Two National Emergencies, an Ocean Apart

With the United States and United Kingdom each in fits of political turmoil, Elaine Godfrey, who covers Congress for The Atlantic, and Yasmeen Serhan, who is based in London and writes about Britain, started asking themselves: What is even going on?

Here is an edited transcript of their conversations in recent weeks, from the shutdown to the present, running through emergencies, defections, and near-constant crises in two of the world’s oldest and most important democracies.

Elaine Godfrey: Hi, Yasmeen! Update from your homeland: The government is open again! I had drinks this weekend with all my furloughed friends to celebrate the end of their 35-day break. I honestly didn’t see it coming: Trump gave in. He signed legislation to fund the entire government, without a cent for his border wall. The only problem is, it’s only three weeks of funding, so we could be back in shutdown mode shortly.

How are things across the pond?

I’m currently sitting in the House press gallery pondering the differences between a fence and a wall …

Hey, Elaine! I’m so glad to hear mention Brexit. Pure bliss.