The Potential Backlash to Trump Unbound
A returning president who expects to govern without constraints leaves his opponents hoping to benefit from the blowback.
Ronald Brownstein
Ronald Brownstein is a senior editor at The Atlantic and a senior political analyst for CNN. He is a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of presidential campaigns and the author or editor of seven books. His most recent book, Rock Me on the Water: 1974—The Year Los Angeles Transformed Music, Movies, Television and Politics, was a New York Times best seller. Previously, he served as Atlantic Media’s director of editorial partnerships and as the national political correspondent and a columnist for the Los Angeles Times. He is a winner of the American Political Science Association’s Carey McWilliams Award, its highest honor for lifetime achievement in journalism.
Latest
Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Spencer Platt / Getty; Getty. Trump Is About to Betray His Rural Supporters
Small-town America voted heavily in his favor—but the policies he’s pledged won’t reward that faith.
Jonno Rattman for The Atlantic Why They Lost
The Harris-campaign leadership believes that the Democrats narrowed the gap on Trump that Biden left—but not by enough.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Emily Elconin / Bloomberg /Getty; ZU_09 / Getty. The Democrats’ 2022 Error Message
Swing-state successes in the last midterms gave the party false optimism about 2024.
Illustration by Matteo Giuseppe Pani / The Atlantic. Sources: Chip Somodevilla / Getty; Anadolu / Getty; Getty. What Swayed Trump Voters Was Bidenomics
For millions of Americans, an unacceptable present weighed more heavily than an uncertain future.
Sara Stathas / The Washington Post / Getty How to Understand the Election Returns So Far
In the three crucial swing states, a large majority of voters were fiercely discontented.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Matt Champlin / Getty. The Democratic Theory of Winning With Less
This election will be decided not by another big popular vote but by the slenderest of margins in the Rust Belt battlegrounds.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Megan Varner / Getty; Getty. The Improbable Coalition That Is Harris’s Best Hope
The battleground state of Michigan reveals the Democrat’s most plausible path to winning the presidency.
Adam J. Dewey / Anadolu / Getty Harris’s Best Answer to Trump’s Resilient Appeal
The Democrat needs to remind voters about what they really didn’t like about his presidency.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Jeff Swensen / Getty; Adam Gray / Getty. Kamala Harris’s Muted Message on Mass Deportation
The Democrat’s sense of vulnerability on the immigration issue may explain why she’s been reticent about Trump’s drastic plan.
Rebecca Noble / AFP / Getty
