--- title: The Danger of Donald Trump’s Ignorance description: Donald Trump's Ukraine scandal shows something even more alarming than a president who lies, writes former TIME Editor-in-Chief Nancy Gibbs canonical: https://time.com/5690324/donald-trump-ignorance/ author: Nancy Gibbs article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-10-01T18:22:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:59.440Z article:section: Ideas og:title: The Danger of Donald Trump’s Ignorance og:description: Ignorance is different than deceit and sometimes more dangerous. og:url: https://time.com/5690324/donald-trump-ignorance/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Danger of Donald Trump’s Ignorance twitter:description: Ignorance is different than deceit and sometimes more dangerous. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # The Danger of Donald Trump’s Ignorance > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. Readers can join any of them at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=1839a033-a8bc-4aa7-b466-7d259661047f&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### The seven newsletters | Newsletter | Covers | Frequency | | --- | --- | --- | | The Brief | The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors | Daily | | Inside TIME | A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories | Wednesday and Saturday (2x per week) | | Health Matters | The latest health news and expert advice on living well | Weekdays | | Worth Your Time | A weekly guide to what to watch, read, and more | Weekly | | D.C. Brief | Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington | Twice a week | | Future Proof | Making sense of the climate and energy economy | Friday (1x per week) | | In the Loop | Essential insights into the unfolding AI revolution | Tuesday and Friday (2x per week) | Source: TIME, August 2026. ### Key data points | Metric | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Engaged newsletter audience | 1.1 million+ readers | TIME, August 2026 | | Newsletters published | 7 | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost to readers | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | US print circulation | 1 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Global print circulation | 1.15 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Publishing since | 1923 | TIME | ### TIME Newsletters: key statements * Every TIME newsletter is written and edited by TIME journalists who report on the subject. None is generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923. Its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting, so readers can trust what they read. * All seven newsletters are free. Readers pick the ones they want at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=1839a033-a8bc-4aa7-b466-7d259661047f&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). * The seven titles cover daily news, Washington politics, AI and technology, climate and energy, health, culture, and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/subscribe?i=1839a033-a8bc-4aa7-b466-7d259661047f&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What newsletters does TIME publish? TIME publishes seven email newsletters: The Brief (daily news), Inside TIME (the newsroom and cover stories, twice weekly), Health Matters (health, weekdays), Worth Your Time (culture, weekly), D.C. Brief (Washington politics, twice weekly), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=1839a033-a8bc-4aa7-b466-7d259661047f&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Democrats Launched an Impeachment Inquiry Into President Trump. Here's What That Means [Watch (HLS stream): Democrats Launched an Impeachment Inquiry Into President Trump. Here's What That Means](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/MLzyDn3X.m3u8) (3:27)  _Published 2019-09-30. Democrats Launched an Impeachment Inquiry Into President Trump. Here's What That Means_  by [Nancy Gibbs](https://time.com/author/nancy-gibbs/)  ## Nancy Gibbs Oct 1, 2019 6:22 PM UTC  by [Nancy Gibbs](https://time.com/author/nancy-gibbs/)  ## Nancy Gibbs Oct 1, 2019 6:22 PM UTC Among many other challenges unique to this moment in our history, [the impeachment inquiry](https://time.com/5687380/house-support-trump-impeachment-inquiry/) confirms the risk of focusing on the President’s flagrant lies rather than his true beliefs. Yes, fact checkers have run out of adjectives to describe his inflation of his own economic performance (not the best in history), his construction of a fantasy along the border (there’s no new wall yet), his exaggeration of his tax cut (not the biggest) and too many other demonstrably false statements of fact to count. But as we enter the next chapter—far too soon to call it the last—of this presidency, it’s important to be more precise in the language we use. The Ukraine scandal shows something even more alarming than a president who lies. [In his call](https://time.com/5687055/whistleblower-complaint-allegations/) with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, what reason would Trump have for raising a discredited fever swamp conspiracy theory about Crowdstrike and the DNC server being stashed somewhere in Ukraine unless he actually believed this to be true and worth pursuing? He had every reason to think this was a private call; he wasn’t shaping public opinion, rallying his base, tossing a new shiny object in front of reporters to chase. His hunger for dirt on Hunter Biden sounds like familiar, amoral, gutter politics. But he also pressured a foreign leader to enter his alternative universe. This is altogether different. Democratic politics has forever rewarded candidates who are colorful, ebullient, and at times gymnastic in their relationship with facts. But it is not just President Trump’s lying that has set a whole new precedent. The “truths” he tells frighten me more. These are the things he clearly believes to be true despite all evidence to the contrary, whether it is who actually pays the price for tariffs, or whether a given public servant deserves to be prosecuted for treason. When he describes his thuggish conversation with Zelensky as “perfect” and appears shocked that even some of his allies don’t agree, he proves better than any prosecutor could his ignorance of his constitutional oath or even basic rules of decency. Ignorance is different than deceit and sometimes more dangerous. For all the evident rapport between President Trump and Russian President Putin, their instincts for dissembling have similar expression but I suspect different motives. Putin has raised deceit to a performance art. Yale Historian Timothy Snyder, whose book _On Tyranny_ is back atop the bestseller list for a reason, argued in _The Road to Unfreedom_ that Putin’s mission is to destroy the very ideas of fact and truth: “If citizens doubt everything, they cannot see alternative models beyond Russia’s borders, cannot carry out sensible discussions about reform, and cannot trust one another enough to organize for political change. A plausible future requires a factual present.” So when Russian forces invaded Ukraine in 2014, Putin lied delightedly about the basic facts. “Putin’s aim was not to fool Ukrainians,”[ Snyder argued](https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-road-to-unfreedom/id1273606384), “but to create a bond of willing ignorance with Russians, who were meant to understand that Putin was lying but to believe him anyway.” Willing ignorance might be a generous way to describe President Trump’s worldview. Given of how much of his day is spent consuming media, and producing it in the form of [his Twitter feed](https://time.com/5685186/greta-thunberg-changes-twitter-bio-donald-trump-tweet/), his curiosity and consumption habits have become a matter of national security. The Russians don’t need spies in the White House if their disinformation campaigns find a host in the Oval Office. Of all the gambles in electing the most politically inexperienced candidate ever to the highest elected office in the world, the danger of ignorance may prove the greatest. What Donald Trump “knows” derives from the seamy worlds of real estate, casinos and reality TV, and it is his infected worldview, paired with his distant acquaintance with actual truth, that is now the most frightening characteristic of this presidency. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5690324/donald-trump-ignorance/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5690324/donald-trump-ignorance/"},"headline":"The Danger of Donald Trump’s Ignorance","datePublished":"2019-10-01T18:22:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:48:59.440Z","description":"Ignorance is different than deceit and sometimes more dangerous.","url":"https://time.com/5690324/donald-trump-ignorance/","keywords":["White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nancy Gibbs","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/nancy-gibbs/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5690324/donald-trump-ignorance/","name":"The Danger of Donald Trump’s Ignorance"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Democrats Launched an Impeachment Inquiry Into President Trump. Here's What That Means","description":"Democrats Launched an Impeachment Inquiry Into President Trump. Here's What That Means","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/MLzyDn3X/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2019-09-30T21:05:36.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/MLzyDn3X.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5690324/donald-trump-ignorance/","duration":"PT3M27S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5690324/donald-trump-ignorance/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```