What do Trump, Musk & Murdoch have in common? All colliding with the Ghost of Epstein & risking reputational death spiral. A key question now is do Murdochs turn Fox News on Trump. Just as Banquo's Ghost hovered over Macbeth, Epstein haunts Oval Office. My new column: www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07...

Trump stands back as Israel tries bombing its way to a new neighbourhood… Israel’s real agenda & what role the US is really playing with Iran and Israel. Donald Trump & plausible deniability that the US is not involved. My latest analysis. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06...

Thank you, Michael!

Musk v Trump: These two men can destroy each other. They’re flirting with mutually assured destruction but they now probably will both step back from that precipice. Here are the reasons why. My latest column from Washington DC. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06...

Has Trump created a monster? Musk v Trump. Support for @elonmusk from Fox News viewers will worry Trump who doesn’t want a public split with Musk. He also won’t like a sword-wielding Uma Thurman. Excellent analysis from my ABC colleague in Washington @BradRyan www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06...

“All bets are off. Does AUKUS mean anything these days? I'm not sure it means anything to the man who's on the balcony behind me.” - @johnthelyonsden.bsky.social re Trump’s new decision to increase tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from 25% to 50%.

From A Balcony Over Jerusalem to A Bunker in Kyiv: huge thanks to the booksellers particularly BookPeople for selecting Balcony Over Jerusalem as one of the best Australian books of last 25 years. Your support for me & other Aussie authors hugely appreciated by us all. Thank you!

From A Balcony Over Jerusalem to A Bunker in Kyiv: huge thanks to the booksellers particularly BookPeople for selecting Balcony Over Jerusalem as one of the best Australian books of last 25 years. Your support for me & other Aussie authors hugely appreciated by us all. Thank you!

Fascinating - on Elon Musk

“The BBC recently reported six babies freezing to death because there were no blankets. “Clearly, anybody but the most hardline supporters of Israel can see that this is a humanitarian crisis of historic proportions.” - @johnthelyonsden.bsky.social

From A Balcony Over Jerusalem to A Bunker in Kyiv. Looking forward to session this Sun @SydWritersFest with @PeterGreste. I'll be on video from US. We'll discuss Trump's intriguing rel'ship with Putin & the reality in Gaza. "Bunker" tells the story of heroic Ukrainians & why Putin can never conquer.

For those of you in Sydney: a discussion in Bondi this coming Tuesday evening MC’d by Paul Barry about my new book on Ukraine looking at Putin, Trump & where it goes from here. Please join is if you can urldefense.com/v3/__https:/...

“America’s credibility as an economic ally, strategic partner & global leader is trashed”: Professor Hugh White. The US has performed “one of the greatest acts of self-harm”: Former Australian Ambassador to China Geoff Raby. My latest column. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04...

Cyclone Trump tariffs the world… The key to understanding the latest move is to understand Trump’s psychology. My new column: www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04...

FIVE EYES: Aust & US's other key intel partners were already wrestling with Q's about how much they could trust their old ally. Now 18 top US national security officials plan on a non-secure app a bombing of Yemen. In any other presidency this story would rock the US. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03...

Now Russia is under the pump. Will it bow to US pressure? Is Trump really a Russia whisperer? Zelenskyy's willingness to sign a temporary ceasefire suggests he's learnt to play Trump's game. Amid White House chaos, is there a master strategy? My new column www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03...

BREAKING: Australia to NOT receive exemption for steel and aluminium exports to US. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told media Trump "considered it & considered against it... If they want to be exempted they should consider moving steel manufacturing here." Presents a big challenge for PM.

www.abc.net.au/listen/progr... Was Trump loaded for bear? Did Trump & JD Vance ambush Zelensky? Trump’s very 1st comment to Zelensky & the 1st question from a “friendly” journalist suggest they did. Add to that Zelensky’s mishandling & the future of Ukraine is now in jeopardy. My chat to PK & FK

In the new hard world of Donald Trump, everything is about what a country has to offer. Australia has 2 things the US wants: the Pine Gap spy facility & proximity to China. As Trump upends geopolitics, what happens to 5-Eyes & AUKUS? My new column: www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02...

Just finished reading your Balcony over Jerusalem, John. What a read! I thought I understood, at least on a ‘big picture’ level, the Israel-Palestine history and current situation, but your work is so illuminating. Thank you! Recommending it widely. 👏👏👏

Two ghosts lurk behind Trump’s Gaza plan: one is Jared Kushner, his son in law, who floated the idea a year ago. The other is Bezalel Smotrich, who said Israel’s founder David Ben-Gurion should have “finished the job” when it came to Palestinians. Here’s my new column. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02...

Thank you @johnthelyonsden.bsky.social for all you write on the maelstrom of Israel & Palestine www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01...

This is the endgame for Israelis & Palestinians. Over the next 4 years Trump & Netanyahu can kill a 2-state solution. The far right in Israel & supporters in Aust will celebrate. But it will bequeath to the Mideast a future of dreadful violence. My new column: www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01...

BREAKING: Foreign Min Penny Wong & Amb Kevin Rudd have just been to White House & met Trump nat security adviser Mike Waltz. It’s high level access on Day 1 of a new administration. If flies in the face of those who said Aus & Rudd would be frozen out. They’re now about to meet Sec State Marco Rubio

Human moments amid the tragedy… My reflections on the hostage-prisoner exchange youtube.com/watch?v=wdiq...

JERUSALEM: Israeli media reporting that Hamas has handed the names of the first 3 hostages to be released. This means the ceasefire is likely to come into place within an hour, ending this phase of the war. Welcome relief - but without a political solution this is just a pause in a decades long war

THE CEASEFIRE: What we can expect over the next 24 hours. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01...

Here’s my 30-second take on how I think history may view Joe Biden’s role in the Gaza war. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01...

What does this ceasefire really mean? Donald Trump says it’s “EPIC”. It’s not. It’s merely a Band-aid on a badly bleeding patient. Unless the world pushes for a political rather than military solution there will be more killing of Israelis & Palestinians. My new column www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01...

My new column: the year the geopolitical plates shifted & where to in 2025. From Ukraine, Gaza, Syria, Russia, China to what Trump means. Mideast deteriorating. Gaza now almost unliveable, Turkey new kingmaker after Russia, Iran lose Syria. We’ll see fallout for years www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12...

Israel & Syria: In recent months Israel has bombed Gaza, the West Bank, southern Lebanon, Bek’aa Valley, south Beirut, central Beirut: & now Syria, with estimated 480 strikes in 48 hours. My new column looking at Israel’s response to fall of the Assad dictatorship. www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12...

My 1st ever post on @Bluesky! A brief & early history of the fall of Assad. If u have 5 mins here’s my take on Assad, his use of barrel bombs, who Hayat Tahrir al-Sham are and what all this means for Iran & Russia. www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi-e...