Conor Friedersdorf
@conor64
Omni-American, staff writer at The Atlantic, founding editor of The Best of Journalism–subscribe here: https://thebestofjournalism.substack.com/subscribe
Under the new deal, the people of the Philippines will get to enjoy all the products that America produces with zero tax added, while American consumers will have to bear the costs of a new tax on goods from the Philippines. Trump's blunder leaves us worse off than free trade.
🚨President Trump announces a trade deal has been reached with the Philippines.
uh this is a pretty big narrative violation? 83% of Americans support giving medicine to developing nations 78% support giving them food and clothing 63% support economic development 61% support strengthening democracy close enough, welcome back liberal internationalism
Catholic priests have been barred from providing religious services inside Florida's controversial new migrant detention facility — dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" — nearly three weeks after it opened deep in the Everglades, the archbishop of Miami said. bit.ly/3IFk8qd
This platform was never optimized for truth-seeking debate, but it's much worse than it was. People engaging across difference without ad hominem or whataboutism or other derailing tactics is more and more rare. How much interest would there be in an invite-only alternative?
If these warnings about impending famine in Gaza are accurate -- as best I can tell, they are, though I'm relying on news reports, not independent research -- the moral necessity of creating a place of refuge for Gazans who aren't in Hamas is glaring. theguardian.com/world/live/202…
Trump's disregard for the rule of law is flagrant and troubling.
Congress: “Ban TikTok if it’s not separated from the Chinese Communist Party.” Supreme Court, 9-0: “Yep, that’s the law.” Trump administration: “Best I can do is illegally delay its prohibition three times, repeatedly pretend a sale is imminent, and then nationalize it.”
An American in 1964 (when this photo was taken) could give their child this lifestyle on one income. What happened (to make us so much more materially prosperous)?

"At my direction." This isn't a master class. It's an illustration of why the Framers gave the tariff power to Congress.
I was with President Trump in the Oval tonight as he negotiated this historic deal! It was a master class! This deal with Japan will bring a $550 billion investment in America, hundreds of thousands of jobs, and a huge increase in trade between our two countries. @POTUS’s…
A good moment to appreciate the foresight of the Framers to carefully define treason so that pandering demagogues would have a difficult time weaponizing it against their political rivals.
Trump: “It's time to go after people. Obama's been caught directly…He's guilty. This was treason.”
I think many of you need to revise your expectations of what's in these files significantly downward, but even if there's nothing valuable in them, the deranging costs of ongoing secrecy have long since surpassed any conceivable benefit.
Breaking News: Speaker Mike Johnson said he would shut down the House until September to block a vote on calling for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. nyti.ms/4nZtblR
Hypothesis: a culture is best when it works through dissatisfaction with the opposite sex (a perennial human condition) through film, novels, and standup comedy, while the nonfiction turn toward personal essays and memoir is suboptimal.
It is awful to see innocents anywhere, and specifically in Gaza, Syria, Venezuela, China, the Congo, and beyond, suffer. We will never be able to vote to stop every sovereign nation's unjust violence, but we can vote to create a refuge for threatened innocents. And we should.
It’s worse than “Gaza is being starved and destroyed and no one cares.” It’s that hundreds of millions *do* care and are powerless to stop it. We need a world where that can never happen, where the masses actually have political power.
Just went outside and sat on the hood of my car, can confirm that this "lifestyle" is still possible on one income.
America in the 1970s Probably afforded this lifestyle on one income
I'm old enough to remember when Barack Obama gave a speech in front of pillars and Republicans mocked him for grandiosity and ego.
They came after the wrong man.
Which news outlets? Which scandals? Always so vague. So unfalsifiable.
I think it's quite possible that certain news outlets will simply close down rather than cover the emerging political scandals they existed to distract from, misrepresent etc
Transparency is good. We need much more of it from Trump, but credit where it's due, this should have been done years ago
Today, after nearly 60 years of questions surrounding the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we are releasing 230,000 MLK assassination files, available now at archives.gov/mlk. The documents include details about the FBI’s investigation into the assassination…
Stephen Colbert seems like a smart guy who lost interest in doing comedy. I think he should start a podcast where he does long, non-comedic interviews with interesting people.
Would you like to see see Stephen Colbert replace Bill Maher on HBO? Your thoughts?
I am curious too.
What's the state of Iran's nuclear program?
I love this genre of tweet that assumes *work itself* was somehow invented by capitalism. You do not want to be free from capitalism; you want to be independently wealthy!
You don’t hate Mondays.. you hate being exploited by capitalism
.@meghan_daum is a great interviewer. This should be interesting
Sept 3 in NYC, 6pm! Come see the inimitable Lionel Shriver and me at The Village Underground. Topics will include death, sex, real estate, dogs, incels, femcels, pronatalism, anti-natalism, human intelligence, and cultural stupidity. The full Catastrophe. eventbrite.com/e/meghan-daum-…