On Monday morning America’s most prominent beneficiary of socialized medicine, in the process of receiving expensive, taxpayer-financed care at a government-run hospital, was tweeting furiously. One of President Trump’s manic missives particularly caught the eyes of health care experts: his exhortation to “PROTECT PREEXISTING CONDITIONS. VOTE!” As always, it’s not clear whether Trump is merely […]

Here’s what you need to know at the end of the day. By Victoria Shannon and Judith Levitt (Want to get this newsletter in your inbox? Here’s the sign-up.) Good evening. Here’s the latest. 1. President Trump to Americans: “Don’t be afraid of Covid.” Mr. Trump announced that he would leave the hospital this evening […]

To the Editor: Re “Troubling Facts From Physicians Undercut Trump” (front page, Oct. 5): Perhaps no event better demonstrates and exemplifies President Trump’s personality and character than his drive-by outside Walter Reed hospital on Sunday. This was a brazen, wanton act of disregard for the health or even life of others for an action that […]

AUBURN, Ala. — Since August, I’ve been in charge of Senator Doug Jones’s campaign sign delivery for greater Lee County, which is in the eastern part of Alabama. I receive a list of people who have requested signs from the senator’s headquarters, in Birmingham. I then spend a lot of time on Google spreadsheets and […]

It is a basic instinct of infectious diseases clinicians and researchers to seek and prescribe prophylactics or treatments that are almost guaranteed to benefit the patients who entrust us with their care. With Covid-19, this instinct can be counterproductive. The new coronavirus travels through populations too quickly and unpredictably for us to wait to tackle […]

Much of the commentary on the fresh revelations about President Trump’s tax returns has focused on how they illustrate the vulnerability of the federal tax system to exploitation by the ultrarich. This is for good reason: Mr. Trump aggressively used a set of tax breaks popular with real estate developers to pay no taxes in […]

BALASHIKHA, Russia — Take any of the many highways out of the Russian capital and you can dissect the country’s strata like rings on a tree. Sentinel apartment towers replace the bustling illuminated center, then the belt of auto dealerships and box stores drifts by. Gradually, the landscape becomes sparse, with villages and towns sporadically […]

WASHINGTON — Fate leads the willing, Seneca said, while the unwilling get dragged. For his entire life, Donald Trump has stayed one step ahead of disaster, plying his gift for holding reality at bay. He conjured his own threadbare reality, about success, about virility, about imbroglios with women, even about the height of Trump Tower. […]

“With malice toward none; with charity for all.” President Trump, who has tested positive for the coronavirus, might dwell on Lincoln’s words in his second inaugural address. Trump has some time for reflection now. In that spirit of compassion, I wish the president and the first lady a rapid recovery. Of course, Trump has ruled […]

Last week, just two short days before Donald Trump tested positive for the coronavirus, several of my colleagues wrote a story about the early days of the pandemic, and the strong global public health consensus at the time that open borders and free movement of peoples should not be suspended, even in the face of […]