Yair Rosenberg

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

I recommend reading the whole thread, not just the first post, as it addresses exactly this question!

Harry Enten tweet: Trump's right: his endorsements are gold in GOP primaries. He's like a Ruth or Brady for the GOP. Most people he endorses wins, & even most challengers win vs. incumbents. No wonder: Trump has the highest own party approval of any 21st century prez at this point in term 2.

CNN's Harry Enten: "Trump has the highest own-party approval of any 21st century prez at this point in term 2." Remember this the next time someone tries to sell you the zombie narrative that "MAGA is abandoning Trump."

The Real Reason Trump Went to War Trump has called for sending American forces to Iran since 1980. He finally has, and must own the consequences.

"Believing that Trump was somehow a 'peace president' devoted to American restraint, as some credulous commentators claimed, required ignoring everything he’d said before he was president and everything he’d done after he became president."

ME IN JANUARY: Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon are not pro-Trump, do not represent him or his base, and are in fact seeking to supplant him and reshape the party in their own image.
TRUMP TODAY: "Tucker Carlson has lost his way" and "he's not MAGA."

Maybe now the rest of the discourse can catch up!

As I write in the piece, there is a difference between Trump's coalition and his base. What has actually been happening is that Trump (largely through the bad economy) has been alienating low propensity swing voters from his coalition, but his MAGA base and Republicans in general remain with him.

@joshuaholland.bsky.social It's a thread! bsky.app/profile/yair...

The Biggest Myth About Trump’s Base (And Why Many Believe It) The MAGA faithful aren’t deserting their leader.

Operation Midnight Hammer. Venezuela. Now Epic Fury. Again and again, stories claim that MAGA is mad with Trump for betraying America First principles. Again and again, polls show that nope, they're not. I wrote about this myth and why it won't die here (gift link):

"As a point of reference, 5 polls are out on Operation Epic Fury. On average, 72.2% of Republicans approve of Trump's action, and only 14.4% disapprove. The rest are unsure/have no opinion."

For those asking, the same support holds true for Republicans overall. But that number goes UP for MAGA Republicans in particular, which is the opposite of the narrative you hear about MAGA people supposedly being the ones mad at Trump for betraying America First principles.

Should the U.S. have taken military action against Iran? (Among MAGA) 🟢 Yes: 90% 🔴 No: 5% NBC poll | 2/27-3/3

Every single time:
1. Trump does something hawkish on foreign affairs
2. Breathless stories are written about MAGA being mad and schisming, quoting the same three people (Tucker, Bannon, Greene)
3. Polls show that MAGA Republicans support Trump's move 160%-3%

In 1980, NBC interviewed a young Trump about the ongoing Iran hostage crisis. He did not hold back. “That this country sits back and allows a country such as Iran to hold our hostages, to my way of thinking, is a horror, and I don’t think they’d do it with other countries,” he said. When the interviewer asked if that meant “you’re advocating that we should have gone in there with troops,” Trump replied, “I absolutely feel that, yes,” adding that had America done so, “I think right now we’d be an oil-rich nation.” (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently said that he had dreamed of being able to “smite the terror regime” in Iran for 40 years; it turns out Trump had him beat.) In 1987, the Times reported that Trump declared in a New Hampshire speech that “the United States should attack Iran and seize some of its oil fields in retaliation for what he called Iran’s bullying of America.” In 1988, Trump told The Guardian that “I’d be harsh on Iran. They’ve been beating us psychologically, making us look a bunch of fools.”

I don't think many people realize that Trump has been talking about Iran like this since 1980: www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

The Real Reason Trump Went to War Trump has called for sending American forces to Iran since 1980. He finally has, and must own the consequences.

The Trump administration's shifting justifications for war are a smoke screen that obscures the obvious. "The real impetus for such action was Trump’s imperial approach to American power, which was decades in the making." Gift link:

Other points of note:
- Analysis of a phenomenon ≠ approval
- People and political actors who are extreme or radical can become more extreme or radical (see: American politics over the last decade, Trump I vs Trump II)
- There is a difference between covert and overt conflict in geopolitics

Was away for a bit, see that some on here decided to outrage farm about a tweet I didn't write for an article of mine they didn't read or link. Since that seems to be the preferred mode of consumption, here are a few other headlines! Always do the reading; don't let the engagement farmers con you.

The Real Reason Trump Went to War Trump has called for sending American forces to Iran since 1980. He finally has, and must own the consequences.

“Believing that Trump was somehow a ‘peace president’ devoted to American restraint, as some credulous commentators claimed, required ignoring everything he’d said before he was president and everything he’d done after he became president.”

www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

In 1980, NBC interviewed a young Trump about the ongoing Iran hostage crisis. He did not hold back. “That this country sits back and allows a country such as Iran to hold our hostages, to my way of thinking, is a horror, and I don’t think they’d do it with other countries,” he said. When the interviewer asked if that meant “you’re advocating that we should have gone in there with troops,” Trump replied, “I absolutely feel that, yes,” adding that had America done so, “I think right now we’d be an oil-rich nation.” (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently said that he had dreamed of being able to “smite the terror regime” in Iran for 40 years; it turns out Trump had him beat.) In 1987, the Times reported that Trump declared in a New Hampshire speech that “the United States should attack Iran and seize some of its oil fields in retaliation for what he called Iran’s bullying of America.” In 1988, Trump told The Guardian that “I’d be harsh on Iran. They’ve been beating us psychologically, making us look a bunch of fools.”

I don't think many people realize that Trump has been talking about Iran like this since 1980: www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

The Real Reason Trump Went to War Trump has called for sending American forces to Iran since 1980. He finally has, and must own the consequences.

The Trump administration's shifting justifications for war are a smoke screen that obscures the obvious. "The real impetus for such action was Trump’s imperial approach to American power, which was decades in the making." Gift link:

The Seven Social-Media Commandments How to use social media without it using you

If none of this makes sense to you, you have missed nothing and are doing social media right. An old related piece with some wisdom for this moment:

Other points of note:
- Analysis of a phenomenon ≠ approval
- People and political actors who are extreme or radical can become more extreme or radical (see: American politics over the last decade, Trump I vs Trump II)
- There is a difference between covert and overt conflict in geopolitics

Was away for a bit, see that some on here decided to outrage farm about a tweet I didn't write for an article of mine they didn't read or link. Since that seems to be the preferred mode of consumption, here are a few other headlines! Always do the reading; don't let the engagement farmers con you.

A Gorgeous Video Game That’s Also Very Jewish The ‘Eternal Life of Goldman’ is the rare video game to feature a distinctly Jewish protagonist

The Eternal Life of Goldman is one of the most beautiful games of 2026. It's also nice to finally see some video-game representation for people like me: aging Jews with back problems.

For this week's column, I spoke to the director of this stunning platformer: www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

aaaaahhhhh

Removing a Hyphen Won’t Stop Anti-Semitism Symbolic gestures aren’t what’s needed in the fight against anti-Jewish bigotry.

As a rule, I just use the spelling of the style guide of whatever publication I am writing for, so I've done it both ways. On social media, I generally remove the hyphen to save characters! I've actually written about why I do not think the hyphen makes a substantive difference one way or the other:

Carrie Prejean Boller Is Not Going Quietly The former beauty queen, dismissed from Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, says that it’s “anti-Christian” to accuse her of anti-Semitism.

In 1862, General Ulysses Grant expelled Jews from his military district during the Civil War, a move reversed by President Lincoln. In 2026, Candace Owens praised Grant’s expulsion. And this week, a now ex-member of Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission wouldn’t tell me whether that was antisemitic.

Carrie Prejean Boller Is Not Going Quietly The former beauty queen, dismissed from Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, says that it’s “anti-Christian” to accuse her of anti-Semitism.

I talked to Carrie Prejean Boller about the attempts to remove her from Trump's Religious Liberty Commission, why she rejects charges of anti-Semitism, her views on Zionism, and why she insists Candace Owens has never said anything anti-Semitic. I recommend reading to the end. It takes a turn.

Thank you!

Is that still going, by any chance? Would love to take a look!

Love my XReal glasses! I suspect that as the price point comes down, these are going to start showing up everywhere, because they do what people actually want (a portable big screen for movies/TV/video games) rather than what VR products often tell users they should want.

This is endemic to social media and makes having thoughtful, effective conversations on here very difficult. You should follow people who respect you enough to tell you the truth, rather than those who think truth is unimportant and pursue other personal and political agendas.