Zachary B. Wolf - Senior Writer, CNN Politics
Zachary B. Wolf
Senior Writer, CNN Politics
Zach Wolf writes the What Matters newsletter for CNN. He also serves as a senior writer for CNN Politics, where he writes political analysis and is a frequent guest on CNN's Early Start.
Latest
Trump’s picks don’t look like America. They look exactly like Fox News
Nov 21, 2024
While President Joe Biden bragged about picking the most diverse Cabinet in history, one that he said “looks like America,” President-elect Donald Trump is looking for TV experience.
What happens between now and Inauguration Day
Nov 20, 2024
American voters have spoken, and they decided to rehire Donald Trump as president of the United States.
The admitted and investigated drug use in some of Trump’s top picks
Nov 18, 2024
President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks are unique for many reasons. One thing that makes several of them stand out is that drug use from their recent or distant past is not a major issue, is overshadowed by other issues or is not currently raising a furor in an era when views of some drugs are evolving.
What is impoundment? How Trump thinks he can control spending without Congress
Nov 18, 2024
“Impoundment” is another word that Americans may need to learn in the vernacular of President-elect Donald Trump’s second term.
Cabinet confirmation process and recess appointments, explained
Nov 15, 2024
For all the drama generated every four years by Cabinet appointments, defeat of a nominee by a vote in the Senate is extremely rare.
Trump stirs the pot with shock Cabinet picks
Nov 14, 2024
President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks keep getting more outlandish, which may be part of the point.
Senate Republicans to choose between the McConnell way and a MAGA upstart
Nov 13, 2024
On the heels of the general election last week, there’s another important vote on tap this Wednesday in Washington that will greatly impact what President-elect Donald Trump can accomplish during his four years in office: Republicans in the Senate will vote by secret ballot to choose a new leader.
Why deportations actually dropped in Trump’s first term
Nov 11, 2024
Given his rhetoric demonizing undocumented immigrants and his promise to engage in mass deportations when he retakes the White House in January, it’s kind of shocking that deportations actually dropped in the four years Donald Trump was president.
Trump’s win was real but not a landslide. Here’s where it ranks
Nov 10, 2024
Donald Trump can claim a lot out of his 2024 election win. What Trump cannot claim is a landslide victory, although that’s how he will describe it.
Trump’s master plan for a radical reformation of the US government
Nov 7, 2024
President-elect Donald Trump has promised to completely remake the US government and wield new power as president.
Here’s how CNN projects elections
Nov 5, 2024
Millions of Americans will be tuning in to CNN and other networks on election night as returns roll in. They’ll be waiting to see who wins, something CNN will determine with a series of projections.
What is the ‘red mirage’ or the ‘blue shift’ and will it happen this year?
Nov 5, 2024
It’s been called the “red mirage” or the “blue shift.” It’s the recent phenomenon by which an apparent Republican lead early after polls close on election night is erased by the counting of mail-in ballots later in the evening or in the days after Election Day.
How we know voting systems are secure
Nov 4, 2024
Former President Donald Trump and one of his most vocal supporters, tech billionaire Elon Musk, have alleged without evidence that the potential for voter fraud is a major threat.
Here’s how election night will unfold hour by hour
Nov 2, 2024
Election night in America will play out following the sun and poll closing times from East to West, generally speaking.
Your election questions, answered
Nov 2, 2024
The November 5 general election approaches, and Americans have some questions.
Trump’s White House would mainstream vaccine skepticism as confidence drops among Republicans
Oct 31, 2024
Anyone who doubts that a second Trump term would take vaccine skepticism into the mainstream of American government and life should watch Kaitlan Collins’ interview on CNN Wednesday with the co-chair of Trump’s presidential transition team, Howard Lutnick.
About
Zach Wolf writes the What Matters newsletter for CNN. He also serves as a senior writer for CNN Politics, where he writes political analysis and is a frequent guest on CNN’s Early Start. He previously served as digital director of CNN Politics and managing editor of CNN Politics during the 2016 presidential election. He joined CNN in July 2013 as a senior planning editor.
Before coming to CNN, Wolf was senior political editor and deputy political director for ABC News.
Wolf also worked as an assignment editor in ABC’s Washington Bureau and as a freelance producer in California, where he is from and one day hopes to return. He graduated from UC Berkeley.
