Rick Stengel

What Trump used to understand when he railed against "endless wars" in the Middle East is that there was almost zero upside for presidents getting involved in the Middle East and catastrophic downsides.

How Trump Decided to Go to War

Bibi has tried to get every American president, of each party, to invade Iran. They all had the good sense to turn him down. Except one. (Great reporting.)

Well, it turns out a vote for Donald Trump was a vote to start wars not end them. No president in modern history has ordered more military attacks against as many nations as Trump. And now he's started a war in the Middle East, the exact thing he campaigned against.

1. We invaded not because the threat was imminent, but because it was not.
2. The negotiations were a pretext.
3. There is no day after plan. This is the "let's-see-what-happens" presidency.
4. Hoping the Iranian people will rise up is not a strategy.
5. This is exactly what he promised not to do

I remember when foreign policy wonks used to ask, Is Iran a rational actor? Now people are asking whether America is a rational actor.

The president campaigned on ending wars, not starting them. With the attack on Iran, he has now launched strikes on 7 other nations. He says Iran was an "imminent threat" to the American people.The Iranians do not have missiles that can reach our shores.

"Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime." Yes, the Iranian regime is indeed an imminent threat—to the Iranian people, not the American people.

Trump, seeking executive power over elections, is urged to declare emergency Activists who say they are in coordination with the White House are circulating a draft executive order that would unlock extraordinary presidential power over voting.

Throughout history, authoritarians and dictators have fabricated reasons to suspend civil liberties and elections and declare martial law. We must not let it happen here. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Trump's Dream Is a Giant Slush Fund Congress Can’t Touch From Venezuelan oil to the Board of Peace, Trump is constantly looking for new sources of cash he can control.

Call it Wet-My-Beak diplomacy, but every "deal" he makes must include money set aside for the "dealmaker" to use as he wishes. Adversaries and allies all know this now, and it's part of the negotiation. Just look at Iran talks now.

Americans Are Leaving the U.S. in Record Numbers More citizens are replanting overseas, drawn by a quality of life made easily affordable by the U.S.’s enviable salaries.

When one of a nation's leading exports is its own people, that's not a healthy sign.

Hmm, was there some kind of speech last night?

I'd declare a moratorium on using the term "double-down" in any headline about the current occupant. He always does it—it's not news.

After Stunning Setback, Trump Finds Other Ways to Impose Tariffs

No Democrat in history has ever been this determined to impose such sweeping taxes on the American people.

It’s laughable that he calls the Justices “disloyal” to the Constitution. It’s always projection with him. They have been "disloyal" to him, and therefore the Constitution, because he is the state.

Tariffs paid by midsize US companies tripled last year, a JPMorganChase Institute study shows New research shows midsize U.S. companies pay far more in Trump-era tariffs, and the costs land at home.

Foreigners don't pay tariffs, we do. In fact, the heart of America's economy, mid-size businesses, that employ nearly 50 million people, are absorbing the increased cost and passing on to you.

Yes.

With Latest Rollback, the U.S. Essentially Has No Clean-Car Rules

Not only is this bad for the environment, but like so many regulations of this admin, it is actually bad for business. It will isolate the US auto industry, undermine exports, and cede the future of the auto business to Chinese electric vehicles. American First = America Alone = Little America.

Europeans push back at US over claim they face 'civilizational erasure' A top European Union official has rejected the notion that Europe faces “civilizational erasure,” pushing back at criticism of the continent by the Trump administration.

The irony, of course, is that it's not Europe that is facing civilizational erasure but America—if by that you mean the reversal of traditional values like civility, fairness, protection of free speech, the right to protest.

A year into Trump's term, voters say Biden was better Trump has squandered virtually every advantage that won him the presidency.

If only American voters had a longer memory. On all his signature issues, immigration, the economy, foreign affairs, Trump is lower than where he was at this time in his first term and lower than where Biden ended up. People were so sick of Trump at the end of his first term and thought never again.

Americans Are Paying the Bill for Tariffs, Despite Trump’s Claims

A New York Fed study shows that 94% of tariff increases are paid by US companies and consumers. For the 100th time, a tariff is a tax on American consumers and companies.

Bridge Owner Lobbied Administration Before Trump Blasted Competing Span to Canada

Very clear example of how he always sides with the billionaire class over the working class. Bridge was paid for by the Canadians (he usually likes this) and helps Americans, but his insecurity and loyalty to the oligarchy overcome what is in ordinary Americans' interests.

Grand Jury Rebuffs Justice Dept. Attempt to Indict 6 Democrats in Congress

The Framers saw juries as one of the great protections for democracy. And they are. What they did not foresee was a weaponized Justice Dept attacking the Constitutional values of free speech and separation of powers, and defending an authoritarian executive.

Less than 14% of those arrested by ICE in Trump's 1st year back in office had violent criminal records, document shows The official DHS statistics, which had not been previously reported, provide the most detailed look yet into who ICE has arrested during the Trump administration's crackdown.

The "Worst of the Worst" Lie. Fewer than 14% of the nearly 400k arrests made by ICE have violent records. Less than 2% are for homicide or sexual assault. Only 1.9% are alleged gangmembers. 40% had no criminal record at all.

The racist post by the President of the United States may be the worst bit of American public diplomacy in a 100 years.

Opinion | Republicans could really use a lesson on the Fourth Amendment Philip Bump: Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C., declared judicial warrants for ICE to be a “non-starter.” That’s a sign of the times for the GOP in the Trump era.

For decades, the GOP has been almost as adamant about the Fourth amendment as the Second, you know, the one about people being being protected "against unreasonable searches and seizures." And, it's the word "people," not "citizens." But I guess it doesn't apply to all people.

Nuclear Arms Control Era Comes to End Amid Global Rush for New Weapons

Sure, the START treaty has its flaws, but it's the last restraint on a new nuclear arms race. Mend it don't end it. The US president's bellicosity has caused many new nations to contemplate building their own weapons. That's also bad news. The math is simple: the more weapons, the more danger.

Trump’s Lawsuit Against I.R.S. Creates ‘Enormous Conflict of Interest’

"If you have contempt for government, you will get contemptible government." —Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Trump, in an Escalation, Calls for Republicans to ‘Nationalize’ Elections

I know this is a second order effect, but isn't there one Republican who can stand up and say, No, we're the party of state's rights and local power and "nationalizing" elections—nationalizing anything—goes against everything we've ever stood for.

Trump Had Unusual Call With F.B.I. Agents After Election Center Search

Maybe he just wanted to ask them, "Did you find 11,780 votes."

‘Spy Sheikh’ Bought Secret Stake in Trump Company $500 million investment for 49% of World Liberty came months before U.A.E. won access to tightly guarded American AI chips.

The level of corruption is mind boggling, shameless, and unprecedented. Never before has a foreign government official taken a major ownership stake in an incoming U.S. president’s company.