The New York Times-The Morning Newsletter

"An age of political violence, James Comey indicted again, King Charles III addresses US Congress."

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April 29, 2026

	By Sam Sifton

Good morning. King Charles III gently pushed back against President Trump’s attacks on Britain in a mostly lighthearted speech to Congress yesterday, before repairing to the White House for a state dinner of spring-herbed ravioli and Dover sole. And, once again, the Justice Department secured an indictment against James Comey.

There’s more news below, including a round-table discussion with the cast of “The Devil Wears Prada 2.” I’m starting today with a question, though: Are more people attacking politicians?

From left: At a memorial to Charlie Kirk, a flag flying at half-staff, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro walking in front of his firebombed home. The New York Times

An age of violence?

We’re living in what can feel like a scary, chaotic moment. There have been three attempts on Donald Trump’s life (not counting plots disrupted before they got far enough for an attack). Last year, gunmen killed Charlie Kirk, the right-wing activist, and Melissa Hortman, a Democratic state legislator in Minnesota. One man firebombed the Pennsylvania governor’s house. Another broke into Nancy Pelosi’s home and attacked her husband with a hammer.

Has the United States entered a new phase of violent extremism? Sabrina Tavernise, who covers our political life, wanted to find out. She spoke with Sean Westwood, a scholar who tracks acts of political violence and how Americans react to them. Here’s part of their conversation.

Sabrina: Is political violence worse now?

Sean Westwood: If we are looking at the period from 1865 to 1901, three of the nine presidents were assassinated. A comparable rate today would mean that we would have lost two or three sitting presidents since the late 1980s. It’s also the case that in the ’60s and ’70s, there were the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy, and days with multiple bombings by radical domestic groups. That’s just not what we’ve seen in the last two decades.

What does that tell us about the country now?

We should be certainly very worried about political violence and its destabilizing effect, but the country has seen far worse and survived. Part of our doom loop is not necessarily the political violence itself, but the narrative of democratic collapse that comes along with it. And history tells us that isolated incidents of political violence — even the assassination of elected officials or presidents — do not lead to the end of the Republic.

How is political violence today different from the 1960s? Are the perpetrators themselves different? For example, Cole Tomas Allen, the man who was charged in the latest assassination attempt — put him in historical context.

In the 1960s and ’70s, attacks largely came from organized groups like the Weather Underground and the Black Panthers. There was structure, there was coherence, there was leadership. Today, there just aren’t networks premised on spreading violence across the country.

The individuals who commit these acts are lone wolves. Largely mentally ill, largely male, largely younger. The thing that seems to connect them is not ideology — it’s anger. A really good example is Thomas Crooks, the first one to try to assassinate President Trump. He was searching for candidates on both sides of the aisle. He just seemed to be lashing out against society. So in that way, Cole Tomas Allen is a bit of an outlier because he did provide a clear explanation for his actions.

But could political violence affect the stability of the country?

The number of incidents of political violence is small — a couple of dozen, maybe three dozen incidents over the four years ending in 2024. But over the same period, we’ve had more than 9,000 religious hate crimes — about 5,700 were antisemitic — and more than 25,000 racial hate crimes.

I would strongly argue that it’s these other cleavages, these other acts of violence, that are hurting us.

Read their whole conversation here.

Related

A federal grand jury charged James Comey, the former F.B.I. director, with making a threat against Trump. The charge stemmed from a photo that Comey posted on social media of seashells arranged to spell out “86 47.” Trump is the 47th president, and “86” is often slang for dismiss or remove. The government ordered a review of all station licenses owned by ABC. Officials said the inquiry was related to D.E.I. policies, though Trump is feuding with Jimmy Kimmel over a joke he told days beforethe White House correspondents’ dinner.

‘DON’T EAT THE SALAD’

Xia Gordon

Those who struggle with their weight often describe experiencing incessant thoughts about food — what to eat, when to eat, how to resist eating. But many people taking GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, like Ozempic and Wegovy, say that while they take them this “food noise” goes away.

Researchers think they’ve found an explanation for that change. Read more about it here.

THE LATEST NEWS

Politics

The proposed passport design. U.S. Department of State

The State Department plans to release a limited-edition passport design that includes an image of Trump.

The Homeland Security shutdown, which began as a fight over ICE restrictions, has turned into an intraparty struggle for Republicans. Our congressional editor, Julie Hirschfeld Davis, explains in the video below. Click to watch.

The New York Times

War in Iran

The United Arab Emirates said that to sell more oil and lift its economy it would leave the international oil cartel OPEC. A ship linked to Abu Dhabi appears to be the first fully-loaded natural gas tanker to cross the Strait of Hormuz since the war began. The war has shuttered textile mills in India, grounded planes in Poland and forced energy rationing in Vietnam. But the worst of the economic chaos hasn’t hit the United States.

Royal Visit

Kenny Holston/The New York Times

King Charles won fans in Congress with his praise of the legislative process and his British humor during his speech yesterday. The guest list for the state dinner Trump hosted for Charles and Queen Camilla included Supreme Court justices, Fox News hosts and Jeff Bezos. Today the king and queen will visit the 9/11 Memorial and other sites in New York. They don’t seem to plan to go to California to see Prince Harry.

Around the World

Belarus: The government released five people, including a journalist and a Catholic monk, in a prisoner swap involving several countries. Sri Lanka: Twenty-two Buddhist monks appeared in court accused of smuggling cannabis products from Thailand.

Technology

Brennan Smart for The New York Times

Elon Musk took the stand in a blockbuster trial against OpenAI and Sam Altman. Google will let the Pentagon use its A.I. The Pentagon also has signed deals with OpenAI and Elon Musk’s xAI amid a dispute with Anthropic, the maker of Claude, over how to use the technology responsibly.

OPINIONS

Trump should not save Spirit airlines, Steven Rattner writes: It’s a failing company that has filed for bankruptcy twice in 10 months.

Footage from ICE patrols shows a pattern of racial profiling. The Supreme Court has allowed it to happen, the editorial board writes.

Human made. Human played. 75% off.

Subscribe to New York Times Games for 75% off your first year. Our best offer is only available for a limited time. Relax and recharge with our full portfolio of games, including Wordle, Spelling Bee, Connections, the Crossword and more — all mindfully made by humans.

MORNING READS

Aubrey Patti/NYT Wirecutter

Dumpster diving: Annemarie Conte, one of our colleagues at Wirecutter, spent months exploring trash piles to answer a vexing question: Why do stores throw away so many perfectly good products? 🗑️🤿🪎

Road trip: After three years of landslide-related closures, California’s iconic Highway 1 is fully open again. Take a drive along its tight curves.

Your pick: The most clicked link in The Morning yesterday was The Times’s list of the greatest living American songwriters.

A real-life Agent Mulder: Nick Pope investigated U.F.O. sightings for Britain’s Ministry of Defense, a position that turned him from skeptic to believer and made him one of the world’s most respected ufologists. He died at 60.

TODAY’S NUMBER

30

— That is the estimated percentage of U.S. doctors now using artificial intelligence to document interactions with patients. Just like on “The Pitt”! What could go wrong?

SPORTS

Hockey: The Professional Women’s Hockey League attracted a record number of fans in its third season, with attendance at games topping one million for the first time.

M.L.B.: The Philadelphia Phillies fired Rob Thomson as manager after a 9-19 start to the season.

N.B.A.: Damon Jones, a former player and coach accused of selling insider information to gamblers, pleaded guilty to federal charges.

RECIPE OF THE DAY

Rachel Vanni for The New York Times

Sometimes it’s nice to go old-school in the kitchen and make a quiche Lorraine — though in 1957, when Craig Claiborne started as The Times’s food editor, the recipe was shiny and new, fresh from France, the latest thing. (You can read more about Craig in his obituary, from 2000. I never met him. I think it would have been neat.)

DEVIL’S WORK

The director David Frankel, left, with the cast of “The Devil Wears Prada 2.” Thea Traff for The New York Times

Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci and the director David Frankel talked with The Times about “The Devil Wears Prada,” its sequel and who’s mean in real life. A look at the debate:

STREEP I am a mean person. I don’t have to think, could I do that?

BLUNT [laughing] Do you mean in life, or in the movie?

STREEP In life.

BLUNT Mean as a snake!

TUCCI She’s not mean.

More on culture

The restaurant critic Ligaya Mishan takes a torch to the state of modern sushi: “pliant and unchallenging fish, occasional pyrotechnics and status-symbol frills on demand.” It’s generally delicious. It’s reliably expensive. “It will also be boring.” The recent shuttering of The Washington Post’s Book World, one of the nation’s last free-standing books sections, feels like the end of something larger, writes Dwight Garner, one of our book critics: “It marks an inflection point in America’s literature, which can’t thrive without serious, fervent and quick-witted criticism: public talk, back and forth, between competing voices, in something like real time. The thin crust of American intellectual life, long flaking, has begun to show bald patches.” Still, he’s hopeful. Late night hosts talked about the royal visit.

THE MORNING RECOMMENDS

Noah Kahan performing in February.  Mike Coppola/Getty Images for SiriusXM

Listen to Noah Kahan’s new single, “Porch Light,” on YouTube. Lindsay Zoladz says his perspective has sharpened and matured since “Stick Season,” the 2022 folk-pop hit that made him a star.

Bring power into your workouts, using plyometric exercises to improve your balance and coordination.

Visit the Long Island Maritime Museum in West Sayville, N.Y. Its collection of small, local watercraft — catboats, iceboats and skiffs — is super cool and worth a detour.

GAMES

Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangrams were clementine and inclement.

And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections, Crossplay and Strands.

Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times and me. See you tomorrow. — Sam

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Host: Sam Sifton Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Evan Gorelick, Brent Lewis, Lara McCoy, Karl Russell Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Editorial Director, Newsletters: Jodi Rudoren

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