4 h. ago Trump and his media buddies are taking the muddling of reality to a whole new level | Arwa Mahdawi

How scared should we be by Trump’s heavily edited appearance on a US news programme this weekend, and Elon Musk’s Grokipedia?You know how I’m going to be able to tell that I’ve really made it as a writer in America? When our very handsome (much better-looking than Zohran Mamdani!) and very high-IQ leader Donald Trump gives me a personal shoutout to commend me on what a wonderful job I’m doing. As we all know, a good journalist should always make the rich and powerful feel comfortable.While I wait for that day to come, I’m watching and learning from the head honchos at CBS. Trump appeared on CBS News’s 60 Minutes on Sunday night for his first sit-down with the show in five years and commented on how much better the network has become after its owner, Paramount, was taken over by his billionaire allies, the father-and-son duo Larry and David Ellison. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago Katie Miller is threatening the citizenship of a critic | Arwa Mahdawi

Threatening to deport your critics, even those with US citizenship, seems to have become Maga policySome couples bond over shared hobbies; others over shared values. The Maga bigwigs Stephen and Katie Miller, on the other hand, appear to have connected over their shared love of terrorizing immigrant children.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago Trump’s third term? Don’t laugh. He’s never let the rules stop him before | Arwa Mahdawi

He has floated the idea more than once – and his inner circle is already gaming it out. The US constitution might say no, but Trump has a habit of finding his way around even the biggest obstaclesLet me tell you a secret about the US constitution: it’s just a piece of paper. It’s not immutable law created by a higher being. It was made by men, it’s been amended by men, and it can be destroyed by men. It’s only as strong as the institutions that uphold it – institutions which Donald Trump has been systematically weakening as he expands his executive power.I say this because there are still lots of people who have faith that the constitution can stop the US from gradually turning into an electoral autocracy like Hungary. There are still people so drunk on American exceptionalism that they think it’s ludicrous to believe Trump might seek a third term, because such a move is explicitly outlawed by the 22nd amendment of the constitution. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Why is Trump demolishing the White House's East Wing? Because he wants to | Arwa Mahdawi

The president’s mega-project raises a lot of questions – including when he’s planning on leavingDonald Trump has quite the passion for American history. If there’s a controversial statue commemorating a dead white supremacist out there, there’s a good chance the president has gone to bat for it.“Sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments,” Trump tweeted in 2017, in response to a push to remove Confederate monuments. “You can’t change history, but you can learn from it. Robert E Lee, Stonewall Jackson – who’s next, Washington, Jefferson? So foolish!” Trump added.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago A congressman’s ex got a protective order against him. His boss has little to say about it | Arwa Mahdawi

This isn’t the first time Cory Mills has faced allegations of misconduct – but the House speaker wants to talk about ‘serious’ thingsMeet Cory Mills, a Republican congressman representing Florida. He is rabidly anti-abortion, incredibly anti-immigration, and obsequiously pro-Trump. Earlier this year, perhaps in a desperate bid to get Dear Leader to notice him, he introduced a bill, dubbed the “DON-ument Act”, which would make the wall on the US-Mexico border a national monument.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Economics

2 w. ago We are told the ‘war’ against Gaza is finally ‘over’. Is it? | Arwa Mahdawi

I am not celebrating the end of the ‘war’ because this was not a war – and it’s not over, eitherThank you, Donald Trump. Thank you, Benjamin Netanyahu. Thank you, Jared Kushner. Let’s all pause, shall we, and have a moment of appreciation for these three wise men who have finally brought peace to the Middle East. Blessed are the peacemakers!And, of course, thank you to the Israeli military which, as a US taxpayer, I have done my part to help fund. To echo Kushner: “Instead of replicating the barbarism of the enemy, [Israel] chose to be exceptional.” Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Where do babies come from? Robert F Kennedy Jr doesn’t seem to know | Arwa Mahdawi

Science tells us that foetuses develop in the uterus, rather than the placenta – but the US health secretary has a different take. Why are Republicans so clueless about women’s bodies?Robert F Kennedy Jr is the father of six children. He’s also the US health secretary. Two facts that might lead a reasonable person to assume he possesses a basic understanding of how foetuses develop.In a shocking development, however, it seems that Kennedy – an anti-vaxxer who says his brain was partly eaten by a parasitic worm – may not know what he’s talking about. During a cabinet meeting last Thursday, Kennedy reasserted unproven claims that taking the common painkiller acetaminophen, also known as Tylenol or paracetamol, while pregnant causes autism. Doubters of this theory, he said, were motivated by Trump derangement syndrome. To underscore his point, he referenced a TikTok video he’d seen of a pregnant woman “gobbling Tylenol with her baby in her placenta”. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Good news: men have stopped disrupting women’s sport with dildos. Bad news: now they’re betting on their periods | Arwa Mahdawi

Speculating on basketball players’ menstrual cycles is creepy and intrusive. In other words, it’s just what you’d expect when women must be punished for standing outForget the bald eagle or the Statue of Liberty – the best symbol of modern America may well be a neon green dildo. Women’s basketball fans will know exactly what I’m talking about. On 29 July, a brightly coloured sex toy was thrown on to the court during the final minutes of play in a WNBA game between the Golden State Valkyries and the Atlanta Dream. In the weeks that followed, more neon dildos were flung at female basketball players, with at least six WNBA games disrupted.The culprits were reportedly members of a cryptocurrency group trying to boost a memecoin called Green Dildo Coin. It was all very 2025: brainrot stunts, get-rich-quick schemes and memeified misogyny. And, of course, the Trump family joined in. Donald Trump Jr, who fancies himself an edgelord, posted a crude picture of his dad throwing a green dildo o...

Politics

3 w. ago Why is this Fox News host speculating about AOC’s sex life? | Arwa Mahdawi

Even his colleague has dubbed Jesse Watters’s claim about Ocasio-Cortez and Stephen Miller ‘creepy’Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy and United States homeland security adviser, is one of the most influential people in the Trump administration. He is also such a hate-filled little man that members of his own family are publicly rebuking him.During Donald Trump’s first term, in 2018, Miller’s uncle, Dr David Glosser, wrote a piece for Politico calling Miller an “immigration hypocrite”. Glosser noted that if Miller’s hardline immigration policies “had been in force a century ago, our family [Jewish refugees who fled to the US from Europe to avoid persecution] would have been wiped out”.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Taylor Swift's ode to Travis Kelce is cringe – but is it worse than these other terrible lyrics?| Arwa Mahdawi

The singer-songwriter has proved herself a modern-day Shagspeare with Wood, a paean to the penis. When it comes to shocking lyrics, though, it faces strong competition ...Shall I compare thee to a redwood tree? Thou art more sappy and more decadent. Rough winds do shake OK, enough of that. I apologise for the cod Shakespeare but I just couldn’t help myself. Taylor Swift mania is at fever pitch and I have found myself swept up in the chatter about the lyrics from her new album, The Life of a Showgirl.Swift has routinely been described as a lyrical genius, and not just by 11-year-olds. Sir Jonathan Bate, a Shakespeare scholar, once called her a “literary giant” and used her work as a teaching aid. On her latest album the billionaire liberally sprinkles in plenty of Shakespeare references, but what’s really got people talking are the (supposed) allusions to fiance Travis Kelce’s “magic wand”. If you’re not interested in a blow-by-blow account of the magic, I’d advise you to do a vanish...

Events