Elaine Godfrey

Washington, D.C.

Staff Writer at The Atlantic

staff writer @TheAtlantic covering national politics, etc. Iowan 🌽 egodfrey at theatlantic dot com 📶 DM for Signal

Articles

State Lawmakers Confront Their Own Vulnerability

1 week ago | theatlantic.com | Elaine Godfrey

News of the tragedy unfolded in the group chat: Two Minnesota state lawmakers and their spouses had been shot in their homes overnight by a man allegedly impersonating a police officer. One of those lawmakers was the former House Speaker Melissa Hortman, someone everyone in the group chat knew.
The Trump Voters Who Like What They See

1 month ago | businessandamerica.com | Elaine Godfrey

This article was featured in the One Story to Read Today newsletter. Sign up for it here. Earlier this month, after it became clear that the Trump administration would not be facilitating the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from a Salvadoran megaprison, I texted a close childhood friend. He’d voted for Donald Trump in each of the past three presidential elections, and I asked for his evaluation. “Trump might be taking it too far,” my friend replied.
Cosa pensano i sostenitori più accaniti di Trump

1 month ago | internazionale.it | Elaine Godfrey

Qualche giorno fa, quando è apparso evidente che l’amministrazione Trump non avrebbe facilitato il ritorno nel paese di Kilmar Ábrego García da una prigione di massima sicurezza in Salvador, ho inviato un messaggio a un mio amico d’infanzia che ha votato per Donald Trump alle ultime tre elezioni presidenziali. Volevo chiedergli quale fosse la sua opinione sulla vicenda. “Forse Trump si sta spingendo troppo oltre”, ha ammesso. “Ma lo fa perché è un uomo d’azione e noi volevamo un cambiamento”.
The Trump Voters Who Like What They See

1 month ago | theatlantic.com | Elaine Godfrey

Earlier this month, after it became clear that the Trump administration would not be facilitating the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from a Salvadoran mega-prison, I texted a close childhood friend. He’d voted for Donald Trump in each of the past three presidential elections, and I asked for his evaluation. “Trump might be taking it too far,” my friend replied.
The Manufactured Chaos in Government

2 months ago | theatlantic.com | Elaine Godfrey

For federal workers, the problem isn’t just low morale. It’s the dysfunction. The employees who have so far survived the Trump administration’s federal defenestration project are morose. For some, the new workload is untenable. For others, chaos reigns. Scientists have been unable to purchase mice for research, while human-tissue samples have sat on dry ice, unsent, thanks to worker layoffs.
The Resistance Rumbles

2 months ago | theatlantic.com | Elaine Godfrey

The opposition arrived in a flurry of painted cardboard. Until this week, the 11th of Donald Trump’s second presidency, the resistance has not exactly been upper-case R. Any show of dissent by Democratic leadership has been virtually nonexistent, and protests against Trump’s policies have been small and sporadic. Citizen frustration with the new administration has registered nationally as little more than a distant rumble.
The Voice of Trump

2 months ago | theatlantic.com | Elaine Godfrey

Across the press-briefing room in the West Wing, past the lectern where the beaming blond press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, admonishes members of the meddlesome press, behind a blue sliding door, past a bored-looking security guard, and inside a small, cluttered office, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung is on X, trolling his boss’s enemies.
Steven Cheung Is the Voice of Trump

2 months ago | yahoo.com | Elaine Godfrey

Across the press-briefing room in the West Wing, past the lectern where the beaming blond press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, admonishes members of the meddlesome press, behind a blue sliding door, past a bored-looking security guard, and inside a small, cluttered office, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung is on X, trolling his boss’s enemies.
J. D. Vance Stopped Talking About Eggs

Mar 3, 2025 | msn.com | Elaine Godfrey

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J. D. Vance Stopped Talking About Eggs

Mar 3, 2025 | theatlantic.com | Elaine Godfrey

We used to hear a lot about eggs from J. D. Vance. On the campaign trail, he talked about them constantly: how his kids were nuts for them, and how, thanks to the failed policies of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, omelets were ruined for everyone. “My kids eat a lotta eggs!” he said in Traverse City, Michigan. And in Monroeville, Pennsylvania: “A lotta eggs in my family!” Although other elements of the speech changed here and there, eggs—and their rising price—were always front and center.