Deadline Poet / September 8, 2026

Victory

Calvin Trillin
President Donald Trump mimics gunfire during an April press conference on the Iran War.
President Donald Trump mimics gunfire during an April press conference on the Iran War. (Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Iran has now been crushed, Trump says.
America has won that war.
He’s always on the winning side
If he’s the one who’s keeping score.

Calvin Trillin

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

More from The Nation

This November, Vote Like Alito Is on the Ballot

This November, Vote Like Alito Is on the Ballot This November, Vote Like Alito Is on the Ballot

In this week’s Elie v. U.S., our justice correspondent gives Democrats another reason to vote in November. Plus: How Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s Medicaid unmasked the racists.

Elie Mystal

Melania to the Rescue!

Melania to the Rescue! Melania to the Rescue!

Countdown.

Steve Brodner

Mike Huckabee delivers a press statement during his visit to the town of Turmus Ayya, northeast of Ramallah in the West Bank, Palestine, on September 5, 2026

Does America First Really Mean Israel First? Does America First Really Mean Israel First?

Mike Huckabee’s aide shows how an extremist agenda dominates Trump’s Middle East policy.

Jeet Heer

How Do You Sleep?

How Do You Sleep? How Do You Sleep?

Fossils.

OppArt / Jen Sorensen

Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, during a news conference at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, May 20, 2026.

Trump’s Die-Hards Are Taking Their Cultishness to New Lows Trump’s Die-Hards Are Taking Their Cultishness to New Lows

I’m finally starting to understand why Jim Jones’s lieutenants didn’t try to stop him.

Sasha Abramsky

Harlan Crow’s Portrait of SCOTUS Under Trump

Harlan Crow’s Portrait of SCOTUS Under Trump Harlan Crow’s Portrait of SCOTUS Under Trump

Clarence Thomas, the picture of corruption.

OppArt / Peter Kuper