Opinion Today: The cost of Trump’s revenge campaign
Here’s what we’re focusing on.
Opinion Today
May 20, 2026
Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press

Notable

Trump is destroying his party. “Aggressive loyalty purges harm our democracy — a warning that the targeted lawmakers sought to drive home in their campaigns.”

— Michelle Cottle, Opinion writer

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The truth about E. Jean Carroll. “I had a gut instinct that she was a voice in the wake of the #MeToo movement that we needed to hear.”

— Ivy Meeropol, maker of the documentary “Ask E. Jean”

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Hatred of Israel and the degradation of the West. “Good-faith criticism of Israeli leaders and policy has for years been giving way to something darker. It’s a hyperbolic and often conspiratorial hatred of the country.”

— Bret Stephens, Opinion columnist

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Spotlight

People climbing on the rock formations near Deep Springs.
Walker Harris

This Is Where Elite Schools Went Wrong

‘We are beginning to see that a nation of individuals unconstrained by virtue or a sense of communal responsibility has few ways out of collapsing social trust — and the political and economic problems that creates.’

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ICYMI

How I lost a religion. “Sports fandom is a place where I’m the failure, the weak link in the chain of intergenerational transmission, the Christmas-and-Easter churchgoer watching his kids grow up without much grounding in the faith.”

— Ross Douthat, Opinion columnist

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Listen (or Watch)

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The Opinions

Which Has Better Taste: A.I. or Humans?

Why Silicon Valley is obsessed with taste.

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More in Opinion

An illustration shows a person walking in front of a colorful false front of the skyline. In the background, the skyline is grey.

Guest Essay

I’m the Foreign Minister of Sweden. Don’t Overestimate Russia.

We can’t afford to underestimate Russia’s strength and its ability to harm Ukraine and NATO allies, but we must not overestimate it either.

By Maria Malmer Stenergard

A blurred image of Republican congressmen standing and looking off camera.

Thomas L. Friedman

Where Are the Republicans Who Put America First?

The “Trump First” wing of the G.O.P. is in ascendance. The rest of the party needs to fight back.

By Thomas L. Friedman

Stephen Colbert in a dark suit, seen from behind waving to an audience that is giving him a standing ovation on the set of the “The Late Show.”

letters

Lamenting the End of Colbert’s ‘Late Show’

Readers will miss Stephen Colbert’s “joy, wit, nonsense and sanity,” in the words of one writer. Also: President Trump’s fund; Kash Patel’s snorkeling trip; Meta’s retort.

In Your Words

Re: “The Generation That Grew Up With A.I. Hates It

I hope Gen Z can take their collective agreement on AI to organize and pressure our politicians for legislation and regulation. Big tech is railroading the American people and it will take organization to regulate this beast. — A comment by Laura C from New York

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

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