Linda Feldmann
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Washington bureau chief, White House/politics correspondent at Christian Science Monitor. Host of the Monitor Breakfast. feldmannl@csps.com
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Articles by Linda Feldmann
Why Lindsey Graham’s sister isn’t a lock to hold on to his Senate seat
Just a month ago, Darline Graham was a private citizen, with a career in vocational training for disabled people. Today, she’s the junior United States senator from South Carolina, a political newcomer appointed to serve the remaining months of the term of her late brother, Lindsey Graham. And she’s running for a full six-year term in her own right.
War and peace: Ukraine’s ambassador in Washington joins our table
The timing Thursday could not have been better for our first – and likely last – Monitor event with the outgoing Ukrainian ambassador to the United States, Olga Stefanishyna. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had just met with President Donald Trump in the White House two days earlier, after attending the memorial service for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham.
America’s debt is skyrocketing. Why isn’t Congress doing anything about it?
“A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you’re talking real money.” That famous quote, once attributed to the late Republican Sen. Everett Dirksen in the mid-20th century, is of unknown origin. But when it comes to Congress and spending, the point still holds. The United States government is shoveling money out the door at a breathtaking pace, well beyond the nation’s means – with a budget of $7.4 trillion for fiscal year 2026 against expected revenue of just $5.6 trillion.
With Graham’s death, Trump loses a key ally in Congress
At a time of deep polarization and dysfunction in Washington, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham had rare abilities – to work across the aisle, to foster agreement on key issues, and, maybe most important, to serve as a liaison between a closely divided Senate and a mercurial president. No one else in Congress had the kind of relationship with President Donald Trump that Senator Graham had.
On July 4 eve, Reflecting Pool holds a cloudy mirror to a polarized America
As I approach the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, the barrier to an up-close view of its now-infamous, algae-infested water is readily apparent. A chain-link fence lines the pool’s perimeter, with eight National Guardsmen clustered near one corner. On the fence, a sign conveys an alarming message: “Danger: Explosives.” That’s in anticipation of the July 4 fireworks, a guardsman explains, some of which will be set off near the Reflecting Pool.
Rise of the democratic socialists – and what it means for just-plain Democrats
Zohran Mamdani scored a hat trick Tuesday when all three of the democratic socialist mayor’s protégés in New York beat “normie” Democrats in their House primaries. In two cases, respected incumbents – including the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus – went down. Cue the freakout by some establishment Democrats, who worry the party is being co-opted by a mirror-image, far-left version of the old tea party movement on the right, which then morphed into MAGA.
Remembering John Yemma, Monitor editor during critical transition
In his early days at The Christian Science Monitor, John Yemma was recognized as a skilled reporter, writer, editor, and thinker. But it was in his 2008 return to the Monitor as the top editor, after 20 years at The Boston Globe, that he made his biggest mark on journalism. Mr. Yemma, who died on June 10, took the bold step in 2009 of ending the daily print Monitor and shifting to a web-first strategy, with a weekly print magazine.
In Trump’s second term, financial gain has become a defining feature
On matters of personal and family money, President Donald Trump appears to be playing by a different rulebook from other presidents – and even from his own first term in office. By his own admission, he feels little pressure to restrict family business dealings simply because of his role in government. A tide of actions reflects the trend: Investors have pumped vast sums into Trump family members’ business interests.
Trump extends his grip on GOP in defeat of Kentucky’s Massie
Rep. Thomas Massie knew from the start of the 119th Congress that his independent streak could cost him his seat. But the Kentucky Republican persisted. He voted against the tax cuts and spending increases in President Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill.” He teamed up with a prominent Democrat to push for release of the Epstein files. He opposed the war in Iran.
How Marco Rubio morphed his way into Trump’s inner circle
As a United States senator from Florida, Marco Rubio was a high-profile “neocon” – a hawk on China and Russia, a strong supporter of Taiwan, Ukraine, and NATO, and an advocate for free trade and human rights. Today, not so much – at least on those issues.
How the White House ballroom became emblematic of the Trump presidency
“We need the ballroom” for the White House, President Donald Trump asserted to reporters late on April 25, less than two hours after a gunman tried to storm a hotel ballroom where the president was about to speak. “That’s why Secret Service, that’s why the military are demanding it,” he said from the White House briefing room, following an alleged assassination attempt at the Washington Hilton.
Abortion clash heats up at a politically fraught moment
America’s struggle over abortion rights has come roaring back – right as crucial midterm elections are ramping up. Nearly four years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that guaranteed a nationwide right to the procedure, a federal appeals court has upended the abortion landscape once more by blocking access to a common approach to abortion: medication sent in the mail.
After the gunfire: Moments of grace at White House correspondents’ dinner
This was not a drill. At 8:34 p.m. Saturday night, in the cavernous ballroom at the Washington Hilton, I heard a loud crashing noise, like a big tray of dinner plates hitting the floor. Then shouts of “get down” and “shots fired,” as the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner descended into mayhem. Secret Service and other security personnel stormed the room, at times jumping across table tops to make their way through the densely packed hall.
In Trump’s war with Iran, ‘The Art of the Deal’ cuts two ways
In “The Art of the Deal,” the 1987 bestseller published under Donald Trump’s name, maximizing leverage was touted as a top negotiating tool. Today, Iran looks to be operating from its own version of the same manual amid on-again, off-again negotiations with the Trump administration, aimed at ending a nearly eight-week war. President Trump appears eager to end the war and turn his attention to domestic matters, with his job approval sinking and fall midterm elections fast approaching.
Beyond Jesus memes: Trump’s Christian supporters also fret about abortion, inflation
President Donald Trump has never had an easy relationship with Christian conservatives. The thrice-married real estate developer and former reality TV star is widely seen as not particularly religious – and not all that engaged on issues near to social conservatives’ hearts, starting with abortion. Lately, however, tensions that were once smoothed over by a common political agenda have flared out into the open.
With dire threats against Iran, Trump finds new ways to up the rhetorical ante
“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday morning. “I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.” The president’s latest threat against Iran, issued on social media, hit like a rhetorical bomb, as his 8 p.m. Eastern time deadline was looming for a deal with the Iranian regime to open the Strait of Hormuz oil lane.
From a ballroom to the dollar bill, Trump is making his mark on history
Long before he became president, Donald Trump had a history of putting his name on things – hotels, casinos, golf courses, bottled water. Now, 14 months into Mr. Trump’s second term, his penchant for self-promotion appears to know no bounds, as his name is being affixed to entities big and small, from the Trump-Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to the enormous White House ballroom under construction to a 24-karat gold commemorative coin bearing his image to be issued by the U.S. Mint.
Insider trading? Why well-timed market plays are raising alarms in Washington.
Reports of big payouts from market trades that appeared to foresee major actions by the Trump administration – potentially with insider information – are becoming increasingly common. Last week, the oil futures market saw a spike in trades about 15 minutes before President Donald Trump announced a pause in plans to attack Iranian power plants. The unidentified trader or traders had placed more than $500 million in trades, according to calculations by the Financial Times.
MAGA crackup? Influencers pan Iran war, but base backs Trump – for now.
16 hours ago Two leading democracy watchdog organizations are releasing studies this week that evaluate the state of American democracy after President Trump's first year. AILSA CHANG, HOST: With the midterms less than seven months away, what is the state of American democracy? Well, major reports out this month …
MAGA crackup? Influencers pan Iran war, but base backs Trump – for now.
For a hot minute, it appeared that President Donald Trump’s bold decision to go to war with Iran would fracture his MAGA base. Outside criticism was immediately fierce, as movement influencers, including Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, and Candace Owens, made clear their opposition in the name of “America First.” This week, top Trump counterterrorism official Joe Kent resigned over the war and is now under investigation by the FBI.
Iran endgame tests Trump’s govern-by-instinct style
President Donald Trump has long described his decisionmaking style as relying on gut and instinct rather than lengthy deliberation with aides and experts.
As Clinton testifies on Epstein, his legacy is already diminished
To Democrats and even some grudging Republicans, former President Bill Clinton was once the gold standard of political practice – folksy, shrewd, charismatic. His famous campaign line, “I feel your pain” – first uttered in a testy town-hall exchange in 1992 – came to epitomize his ability to empathize with voters.
Trump portrays a “winning” America: Will that translate into GOP midterm votes?
President Donald Trump emphasized domestic issues – starting with the economy and immigration – in a State of the Union address that cast America as successfully recovering from a series of crises and approaching its 250th anniversary stronger than ever. The impetus Tuesday night was clear: November’s midterm elections loom large, with President Trump’s Republican Party in serious danger of losing its slim majority in the House of Representatives and possibly even the Senate.
Democratic governors take on Trump - with an eye to 2028
“See you in court.” Those words, uttered a year ago at the White House, captured the tension in the air as the nation’s governors met with the newly reinstalled president, Donald Trump. At that moment, Maine’s Democratic governor was pushing back on the president’s threat to withhold federal funds for child nutrition due to her state’s defense of transgender athletes. Eventually, the Trump administration and Maine settled in court, and funding was restored.
Is Trump’s Teflon fading? Amid slumping polls, the president faces new pushback.
One year ago, President Donald Trump seemed like an unstoppable juggernaut, radically upending both Washington and the international order, as he aggressively bent both opponents and allies to his will. But there are gravitational forces in politics that it seems even President Trump can’t overcome. His job approval ratings – which were above 50% a year ago – have slid steadily downward, now hovering in the low 40s.
What’s a ‘Yinzer’? Our reporters’ roundtable with Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Reporters packed the room Thursday for a Monitor Breakfast event with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. And there were plenty of national issues to discuss – immigration raids, political violence, rising antisemitism. But when a reporter introduced herself as having “Pittsburgh roots,” Governor Shapiro couldn’t resist going local. “Great, another Yinzer!” he said, using Pittsburgh slang for a city resident. “Are you still a Steelers fan?” Yes, she assured him.
Rahm Emanuel for president? A Monitor event with Chicago’s former mayor.
Standing in the lobby of the St. Regis hotel, about to head into a Monitor event with reporters this week, I warned Rahm Emanuel that the C-SPAN lapel mics we were both now wearing could be “hot” – that is, switched on. I was thinking, in particular, about the prominent Democrat’s penchant for salty language. He knew exactly what I was alluding to. “Don’t worry,” Mr. Emanuel said.
In second term, Trump takes boundary-pushing to the world stage
President Donald Trump is taking his boundary-pushing modus operandi on domestic affairs and applying it to the world stage. Be it Venezuela, Iran, or even, potentially, Greenland, the president is showing a new willingness to invade or attack other countries, while running roughshod over long-standing agreements and partnerships, in a way that has put the entire world on notice.
In one year, Trump has shaken up everything. With what effect?
“Move fast and break things” – the Silicon Valley mantra – aptly describes the whirlwind start to President Donald Trump’s second term. The president hit the ground running last January, issuing a flurry of executive orders, including pardons for most Jan. 6 defendants and the launch of the Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk’s effort to slash the federal government. One year on, Mr. Musk is long gone, as is DOGE.
Trump’s foray into Venezuela carries political risk at home
The slogans are emphatic: “No forever wars” and “America First.” President Donald Trump promised both in his 2024 campaign, and they remain core tenets for the MAGA base that fueled his election and continues to empower him. But his dramatic Jan. 3 invasion of Venezuela and capture of President Nicolás Maduro, who appeared in court on Monday in New York on charges of narco-terrorism, pushes those promises into new territory.
My year covering the historic start of Trump 2.0
After 38 years as a journalist in Washington, 23 of them on the White House beat, I thought I had seen it all. That includes covering the first term of President Donald Trump, whose specialty is thinking – and going – outside the lines. But this past year has felt truly unprecedented. For me, it started on Christmas Eve 2024, when I made the first of two visits to the D.C. jail. Outside, I spoke with participants holding a nightly vigil for those convicted in the Jan.
As inflation weighs on voters, Trump is paying a high price, too
It is a political challenge as tough as any in the modern era: inflation. This week, President Donald Trump may have made the issue even more challenging for himself and his Republican Party as they gear up for next fall’s midterm congressional elections.
How Trump’s use of pardon power is breaking the mold
Rep. Henry Cuellar apparently didn’t follow the playbook. Last week, President Donald Trump, a Republican, sent ripples across Capitol Hill when he unexpectedly pardoned the conservative Texas Democrat and his wife, who were indicted in 2024 on corruption charges. Some observers speculated that a party switch – which could boost Republicans’ chances of holding on to their slim House majority – might be in the offing.
As Trump’s power has risen, so has his wealth - all in plain sight
When President Donald Trump pardoned billionaire Changpeng Zhao on Oct. 21, controversy surrounding the cryptocurrency mogul’s ties with the Trump family had already been swirling for months. Mr. Zhao, founder and former chief executive of Binance – the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange – had served four months in prison in 2024, after pleading guilty to violating U.S. regulations against money laundering.
Ballroom build begins: It’s not just norms Trump’s bulldozing in Washington
The images are arresting. Where a portion of the stately East Wing of the White House once stood, there’s now a demolition site – complete with construction equipment and debris, the side of the building completely torn off. In its place, if all goes according to plan, will arise the 90,000-square-foot, $250 million ballroom that President Donald Trump announced in July, a grand event space that will dwarf the existing 55,000-square-foot executive mansion.
‘Lawfare’ hits new levels, as Trump pursues those who pursued him
On Day 1 of his second term, President Donald Trump signed an executive order called “Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government.” Among its provisions, the order instructed both the U.S. attorney general and director of national intelligence to review the activities of their agencies and recommend “appropriate remedial actions.” Ever since, President Trump has used the vast power at his disposal to go after people and institutions he says have done him wrong.
Trump really wants a Nobel Peace Prize. His prospects may be rising.
President Donald Trump has reached the mountaintop of global political power – twice – but another quest still looms: the Nobel Peace Prize. The president has been openly campaigning for the prize, which will be announced this Friday, since his first term. Nominated multiple times by supporters (the official list of nominees, which typically runs in the hundreds, is not released), President Trump recently said it would be “an insult” to the country should he fail to win.
With Comey indictment, Trump shatters norms of U.S. justice system
“I am your retribution,” Donald Trump declared in 2023 as he campaigned to regain the presidency. Now, with the federal criminal indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, President Trump has taken his biggest step yet toward fulfilling that pledge. In the process, he has struck a major blow to the decades-old post-Watergate norms aimed at preventing U.S. presidents from intervening in Justice Department matters.
Jimmy Kimmel is back on air - but the free speech battle isn’t over
Jimmy Kimmel is back – mostly. The comedian returned to late-night TV on Tuesday after a six-day suspension by Disney, the corporate owner of ABC, over comments he made about the man who allegedly shot conservative activist Charlie Kirk two weeks ago. In his opening monologue, Mr. Kimmel discussed the controversy around his remarks, in which he had suggested, without evidence, that Mr. Kirk’s accused killer came from within the MAGA movement. He didn’t apologize.
Kirk memorial blends religious revival with partisan politics
Even before it started, the memorial service for slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk was being described as a blend of state funeral, religious revival, and MAGA mega-rally, with top-level security reflective of the times. On Sunday, the reality bore that out.
In Trump’s DC safety crackdown, conflict and compromise play out in tandem
The images are stark: Onlookers yelling “Go home, fascists,” as local and federal officers patrol the streets of Washington, D.C. People banging pots and pans at 8 each night as residents protest the added federal police presence.
A big, beautiful ballroom? Trump puts his imprint on the White House.
Whenever I take visitors on a tour of the White House press room, the reaction is invariably the same: “It’s so small!” As seen on TV, the space can appear grand. But in real life, it’s pretty cramped. With just 49 seats, briefings are often standing-room-only. Additional reporters squeeze in along the edges, waving furiously to get the press secretary’s attention. Other spaces at the White House also seem smaller than life.
Trump claims economic wins, as tariff policy defies naysayers - for now
President Donald Trump’s self-image has long been wrapped up in “winning” – be it TV ratings, business, politics, or on the world stage. On Wednesday, he got news that fit the narrative: strong economic growth numbers for the second quarter of 2025, coming in at an annual rate of 3%. In President Trump’s telling, it put the lie to all the naysayers who predicted tariffs would do damage to the economy, spark inflation, and harm the Americans who can least afford it.
Inside Democrats’ plans for retaking the House
It may feel early to be talking about next year’s midterm elections, but the battle is well underway. And the stakes are sky high. If President Donald Trump’s Republicans lose either the House or Senate – or both – that will present a major roadblock to his agenda for the rest of his time in office. Enter Rep. Suzan DelBene, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, or DCCC, who joined 25 reporters at a Monitor Breakfast on Wednesday.
Our breakfast with Trump budget mastermind Russ Vought
I asked Russ Vought a deceptively simple question at this week’s Monitor Breakfast: “Are you now effectively the head of DOGE?” The White House budget director bristled at the suggestion that, in his drive to slash the size of government, he’s become the new Elon Musk, the multibillionaire who ran the Department of Government Efficiency at the start of Trump 2.0. “No, I’m not,” Mr. Vought said.
Americans say they want a third party. Musk may find it a tricky liftoff.
“Ad Astra Per Aspera,” Elon Musk posted Saturday on X. That’s Latin for “To the stars through hardships,” an apt motto for many of the multibillionaire’s endeavors – be it the Grok chatbot that made headlines last week for spewing anti-Semitism to his whirlwind role in the opening act of Trump 2.0 to his SpaceX rockets that have both failed and succeeded spectacularly.
Trump attacked Iran. Should Congress have had a say?
The United States’ deep involvement in the 12-day-old Israel-Iran war, which may not be over despite a declared ceasefire, has reignited an age-old clash between Congress and the president: Who has the power to launch a U.S. military offensive – if not outright war – against another country? The debate became especially charged this past weekend, when the U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear facilities in support of its ally, Israel, without advance authorization from Congress.
Trump bombs Iran despite MAGA warnings
In his election campaign last year, President Donald Trump ran as a peacemaker, promising to “end the endless foreign wars.” Now he has opted for war, joining Israel’s conflict with Iran. U.S. bombers attacked three of the nation’s key nuclear facilities overnight. President Trump, it turns out, is more of a traditional “peace through strength” Republican than the “America First” isolationist many in his MAGA base had hoped or even assumed he would be.
As Trump weighs bombing Iran, Steve Bannon has his ear
Steve Bannon is a talker. All you have to do is tee up an issue he wants to discuss, and the former chief strategist for President Donald Trump will talk your ear off. Mr. Bannon – a big-time MAGA influencer and podcaster – was the featured guest at a Monitor Breakfast this week, and he did not disappoint. Mr. Bannon held forth on the Israel-Iran conflict over the latter’s nuclear program, and his view that the United States should not intervene directly.
End of a bromance: Why the Musk-Trump partnership blew up
One week ago, Elon Musk was standing in the Oval Office, receiving a large gold key from President Donald Trump. It was Mr. Musk’s last day as a “special government employee,” and he was being lauded for his work aimed at slashing “waste, fraud, and abuse” as head of the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
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