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Benjamin Wallace-Wells

Benjamin Wallace-Wells began contributing to The New Yorker in 2006 and joined the magazine as a staff writer in 2015. He writes about American politics and society. He has previously written for New York magazine, the Times Magazine, and Rolling Stone. His work has been collected in “The Best American Political Writing,” among other anthologies, and he is a past fellow at the New America Foundation. He began his career as a metro reporter at the Philadelphia Inquirer and his work as a political writer at the Washington Monthly.

How Foreign Policy Became a Campaign Issue for 2024

This year, looking at Gaza and Ukraine, what happens in the rest of the world seems to matter a bit more than usual to Americans.

Can Joe Biden Fight from Behind in a Rematch Against Donald Trump?

As the general election is set to begin, there is a new protagonist in American politics: not the man seeking to take back the White House as retribution but its current, outwardly placid occupant.

Joe Biden’s Weird Perception Problem

For the President and his campaign staff, the problem is tactical. How can he pull this off? There is no shortage of advice.

Trump on the Trail and on Trial

Is it clever, or deluded, for Trump—who complained last week that he has been indicted more times than Al Capone—to see his trials as a political opportunity?

Donald Trump Coasts to Victory in the Iowa Republican Caucuses

About half of the state’s caucus-goers went for the former President, leaving his closest challengers—Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis—in a desperate race for a distant second place.

Did Nikki Haley Lose Her Nerve?

The former U.N. Ambassador has been gaining ground on Donald Trump. But, at the fifth Republican debate, she remained stuck in a race for second place.

How Trump Captured Iowa’s Religious Right

The state’s evangelical voters were once skeptical of the former President. Now they are among his strongest supporters.

Why Ron DeSantis Doesn’t Have a Prayer in Iowa

The Florida governor has won the backing of the state’s political establishment—and the electorate has always been skeptical of Trump. So what went wrong?

A Week of Good and Bad News for Joe Biden

Could it really be the case that voters want what the Democrats are offering, while recoiling from their President?

Nikki Haley Takes On the Scum at the Third Republican Debate

Donald Trump has dominated the primary season, but his former U.N. Ambassador is the best debater in the field—and she would probably be the G.O.P.’s most effective candidate against Joe Biden.

Why a State Department Official Lost Hope in Israel

For more than a decade, Josh Paul helped send American weapons overseas. After the Hamas attack, he resigned in protest of arming the Israeli response.

The Land of Trump and Gaetz

Last week, both men tested whether the MAGA movement can operate simply as an ongoing insurrection against whatever it is that its principals don’t like.

Biden, Trump, and What’s at Stake in the U.A.W. Strike

Both men went to Michigan last week, each trying, in his own way, to take advantage of something rare in Presidential politics—a genuinely radical point of view.

“Thank You for Speaking While I’m Interrupting”: The Crosstalk Chaos of the Second Republican Debate

The event, which was billed as a chance for Donald Trump’s rivals to change their fortunes, only reinforced the confusion and aimlessness of their candidacies.

Is Trump Just an Ordinary Republican Now?

The former President’s rhetoric during his recent trip to Iowa wasn’t any tamer, but he no longer sounds distinct from his G.O.P. rivals.

The Futility of the Never Trump Billionaires

Every party, at every time, has some tension between its élites and its base. But it’s hard to think of a more spectacular divide than the one currently defining the G.O.P.

How to Treat Right-Wing Violence in the U.S.

Does the far-right extremism of the Trump era represent an eternal pattern in American politics or a new one?

A Chaotic Display of Conservatism at the First Republican Debate

Donald Trump was absent, but the fissures he has opened in the G.O.P. took center stage.

In Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republicans Have Something New

The thirty-eight-year-old “anti-woke” polemicist and political novice has become one of Trump’s main rivals.

The Ron DeSantis Slump

The Florida governor once looked likely to defeat Donald Trump. Where did his campaign go wrong?

How Foreign Policy Became a Campaign Issue for 2024

This year, looking at Gaza and Ukraine, what happens in the rest of the world seems to matter a bit more than usual to Americans.

Can Joe Biden Fight from Behind in a Rematch Against Donald Trump?

As the general election is set to begin, there is a new protagonist in American politics: not the man seeking to take back the White House as retribution but its current, outwardly placid occupant.

Joe Biden’s Weird Perception Problem

For the President and his campaign staff, the problem is tactical. How can he pull this off? There is no shortage of advice.

Trump on the Trail and on Trial

Is it clever, or deluded, for Trump—who complained last week that he has been indicted more times than Al Capone—to see his trials as a political opportunity?

Donald Trump Coasts to Victory in the Iowa Republican Caucuses

About half of the state’s caucus-goers went for the former President, leaving his closest challengers—Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis—in a desperate race for a distant second place.

Did Nikki Haley Lose Her Nerve?

The former U.N. Ambassador has been gaining ground on Donald Trump. But, at the fifth Republican debate, she remained stuck in a race for second place.

How Trump Captured Iowa’s Religious Right

The state’s evangelical voters were once skeptical of the former President. Now they are among his strongest supporters.

Why Ron DeSantis Doesn’t Have a Prayer in Iowa

The Florida governor has won the backing of the state’s political establishment—and the electorate has always been skeptical of Trump. So what went wrong?

A Week of Good and Bad News for Joe Biden

Could it really be the case that voters want what the Democrats are offering, while recoiling from their President?

Nikki Haley Takes On the Scum at the Third Republican Debate

Donald Trump has dominated the primary season, but his former U.N. Ambassador is the best debater in the field—and she would probably be the G.O.P.’s most effective candidate against Joe Biden.

Why a State Department Official Lost Hope in Israel

For more than a decade, Josh Paul helped send American weapons overseas. After the Hamas attack, he resigned in protest of arming the Israeli response.

The Land of Trump and Gaetz

Last week, both men tested whether the MAGA movement can operate simply as an ongoing insurrection against whatever it is that its principals don’t like.

Biden, Trump, and What’s at Stake in the U.A.W. Strike

Both men went to Michigan last week, each trying, in his own way, to take advantage of something rare in Presidential politics—a genuinely radical point of view.

“Thank You for Speaking While I’m Interrupting”: The Crosstalk Chaos of the Second Republican Debate

The event, which was billed as a chance for Donald Trump’s rivals to change their fortunes, only reinforced the confusion and aimlessness of their candidacies.

Is Trump Just an Ordinary Republican Now?

The former President’s rhetoric during his recent trip to Iowa wasn’t any tamer, but he no longer sounds distinct from his G.O.P. rivals.

The Futility of the Never Trump Billionaires

Every party, at every time, has some tension between its élites and its base. But it’s hard to think of a more spectacular divide than the one currently defining the G.O.P.

How to Treat Right-Wing Violence in the U.S.

Does the far-right extremism of the Trump era represent an eternal pattern in American politics or a new one?

A Chaotic Display of Conservatism at the First Republican Debate

Donald Trump was absent, but the fissures he has opened in the G.O.P. took center stage.

In Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republicans Have Something New

The thirty-eight-year-old “anti-woke” polemicist and political novice has become one of Trump’s main rivals.

The Ron DeSantis Slump

The Florida governor once looked likely to defeat Donald Trump. Where did his campaign go wrong?