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May 14, 2026

Anna Rose Layden for The New York Times

Notable

A genius at ignoring Trump’s threats. “The case for the independence of central bankers in general, and Mr. Powell in particular, is not that they are always right. It is that they are willing to learn and change course.”

— Jason Furman, a contributing Opinion writer

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Don’t derail progress on preventing drug overdose deaths. “While those rules sound benign, in reality they will reduce access to the only treatments that are proven to cut the death rate from overdose by 50 percent or more.”

— Maia Szalavitz, a contributing Opinion writer

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Trump’s China policy has weakened America. “The biggest risk of this week’s summit is that Mr. Trump will trade short-term American gains, such as the exporting of more soybeans and other agricultural goods, for long-term Chinese advantages.”

— The editorial board

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Spotlight

Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times

He Votes With Republicans 91 Percent of the Time. Trump Still Wants Him Gone.

A politician with principles and quirks and an aversion to being told what to do.

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ICYMI

Hantavirus is a test. “Health officials around the world have proved terribly inept at even properly describing the risk of transmission, let alone containing it.”

— David Wallace-Wells, an Opinion writer

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Listen (or Watch)

The New York Times Interesting Times with Ross Douthat Why China Isn’t Worried A.I. Will Replace Its Workers The difference in perspectives between superpowers is shaping the race for A.I. dominance. 53 MIN LISTEN

More in Opinion

I Don’t Think You Can Even Call This Hypocrisy The secrets of one of the architects of the religious right are being revealed. One of the secrets is that they weren’t really secrets. By David French

The Conversation The Trump Dumpster Fire Is Lit When MAHA turns into HAHA. By Frank Bruni and Bret Stephens

The Opinions What Autocrats Have in Common With Abusers M. Gessen and Rachel Louise Snyder on the parallels between authoritarianism and domestic violence. 35 MIN LISTEN

letters The Controversy Over Graham Platner’s Tattoo and Posts Readers say David French’s critique of the likely Democratic candidate for the Senate in Maine was too harsh.

Guest Essay My Son Never Turned 7. Because of Choices in Washington, Others Won’t Either. More children will die because the Trump administration is cutting pediatric cancer research. By Zain Habboo

Jessica Grose Unfortunately, We Have to Take Spencer Pratt Seriously as a Politician Reality stars and influencers in government are here to stay. By Jessica Grose

In Your Words

Re “This Is Getting Dangerous”:

There was a time in our history when the Supreme Court understood that one of its most fundamental responsibilities was to protect voting rights, including from state-level legislative mischief. That time is long gone. This is indeed a dangerous situation. — A comment posted by Robert O. from St. Louis

Read more comments on the story here and check out our Letters to the Editor.

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