The End Game

Making sense of things

Why would President Trump want to tank our economy with nonsensical tarrifs?

Why would he want to antagonize Canada, Mexico, and all of our closest allies?

How are we now on Putin’s side?

Why is the administration targeting USAID and other humanitarian efforts?

We expected the “anti-woke” agenda, but what’s up with going after the Post Office and NOAA?

What’s up with Trump wanting to check on the gold in Fort Knox? And now talk of setting up a strategic crypto reserve?

But why would they cut off essential funding for cancer research?

If Christian nationalists wanted to control the state, why do so many seem so intent on destroying the state?

What do Musk and Thiel have in common with Christian nationalists, anyway?

Why would the side championing “Christian values” be welcoming Andrew Tate but deporting persecuted Christians seeking legal asylum?

What happens when we no longer have allies, except maybe a couple of dictators?

What happens when the economy is in shambles?

What is their end game?

Around a year ago, on a rare evening with nothing much to do, my husband and I decided to watch the movie Don’t Look Up. If you haven’t seen it, it’s about two astronomers trying in vain to warn humanity about an impending comet that will wipe out life on earth. It’s satire, or at least that’s what critics say. For me, it struck far too close to home. I had to make my husband stop the movie that night. It was too much, I told him. I’m pretty sure he was a bit mystified. I couldn’t really explain it to him other than telling him “Don’t you see? This is my life.” It took me two more nights to get through the film. It was excruciating to watch, but I had to watch it to the bitter end.

As someone with expertise in the history of American evangelicalism and Christian nationalism, I’ve generally tried to confine my public writing and speaking to those topics. But I’ve always known that “Christian nationalism” is linked to broader movements—and in the past handful of years, I’ve watched with growing concern as key alignments formed and strengthened. (If you scroll through old posts here, you’ll see where I’ve tried to trace some of these shifting alliances and describe why they matter.) On any given week, I spend hours working with journalists who are trying to piece things together. One of the challenges in communicating this to a wider public is that nothing translates into quick and easy sound bites.

There’s a burden to understanding the complexity of what we’re up against. Part of my goal here is to invite you to share in that burden. Below, you’ll find a list of people and accounts to follow. No one person captures the whole of the system, but each one illuminates pieces of a larger picture, and some give you a sense for how some of these pieces fit together.

If you start paying attention to these voices, you’ll be able to put many of the pieces together, too. But fair warning: it’s not for the faint of heart.

It was because I saw these things coalescing early on that I dedicated much of the last year trying to alert people to what was at stake in November. I remember at some point last summer sharing here that what kept me up at night was the thought of waking up on November 6 with the feeling that I hadn’t done enough. In response, many kind readers sought to encourage me, and although I genuinely appreciated the kindness, I took little comfort in the words of assurance because I knew what would be on the other side.

I’ve already mentioned Heather Cox Richardson. She provides an essential summary of daily developments. More than two million people subscribe to her Substack, and for good reason.

Here are additional people to follow:

Jennifer Cohn. You can find her on X, but I recommend staying off X as much as possible. It’s become a right-wing propaganda machine. I follow her over on Bluesky and on Threads. A former lawyer who now writes on political extremism, elections, and propaganda, she writes over at Bucks County Beacon. Everything she writes is worth reading, but on social media, she is a master at putting together informative threads mapping out who’s who in these coalescing alliances.

Dave Troy. Dave is another person to follow for a sense of individual pieces and the larger narrative. An investigative journalist focusing on democracy and technology, he’s also a podcaster. I don’t know Dave personally, but his work corresponds to what I’m seeing in my own research. And he’s been seeing these things for a long time. Click here to find all the ways to follow him.

Frederick Clarkson. A Senior Research Analyst at Political Research Associates, Fred has long been tracking Christian dominionism. He knows what he’s talking about. Follow him on X or Bluesky (Many of these folks are also on Facebook—search there if you’re not on other platforms.)

Timothy Snyder. I’ve mentioned Snyder frequently here. Author of the essential On Tyranny, The Road to Unfreedom, Bloodlands, and On Freedom, you can follow him on Substack and on other platforms.

Ruth Ben-Ghiat. Also here on Substack and on several platforms, Ruth is an expert on fascism, authoritarianism, propaganda, and democracy. Most recently the author of Strongmen, she is an essential voice in this moment.

Anne Applebaum. Author of amany books including Twilight of Democracy and AUTOCRACY, INC is another essential voice. Follow her on X, Threads, or Bluesky.

Matthew Taylor. Matthew is the author of The Violent Take It By Force, on the New Apostalic Reformation and charismatic revival movement. (He also spoke at the Election Postmortem we held at Notre Dame.) He is a frequent media commentator and also provides excellent coverage on X, Bluesky, and Threads.

Jeremy Konyndyk. A Calvin University grad, Jeremy is president of Refugees International and directed USAID’s Covid response, Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance, and worked widely in the humanitarian sector. He’s providing commentary on X and Bluesky (See his recent NYTimes op ed on USAID.)

Also, if you’re not already following The Bulwark and The Contrarian, it’s a good time to start. (And follow Sarah Longwell, Jonathan V. Last, Bill Kristol and Tim Miller individually as well.)

Other commentators you’re probably familiar with include David French, a conservative opponent of Trump who is also an expert in Constitutional law. He’s on Threads, X, and Bluesky. And Charlie Sykes is here on Substack. (“You’re not the crazy ones” is his tagline, so that gives you a sense for his content.)

As far as politicians go, there’s not a lot of leadership right now. Exceptions include Chris Murphy, Pete Buttigieg, Jasmine Crockett, James Talarico, AOC, Jamie Raskin, and Adam Kinzinger. (They’re all easy to find on your favorite platform.)

In addition, Wired, The Guardian, The New Republic, Mother Jones, The Atlantic, and Baptist News Global have been offering some good coverage on these developments.

I’m sure I’ve missed several important voices, so as I think of them I’ll update this post.

**Ok, there are so many fabulous suggestions in the comments, I’ll let you read them yourselves. Thank you for adding so many excellent resources!

I do feel a need to apologize in advance if you decide to follow these accounts. It’s more pleasant not to know some of these things. But for those who still think truth matters, it’s important to know what we’re dealing with.

Finally, a reminder that we’ll be doing a live session of The Convocation Unscripted this evening at 5pm ET. Register below for the link, and come with your questions: