Weekly News Roundup - 5/15/26
Trump goes to China // Hantavirus patients leave ship
This is the 19th Weekly News Roundup of 2026. The archive for all weekly news roundups is here, which goes back to the beginning of 2024.
These weekly dispatches are designed for those who may not have time to do more than glance at the headlines, or those who want to stay informed without becoming obsessed by politics and news. These roundups are a targeted way to get a sense of the shape of the past week on the national level. Without such a map, we can be disoriented, not knowing where we have been over the past several days, or where we may be going.
But by spending concentrated, limited time thinking about the big picture, we can devote more of our time to where “agency and justice begin and end,” as Karen Swallow Prior put it: “on the ground, bodily, in community and real relationships, in flesh and blood.”
Quotes of the Week
I walk to learn, which is why I read, since each is a different way to do that. - Chris Arnade
There are too many trumpets and drums on the present-day scene. On the one hand, the naively militant “new atheism” of Richard Dawkins and Co. and, on the other, its equally noisy and similarly naive counterparts: Christian fundamentalism and the “religious Right.” Let us leave the two sides to display their rival bombastic slogans on the sides of city buses and wrestle with each other. The Lord who spoke to Elijah in a still small voice is not present in those stormy quarrels. Great truths, as good old Nietzsche taught, “come on dove’s feet.” - Tomas Halik
The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right. - Learned Hand
Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it. And what is this liberty which must lie in the hearts of men and women? It is not the ruthless, the unbridled will; it is not freedom to do as one likes. That is the denial of liberty, and leads straight to its overthrow. A society in which men recognize no check upon their freedom soon becomes a society where freedom is the possession of only a savage few; as we have learned to our sorrow.- Learned Hand
Week in Review
Saturday, May 9
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin says the war in Ukraine is “coming to an end.”
Sunday, May 10
Passengers depart the hantavirus-stricken and board government and military planes to be monitored for signs of the virus. Two passengers develop symptoms. The Centers for Disease Control, which has been diminished by cuts from the Trump administration, is conspicuously absent from the international response.
Iran sends its latest proposal to the U.S. for an end to the conflict with the U.S. President Trump rejects it.
Monday, May 11
The Wall Street Journal reports that the United Arab Emirates has been carrying out secret attacks on Iran, “casting the Gulf monarchy as an active combatant in a war in which it has been Iran’s biggest target.”
Tuesday, May 12
FBI Director Kash Patel angrily denies excessive drinking allegations during a Senate committee hearing.
Trump departs for a high-stakes trip to China.
A French woman falls critically ill from hantavirus as the number of confirmed cases climbs to 11.
Republican senators say they need more details about “a $1 billion security plan for the White House, including a proposed $220 million to secure President Donald Trump’s new East Wing ballroom.”
A former executive at a private prison operator will become the head of ICE, the White House says.
Wednesday, May 13
The majority of Republicans in the U.S. Senate again vote down an attempt to require the Trump administration seek approval for continued combat operations in Iran, but their margin of error grows smaller as another Republican votes for the war powers resolution.
Thursday, May 14
Chinese President Xi Jinping and others in his government warn the U.S., during Trump’s stay in their country, that if the issue of Taiwan -- an independent island that China has long threatened with invasion -- is not handled “properly ... the two countries will have clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy.”
The Supreme Court preserves access to the mifepristone abortion drug.
Rep. Chuck Edwards, a North Carolina Republican, is the subject of a sexual harassment investigation by the House Ethics Committee.
Friday, May 15
On his way back to the U.S. from China, Trump says he has not decided whether to send an arms package to Taiwan after hearing objections to it from Xi. Analysts note that Trump’s focus during the summit with Xi seemed to focus on forging a “personal bond with a Chinese leader who appeared far more focused on advancing his own nation’s strategic agenda.”
Interesting Reads
We Should Take Hantavirus More Seriously, by Zeynep Tufekci for The New York Times
Experts wonder ‘Where is the CDC?’ as a hantavirus outbreak unfolds on a cruise ship, by Mike Stobbe for The Associated Press
The Iran War Worsens America’s Democratic Erosion, by The New York Times editorial board
Rejecting church and state separation is on the wish list for Trump’s religious liberty commission, by Peter Smith for The Associated Press
Another Trump Appointee Learns It’s Easier to Be a Critic Than a Leader, by Katelyn Jetelina for The New York Times
Why Surging Federal Debt Matters, by Jessica Riedl for The Dispatch
The Men Who Want Women to Be Quiet, by Helen Lewis for The Atlantic
The World Is Feeling Its Way Toward Togetherness, One Weird and Wonderful Ritual at a Time, by Bruce Feiler for The New York Times
The ‘Rabid Partisan’ Republican Who Defied Donald Trump, by David French for The New York Times