title on a half-court buzzer beater to topple those preppies from Duke. I left a year early to go pro and proceeded to

Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images It’s do or die time for Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s embattled Defense Secretary pick. On Tuesday, the now GOP-led Senate Armed Services Committee holds its confirmation hearing for the former Fox News host, whose past conduct has emerged as a potentially disqualifying factor following allegations of sexual assault, financial mismanagement, possible

Photo: Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Getty Images If you pause from the horror of the California fire disaster consuming so many acres, buildings, and lives right now and think of the political fallout, the first likely victim is Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass, who was out of the country at a Ghanian presidential inauguration when the fires

Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photos: Getty Back in 2016, Democrats were widely appalled by Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks, whom they described as dangerous and “historically unqualified.” Now even a few of Trump’s Republican congressional allies are “stunned and disgusted” over his second-term Cabinet picks, with RFK Jr., and Pete Hegseth, and Tulsi Gabbard drawing the most outrage.

Photo: Craig Ruttle/Bloomberg/Getty Images When Donald Trump won his race to recapture the presidency, he also outran the law. His two federal indictments have since been dropped in recognition of constitutional obstacles; his state prosecution in Georgia is on ice. His long-delayed sentencing in his Manhattan criminal case was finally held last Friday and had

Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images It is the fate of most presidents to watch the inauguration of their replacements with rueful thoughts: in the words of King Lear, “They told me I was everything. ’Tis a lie.” As Joe Biden prepares to pass the torch to Donald Trump, I find myself reflecting on Biden’s own hand

Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty Images Lack of self-confidence is not a malady that ever afflicts Donald Trump, which is one reason his frequent missteps inspire so much pleasure among his critics and opponents. But you don’t have to like the president-elect to sympathize with him over the number and scope of questions he really needs to

Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo President Biden ordered American flags across the country to be flown at half-staff as part of a national mourning period following the death of former president Jimmy Carter in late December. But Donald Trump, who has already loudly criticized the order for interfering with his inauguration next week, is now visibly