Deadline Poet / December 16, 2025

A Happy Decision for Trump

Calvin Trillin
Gerrymandering
A demonstrator holds a sign during a Fair Maps rally outside the US Supreme Court Building, in Washington, DC, on March 26, 2019.(Brendan McDermid / Reuters)

Republicans in Texas look to gain
Five House seats by some drastic gerrymandering.
This latest nod from SCOTUS means that they
Can run five pols well-qualified in pandering.

Disobey authoritarians, support The Nation

Over the past year you’ve read Nation writers like Elie Mystal, Kaveh Akbar, John Nichols, Joan Walsh, Bryce Covert, Dave Zirin, Jeet Heer, Michael T. Klare, Katha Pollitt, Amy Littlefield, Gregg Gonsalves, and Sasha Abramsky take on the Trump family’s corruption, set the record straight about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s catastrophic Make America Healthy Again movement, survey the fallout and human cost of the DOGE wrecking ball, anticipate the Supreme Court’s dangerous antidemocratic rulings, and amplify successful tactics of resistance on the streets and in Congress.

We publish these stories because when members of our communities are being abducted, household debt is climbing, and AI data centers are causing water and electricity shortages, we have a duty as journalists to do all we can to inform the public.

In 2026, our aim is to do more than ever before—but we need your support to make that happen. 

Through December 31, a generous donor will match all donations up to $75,000. That means that your contribution will be doubled, dollar for dollar. If we hit the full match, we’ll be starting 2026 with $150,000 to invest in the stories that impact real people’s lives—the kinds of stories that billionaire-owned, corporate-backed outlets aren’t covering. 

With your support, our team will publish major stories that the president and his allies won’t want you to read. We’ll cover the emerging military-tech industrial complex and matters of war, peace, and surveillance, as well as the affordability crisis, hunger, housing, healthcare, the environment, attacks on reproductive rights, and much more. At the same time, we’ll imagine alternatives to Trumpian rule and uplift efforts to create a better world, here and now. 

While your gift has twice the impact, I’m asking you to support The Nation with a donation today. You’ll empower the journalists, editors, and fact-checkers best equipped to hold this authoritarian administration to account. 

I hope you won’t miss this moment—donate to The Nation today.

Onward,

Katrina vanden Heuvel 

Editor and publisher, The Nation

Calvin Trillin

Calvin Trillin is The Nation’s “deadline poet.”

More from The Nation

Screenshot of Good Morning America story on Donald Trump's Rob Reiner comments.

Trump’s Vile Rob Reiner Comments Show How Much He Has Debased His Office Trump’s Vile Rob Reiner Comments Show How Much He Has Debased His Office

Every day, Trump is saying and doing things that would get most elementary school children suspended.

Sasha Abramsky

Nick Fuentes and Tucker Carlson talk politics.

How the Groypers Hope to Remake Trump's GOP How the Groypers Hope to Remake Trump's GOP

The perilous politics behind the elevation of Nick Fuentes.

Column / John Ganz

Volunteers mount a campaign poster for Aftyn Behn on December 2, 2025, in Nashville, Tennessee.

From Aftyn to Zohran: A Road Map for Democratic Victory From Aftyn to Zohran: A Road Map for Democratic Victory

This year, progressive young Democrats sketched a path to meaningful wins in 2026. Is the party paying attention?

Katrina vanden Heuvel and John Nichols

Demonstrators at the Indiana Statehouse denounce the proposed mid-decade gerrymander promoted by the Trump administration.

Indiana’s Gerrymander Victory Won’t Save Us Indiana’s Gerrymander Victory Won’t Save Us

The Hoosier State’s Senate showed rare backbone in resisting the Trump White House’s demand for a mid-cycle gerrymander. But the Roberts court gets the final say.

David Daley

Blind to Brutality: The Palestinian Death Toll Surpasses 70,000

Blind to Brutality: The Palestinian Death Toll Surpasses 70,000 Blind to Brutality: The Palestinian Death Toll Surpasses 70,000

Over 70,525 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza; scholars estimate that 80 percent were civilians, largely women and children.

OppArt / Andrea Arroyo