Photo: SAMUEL CORUM/Getty Images via AFP
Photo: SAMUEL CORUM/Getty Images via AFP

Politics

Trump’s Campaign of Vengeance Is Already Backfiring

As the president knows too well, efforts to censor or convict foes can often make them more popular.

First published in The Atlantic on September 29, 2025.

by Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic
October 9, 2025 | reading time: 4 Min.

Donald Trump likes to say that his campaign of vengeance is only fair. Given that he had to endure years of (supposedly) phony legal claims and censorship on various social-media platforms, Trump insists that he now has the right to retaliate in kind.

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