The Week Magazine May 16, 2025

Donald Trump is far from the first president to ask the American people to make painful sacrifices in a time of crisis. In 1942, five months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Franklin D. Roosevelt called on the nation to embrace a package of tough economic measures needed to secure victory in World War II. This patriotic program of “self-denial,” he explained, would require business owners to accept profits “cut down to a reasonably low level by taxation,” workers to “forgo higher wages,” and everyone to go without “things that we want, things, however, which are not absolutely essential.” Other leaders would follow this template of shared sacrifice. At the height of the Cold War, John F. Kennedy urged Americans to “ask not what your country can do…

What happened Negotiators from the U.S. and China were set this week to hold the first high-level talks aimed at lowering trade war tensions, as both sides began to feel the pain of punishingly high tariffs. In the month since President Trump imposed 145 percent tariffs on Chinese imports—and Beijing retaliated with 125 percent levies on American goods—U.S.-bound freight from China has plunged 60 percent, said Ryan Petersen, CEO of Flexport, a global-logistics firm. In China, export orders have sunk to their lowest point since 2022, according to Chinese government surveys. As U.S. retailers sell off their current imported inventory, much of which was stockpiled before the tariffs took effect, consumers will begin to see “price hikes” and “empty shelves,” said Petersen. If the current tariffs hold, thousands of…

■ After partnering with Formula 1 to make toy-size cars, Lego wondered if it could build a real car, too. Over 22,000 hours of work, designers set 10 plastic bodies made of 400,000 bricks each atop steel-frame chassis equipped with electric motors. The fleet, running at a maximum speed of 13 miles per hour, completed the F1 prerace parade at the Miami International Autodrome last week. Unlike regular Formula 1 cars, the Lego machines were built with tandem seats, so both drivers on each F1 team could ride together. ■ When Laura Coleman-Day’s husband grew sick after a stem cell transplant for leukemia, she prepared to run a marathon to raise money for a stem cell donor-matching charity. But after her husband died, Coleman-Day came up with a new…

What happened Israel announced a major escalation of its war in Gaza this week, approving a plan to reoccupy the territory and relocate most of the 2 million Palestinians who live there. The Israel Defense Forces began calling up tens of thousands of reservists for the offensive, which is set to start next week—after President Trump visits Saudi Arabia—unless a deal is reached with Hamas to release the remaining 24 living hostages. The plan calls for the IDF to set up “sterile zones” to confine the Gaza population while the military combs the territory for Hamas fighters and demolishes their tunnels. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the occupation would last indefinitely. “Gaza will be totally destroyed,” said Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and its people “will leave in great…

What happened House Republicans this week voiced doubt they could pass a massive domestic policy bill before Memorial Day, as GOP moderates and fiscal hawks clashed over spending cuts, safety net program overhauls, and tax reforms. Republican lawmakers settled on measures that would increase national security spending by $350 billion but have found themselves at loggerheads on offsetting cuts. A House committee agreed to raise money through oil and gas leases and public land sales. But House Speaker Mike Johnson retreated from a plan to reduce federal Medicaid payments after a dozen moderates rebelled. Blue-state representatives also insisted on lifting the cap on deductions for state and local taxes. GOP lawmakers haggled over how to fit in President Trump’s promises to extend the 2017 tax cuts and introduce tax…

There may not be much under the tree for America’s children this Christmas, said Chris Cillizza in his Substack newsletter, but “Donald Trump just handed Democrats a huge gift.” In last week’s televised Cabinet meeting, the president shrugged off concerns that his trade war with China could lead to higher prices and empty shelves. “Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, you know?” he told reporters. “And maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more.” Not since Dr. Seuss’ Grinch has a strangely hued public figure been so upbeat about the prospect of children going without toys. And with millions of average Americans “already struggling to meet their basic needs,” it would be “campaign malpractice” for Democrats not to run this…