JULY 2025 – This piece is still being promoted – seven months later – by The Washington Post, and it still echoes of many of the themes that pundit Washington recognizes in Trump’s second term. The key message? The assault on expertise – in government, in policymaking, and in competent project management – is eroding both the US and Washington’s authority. It’s a column first published in December 2025 – and it’s similar to a David Ignatius column from June 2025 that makes many of the same points (and also won a Rosebud).
The 62-year-old Zakaria, laden with credentials from Harvard and Yale and Berkeley, began his journalism career at Newsweek in the early 90s, and he’s been a reliable contributor to the DC commentariat since then. His work is always well researched, never terribly original yet still carrying a tone of modesty and dignity – not unlike David Brooks’s work. In many ways, the Mumbai-born Zakaria speaks to a global audience more effectively than his peers, including Brooks. Zakaria’s writing is also generally clean and polished – he edits well or he has a good editor – so he’s been able to trot from CNN and WaPo, and other platforms, with a seamless regularity news-followers take for granted. He is the kind of proven, steady talent whom Bari Weiss might consider hiring to right her ship.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/12/05/trump-plutocrat-meritocracy-experts/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/06/03/maga-science-advantage-destruction-mao/