By Averi Halbert and Laura Lipcsei
Reflecting on the endless chaos of the political world over the last year, we decided to bring back some of the most memorable political moments of 2025—and rate them on their impactfulness.
Our rating scale
1 = Ehhh, could be worse. Not that relevant.
10 = Oh-my-god. Is it so bad it’s kinda iconic? …or no.
- Trump’s Political Relationships – Trump seemed to have a lot of peculiar relationships with some of his peers, both in and out of the office, over the last year; so much so, we had to make subsections to fit them all in.
- Elon Musk (and his Hitler salute)
Averi: 7.8/10
This relationship was never stable, even from the start, as seen in Elon and Trump’s very public breakup. It is interesting to me how this relationship brought out the very worst in our government: Elon’s “Hitler salute” as a way to “show his love” to his audience and Trump’s support of a Tesla showroom on the White House South Lawn. One related the U.S. to a time when a country existed under a dictatorial leader, and the other highlighted the fall of our government to corruption, using public office for private gains.
The videos and memes that came of this failed relationship? Impeccable. No notes.
Laura: 9.9/10
Was this relationship a trainwreck? Yes. But was it iconic? Also yes. From the very start, Elon and Trump’s relationship caught the eyes of many people—myself included. Trump was a raging conservative, and Elon had been a fairly hardcore democrat since 2008 (one could even compare the two to the shy nerd falling in love with the popular jock in a cliche movie); so it suffices to say that almost no one saw the duo coming. I will say that after discovering their relationship, some similarities between the two popped out at me—namely, that both had initially been Democrats and switched to Republicans, and that both had matching personalities: high egos, attention-seekers, businessmen, the list goes on. In a twisted way, the two almost seemed like soulmates with how alike they were. But, of course, all good things have to end; so after a year of young love spent during Trump’s campaign and early presidency—Elon rallying support for Trump, Trump lending the White House lawn to Elon for him to use it as a Tesla dealership, Trump giving Elon his own government position in the Department of Government Efficiency, Elon joining Trump in foreign affairs meetings, Elon wearing casual clothing around Trump (who, in case you—like me—forgot, is our president), the two making heart-eyes at each other—the relationship of the two shattered. It all started to go downhill after Elon’s shocking German-style salute; the relationship truly unraveling after a risky tweet from Elon ended with an online feud between the President of the United States and a tech-savvy billionaire centered around the contents of the files-which-shall-not-be-named. Overall, the relationship between Trump and Elon, albeit short, remains one of the most iconic and messy relationships of all time, securing their spot as one of the most important events of 2025 for me.
- Jimmy Kimmel
Averi: 7.2/10
While I must admit I did not pay much attention to this fiasco as it happened, I saw the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! as a threat to the 1st Amendment and freedom of speech. Spurred by conversation around Charlie Kirk’s death, the suspension of Kimmel’s media platform further fueled polarization and pushed Trump’s boundaries of authoritarianism.
Laura: 6.2/10
Although I didn’t spend too much time ruminating over this event when it happened (what can I say, I like drama, and this event didn’t really have much of that), the implications of the occurrence make me give it a 6.2/10. I remember learning that Kimmel was removed from his show after a lighthearted joke about the recently deceased Kirk caused great offence with conservatives (and someone who I won’t name but whose name rhymes with dump), and thinking to myself, “wow, we can’t even make jokes anymore.” On a real note, the removal of Kimmel sparked debate about the freedom of speech guaranteed to every citizen of the United States, and because this scandal breached such a serious topic, I believe it deserves its place as a part of one of the most iconic events of 2025.
- Gavin Newsom
Averi: 3.1/10
Following the California fires in LA, Trump visited Gavin Newsom, ensuring both federal and state efforts to restore “normalcy” to the affected areas. This visit was overshadowed, I believe, by the chaos of the fires, but still showed that Newsom (a potential presidential democratic nominee) and Trump (serving in office and having feuded with Newsom on various events) can come together in times of need to provide aid to the American people. On the other hand, I do love how this encounter revealed Trump’s exaggeration of his height, as both men were reportedly 6’3, and yet Newsom appeared to stand significantly taller than Trump in all photos.
Laura: 8/10
Gavin Newsom—supermodel-esque, highly intelligent, and very well put-together California Governor—and Trump—turkey-looking, kindergarten-level reading age, and hot-mess (I’m joking) President of the United States—are truly such a hilarious duo (and no, I don’t have any bias between the two, why would you even say that?). My favorite moment with this duo occurred when Trump attempted to catch Newsom off-guard by visiting CA unannounced during the CA wildfires, but was instead met with a firm handshake from Newsom and an absolute aura loss. Why do I say this? Well, for two primary reasons: Trump’s lie about his height was exposed, and Melania gave Newsom—someone she barely knows and basically the archenemy of her husband—a kiss on the cheek even though she refuses to ever truly give Trump (her husband) one. In the case of the height-lie-exposure (which I feel the need to elaborate on), when Newsom shook Trump’s hand, a picture was taken of the two. In the picture, Newsom is very clearly a couple of inches taller than Trump (who was possibly also wearing shoe lifts to make himself taller—which can be seen by his forward lean). Fun fact: both Trump and Newsom are allegedly 6’3” tall. Now riddle me this: how is it possible for two men to be the same height even though one is clearly taller than the other? The correct answer is that it’s not possible. And something tells me that Newsom wasn’t the one who lied. Basically, the relationship between this duo is just Newsom humbling Trump, and I absolutely love that, so I am giving their relationship an 8/10.
- Mamdani
Averi: 4.7/10
A semi-recent event, so I can’t talk about any outcome of this newly discovered relationship, but I can say the meeting between Trump and Mamdani appeared very one-sided. Trump’s quick flip from being a Mamdani hater to his first defender in the face of media questions and Mamdani’s quiet and polite smile spoke volumes. Definitely did not see this “alliance” (if you can call it that) coming when Mamdani was elected as Mayor of New York.
Laura: 6.7/10
I haven’t seen much of this duo yet—they’ve really only had a couple of interactions—so I can’t judge it too thoroughly yet. But I will say that I like what I’ve seen. All I’m gonna say is that Trump looked like a teenage girl in love whilst in the presence of Mamdami (he even forced Mamdami to have a photoshoot with him!), and that after their meeting, Trump identically copied Mamdami’s outfit and wore it out the next day. Because of these two cute moments, I’m giving this relationship a 7/10.
- National Security Group Chat Leak
Averi – 9.8/10
Genuinely never could have come up with this on my own. Give me another government that has accidentally leaked its own military plans through a group chat by accidentally adding a press member. I’ll wait. This leak, containing various matters of national security—including names of active undercover CIA members, nuclear weapons, and war plans—also contained questionable sets of emojis. Very, very, very secure communications within the White House and between the leaders of the nation.
Laura: 9.5/10
When I first heard about the chat leak, I genuinely thought I was being pranked. And then I remembered who’s currently running our executive branch and immediately believed it was true. But, like, seriously? A group chat in—of all the possible SMS applications—Telegram? Really!? On a more real note, the fact that the government of the United States leaked its own sensitive information whilst claiming that non-US citizens cannot be trusted and need to be removed is truly ironic. If you ask me, it looks like the call is coming from inside the house.
- Government Shutdown
Averi: 8.3/10
I can now say I lived through the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. A brag? I don’t think so. But the consequences of the political polarization within our two-party system were made abundantly clear when SNAP benefits—food stamps for those in need—lost funds after the Trump Administration refused to allow SNAP to use contingency funds to fill in for the missing budget, as done during past government shutdowns. This was seen by many as a pressure tactic to push Democrats (trying to extend the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) tax credits) by Trump and Republicans (opposing the extension) in order to resolve the shutdown. Many citizens (1 in 8) rely on SNAP benefits to afford food; however, in the time of the government shutdown, political leaders allowed SNAP to lose funding, taking away funds for food, and revealing how little some government leaders care about the people.
Laura: 8.8/10
In a series of events which shocked many (not me), the government underwent the longest shutdown in US history—an egregious 43 days. You may ask, why was I not shocked? Well, dear readers, that is because I was already aware of who was president when the then-first, now-second longest shutdown—a staggering 35 days—occurred. Do you wanna take a guess at who it was? I’ll give you a hint: I compared them to a kindergartener earlier. That’s right, you guessed it, it’s Trump! Based on his track history (and, honestly, I think he should get some sort of Guiness World Record for being president during the two longest government shutdowns in history) I wasn’t horribly shocked that the shutdown occurred; but either way, all I could feel when I learned about it was dread (and maybe a little, teensy, weensy bit of “wow, I can’t believe I was right!”). More seriously, the shutdown reveals the effects of the increasing political polarization in United States politics, and all I can say is that I am not looking forward to what’s coming next.