2025 brought in a great deal of change. Join the Tribune Editorial Board and the opinion team as we reflect on the events that shaped the year. Each look back gives an overview of some of the biggest debates that shaped our city, nation and world in 2025 and what writers in our section had to say about them. After reading, test your knowledge with our 2025 news quiz.
Life in Chicagoland as told through Tribune editorials
Metra retires its 10-ride pass. Michael Madigan jurors hear the sad ballad of Mike and Mike. A progressive alderman tries and fails to change Chicago’s speed limit. A history of public ownership ends at Walgreens. JoAnn Fabrics hangs it up. Da Pope is a real headline. We offer cheers to George Wendt. And we mourn the death of R. Bruce Dold, one of the giants of Chicago journalism and one of our own. Here’s our first collection, focused on the little joys and big irritations of life in Chicagoland, 2025 edition. Read the full recap.
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s year through the lens of Tribune editorials
Chicago’s mayors have been the subject of Tribune editorials for pretty much this newspaper’s entire 178-year history. But few of the city’s chief executives have made as many appearances on the editorial pages in a single year as has Mayor Brandon Johnson, whose 2025 was filled with conflict, ending with a grand December debacle at the City Council over the city’s budget. Here’s a revealing look back at 2025 editorials featuring Johnson. Read the full recap.
Aggressive federal immigration enforcement roils Chicago
2025 will be remembered by most Chicagoans for the arrival here of the Border Patrol, which joined agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement in aggressive enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws, as directed by the president of the United States. Accompanied by protesters wherever they went, the agents arrested people throughout the city, often in ways more associated with military-style governments. Here is our look back at what the Tribune Editorial Board had to say about their actions. Read the full recap.
Chicago’s yearlong fight against violent crime
Chicago’s struggles around public safety were the subject of many Chicago Tribune editorials in 2025. We focus on both the politics and the human costs of violent crime and our collective search for solutions. Read the full recap.
The nation and the world through Tribune editorials
President Donald Trump begins a second term (was it that recently?) and Joe Biden leaves the stage. The Gaza conflict rages on as does Russian aggression. Fires roar in Los Angeles as a heinous scandal roils a British prime minister. Read the full recap.
The year in Scott Stantis cartoons
From the beginning of Donald Trump’s second term to the end of Illinois’ Michael Madigan era, 2025 gave our editorial cartoonist Scott Stantis an abundance of material. Here is a look back at a number of his best and most humorous illustrations from this year. See the cartoons.
A look back at the impact of the Trump administration through op-eds
President Donald Trump promised during his inaugural speech that his second term would usher in a “golden age,” and he promptly signed a flurry of executive orders in his first 100 days, more than any other U.S. president. The changes that came in subsequent months have left many Americans reeling. The contributors to our commentary section have examined what this new age of executive power means and how it is affecting Americans and people around the world. Read the full recap.
A look back at immigration enforcement raids in Chicago through op-eds
Masked Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs and Enforcement agents spread out on the streets of Chicago and its suburbs to ramp up arrests, and their often brutal tactics were met with resistance. Protests increased at the Broadview detention facility, and neighbors in Chicago and its suburbs blew whistles and created informal community groups. Our commentary from this chaotic time examined the actions and decisions of federal immigration agents and how Chicagoans responded and found solidarity during the worst moments of the blitz. Read the full recap.
A look back at Chicago’s affordable housing debate through op-eds
Chicago does not have enough affordable housing. In fact, the area needs 142,000 units, and one report released in June said the region must build 227,000 in the next five years to keep pace with demand. Mayor Brandon Johnson kicked off a stormy battle in the City Council this summer and presided over the passage of two ordinances that act as first steps in chipping away at Chicago’s problem. First, he revived an ordinance to make “granny flats,” or accessory dwelling units, legal again throughout Chicago — albeit with some compromises. Second, the mayor championed a ban on parking space minimums in buildings near public transit. Contributors to our op-ed section wrote thoughtfully on how Chicago can quickly develop the amount of housing needed while respecting the realities and demands of life in a city. Read the full recap.
A look back at the Chicago region’s transit crisis through op-eds
When the General Assembly met in late October for its veto session, one of the most critical matters on its agenda was passing legislation to pull the Chicago region’s mass transit system back from the brink and modernize its operations. “No funding without reform” was a common refrain throughout the year during debate over transit funding. Tensions over who gets to control the system’s future — renewing a tug-of-war between the city and the suburbs — also dominated the conversation. That conversation played out on our pages. Here is a look back at the transit crisis through our op-eds. Read the full recap.
A look back at our most heartfelt op-eds
Our commentary section offers a broad spectrum of views on weighty subjects and timely topics. But we also publish op-eds that are personal, some bordering on transformative; they appear most often on Saturdays in print (and online the day before). They dive into the tender aspects of what it means to be human and what it means to be in community and emerge with universal truths. Sometimes, those truths make our hearts swell with compassion or quiver with sadness. Sometimes, those truths make us feel lighter than air because the joy they inspire makes us buoyant. Read the full recap.
Laura Washington: Political goings-on in 2025 reflect anything but comity
Donald Trump ensured this departing year has been like no other. Wake me up next year. If I didn’t know better, I’d suspect 2025 was all a bad dream or a bout of indigestion caused by sour shrimp or spoiled mussel. The news flow of 2025 has been feverish, and next year, I fear, will be even spookier. We need a bit of comity. Please. However, this year’s political goings-on reflect anything but comity. Comedy, perhaps, but comity? No way. Read the full column.
Edward Keegan: This year in Chicago architecture wasn’t on anyone’s bingo card
Architecture unfolds slowly. Big plans take years, sometimes even decades, to complete. And yet some years come with lots of surprises, and 2025 included a few head-scratchers: a papal pilgrimage site in suburban Dolton, an entire wing of the White House demolished, and likely landmark protection for the mediocre office building that replaced Louis Sullivan’s Chicago Stock Exchange. Read the full column.
Daniel DePetris: The foreign policy moves Donald Trump got right this year
For Trump’s supporters, 2025 has been a year of transformation. For his opponents, it’s been nothing short of a long nightmare. The holiday season is a perfect time to look back, reflect and remember the consequential moments of the past year. As human beings, we generally fixate on the negative. Indeed, there are a ton of things not to like on the foreign policy front during the first year of Trump’s second term. Yet it wasn’t all bad this year. As erratic as Trump can be, there were a few policy moves that the White House can be proud of. Read the full column.
Faith leaders: 2025 was a year of setbacks and celebration
The end of a calendar year is always a good time to reflect on the time that has passed. We’d like to share our reflections on the 12 months of messages we have been privileged to share with you through the pulpit of the opinion pages. Read the full piece.
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