Elise Labott

Ukraine on a platter This Thanksgiving, Putin is thankful for Trump and his plan for Ukraine's surrender.

There's suddenly a lot of backtracking on President Trump's 28-point plan for Ukraine. Now it's being called just a "framework" for negotiations. But even as a starting point, this isn't a peace plan. It's a surrender document

www.cosmopolitics.news/p/ukraine-on...

The Bircher Playbook Why the John Birch Society’s playbook outlasted its critics — and how it led to the crises now shaking the right.

The GOP is facing the same crisis with Nick Fuentes and Tucker Carlson that it did in the 1960s with the John Birch Society. You cannot build a coalition on extremism and expect moderation to prevail.

thepreamble.com/p/the-birche...

The next Aramco MBS is trading with China, but his deals with Trump are betting Saudi Arabia’s economic future on American innovation

MBS is trading w/ China, but his deals w/ Trump are betting Sadi’s economic future on American innovation. The partnerships being announced today across AI,advanced tech,and infrastructure could define the 21st century as profoundly as oil defined the 20th
www.cosmopolitics.news/p/mbs-comes-...

The Doctor Shortage We Designed America’s two-tier system is here: concierge care for the few, crowded waiting rooms for everyone else

Like me, have you ever waited weeks (or months!) for a doctor's appointment? This one's for you. Let me know if it resonates.

thepreamble.com/p/the-doctor...

Trump's Syria gambit Whether the President's Syria policy is brilliant or just plain reckless depends entirely on execution

The test isn’t whether al-Sharaa’s journey from Abu Ghraib to the Oval offends our sensibilities. It’s whether this partnership advances US interests, stabilizes Syria, and constrains Iran & ISIS while preventing the humanitarian catastrophe from worsening

www.cosmopolitics.news/p/trumps-syr...

Gaza diplomacy crashes Bibi's victory lap Trump thinks Iran strikes created leverage for a Gaza breakthrough. He plans to use it.

At the White House today, Netanyahu will find himself in the familiar but uncomfortable position of managing Trump's expectations, as the president who green-lit the Iran strikes now demands payment in the form of a Gaza ceasefire that could threaten the very coalition keeping Netanyahu in power.

We were clearly talking about the regime and their calculations on a response. But fair point.

Trump’s Ukraine Rorschach test How Trump deals with Russia will determine whether he can lead his MAGA movement or must follow it

Ukraine has become the ultimate foreign policy test case for whether Donald Trump leads his MAGA movement or follows it—and whether his personal frustration with being outmaneuvered can override his base's ideological commitments.

open.substack.com/pub/labott/p...

First Harvard. Then 378,000 American Jobs. It’s not just Ivy League politics — it’s your local community

The State Department has halted ALL new student visa interviews nationwide while expanding social media vetting. When we systematically reject global talent, they don't being brilliant - they build competing companies elsewhere.

thepreamble.com/p/first-harv...

US Signals it No Longer Cares About Human Rights After Russia invaded Ukraine, it kidnapped thousands of children and forcibly relocated them to more than 100 different locations around the massive country.

Apparently human rights and war crimes are passé in America.

thepreamble.com/p/us-signals...

A convenient truce US-Houthi deal embodies President Trump's "America First" foreign policy

President Trump’s deal with the Houthis couldn't more nakedly embody his America First foreign policy. The Houthis stop attacking American ships; the U.S. halts its bombing campaign. But missing from the deal? Any protections whatsoever for American allies

www.cosmopolitics.news/p/a-convenie...

This White House statement is really telling:

“This agreement signals clearly to Russia that the Trump Administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine over the long term.”

LIVE SOON: Elise Labott on Substack Starting May 1 at 5:30 PM EDT

Moscow Mules were sooo 1960s

Hot Tale Happy Hour TODAY at 5:30 with me and @Danielle Pletka on Substack Live

open.substack.com/live-stream/...

For Kyiv, it's a diplomatic win. For Moscow, it’s a warning: Trump now has skin in the game. Undermining Ukraine means threatening American economic interests — and his.

The agreement creates a joint reconstruction fund, opening Ukraine’s vast mineral reserves to U.S. capital and, symbolically, to Trump's legacy. While it offers no military guarantees, it ties American prestige — and profit — to Ukraine’s postwar recovery.

The U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal, announced tonite, gives Trump something he’s long wanted: a financial stake in Ukraine’s future. It signals to Putin that Washington, under Trump, is no longer just cutting checks — it's investing.

A New State Department to Meet the Challenges of a New Era Author: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio

What's most striking about Rubio's State Department reorganization is political theater surrounding it.. Behind the fiery rhetoric about "draining the bloated,bureaucratic swamp" and eliminating "radical ideologues" is a plan far less apocalyptic than many feared
open.substack.com/pub/statedep...

Trump's revolutionary, recycled Iran deal But Trump may succeed because he possesses what Obama lacked

We are watching a bizarre cycle of destruction and recreation. Trump tore up a functional, if imperfect,agreement that had Iran's nuclear program in check. Iran responded by accelerating toward weapons capability.Now, Trump must negotiate a new deal to solve the very crisis his actions helped create

Gold Is Soaring, Treasury Bonds Are Crashing — What Does It All Mean? One of the safest bets in the world is no longer safe — and it’s costing you.

When the world loses faith in America's financial foundation, we all pay the price. open.substack.com/pub/sharonmc...

Tariffs are just the beginning The Trump administration wants to rewrite the global economic system

Tariffs are just the beginning. The Trump administration is methodically dismantling the global economic architecture the United States itself built over 75 years and rewriting the rules of international commerce, finance, and monetary policy.
open.substack.com/pub/labott/p...

Who is Viktor Orbán -- And Why Does the American Right Love Him? When Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán visited Mar-a-Lago last year, he posted photos with Donald Trump and Elon Musk, captioning them: "The future has begun!" Few Americans might recognize this E...

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has become something of a political cult hero on the right as a leader who has successfully quashed liberal influences.
"We didn't just talk about defeating the progressives and liberals," he told CPAC in 2023. "We actually did it."
thepreamble.com/p/who-is-vik...

Who is Viktor Orbán -- And Why Does the American Right Love Him? When Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán visited Mar-a-Lago last year, he posted photos with Donald Trump and Elon Musk, captioning them: "The future has begun!" Few Americans might recognize this E...

Few Americans might recognize him, but Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has become something of a political cult hero on the right as a leader who has successfully resisted liberal influences. thepreamble.com/p/who-is-vik...

My first Substack Live! We will talk about how China is swooping into exploit the US retreat and government cuts Hope you will tune in TOMORROW at 12:30p. Don’t forget to download the Substack app subscribe to Cosmopolitics so you get a notification when we start.

“Like a Landlord Seeking Rent” America was once seen as a force for moral legitimacy. The world thinks that has changed.

America's withdrawal has created a strategic vacuum that China is rushing to fill. The question is no longer whether America's retreat will create opportunities for China, but how quickly Beijing will seize them – and at what cost to the global order

thepreamble.com/p/like-a-lan...

Elise Labott on X: "There's an unmistakable culture of casualness permeating this administration that tracesdirectly to the top. President Trump, who has made no secret of his disdain for traditional guardrails, redefined presidential technology norms from day one. https://t.co/kJccqfDySp" / X There's an unmistakable culture of casualness permeating this administration that tracesdirectly to the top. President Trump, who has made no secret of his disdain for traditional guardrails, redefined presidential technology norms from day one. https://t.co/kJccqfDySp

There's an unmistakable culture of casualness permeating this administration that tracesdirectly to the top. President Trump, who has made no secret of his disdain for traditional guardrails, redefined presidential technology norms from day one. x.com/eliselabott/...

Russia’s Endgame Putin wants total control of Ukraine. His recent diplomatic moves show it.

European leaders, former officials, and Russia experts—virtually everyone except President Trump—recognizes Putin's strategy: prolong negotiations while advancing militarily,exhaust Western resolve, and force Ukraine into a ceasefire that leaves it permanently vulnerable
substack.com/home/post/p-...

The muzzling of US-funded global media Silencing America's voice to the world speaks volumes about what America is becoming.

Nothing says "America First" quite like pink-slipping 1,300 journalists who literally export American values for a living.
open.substack.com/pub/labott/p...

Cutting “Foreign Waste” Sounds Good. Until You See the Cost From famine warnings to countering extremism, here’s what America is really losing by gutting USAID

Here is what's missing from this conversation on USAID: It's a strategic instrument of American foreign policy, developed with bi-partisan support as a cost-effective way to advance our national interests without deploying troops or imposing sanctions. thepreamble.com/p/cutting-fo...

Cutting “Foreign Waste” Sounds Good. Until You See the Cost From famine warnings to countering extremism, here’s what America is really losing by gutting USAID

If we're serious about American leadership in a competitive world, we need to recognize that soft power isn't just charity -- it's strategy.
thepreamble.com/p/cutting-fo...

Ukraine's peace trap Talks on ending the war are following troubling historical patterns

Nobody is naive enough to think peace bought at the cost of Ukraine's sovereignty would put an end to Putin's revisionist ambitions. Precisely the same warnings were issued about North Vietnam and the Taliban. We ignored them then. We should heed them now
www.cosmopoliticsbyelise.com/p/ukraines-p...