Go ad-free with Premium

Brian Karem

X: @briankarem

Brian Karem is Salon’s White House correspondent. A 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.”

White House press secretary Katie Zacharia during her first news briefing, Oct. 13, 2026. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

After that disastrous debut, Katie Zacharia is already history

Brian Karem
Donald Trump dances as he leaves the stage after speaking at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Oct. 7, 2026. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

What will Trump do after the midterms, with nothing left to lose?

Brian Karem
Donald Trump after stepping off Air Force One at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Oct. 1, 2026. (Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump’s superpower is fading. Can he recharge before the midterms?

Brian Karem
Brian Karem in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Dec. 9, 2022. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Years before his CNN and Politico ban, Trump yanked my press pass

Brian Karem
A woman entering a voting polling place. (YinYang / Getty Images)

Yes, America, this is really who we are. Vote if you want to change it

Brian Karem
Donald Trump, after addressing attendees on the first day of the 2026 Republican National Convention in Dallas, Sept. 9, 2026. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Trump wants to bribe voters. This is how far we’ve fallen in 25 years

Brian Karem
President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

It’s time for Trump to fire Pete Hegseth

Brian Karem
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speak at a press conference. June 11, 2025. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Democrats have a golden opportunity. They’re fighting each other instead

Brian Karem
Donald Trump speaks to the press at the construction site of a helipad on the South Lawn of the White House, Aug. 19, 2026. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

GOP is finally running out of people to blame

Brian Karem
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing on July 23, 2026. (Mehmet Eser / Anadolu via Getty Images)

The worst White House press secretary of all time

Brian Karem
The Reflecting Pool on the National Mall, drained for repairs, near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on July 19, 2026. (Tom Brenner/Getty Images)

Reflecting on Trump’s bottomless pool of corruption

Brian Karem
Ryan Reynolds in his Deadpool costume speaks during 2026 Comic-Con International in San Diego, July 25, 2026. (Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

What Comic Con cosplay taught me about America’s divided politics

Brian Karem
President Trump during an Oval Office press conference with faith leaders. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Donald Trump has stopped caring about the midterms

Brian Karem
President Donald Trump (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Trump’s Obama vendetta has him trapped in his own forever war

Brian Karem
GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“Where’s Mitch McConnell?” mystery exposes media failures

Brian Karem
The Department of Labor building in Washington, D.C. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images))

In 1976, I went to jail to celebrate the Fourth of July

Brian Karem
President Donald Trump (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

How long can this “Weekend at Bernie’s” presidency go on?

Brian Karem
Donald Trump speaks at a press conference as Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on during the G7 Leaders' Summit, June 17, 2026 in Evian-les-Bains, France. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Trump has one chance to save face: Resign now

Brian Karem
Secretary of State Marco Rubio before a White House press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House, May 5, 2026. (Tom Brenner for The Washington Post via Getty Images/Pool)

How soon can we cancel the White House reality show?

Brian Karem
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played for 40,000 fans in the rain at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. (Paul Morigi/Getty Images)

How seeing Bruce Springsteen in DC gave me hope

Brian Karem
President Donald Trump (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Trump Exhaustion Syndrome is infecting the world

Brian Karem
Donald Trump and Richard Nixon (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images)

Not even Nixon would stoop so low

Brian Karem
President Donald Trump used the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner to call for funding for his White House ballroom project (Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty Images)

The future of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner is in doubt

Brian Karem
President Donald Trump has discredited, insulted and abused reporters (Chen Mengtong/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)

Why I’m boycotting the White House Correspondents’ Dinner

Brian Karem
« Previous
Page: 1
Next »