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Brian Karem

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Brian Karem is the former senior White House correspondent for Playboy. He has covered every presidential administration since Ronald Reagan, sued Donald Trump three times successfully to keep his press pass, spent time in jail to protect a confidential source, covered wars in the Middle East and is the author of seven books. His latest is "Free the Press."

President Donald Trump arrives at the NATO Heads of State and Government summit in The Hague, on June 25, 2025. (NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP)

Nobody puts “Daddy” in a corner

Brian Karem
The end of America (Getty Images/Davide Zanin)

We’ve become a failed nation-state in 150 days

Brian Karem
Protesters march and chant in downtown Los Angeles in response to a series of immigration raids, on June 11, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (David McNew/Getty Images)

In LA, Donald Trump is both the arsonist and firefighter

Brian Karem
Former President Donald Trump and White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro check out the new Endurance all-electric pickup truck on the south lawn of the White House on September 28, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

The incredible shrinking president

Brian Karem
US President Donald Trump holds a tariff table as he speaks in the Cabinet Room of the White House on January 24, 2019. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump 2.0 falls apart before our eyes

Brian Karem
Joe Biden and Donald Trump (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images)

Forgetting Joe Biden

Brian Karem
Donald Trump, President of the United States of America (USA), and Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdelasis al-Saud, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, stand side by side in the group picture at the start of the G20 summit, June 2019. (Bernd von Jutrczenka/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Trump’s traveling trunk show is backfiring

Brian Karem
President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Feb. 26, 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Inside the new regime: Source says Team Trump is growing “disillusioned”

Brian Karem
President Donald J. Trump speaks while Small Business Administration Linda McMahon listens on during a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

When facts become seditious, it’s time to hit the panic button

Brian Karem
Former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump attend the 79th Annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner at the Hilton Midtown in New York, October 17, 2024. (TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)

The White House Correspondents’ dinner is a sham and a shame. Dump it now

Brian Karem
U.S. President Donald Trump and White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro check out the new Endurance all-electric pickup truck on the south lawn of the White House on September 28, 2020 in Washington, DC. They bought the old GM Lordstown plant in Ohio to build the Endurance all-electric pickup truck, inside those four wheels are electric motors similar to electric scooters. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

“Two beautiful poles”: President Trump turns the White House into a joke

Brian Karem
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador in the Oval Office of the White House April 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump and Bukele were expected to discuss a range of bilateral issues including the detention of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who has been held in a prison in El Salvador since March 15. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Trump’s open defiance of the law leaves no room for Republican redemption

Brian Karem
Donald Trump and Capitol Hill (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images)

“Suffering from the whims of a madman”: MAGA measures true cost of Trump’s tariff gamble

Brian Karem
Former President Donald Trump walks to his car after meeting with Senate Republicans at the National Republican Senatorial Committee offices in Washington, DC, June 13, 2024. (ALLISON BAILEY/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

“Liberation Day” surprise: Trump gets outmatched

Brian Karem
Tulsi Gabbard, John Ratcliffe and Donald Trump (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images)

Signalgate is Team Trump’s first big screw-up — and now they’re stuck

Brian Karem
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a briefing at the White House August 13, 2020 in Washington, DC. Trump spoke on a range of topics including his announcement earlier in the day of a new peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Trump’s driving goal of destruction: A Nobel Peace Prize

Brian Karem
President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk speak to the press as they stand next to a Tesla vehicle on the South Portico of the White House on March 11, 2025 in Washington. (Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Images)

Trump hawking Teslas? That’s his truest form

Brian Karem
U.S. President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on March 04, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Trump’s speech was the pinnacle of MAGA. Now what?

Brian Karem
US President Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky listen to Vice President JD Vance (R)as they meet in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, February 28, 2025. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Only Putin is still smiling after Trump and Zelenskyy squabble

Brian Karem
Donald Trump, with Sean Duffy (L), speaks in the Cabinet Room of the White House on January 24, 2019. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

The king of his Cabinet: Trump’s display of White House power is an ominous sign for democracy

Brian Karem
President-elect Donald J. Trump arrive at the inauguration of Donald J. Trump at the United States Capitol on January 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Doug Mills - Pool/Getty Images)

Trump’s vision for America is a throne

Brian Karem
US President Donald Trump walks by supporters outside the White House on January 12, 2021 in Washington,DC. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump, sensing a lack of solidarity, pushes the press down a slippery slope

Brian Karem
Trump advisor Steve Bannon (L) watches as US President Donald Trump greets Elon Musk, SpaceX and Tesla CEO, before a policy and strategy forum with executives in the State Dining Room of the White House February 3, 2017 in Washington, DC. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump dictates. Musk desiccates

Brian Karem
Donald Trump and an American flag on fire (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images)

Our republic’s arsonist: Trump lays the groundwork to claim a Pyrrhic victory

Brian Karem
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