Park MacDougald

New York

Deputy Literary Editor at Tablet Magazine

Articles

Who's driving this donkey? Losing Dems need a moderate pivot, but radical left steering for a cliff

1 week ago | nypost.com | Park MacDougald

On Nov. 5, the Democratic Party received what counts in our hyper-polarized age as a comprehensive drubbing. Peter Lavigna/NY Post Design On Nov. 5, the Democratic Party received what counts in our hyper-polarized age as a comprehensive drubbing.
April 21: Hegseth vs. the Iran Lobby

3 weeks ago | thedailyscroll.substack.com | Park MacDougald

What is going on at the Department of Defense? On Sunday, The New York Times reported that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had shared details of mid-March airstrikes on the Houthis in yet another Signal group chat, this one featuring his brother and his personal lawyer, who work for the Pentagon and the Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps, and his wife, Jennifer, a former Fox producer with no formal government position.
Can Democrats Pivot to the Center?

3 weeks ago | city-journal.org | Park MacDougald

On November 5, the Democratic Party received what counts in our hyper-polarized age as a comprehensive drubbing. Donald Trump swept all seven battleground states, improved over his 2016 and 2020 performances with nearly every demographic subcategory, and became the first Republican in 20 years to win the popular vote. In the end, Vice President Kamala Harris’s $1 billion-plus war chest and much-praised “ground game” proved a boon to the college funds of Democratic consultants and not much else.
What You Need to Know About Trump’s Tariffs

1 month ago | tabletmag.com | Park MacDougald

Early Monday, markets appeared to be continuing their rout in response to Donald Trump’s sweeping Liberation Day tariffs. By midmorning, the S&P 500 had posted its worst three-day performance since the “Black Monday” crash of 1987, and both it and the tech-heavy NASDAQ fell into bear-market territory following double-digit declines last week. The carnage was even worse in Asia, where several markets suspended trading Monday morning as massive sell-offs triggered circuit breakers.
April 7: The Trade War Is About China

1 month ago | thedailyscroll.substack.com | Park MacDougald

Early Monday, markets appeared to be continuing their rout in response to Donald Trump’s sweeping Liberation Day tariffs. By midmorning, the S&P 500 had posted its worst three-day performance since the “Black Monday” crash of 1987, and both it and the tech-heavy NASDAQ fell into bear-market territory following double-digit declines last week. The carnage was even worse in Asia, where several markets suspended trading Monday morning as massive sell-offs triggered circuit breakers.
March 19: Trump vs. the Judges

1 month ago | thedailyscroll.substack.com | Park MacDougald

The conflict—feud? standoff?—between the Donald Trump administration and the federal judiciary is heating up. The biggest headlines have come from the dispute over the administration’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang.
Joe Rogan and the Jews

2 months ago | tabletmag.com | Park MacDougald

It gives us no pleasure to report this, but we figured you should hear it from us. Jeffrey Epstein—the late New York financier—was a “Jewish organization of Jewish people working on behalf of Israel and other groups,” including organized crime and elements of the Central Intelligence Agency, to collect blackmail on American politicians and businessmen.
March 10: Can Trump Deport Radicals?

2 months ago | thedailyscroll.substack.com | Park MacDougald

On Saturday, agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a foreign national, recent graduate from a master’s program at Columbia University, and a campus leader of Columbia University Apartheid Divest, the successor organization to the banned chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. Khalil, according to reporting from the BBC, is now in an immigrant detention facility in Louisiana.
Jan. 27: King Trump Swats Impudent Latin Vassal, Floats Merciful Peace Plan for Gaza

Jan 27, 2025 | thedailyscroll.substack.com | Park MacDougald

During Donald Trump’s first term in office, foreign leaders were sometimes open in defying the president and pandering to “the Resistance” peanut gallery, presumably in the belief that Trump was an aberration who would soon be chucked out of office and have his policies promptly reversed. On Sunday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro discovered the hard way that it isn’t 2017 anymore.
Jan. 14: Trump Embraces Biden Ceasefire Deal

Jan 14, 2025 | thedailyscroll.substack.com | Park MacDougald

A cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas is “on the brink of finalization,” according to The Times of Israel (TOI). Tuesday saw contradictory reports as to whether Hamas had accepted the deal, but officials from Israel, the United States, Egypt, and Qatar all seem to believe that the talks are “at the final stages,” in the words of the Qatari foreign ministry.