President Trump has announced an agreement with Vladimir Putin to bring Russian diesel into American and global markets, hoping to relieve soaring fuel prices. His administration has temporarily eased sanctions to make it happen. Just days later, Trump announced an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, only for Russian forces to continue attacking Ukrainian energy…
Presidential Families, Foreign Gifts, & the Senate’s Next Move
Washington has discovered a political dilemma old enough to qualify for Social Security: What happens when the standards politicians enthusiastically applied to the other party suddenly wander across the aisle and sit down in their own living room? Sen. John Curtis, a Utah Republican, is asking the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate whether presidential family…
What Saxony-Anhalt’s Election Says About Germany
Germany’s political establishment just received the electoral equivalent of a brick through the window, and responding with another lecture about the neighborhood’s declining manners probably won’t repair the glass. The Alternative for Germany, commonly known as AfD, won a commanding 43.8 percent of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt’s state election, more than doubling its previous showing.…
U.S.–South Korea Military Exercises at a Strategic Crossroads
President Trump has ordered the Pentagon to substantially scale back the annual joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea. The announcement came only hours before the 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise was scheduled to begin, leaving military officials with the unenviable task of adjusting a major operation after the troops had already…
The Senate’s New Sanctions Push Against Russia and Iran
The Senate has taken a major step toward dramatically increasing economic pressure on Russia, the countries purchasing its energy, and Iran. In an 86–12 procedural vote, senators advanced the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, although the measure still requires additional votes before it can pass the Senate and move to…
Laura Loomer Reconsiders Russia’s War in Ukraine
Laura Loomer’s trip to Ukraine has produced one of the more unexpected political reversals of the year. The outspoken conservative activist and close Trump ally, who spent years criticizing Ukraine and repeating narratives favorable to Moscow, now says she was “bamboozled” by Russian propaganda. After traveling near the eastern front, meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy,…
The U.S.-Spain Trade Standoff
President Trump’s suggestion that the United States should cut off trade with Spain over defense spending is one of those foreign-policy moments where a real issue gets paired with a very Trumpian solution: take a legitimate complaint, attach a flamethrower to it, and see who blinks first. The basic dispute is simple enough. Trump is…
Turkey, the F-35, and the Price of Alliance Trust
President Trump’s reported push to reopen the door for Turkey to rejoin the F-35 fighter jet program has revived one of NATO’s messier family arguments. And yes, this is very much a “family argument” situation: Turkey is a NATO ally, the U.S. wants strong partners against Russia and Iran, Israel is raising alarms, Congress has…
Trump, Ukraine, and the Delayed Drone Deal
The Trump administration’s hesitation over a major drone deal with Ukraine comes down to a simple question: Is America willing to learn from the country currently fighting the most drone-intensive war on earth? Ukraine wants a broad framework deal that would combine its hard-earned battlefield drone experience with American technology, money, manufacturing capacity, and artificial…
What the Pentagon’s Europe Deployment Pause Means
The Pentagon has reportedly halted troop deployments to Poland and Germany as part of President Trump’s broader order to reduce the U.S. military presence in Europe by about 5,000 troops. According to AP, roughly 4,000 troops from the Army’s 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, were no longer heading to Poland, and a…
