"Do you really think anybody in the Kremlin ever cared about your comfort? Because all of this is material for Putin’s power. The only reason he may care about the gas lines is because there might be some sort of revolution about it." Nina Khrushcheva tells me from Moscow. puck.news/nina-khrusch...

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"Do you really think anybody in the Kremlin ever cared about your comfort? Because all of this is material for Putin’s power. The only reason he may care about the gas lines is because there might be some sort of revolution about it." Nina Khrushcheva tells me from Moscow. puck.news/nina-khrusch...

I've read dozens of books about Russia. This is one of the rare books where the historic perspective can make you repeatedly rethink a subject you thought you knew well. My favorite kind of book. At times funny, terrifying, and hopeful. #booksky #bookreview ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

What is life like in wartime Moscow, especially now that Ukraine has finally brought the war home to Russians? I called my friend Nina Khrushcheva (Nikita's granddaughter) for a surreal report. My latest. puck.news/nina-khrusch...

"It’s a very Western idea that if things are going horribly, you’re going to go and express your disillusionment publicly. Russians don’t protest this way. Russians protest with a middle finger hidden in their pocket." The great Nina Khrushcheva on life in Moscow. puck.news/nina-khrusch...

NATO didn't always have an annual summit, not even during the Cold War. Now, in the age of Trump, NATO insiders are wondering if these annual summits are doing more harm than good—and if it's time to stop having them so often. My latest. puck.news/nato-summit-...

Once again, Trump went to NATO and humiliated NATO allies. Which is why NATO insiders are asking, why do we keep doing this to ourselves? Is it time to cancel the annual summit? puck.news/nato-summit-...

They found the voter fraud!

The irony of Trump calling FIFA to overturn a red card for Balogun because he knows the U.S. can’t win without Balogun, who only qualifies for the U.S. team because of birthright citizenship, which Trump just tried to overturn.

NATO didn't always have an annual summit, not even during the Cold War. Now, in the age of Trump, NATO insiders are wondering if these annual summits are doing more harm than good—and if it's time to stop having them so often. My latest. puck.news/nato-summit-...

Is it time to cancel the annual NATO summit? “Why would you torture yourself?” one former NATO ambassador wondered this week. “NATO didn’t always have an annual summit. Why are we putting ourselves through this?” My latest. puck.news/nato-summit-...

“He sees the writing on the wall that an increasing fraction of America hates Israel,” one Trump administration official told me. “J.D. very clearly knows that being anti-Israel is the most politically profitable thing to be right now.” My latest. puck.news/how-jd-vance...

When I asked him if he speaks to JD Vance, Trita Parsi told me he didn’t want to get into all that, but did say that “we’ve been talking to the administration since they first came into office, on a variety of different issues, including this one.” puck.news/how-jd-vance...

“He sees the writing on the wall that an increasing fraction of America hates Israel,” one Trump administration official told me. “J.D. very clearly knows that being anti-Israel is the most politically profitable thing to be right now.” My latest. puck.news/how-jd-vance...

Is the United States still the world's superpower? Danielle Pletka and @juliaioffe.bsky.social offer differing perspectives in this timely conversation on global strategy and conflict. This episode was recorded live at the 2026 Cascade PBS Ideas Festival. Watch now: https://bit.ly/3SimOiw

JD Vance is the new Kamala Harris. My latest. puck.news/all-of-washi...

Trump signed the Iran MOU at Versailles, a place inextricably linked, for those who know their history, to another treaty ending a pointless, ruinous war, only to lay the groundwork for another that was far, far worse. My latest. puck.news/all-of-washi...

I asked Barak Ravid if he's become the boy who cries “Iran deal.” “I am covering the news, okay?” he said. “The boy doesn’t cry ‘Iran deal.’ The boy says the guys who are working on the Iran deal are crying ‘Iran deal.’” My latest. puck.news/barak-ravids...

Really good piece on @barakravid.bsky.social from @juliaioffe.bsky.social. (Why I still have Puck despite Hamby getting on my nerves.) puck.news/barak-ravids...

I asked Barak Ravid if he's become the boy who cries “Iran deal.” “I am covering the news, okay?” he said. “The boy doesn’t cry ‘Iran deal.’ The boy says the guys who are working on the Iran deal are crying ‘Iran deal.’” My latest. puck.news/barak-ravids...

I asked Barak Ravid if he's become the boy who cries “Iran deal.” “I am covering the news, okay?” he said. “The boy doesn’t cry ‘Iran deal.’ The boy says the guys who are working on the Iran deal are crying ‘Iran deal.’” My latest. puck.news/barak-ravids...

Great reporting. Try reading it and not going through all the stages of grief. And not just once

The Trump administration is continuing to push the State Dept to go after "left-wing terrorist" abroad—and look for links to them at home. My latest. puck.news/what-makes-a...

The Trump administration is continuing to push the State Dept to go after "left-wing terrorist" abroad—and look for links to them at home. My latest. puck.news/what-makes-a...

How does Putin view Trump? “The ‘orange one’ is such a great guy, we must make a golden statue to him—and if we’re lucky, we’ll make it in Kyiv,” according to one of his closest allies, Yuri Kovalchuk. My latest, with the amazing @zygaro.bsky.social puck.news/is-putins-ru...

"We just won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service," Bezos brags, without mentioning the Pulitzer Prize winners he laid off.

In November I broke this story about Andrew Paul Johnson, a pardoned J6er who molested children and used the promise of reparations to bribe his victims silence.

The last time 30-year bond yields hit this peak was in 2007, and as we all know, the economy did fine after that. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

National Security Action, the group co-founded by Jake Sullivan, is dusting itself off and gearing up for 2028. But a lot of Dems just wish the Biden bros would just go away. As one Democrat told me, “They’re all canceled and they don’t realize it.” My latest. puck.news/the-return-o...

So, yeah, Hegseth is remaking the US miltary into a bunch of toadies. The favored generals & admirals will try to claim they are just doing their jobs and it isn't their fault, but they will be viewed by everyone as partisan, which will diminish their effectiveness (if they don't already suck). 1/

The silver lining in all this is that Americans have far too much respect for our military, and things like this naked politicization of the officer corps should help reduce it to more sensible levels.

I genuinely thought that's Jack Nicholson about to say "you can't handle the truth" but, sadly, he seems to be just another toady

This is a good piece about bad leadership “the Trumpian way inspiring contenders to devour each other for the big boss’s fickle favor, rewarding personal loyalty & then calling it a meritocracy…doing this in the world’s most powerful military while at war presents another level of risk altogether…”

Had you been wondering why Powell isn’t stepping down…

NEW: Gen. LaNeve has been the one Army general rising through the ranks as Hegseth purges all the superstars. He's also used his proximity to Hegseth to settle old scores and taking out rivals. Now, he's trying to lure one of them back. My latest. puck.news/general-chri...

Not getting the attention it deserves…

NEW: Gen. LaNeve has been the one Army general rising through the ranks as Hegseth purges all the superstars. He's also used his proximity to Hegseth to settle old scores and taking out rivals. Now, he's trying to lure one of them back. My latest. puck.news/general-chri...

ICYMI: As Hegseth has fired 20+ generals and admirals, there is one general who has skyrocketed through the ranks. And now he's in line to be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Who is he? And why has he risen so fast? My latest. puck.news/pentagon-pur...

As Pete Hegseth has fired an unprecedented number of generals and admirals, one person has benefitted from the purge, rising quickly through the ranks. Who is he? My latest. puck.news/pentagon-pur...

As Pete Hegseth has fired an unprecedented number of generals and admirals, one person has benefitted from the purge, rising quickly through the ranks. Who is he? My latest. puck.news/pentagon-pur...

In our latest @erep.csis.org Russian Roulette episode, together with @maxbergmann.bsky.social, we speak with @juliaioffe.bsky.social Ioffe about her new book, "Motherland," which is a fascinating history of feminism and the role of women in Soviet and Russian society.

THE DALAI LAMA IS WEAK ON MONETARY POLICY.

Hegseth can't fire Army Secretary Dan Driscoll because Driscoll is law school BFFs with JD and Usha Vance. But Hegseth can fire everyone *around* Driscoll and make life miserable, including the head of the Army. In the middle of a war. My latest. puck.news/hegseths-pen...

Hegseth can't fire Army Secretary Dan Driscoll because Driscoll is law school BFFs with JD and Usha Vance. But Hegseth can fire everyone *around* Driscoll and make life miserable, including the head of the Army. In the middle of a war. My latest. puck.news/hegseths-pen...

Trump's ultimatum to Iran was always going to end not with mushroom clouds over Tehran, but with tacos in Washington. My latest. puck.news/the-day-afte...

The ceasefire gives Iran control over the Strait of Hormuz, which it did not have before Trump launched the war. The regime is still in place, it still has enriched uranium, the capability to shoot missiles at drones at its neighbors. What, other than chaos, did Trump achieve?

If the last decade—and especially the last two months—have taught anybody running a country anything, it's that nuclear weapons are a key part of regime survival. Everything that's happened since Feb 28 will only make Iran *more* determined to get nukes.

Trump's war on Iran has reminded me of Putin's war on Ukraine in so many ways, not least of which is this one: a cadre of advisors being too scared to tell the President what they really think, only to be horrified when he unleashes what they should've stopped him from doing in the first place.