Chicago Tribune Opinion Wednesday, December 3, 2025 | | |
| | | | | Good morning, Chicago. The decision to go to war has not helped past U.S. presidents such as Lyndon Johnson, Harry Truman and George W. Bush. So why — columnist Steve Chapman asks — is Donald Trump determined to strike up more conflict in Venezuela? “Why he would be willing to take such a hazardous step is not obvious. Trump ran on a promise to stay out of foreign conflicts. He has no idealistic mission to spread democracy. Venezuela hasn’t attacked U.S. targets or built weapons of mass destruction,” Chapman writes. Elsewhere in the world, Poland is now the 20th largest economy, and Dalibor Rohac writes today that the Eastern European nation should be a full-fledged member of the G20. In case you missed it: Northwestern struck a deal with the federal government over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. NU professor Elizabeth Shakman Hurd writes that she and other faculty members were strongly opposed to the university paying $75 million over three years. If you have thoughts on the deal, please consider sending us a letter at the link below. The Tribune Editorial Board weighs in today on a new alternative Chicago budget proposed by several aldermen, or “Team Pragmatism," that does not include a head tax. The board also calls our attention to a northwest suburban schools employee accused of making more than $37,000 in unauthorized purchases on his district credit card. Thanks for reading. We will be back tomorrow. — Grace Miserocchi, opinion editor Submit an op-ed | Submit a letter to the editor | Meet the Tribune Editorial Board | Subscribe to this newsletter | | | | Venezuela hasn’t attacked U.S. targets, and a war against Nicolas Maduro has several possible outcomes, most of them bad. | | | | | Facilitating Poland’s membership into the G20 is the easiest way for the U.S. to shift the group’s center of gravity toward like-minded countries. | | | | | Northwestern’s agreement with the federal government is about punishing universities and repressing political opponents. | | | | | The alternative budget offered by a bare majority of the Chicago City Council is a decent starting point. | | | | | District 214 officials have been asking residents to give their feedback on a potential referendum and have unsurprisingly received word that $850 million is a nonstarter. | | | | | If the state and the city had worked with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, then there would have never been an Operation Midway Blitz. | | | | | Scott Stantis  | |
