Andrew Roth

Was Trump ever in control of the Iran war?

Was Trump ever in control of the Iran war he chose to help start? That's the question @rachelleingang.bsky.social asked in today's Politics Weekly America ep

She speaks to Iran expert, Ali Vaez & @rothandrew.bsky.social about what the administration might do next.

open.spotify.com/episode/72Q6...

Orbán to visit US to try to broker another Putin summit but questions raised over motives Hungarian PM also seeking exemption on US sanctions on Russian oil as he faces domestic challenge before elections

“Orbán wants Trump to come to Budapest before the elections,"said a source at a gov. foreign policy institution.“This is a top priority.They will discuss the Russian gas issue, but the thing Orbán cares about the most is the elections.”
w @rothandrew.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

How Stephen Miller is turning the US state department into an ‘anti-immigration machine’ Miller is one of the most powerful officials in Trump’s White House, illustrating how it has sought to overcome a ‘deep state’ of professional diplomats

important new reporting by my colleague @rothandrew.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

The brilliant @rothandrew.bsky.social brought @jonathanfreedland.bsky.social around the world - from Ukraine to Venezuela, the Middle East to Argentina, breaking down Trump's plan for global power

Trump’s plan for Iran divides Republicans Politics Weekly America · Episode

Trump is still deciding what his plan should be when it comes to Iran. Whatever he decides, he’s bound to anger some of his supporters.

Is this the issue that splits his Maga base?

@rachelleingang.bsky.social and @rothandrew.bsky.social discuss it all here

open.spotify.com/episode/7wly...

From antiwar, Biden-backing Democrat to apologist for Assad and Putin and finally strident Trump loyalist, Tulsi Gabbard’s political journey has been astonishing. @rothandrew.bsky.social & @nndroid.bsky.social discuss what motivates the woman Russian TV called “our girlfriend” ➡️ linktr.ee/bunker_pod

Who are the players behind Trump’s foreign policy? Politics Weekly America · Episode

After Trump's whirlwind week in the Middle East, a deep dive into Vance, Rubio and Witkoff - the men trying to shape US foreign policy. @rothandrew.bsky.social and I talk about them, and one less visible key player, for the latest Politics Weekly America open.spotify.com/episode/556H...

Hi Rufus, this is Andrew Roth from the Guardian. Would it be possible to reach you? Thanks Andrew.roth@theguardian.com

In wartime Russia, schools prepare the next generation of fighters Since the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian education system has cranked the patriotic themes into overdrive, seeking to mold the soldiers of tomorrow.

Set out to report this story & truly didn’t expect Kremlin’s militarization of education to be as intense as reported. But it was quite shocking to see it first-hand

My latest fr @washingtonpost.com on how classrooms & libraries are becoming training grounds

www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

‘They brought it on themselves’: a new low in US-Ukraine relations Diplomats gasp as Keith Kellogg claims Zelenskyy to blame for soured relations with America

Trump’s ‘adults in the room’ on Ukraine are in a race to the bottom. Rubio declares it a ‘proxy war’. Kellogg says intel cutoff is ‘hitting a mule in face with a 2x4’. Also Vance tipped off UK media he would bring up free speech in Starmer meet. My latest: www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

How far will Trump’s embrace of Russia go? – podcast The US has suspended all military aid to Ukraine. What does this mean for European security? Andrew Roth reports

This was good and helpful for understanding the issues around Trump and Ukraine (with @rothandrew.bsky.social and Michael Safi) www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2...

How far will Trump’s embrace of Russia go? – podcast The US has suspended all military aid to Ukraine. What does this mean for European security? Andrew Roth reports

Spoke with @theguardian.com Today in Focus about Trump's embrace of Russia and the cutoff in aid to Ukraine. “Trump is such a singular political force right now that he’s managing to repaint many aspects of the argument over Ukraine in American political life." www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2...

Washington now ‘largely aligns’ with Moscow’s vision, Kremlin says Tension between the United States and Ukraine, laid bare in the Oval Office meeting of Trump and Zelensky, is seen in Moscow as a “gift.”

I’ve been back & forth to Russia a fair bit the last few months, and I could never have imagined some of the convos I’ve had this week in Moscow. Even a month or two ago this rhetoric would have seemed totally far-fetched and fanciful. Things shifting fast here.

wapo.st/3QGplPj

How JD Vance emerged as the chief saboteur of the transatlantic alliance Vance snaked his way in first to the row between Trump and Zelenskyy, his second intrusion this month after Munich

I will stop posting about this after this (maybe?) but this, from @rothandrew.bsky.social on JD Vance's role in the attempted humiliation of Zelenskyy and Ukraine, is spot on
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

How JD Vance emerged as the chief saboteur of the transatlantic alliance Vance snaked his way in first to the row between Trump and Zelenskyy, his second intrusion this month after Munich

JD Vance was supposed to be forgotten as vice-president. Instead, he has launched two key interventions to spoil the US relationship with Europe and Ukraine that may mark the collapse of the transatlantic alliance. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

“I am of America and for America.” Why then did it take 10 years for this change to materialize. Did Jeff Bezos suddenly become American? Or did America suddenly become whatever is profitable for Jeff Bezos and Donald Trump?

Trump and Vance are courting Europe’s far right to spread their political gospel US vice-president’s speech and meeting with Germany’s AfD chief signal administration’s wider plans for continent

Trump, Vance and Musk are spearheading the US’ new foreign policy: extort the concessions they can from Europe and then let populist voters finish the job www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

USAid cuts sow feeling of betrayal among Yazidis, 10 years after IS genocide Figures who backed rights of religious minorities in first Trump term fall silent as vital work halted on the ground

Under Trump 1, Mike Pence pledged $400 million to help Yazidis and Christian minorities resettle after Isis genocide. Under Trump 2, the administration is gutting those programs, cutting aid to tens of thousands of genocide survivors still in dire need. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...

Trump Says He Has Opened Talks With Putin To End War In Ukraine

▫US secretary of defence says Ukraine would have to cede territory, alarming Kyiv and European allies
@rothandrew.bsky.social @dansabbagh.bsky.social @pjotrsauer.bsky.social
tinyurl.com/28trevfw

#frontpagestoday #UK @theguardian.com

Musk in a pattern now of turning Musk/Thiel executives into federal CIOs: www.wired.com/story/elon-m...

By @makenakelly.bsky.social

Russia and the US to negotiate over how many Europeans will be stationed in Ukraine.

Authoritarian leaders in former Soviet bloc seize on Musk’s USAid crackdown Region’s autocrats join in persecution of agency that provided aid and helped to build up civil society in 1990s

Autocrats plan crackdown on USAid and civil society and ask Musk and Trump to help with data. Georgia opens criminal case, local partners questioned in probe into USAid in second country, Guardian can reveal. And Slovakia asks Musk directly for lists of partners. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Ukrainians are vanishing into Russia. These people track them down. Thousands of Ukrainians have disappeared into prisons in Russia, and a network of Russians and Ukrainians are working together to find them.

Fantastic piece by @francescaebel.bsky.social on the “frozen” people, thousands of Ukrainian civilians being held in secret in Russian prisons and the activists in Ukraine and Russia fighting to get them out. Urgent story and brilliant storytelling. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

Doge v USAid: how Elon Musk helped his acolytes infiltrate world’s biggest aid agency Exclusive: Takeover of USAid agency by Doge operatives seen as pilot for large-scale overhaul of federal government

Must-read by @rothandrew.bsky.social on how Musk's acolytes forced their way into USAID and its secure systems. Putting his Russia reporting experience to work in Trump's second outing

New via Guardian — USAID security was defending a secure room holding classified data when a message came directly from Elon Musk: give the DOGE kids whatever they want. It was one of three calls by Musk to get access, including threatening to call US Marshals.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Roth's 10 years of (excellent) reporting in Moscow has prepared him for his new gig in DC. On the Doge insanity perpetrated by the Muskovite incels.

This morning I woke up to news that the richest man in the world— the unelected oligarch tearing down our government—retweeted a grifter’s lies about me. Here are the facts, since I know weirdos from Twitter stalk me here (maybe find another hobby?): 🧵

Doge v USAid: How Elon Musk helped his acolytes infiltrate world’s biggest aid agency Takeover of USAid agency by Doge operatives seen as a pilot for a large-scale overhaul of the federal government

No tanks on the streets, but here is some great reporting by @rothandrew.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Doge v USAid: How Elon Musk helped his acolytes infiltrate world’s biggest aid agency Takeover of USAid agency by Doge operatives seen as a pilot for a large-scale overhaul of the federal government

SCOOP: Elon Musk in multiple phone calls pressured USAID administrators and security to give the "Doge kids" access to personnel data and secure rooms. My insider piece on the tense meetings and chaotic standoffs at USAID as four young Musk acolytes shut it down. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

My podcast from Panama after Trump said America is “taking back” the canal. Listen to the son of Gen. Omar Torrijos, who negotiated the treaty with Jimmy Carter, the Trump-loving mayor of Panama City, and the daughter of a Panamanian solider killed in the US invasion. And me! t.co/WJCpu73LFN