There Was Never a Master Plan
Trump backed down on tariffs. His supporters think that was the idea all along.
Charlie Warzel
Charlie Warzel is a staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of its newsletter Galaxy Brain, about technology, media, and big ideas. He can be reached via email. He is a co-author of Out of Office: The Big Problem and Bigger Promise of Working From Home. Previously he was a writer at large for The New York Times’ Opinion section and a senior writer at BuzzFeed News.
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Galaxy Brain
You live in interesting times. Galaxy Brain wants to help you navigate them. A newsletter by Charlie Warzel about technology, media, politics … and big ideas.
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Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Getty. Elon Musk Lost His Big Bet
Grievance politics can only carry him so far.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Getty; Scott Olson / Getty. The Gleeful Cruelty of the White House X Account
Welcome to the 4chan administration.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Getty. The Careless People Won
A controversial new book about Facebook serves as a field guide for the DOGE era.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Anna Moneymaker / Getty; Justin Sullivan / Getty. Elon Musk Looks Desperate
How to lose $148 billion in less than two months
Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Getty; Al Drago / Bloomberg / Getty. There Are No More Red Lines
Welcome to the Great Emboldening.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Getty. DOGE Has ‘God Mode’ Access to Government Data
The president’s special commission now has an unprecedented ability to view and manipulate information at many federal agencies.
Illustration by Paul Spella / The Atlantic. Source: Getty. The Government’s Computing Experts Say They Are Terrified
Four IT professionals lay out just how destructive Elon Musk’s incursion into the U.S. government could be.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Getty. The ‘Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly’ of the United States Government
Elon Musk’s bureaucratic coup is under way.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Getty. Did He Actually Do That?
Elon Musk either had a slipped-mask moment or is supremely awkward.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Angela Weiss / AFP / Getty.
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