Tangle

12 months ago, we laid the groundwork to evaluate President Donald Trump’s second term as objectively as possible. Our goal was to take a few objective metrics to judge a president’s success: Things like economic data, promises kept, and the sentiment of American citizens. Given how much analysis and opinion we engage with every day, we thought we could refer back to these benchmarks periodically...

On todays mega episode of Suspension of the Rules, Isaac, Ari and Kmele answer some of the biggest questions regarding the first year of Trump's presidency. What happened how you expected in year one of Trump? What surprised you? The biggest pros and the biggest cons? All these questions and more get answered by Isaac, Ari and Kmele in this episode. Last but not least, The Airing of Grievances sec...

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump  addressed a gathering of prominent global figures at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. The conference comes amid rising tensions between Europe and the United States over Trump’s efforts to acquire Greenland, and several world leaders gave critical remarks about the U.S. prior to the speech. However, later on Wednesday, Trump said that...

On Thursday, January 15, President Donald Trump  announced  several proposals to lower health insurance costs, which he called “The Great Healthcare Plan.” The healthcare-reform framework focuses on four broad initiatives: lowering drug prices, lowering insurance premiums, holding big insurance companies accountable, and maximizing price transparency. Although the White House has not ann...

In recent weeks, President Donald Trump has  escalated  his efforts to acquire Greenland, an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark that he says is vital to national interests. The president has not ruled out using military force to take control of the island, while also threatening to impose tariffs on European nations who oppose the move. Many leaders of member nations of the N...

One of my favorite things about Tangle is the process that happens before publication — the one our readers and listeners never get to see. I’ve been thinking a lot about this in recent months: How much debate, dialogue, and discussion goes into everything we publish. How much I learn from the conversations we have pre-publication. How desperately our country needs more of what I believe our staff...

On todays show Isaac, Ari and Kmele revisit the ICE shooting in Minneapolis, MN. Next they talk about whether or not Isaac/Trump have crossed the rubicon on the Jerome Powell investigation. They then have a discussion about the intra-party wars that are happening right now on the right. Last but not least, a very sweet The Airing of Grievances section. Ad-free podcasts are here! To listen to this...

Last week, President Donald Trump announced a pair of actions to address rising homeownership costs. On January 8, the president  directed  Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — government-sponsored mortgage-finance companies — to buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds to bring down mortgage rates. On January 7, Trump  said  he was “taking steps to ban large institutional investors fro...

During oral arguments on Tuesday, the Supreme Court  appeared likely  to uphold state laws banning anyone other than biological females from participating in women’s and girls’ sports. In  West Virginia v. B.P.J. ,  the mother of a transgender girl brought a challenge to a state law in West Virginia; in  Little v. Hecox , a transgender woman wishing to compete at the colle...

On Sunday, The New York Times  reported  that the U.S. attorney’s office in the District of Columbia has launched a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. The investigation reportedly focuses on Powell’s June 2025 congressional testimony about the central bank’s renovation of its Washington headquarters. Shortly after the first reports surfaced, Powell confir...

Since the start of his second term, President Donald Trump has prioritized the United States’s influence in the Western Hemisphere, often antagonizing nearby countries and seeking to increase control of critical resources. Last week, after the U.S.  captured and arrested  Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Trump and his top officials threatened Cuba, Colombia, and Mexico with similar m...

The mission of Tangle is to be a big-tent media organization — and one way we do that is by exposing people to a wide range of opinions.  In each edition, someone on our staff also writes “My take” as a way to share our own perspective on the day’s topic. Last year, our process began to evolve when I had my first child in January and spent a portion of the start of the year on paternity leave...

On todays show Isaac, Ari and Kmele talk about the breaking news in Minnesota with a fatal shooting by an ICE officer to a US citizen. They then have a discussion about the meaning behind all of Trump's tactical military successes and Venezuela. Next, they talk about the January 6th anniversary and last but not least, The Airing of Grievances. Ad-free podcasts are here! To listen to this podcast a...

On Wednesday, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer  shot and killed  a woman in her vehicle during an operation in a Minneapolis, Minnesota, neighborhood. Federal officials claimed that the woman was attempting to run over ICE agents, while local officials said the officer acted recklessly. The incident comes amid heightened tension in the city and state, which has become...

In late December, protesters in Tehran, Iran,  took to the streets  over rising costs and economic conditions in the country. Larger demonstrations erupted across Iran in the following days, with crowds gathering in major cities and provincial centers to protest economic conditions, government restrictions, and broader grievances with the country’s political system. Iranian authorities r...

On Monday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D)  announced  he is ending his reelection campaign for a third term. In his announcement, Walz cited the state’s ongoing fraud scandals as the basis for his decision, saying, “Every minute I spend defending my own political interests would be a minute I can’t spend defending the people of Minnesota against the criminals who prey on our generosity and...

Early Saturday morning, the United States military conducted air strikes in Venezuela and  carried out  an operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Shortly thereafter, the Department of Justice (DOJ)  announced  that Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, had been indicted in the Southern District of New York and charged with “Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Im...

Senior Editor Will Kaback interviews one of the worlds most traveled persons Chris Arnade of Chris Arnade Walks the World. His insights and perspectives of the world, politics, immigration, and class are especially unique and we dive deeper into all of it in this interview. For more information on Chris Arnade and his travels visit the link below: https://walkingtheworld.substack.com/ Ad-free podc...

Tangle Managing Editor Ari Weitzman chats with Laurie Styron, the executive director of CharityWatch.org, about the validity of different charities, what to look out for before you denote money to any charities, the good and the bad, and what charities should we keep an eye out for. This is a very important discussion to check out especially before you make your end of year donations. For more inf...

Senior Editor Will Kaback interviews Simon Bazelon about the state of our current politics and where it is headed, the kinds of issues that will resonate most with voters, and the kind of policy platforms that are going to be winning for political candidates moving forward. For more information on the Deciding to Win report that Simon Bazelon was the lead author on go to https://decidingtowin.org/...

On Thursday, December 25, President Donald Trump announced that the United States Africa Command  conducted strikes  on Islamic State (IS, or ISIS) targets in the state of Sokoto in northwestern Nigeria. According to a military official, a U.S. Navy ship in the Gulf of Guinea  fired  over a dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles, hitting insurgents in two IS camps. The strikes were con...

On Sunday, December 21, CBS  announced  that it was pulling a scheduled  60 Minutes  segment on the Venezuelan men deported to the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in El Salvador in March. CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss  decided  to delay the segment hours before it was set to air on the long-running television show, saying that it needed additional reporting...

Dear listeners, First and foremost, a programming note: The Tangle team will be off Wednesday through Friday, but we’ll be back in your inbox on Sunday and for a few days next week before the new year. I hope you all have a merry Christmas and happy holidays, and you get to enjoy some time off from the news (we’ll update you on everything you missed when we’re back, so feel free to take a break)....

On Friday, the Justice Department (DOJ)  released  a trove of files related to the government’s investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, including photographs, handwritten notes on his stationery, and evidence seized at his properties. The latest release is the most substantive disclosure of documents related to Epstein yet; however, lawmakers from both parties immediat...

So, today, I’m going to run it back and see how I do. As I did in 2021, I’m going to accompany each prediction with a one- to two-sentence explanation and a “confidence rating” (or “CR”), so you can see how strongly I hold the belief. The scale is 1 to 10, with 10 being maximum confidence and 1 being lowest confidence.  However, I’m not including any prediction that I don’t think has a higher...