Tuesday, February 24, 2026 |
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Esquire contributor Charles P. Pierce knows how to write about Trump. In his most recent column, you'll read no mention of Cheetos or the color orange. Instead, Pierce hits you straight. The president is a "con" who leaves a "trail of slime behind him that [reaches] to the far horizons of human avarice." And that trail has led him, a known "grifter," as Pierce puts it, to a ludicrous nationwide search for fraud—but only in states that serve his agenda. With the State of the Union address mere hours away, it's a warning worth reading. Check it out below. – Chris Hatler, deputy editor |
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Donald Trump, of all people, is on the hunt for fraud. But only in states where an investigation serves his crooked agenda. |
His entire public career has been built on brazen and obvious and constant deceit. His mentor, Roy Cohn—Joe McCarthy's attack weasel, who went into the weasel business himself after the senator died—taught him to admit nothing, to always attack and counterattack.
Often, the president's lies are so transparently false that they seem to be the product of a confused and disordered mind, which, at this point, they probably are. It is hard to believe anyone can be fooled by them. But they are so brazen and so obvious and so constant that they simulate an actual plan, so people give them credibility.
Early on in his 2016 campaign, it was recommended that we take what he said seriously but not literally. That's a line the roper would feed to a mark in a big con. It leaves the grifter in control of events. Take over Greenland? Take that seriously but not literally. And when the serious becomes literal, that's when your wallet is empty and the crew is down the road, headed for the next mark, and the one after that. Knowing all this, we elected him again. We discovered to our horror that his first term was simply the hook. This second term is the sting. |
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Men aren't devoid of powerful style inspiration. This magazine is full of it, and it's full of the style icons of the day—George Clooney, A$AP Rocky, maybe even Adam Sandler if that's your thing. But John F. Kennedy Jr. is an eternal one. Like his politics/culture magazine George, JFK Jr.'s style was singular, timeless, ahead of its time—whatever you want to say. But thanks to Ryan Murphy's FX series Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette, the "it" boy of the classic '90s style is all over the Instagram mood boards. I can go to any downtown New York bar and see Kangol hats, sweater vests, and backwards baseball caps. Menswear guys have never forgotten JFK Jr., but his looks do seem to be the latest in performative male dressing. |
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On Monday night, NBC debuted the first two episodes of The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, a new half-hour mockumentary sitcom from TV creators Robert Carlock and Sam Means. Of course, ever since the heyday of The Office, Parks and Recreation, and the also-Tracy-Morgan-starring 30 Rock, NBC has searched for a mockumentary comedy that could fill even one Michael Scott-sized shoe. So I'll give you a Michael Scott-worthy proclamation: Reggie Dinkins is not only the best new show of 2026 so far, but it has the best shot since The Good Place to contend with the holy trinity of NBC's Aughts Comedy Hall of Fame. |
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