Mark Leibovich
Verified
As seen in:
The Atlantic,
MSN,
MSN Ireland,
MSN UK,
The New York Times,
The New York Times Magazine,
El País,
Post Outlook,
The Washington Post,
Yahoo Canada,
Yahoo News
and
Former NYT as of 1/1/22; The Atlantic, as of 4/1/22.
Author: Thank You For Your Servitude, Out 7/12
Also: This Town, Big Game, Citizens of the Green Room
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Articles by Mark Leibovich
ABCxJAI: The John Adams Fall 2026 Line-Up
by Sophie The John Adams Institute (JAI) in Amsterdam has another mouth-watering line-up of speakers this fall, and we are thrilled to be able to share them with you. Be prepared to have your minds broadened and engaged in matters political, social, and spiritual! The transatlantic alliance was built on a simple premise: shared power depends on shared trust. Today, both are under strain.
Alan Dershowitz Won’t Forget What Larry David Did to Him
Here it is, August on Martha’s Vineyard, and Alan Dershowitz has barely been heard from. Well, that’s not exactly true. He has been heard from on many topics—because Dershowitz is who he is, and pretty much anyone can join Substack, and TV bookers can be hard to resist. Still, he has said little publicly about the maddening injustice he’s faced in recent years: his annual summer shunning at the hands of the island’s liberal social gentry.
Anthony Fauci’s Washington
Meeting your heroes can be demoralizing. Reading more than 1,000 pages of their personal diary can be worse. Or, alternatively, totally riveting, at least in that rubbernecking-at-a-car-crash kind of way—the car crash, in this case, being one of most storied careers in the history of American science.
What the Fauci Diary Reveals About Washington
Anthony Fauci 10 hours ago Jordan Klepper Gawks at Anthony Fauci’s ‘Juicy’ Diary Entries: ‘You Butt Dialed the Barbra Streisand?’ TheWrap - Daren DeFrank • 10h Dr. Anthony Fauci’s diary was supposed to contain the goods. At least, that’s what “The Daily Show” host Jordan Klepper seemed to hope after Sen.
Lindsey Graham’s Last Laugh Original
Lindsey Graham always had a deep appreciation for earpieces, motorcades, and heavily secured environments. He recognized heady Washington status symbols when he saw them—including posthumous ones, such as big memorial services held in big important rooms, containing big important entourages. These were Graham’s kind of sanctums. And today was his kind of sendoff.
The Wingman
Mark Kelly’s résumé and the goodwill he’s accrued as Gabby Giffords’s spouse have granted him a high level of admiration. Can it translate to excitement for a presidential campaign? First published in The Atlantic on July 20, 2026. by Mark Leibovich, The Atlantic July 23, 2026 | reading time: 27 Min.
The Wingman
“My wife, Gabby, was shot in the head.” Obviously, I knew this. Senator Mark Kelly’s wife, the former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, was shot in the head and grievously wounded in a mass shooting outside a Tucson Safeway in 2011. It was one of the most notorious acts of political violence in America. In several recent conversations with Kelly, however, I was struck by how often and how bluntly he repeated these exact words.
The Wingman | Flipboard
3 hours ago Military fitness experts say the secretary of defense fails on form. Pete Hegseth wants us to watch him sweat. Videos of the secretary of defense in a T-shirt and shorts working out alongside military personnel have become a trademark of his tenure. He has been filmed running on Omaha Beach, …
What Lindsey Graham Wanted
Senator Lindsey Graham, who died unexpectedly last night, was a pivotal citizen of the Washington conversation. He loved being in the mix, slapping bipartisan backs off camera, and then, when the lights came on, cracking wise, weighing in, and, yes, currying favor with a certain Audience of One. What could be more fitting, then, for Graham—unable to be a participant on this fateful Sunday morning—to actually become the only thing better: the main topic of the news. He died as he lived.
California Democrats Avoided the Worst-Case Scenario
As with pretty much everything involving California governance, discerning the state’s election results can devolve into a big, unruly mess. To wit, Tuesday’s primary—particularly the free-for-all campaign for governor to succeed Gavin Newsom—remains too muddled to call, with millions of outstanding ballots likely yet to be counted. At minimum, though, we can speak with some preliminary clarity, let’s call it, on the contest.
Your Daily Phil: Koum makes landmark $200M donation to Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek hospital
Good Friday morning! In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we cover the Koum Foundation’s $200 million gift to Shaare Zedek, OneDay’s earthquake response partnership with the L.A. Federation, and Rabbi Mike Uram’s vision for Conservative Judaism’s “muscular middle.” We feature an opinion piece by Tara Brown reflecting on Jewish motherhood post-Oct.
Democrats Could Use a Cold Shower Before the Midterms
They have good reason to be optimistic. But they are sounding a bit too giddy. First published in The Atlantic on May 5, 2026.
Democrats Sound a Bit Too Giddy About the Midterms
The Democratic wilderness is starting to look awfully sunny. Gone, for the most part, are the blame-casting, hand-wringing, and paralysis-by-analysis that gripped the party after Donald Trump’s reelection. Same with the constant grousing about how the party is fractured, leaderless, locked out of power in Washington, and unloved across the country. Actually, that might all still be true. But you don’t hear about it as much. Democrats are too busy being giddy with anticipation for the midterms.
California’s Blue Armageddon
On a chilly Saturday late last month, I met Eric Swalwell at a Little League diamond near Capitol Hill, where the Bay Area congressman and his wife, Brittany, would be watching their 8-year-old son. Swalwell, who was running to succeed Gavin Newsom as the next governor of California, had been gradually rising above a Lilliputian cast of candidates and had acquired a strong scent of momentum in the race.
The California Governor’s Race Is a Debacle
On a chilly Saturday late last month, I met Eric Swalwell at a Little League diamond near Capitol Hill, where the Bay Area congressman and his wife, Brittany, would be watching their 8-year-old son. Swalwell, who was running to succeed Gavin Newsom as the next governor of California, had been gradually rising above a Lilliputian cast of candidates and had acquired a strong scent of momentum in the race. “Impeccable timing for you,” he’d texted me on my drive over.
California’s Blue Armageddon
Now We examine a surprising trend on the runways of Paris. I first started noticing the gray hair and laugh lines when I was sitting beside the Tom Ford catwalk in Paris last month, watching his collection parade by. You don’t normally see such signs of age at Fashion Week — or, to be honest, pretty …
The California Governor’s Race Is a Debacle
3 hours ago Fox News host Jimmy Failla discusses the dramatic fall of former congressman Eric Swalwell on ‘Fox News Saturday Night.’ #fox #media #breakingnews #us #usa #new #news #breaking #foxnews #foxnewssaturdaynight #jimmyfailla #ericswalwell #swalwell #politics #political #politicalnews #government #democrats #democraticparty #democrat #congress #scandal #fall #controversy #humor #analysis #america Don’t just watch Fox News—be part of it. Become a Fox News Patriot today.
A 79-Year-Old Freshman Senator?
“I’ll share my lipid profile with anybody!” Janet Mills, the governor of Maine, pledged to me. These are the kinds of assurances that candidates make when everyone keeps harping on their age. Mills, who is 78, is trying to dislodge Susan Collins, a spring chicken at 73, in Maine’s Senate race this fall. Unlike her Democratic primary opponent, the gun-loving ex-Marine turned oyster farmer Graham Platner, Mills does not have a dicey Reddit history or a recently covered-over Nazi tattoo.
Sherrod Brown Is Grinding It Out
Sherrod Brown can be hard to follow at times. He apologizes for his frequent rambles, parentheticals, and asides. “I don’t think that’s what you came to talk about,” the former and maybe future senator from Ohio told me after a brief soliloquy about how much he enjoys Diet Coke. And also about his efforts to cut back on his intake of Diet Coke. “It’s just, you know,” he wondered, “what’s in it, man?” “I’m trying not to drink that shit,” he affirmed.
El método de humillación de Trump
Cuando un proyecto presidencial importante sale mal —en este caso, agentes federales de inmigración matando a dos manifestantes en Minnesota—, alguien suele perder su trabajo. Y durante gran parte de la semana pasada, la deportación Contenido exclusivo para suscriptores Continúa leyendo con un 77% dto. OFERTA FLASH 18€/año solo 1,5€ al mes Suscríbete
The Democrats Aren’t Built for This
Listen1.0x 0:0055:51 Ken Martin has one of those resting dread faces, as if he’s bracing for someone to dump a bucket of rocks on his head. His nervous eyes make him look chronically unsettled—which is probably appropriate for someone trying to run the Democratic National Committee these days.
The Humiliation of Kristi Noem
When a conspicuous presidential project goes awry—in this case, federal immigration agents killing two protesters in Minnesota—someone typically loses their job. And for much of this week, Kristi Noem’s deportation from the Trump administration seemed imminent. Public confidence in the president’s handling of immigration has been plummeting.
The Humiliation of Kristi Noem
14 hours ago The arrest of independent journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort, in connection with an anti-ICE protest that interrupted a church service in Minnesota, is a test for the American people. Well, some of us. Many of us already didn’t like what we saw happening across the country. Many believed the …
Death in the Time of Trump Original
Here’s yet another indication that Washington has been turned upside down in recent years: I saw Rachel Maddow at Dick Cheney’s funeral and didn’t give it a second thought. She was sitting with Anthony Fauci, in the same row as James Carville. Such is life—and death—in the Trump years. You never know who will show up to pay respects at gatherings of this sort, or what odd alliances and strange bedfellows will reveal themselves. Who gets invited and who doesn’t?
Donald Trump Is a Lamer Duck Than Ever Original
For a president who wants to project vigor and command at all times, Donald Trump made the worst possible spectacle of himself in the Oval Office last Thursday. It came in the form of two images captured during a press event to announce cheaper weight-loss drugs. The first materialized when a participant fainted and several officials on hand rushed over.
Dick Cheney Didn’t Care What You Thought Original
Back when he was a House member from Wyoming, Dick Cheney was part of a congressional delegation that visited the Soviet Union in the 1980s. During a lull in the schedule, Cheney and his colleagues were sitting around trying to entertain themselves when one of their wives decided to administer personality tests. The results included professions for which the members would be well suited. Cheney’s ideal job? A funeral director.
J. B. Pritzker’s Dark Visions
Twenty-seven minutes with the latest governor Donald Trump wants arrested First published in The Atlantic on October 28, 2025. by Mark Leibovich, The Atlantic October 30, 2025 | reading time: 6 Min.
J. B. Pritzker Wishes for Precedented Times Original
Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker has said that he lives “rent-free” in Donald Trump’s head. He also lives part-time in the official governor’s mansion in Springfield. “It’s the largest governor’s mansion in the country,” Pritzker told me when I met him in Chicago late Friday afternoon. His wife, M. K. Pritzker, oversaw a major redecoration of the 16-room, Italian-style manor after her husband was first elected, in 2018. The governor raves about the job she did. But does it have a ballroom? I asked.
What Not to Fix About Baseball Original
To borrow a baseball term of art (okay, a cliché), Jane Leavy is an elite spitballer. No one is better built than Leavy, a crafty veteran sportswriter, for between-innings repartee, wry asides, and tossed-off ideas for improving her beloved sport—and maybe even keeping its ever-looming obsolescence at bay for another decade or three. Leavy’s suggestions for spicing up baseball reflect the essence of spitballing—a pastime within a pastime.
Not Everything Trump Does Is a ‘Distraction’ From Jeffrey Epstein Original
To hear Donald Trump’s critics tell it, all the disquieting news that the president has generated this summer—the FBI raid on former National Security Adviser John Bolton’s home, the National Guard deployment in cities, Trump’s attempt to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, his accusation that Barack Obama led a coup and committed “the crime of the century”—has been an effort to divert attention from the issue that truly terrifies Trump: the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Another Moderate Republican Opts Out Original
Ideally, this interview would have been over breakfast at a diner in Omaha, and the local congressman, Don Bacon, would have ordered his namesake. He says he eats bacon two or three times a week when he’s in Nebraska; he likes it extra crispy and, if possible, prepared at home. “If you ask me for my favorite bacon, it’s Angie Bacon,” he told me this week, referring to his wife of 41 years.
The Anniversary That Democrats Would Be Wise to Forget Original
Yesterday marked one year since Joe Biden’s debate meltdown against Donald Trump. Happy anniversary to those who observe such things, or are triggered by such things. Please celebrate responsibly. For Democrats, the debacle was a harsh awakening and the start of an ongoing spiral. Prior to that night, they could hold on to the delusion that the party might somehow eke out one last victory from Biden’s degraded capacity and ward off another four-year assault from Donald Trump.
Gavin Newsom on the Week That Changed Everything Original
This is the week that Gavin Newsom stopped thinking so much. The governor of California has found himself in a hot swirl of events: Federal authorities are patrolling streets, ICE agents are raiding Home Depots, and protests (most of them peaceful) are spreading across the state. President Donald Trump ordered the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles, very much against Newsom’s wishes. He also endorsed the idea of Newsom being arrested.
Where Is Barack Obama?
Last month, while Donald Trump was in the Middle East being gifted a $400 million luxury jet from Qatar, Barack Obama headed off on his own foreign excursion: a trip to Norway, in a much smaller and more tasteful jet, to visit the summer estate of his old friend King Harald V. Together, they would savor the genteel glories of Bygdøyveien in May. They chewed over global affairs and the freshest local salmon, which had been smoked on the premises and seasoned with herbs from the royal garden.
Where Is Barack Obama? Original
Last month, while Donald Trump was in the Middle East being gifted a $400 million luxury jet from Qatar, Barack Obama headed off on his own foreign excursion: a trip to Norway, in a much smaller and more tasteful jet, to visit the summer estate of his old friend King Harald V. Together, they would savor the genteel glories of Bygdøyveien in May. They chewed over global affairs and the freshest local salmon, which had been smoked on the premises and seasoned with herbs from the royal garden.
Where Is Barack Obama?
The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. Last month, while Donald Trump was in the Middle East being gifted a $400 million luxury jet from Qatar, Barack Obama headed off on his own foreign excursion: a trip to Norway, in a much smaller and more tasteful jet, to visit the summer estate of his old friend King Harald V.
Opinion: Biden’s age wasn’t a cover-up. It was observable fact.
Washington is abuzz these days, The Atlantichas learned. I love it when Washington is abuzz. Let’s jump right in. Why the buzzing? Because apparently, Joe Biden is still really old. Older than he was last summer, when Washington was even more abuzz about the 46th president being really old—and about whether he was fit to lead the country, run for reelection, beat Donald Trump, thwart fascism, etc.
Biden's Age Wasn't a Cover-Up. It Was Observable Fact
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The Story About Biden Getting Old Is Getting Old Original
Washington is abuzz these days, The Atlantic has learned. I love it when Washington is abuzz. Let’s jump right in. Why the buzzing? Because apparently, Joe Biden is still really old. Older than he was last summer, when Washington was even more abuzz about the 46th president being really old—and about whether he was fit to lead the country, run for reelection, beat Donald Trump, thwart fascism, etc.
Your Daily Phil: Grays’ anatomy of a $125 million donation to TAU
Recent Issues Good Friday morning. In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we interview Jonathan and Mindy Gray and their foundation’s CEO, Dana Zucker, about their $125 million donation to Tel Aviv University at the inauguration of the Gray Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, and report on the Adelson Family Foundation’s seven-figure donation to Bar-Ilan University.
Tim Walz Looks Into the Void Original
Tim Walz and I were sitting down for breakfast earlier this month at a Courtyard by Marriott in Independence, Ohio, just outside Cleveland. Walz, who was Kamala Harris’s running mate last year, is still the governor of a state that happens not to be Ohio—or West Virginia, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, or Texas, all of which he had visited recently. This was a bit curious, especially because it is not a presidential-election year.
Trump Says He Is Serious About a Third Term Original
President Donald Trump keeps getting asked about the possibility of seeking a third term in 2028. “Well, there are plans,” he recently told NBC’s Kristen Welker, who became the latest interviewer to raise the topic. She will almost certainly not be the last. This appears to be by design—Trump’s design. His answers always contain enough tantalizing ambiguity to keep people interested: What plans exactly? “There are—not plans,” Trump said to Welker, correcting himself, if not clarifying anything.
Democrats Have a Problem Original
Democrats have a problem: too many problems. Identifying the problems is not one of those problems. “Democrats have a trust problem,” suggests Representative Jason Crow of Colorado. “Democrats have a big narrative problem,” adds Representative Greg Casar of Texas. “Democrats have a vision problem,” says Representative Ro Khanna of California. In general, Democrats have a “Democrats have a problem” problem.
Five Minutes With Ringo Starr for The Atlantic
In the Flash is a reader-supported publication about intent and creativity in photography. To join the conversation I don’t like checking email when I’m high, but sometimes I space out and compulsively refresh my iPhone, hoping for something new and shiny. That’s how I clicked on an email from The Atlantic, which said, “Wondering if you might be free this Friday for a shoot in Nashville?
Ringo Starr Still Believes in Peace and Love
Listen1.0x 0:0033:54 Listen to more stories on hark Let’s start with something that I’m not proud of but feels important to disclose up front. Last spring, I was interviewing Ringo Starr at the Sunset Marquis hotel, in West Hollywood, when I committed an embarrassing breach of journalistic ethics: As we were wrapping up, I asked Starr if he would pose for a photo with me. “Or is that grossly unprofessional?” I asked, trying to come off as sheepish and apologetic. Starr smirked.
The World Still Needs Ringo Starr
1 day ago The stark monochrome sleeve and shit-tier recording quality of the Beatles’ most famous bootleg stands in for a whole era of the band’s history—their un-housebroken Hamburg years, when they wore jeans and leather jackets; when they ate, drank, smoked and swore onstage; when they were a band rather …
It’s Not Easy Being (Marjorie Taylor) Greene Original
Where have you gone, Elmo, Cookie Monster, and Big Bird? In a more innocent time, the hallowed puppets of Sesame Street were recurring characters in congressional debates about public broadcasting.
It’s Not Easy Being (Marjorie Taylor) Greene
The Georgia Republican edited her social media post but the gaffe lived on. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) drew mockery on Tuesday for accidentally doing one thing she claims to be furiously against. Namely, referring to the body of water that President Donald Trump has controversially decreed …
A Good Old-Fashioned Washington Scandal Original
But really, who among us hasn’t inadvertently shared secret plans about an imminent military strike on Yemen with the editor in chief of The Atlantic? Wait, what? Occasionally, Washington gets hit with one of those stories. The kind that halts the busy company town in its divided tracks. Everyone seems to unite, at least briefly, in disbelief. A single dominant topic comes along and crushes everything, and all the rest is suddenly beside the point.
A Rare Moment of Bipartisan Disbelief
20 hours ago Trump defence secretary Pete Hegseth breaks silence after Yemen war plans shared on group chat US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has accused The Atlantic's Editor-in-Chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, of “peddling hoaxes” after Trump’s national security team mistakenly included him in their group chat about Yemen’s ‘war plans.’ Hegseth described Goldberg as “deceitful” and a “so-called journalist” during his first Indo-Pacific trip as defence secretary in Hawaii.
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