Chris Brennan
@bychrisbrennan.bsky.social
USA Today columnist writing about people, power and politics. Tell me a story: [email protected].
https://www.usatoday.com/staff/72269205007/chris-brennan/
https://www.usatoday.com/staff/72269205007/chris-brennan/
“Retribution” traces its origins in the English language back to words in Old French and Latin that described “repayment.” No wonder Trump is so astonishingly inept at retribution, given his long history of not his repaying debts. My USA Today newsletter:
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
November 27, 2025 at 6:31 PM
“Retribution” traces its origins in the English language back to words in Old French and Latin that described “repayment.” No wonder Trump is so astonishingly inept at retribution, given his long history of not his repaying debts. My USA Today newsletter:
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
Pam Bondi refused to say yesterday if the investigation she launched last week, at Donald Trump's demand, will stall release of the Epstein files. That's the whole point of her new investigation, to protect Trump from those files. My USA Today newsletter explains:
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
November 20, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Pam Bondi refused to say yesterday if the investigation she launched last week, at Donald Trump's demand, will stall release of the Epstein files. That's the whole point of her new investigation, to protect Trump from those files. My USA Today newsletter explains:
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
Trump now calls for House Republicans to vote to release the Epstein files, after raging for weeks about that looming outcome. He could, of course, just order the DOJ to release the files, as the legislation calls for. But that would be the honest move here. Instead, we get this.
November 17, 2025 at 5:10 AM
Trump now calls for House Republicans to vote to release the Epstein files, after raging for weeks about that looming outcome. He could, of course, just order the DOJ to release the files, as the legislation calls for. But that would be the honest move here. Instead, we get this.
Donald Trump is picking sides, telling supporters feeling the pinch in an economy he hasn't fixed that they’re not really feeling that, while also explaining that they lack talent for jobs held by foreign workers with H1-B visas. My USA Today newsletter:
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
November 13, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Donald Trump is picking sides, telling supporters feeling the pinch in an economy he hasn't fixed that they’re not really feeling that, while also explaining that they lack talent for jobs held by foreign workers with H1-B visas. My USA Today newsletter:
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
There it is — the 218th signature on the House discharge petition to force a vote on whether the Department of Justice should have to release the Epstein files.
clerk.house.gov/DischargePet...
clerk.house.gov/DischargePet...
November 12, 2025 at 9:54 PM
There it is — the 218th signature on the House discharge petition to force a vote on whether the Department of Justice should have to release the Epstein files.
clerk.house.gov/DischargePet...
clerk.house.gov/DischargePet...
Donald Trump’s attacks on the rights of Americans to cast ballots in support of politicians not named Trump will inevitably escalate. His motivation is as clear as it is predictable: He is terrified of the 2026 midterms. My USA Today newsletter explains:
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
November 6, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Donald Trump’s attacks on the rights of Americans to cast ballots in support of politicians not named Trump will inevitably escalate. His motivation is as clear as it is predictable: He is terrified of the 2026 midterms. My USA Today newsletter explains:
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
Hunker down in a storm, Isle of Skye-style.
October 31, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Hunker down in a storm, Isle of Skye-style.
A bartender on my first trip to Scotland 25 years ago recommended #Talisker. It’s been my go-to since then. And today, on my second trip to Scotland, I got to see where it is made by the sea here on the Isle of Skye.
October 30, 2025 at 5:31 PM
A bartender on my first trip to Scotland 25 years ago recommended #Talisker. It’s been my go-to since then. And today, on my second trip to Scotland, I got to see where it is made by the sea here on the Isle of Skye.
If someone asks if you want to slurp oysters in a shed on a windswept mountain in the Scottish Highlands you say yes.
October 30, 2025 at 2:05 PM
If someone asks if you want to slurp oysters in a shed on a windswept mountain in the Scottish Highlands you say yes.
This is Coire Gabhail (or Lost Valley) in the Scottish Highlands. There are 3 stages to a mountain hike:
1. You read about it on the internet and think, this seems cool.
2. You do it and question your sanity on the way up and then back down.
3. You sit in the pub and laugh about how stupid you are.
1. You read about it on the internet and think, this seems cool.
2. You do it and question your sanity on the way up and then back down.
3. You sit in the pub and laugh about how stupid you are.
October 25, 2025 at 5:53 PM
This is Coire Gabhail (or Lost Valley) in the Scottish Highlands. There are 3 stages to a mountain hike:
1. You read about it on the internet and think, this seems cool.
2. You do it and question your sanity on the way up and then back down.
3. You sit in the pub and laugh about how stupid you are.
1. You read about it on the internet and think, this seems cool.
2. You do it and question your sanity on the way up and then back down.
3. You sit in the pub and laugh about how stupid you are.
October 18, 2025 at 8:02 PM
House Speaker Mike Johnson will probably be sued by Arizona's AG for failing to swear in a new representative (as a way of stalling the inevitable vote on releasing the Epstein files.) Boy, does he have it coming. My USA Today newsletter explains:
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
October 16, 2025 at 3:48 PM
House Speaker Mike Johnson will probably be sued by Arizona's AG for failing to swear in a new representative (as a way of stalling the inevitable vote on releasing the Epstein files.) Boy, does he have it coming. My USA Today newsletter explains:
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
Joe Biden, on Jan. 6, 2021, was a former vice president who defeated Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election but was still two weeks away from being sworn into office. Trump, as outgoing president on Jan. 6, 2021, had control of the FBI. Timelines get hazy as people age,
October 12, 2025 at 5:41 AM
Joe Biden, on Jan. 6, 2021, was a former vice president who defeated Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election but was still two weeks away from being sworn into office. Trump, as outgoing president on Jan. 6, 2021, had control of the FBI. Timelines get hazy as people age,
A senator asked Attorney General Pam Bondi if the Epstein files contain photos of Donald Trump with "half naked young women." Instead of answering, she spewed insults, showing us all how much Trump fears those files. My USA Today newsletter explores:
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
October 9, 2025 at 3:41 PM
A senator asked Attorney General Pam Bondi if the Epstein files contain photos of Donald Trump with "half naked young women." Instead of answering, she spewed insults, showing us all how much Trump fears those files. My USA Today newsletter explores:
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
We're going to see this sort of unhinged rhetoric ramp up more and more as we approach next year's midterms. That's what really frightens Donald Trump.
October 8, 2025 at 2:36 PM
We're going to see this sort of unhinged rhetoric ramp up more and more as we approach next year's midterms. That's what really frightens Donald Trump.
Democrats offered negotiation. Republicans offered disinformation. That's why our government shut down. The MAGA cover story strips Americans of health care while lying about Democrats giving health care to undocumented immigrants. My USA Today newsletter:
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
October 2, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Democrats offered negotiation. Republicans offered disinformation. That's why our government shut down. The MAGA cover story strips Americans of health care while lying about Democrats giving health care to undocumented immigrants. My USA Today newsletter:
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
Why is Donald Trump yammering on about the UN escalator? Because the twin dictates of Trumpism are 1) always value symbolism over substance, and 2) always act the victim if anything messes with that symbolism. My USA Today newsletter explains:
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
September 25, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Why is Donald Trump yammering on about the UN escalator? Because the twin dictates of Trumpism are 1) always value symbolism over substance, and 2) always act the victim if anything messes with that symbolism. My USA Today newsletter explains:
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
In my USA Today column today I predicted that Trump would refuse to meet with Congressional Democrats on the continuing resolution to fund the government, despite saying on Saturday he'd be "happy" to meet. Trump just declared there will be no meeting.
www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...
www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...
September 23, 2025 at 4:18 PM
In my USA Today column today I predicted that Trump would refuse to meet with Congressional Democrats on the continuing resolution to fund the government, despite saying on Saturday he'd be "happy" to meet. Trump just declared there will be no meeting.
www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...
www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...
"It all smells familiar, like a house that has caught on fire. Something explodes, high and to my right. I flinch as others, who have been here all day, don’t bother to lift their heads. The fire grows larger." #September11 (Photo: Jim MacMillan)
September 11, 2025 at 2:57 PM
"It all smells familiar, like a house that has caught on fire. Something explodes, high and to my right. I flinch as others, who have been here all day, don’t bother to lift their heads. The fire grows larger." #September11 (Photo: Jim MacMillan)
This echoes Winston Churchill's 1939 tweet, after Germany invaded Czechoslovakia:
"Yo, Hitler, 'sup with that?"
"Yo, Hitler, 'sup with that?"
September 10, 2025 at 5:21 PM
This echoes Winston Churchill's 1939 tweet, after Germany invaded Czechoslovakia:
"Yo, Hitler, 'sup with that?"
"Yo, Hitler, 'sup with that?"
Uh, oh. Looks like Donald Trump has a bad case of parade envy as his bestest buddies from the international authoritarian club fly to China to yuk it up with Xi Jinping. My USA Today newsletter explains:
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
September 4, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Uh, oh. Looks like Donald Trump has a bad case of parade envy as his bestest buddies from the international authoritarian club fly to China to yuk it up with Xi Jinping. My USA Today newsletter explains:
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
www.usatoday.com/story/nlette...
Wait…what if this has nothing to do with crime and is, instead, all about juicing the base to distraction while soaking them for a little more of their cash? #DistractionTactics
September 3, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Wait…what if this has nothing to do with crime and is, instead, all about juicing the base to distraction while soaking them for a little more of their cash? #DistractionTactics
Donald Trump vs. Truth Social AI about those oh-so deadly windmills that are not, as it turns out, so deadly.
truthsocial.com/ai-search/re...
truthsocial.com/ai-search/re...
August 19, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Donald Trump vs. Truth Social AI about those oh-so deadly windmills that are not, as it turns out, so deadly.
truthsocial.com/ai-search/re...
truthsocial.com/ai-search/re...
#bigmeatsunday living up to the nomenclature
August 17, 2025 at 10:19 PM
#bigmeatsunday living up to the nomenclature
Low tide at @washingtonavepier
August 16, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Low tide at @washingtonavepier