NEW: US gunboat diplomacy — Trump's order to do a blockade of some oil tankers by Venezuela surprised the Pentagon. Maduro orders the navy to escort ships, risking a conflict on the high seas. Trump says he aims to seize the country's oil and other assets. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/u...

Trump orders US forces to stop oil tankers going to and from Venezuela that have been sanctioned by the US. This could cut into Venezuela's oil revenues. It's an escalation of Trump's military operations and pressure campaign against Maduro. Our story: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/u...

NEW: Trump covets Venezuela's oil. He has talked about seizing it. His envoy secretly pushed Maduro on it. Machado, the opposition leader, tells Trump's allies that she'll open up the industry to US companies. And US officials talk about pushing out China. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/u...

I watched “Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair” in a cinema over the weekend, which I recommend doing. I can’t help but wonder: Who would win in a fight — The Bride or John Wick?

How many Americans know the US has National Guard troops in Syria? They’re being killed. A US civilian interpreter was also killed in this attack by a single Islamic State fighter, US officials said. Trump promised to bring US troops home from conflict zones and not start wars.

Waking up to the horrific news of at least 11 killed in a shooting at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Australia: www.nytimes.com/live/2025/12.... And developments in the hunt for the mass shooter who killed and injured Brown University students in the US: www.nytimes.com/live/2025/12...

NEW: Rubio's longtime goal of crippling or toppling Cuba's leaders is tied to Venezuela. He has said if the government in Caracas falls, Havana could follow. He and Trump are pressuring Maduro to abdicate — and could use the CIA or US military. Gift link to our story: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/u...

NEW: Rubio's longtime goal of crippling or toppling Cuba's leaders is tied to Venezuela. He has said if the government in Caracas falls, Havana could follow. He and Trump are pressuring Maduro to abdicate — and could use the CIA or US military. Gift link to our story: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/u...

Trump escalates his military pressure campaign against Maduro. Here’s everything you need to know about the US seizing a tanker carrying Venezuelan oil in the Caribbean Sea: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/11/u...

NEW: Pentagon lawyers asked State Dept. if US could send survivors of Trump's boat strikes to a notorious prison in El Salvador. Then Pentagon pushed to have survivors sent anywhere but the US — to prevent any US court cases. Gift link to our @nytimes.com story: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/u...

The latest strike in the Trump administration's war on "woke": Rubio orders State Dept. to abandon the Calibri typeface and return to Times New Roman. Blinken had State adopt Calibri —a sans serif typeface is easier for people who have a hard time reading. Story: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/u...

NEW: Pentagon lawyers asked State Dept. if US could send survivors of Trump's boat strikes to a notorious prison in El Salvador. Then Pentagon pushed to have survivors sent anywhere but the US — to prevent any US court cases. Gift link to our @nytimes.com story: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/u...

Marine veteran Phil Klay writes in The New York Times about Trump’s strikes that have killed more than 80 people in boats, including survivors waving into the air: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/o...

NEW: The National Guard shooting suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, was shaken by bloodshed with his CIA-trained Zero Unit. In the US, he went into "dark isolation" and disappeared on cross-country drives, a volunteer's emails warned in Jan. 2024. Our story: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/u...

The most notable thing about this State Dept. press release: Trump and Rubio decided to literally replace the United States with Trump. The building that was called the U.S. Institute of Peace is now the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace.

NEW: The National Guard shooting suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, was shaken by bloodshed with his CIA-trained Zero Unit. In the US, he went into "dark isolation" and disappeared on cross-country drives, a volunteer's emails warned in Jan. 2024. Our story: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/u...

This meeting is about to start. Our story: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/u...

The New York Times was the first to report that top Trump aides — namely Rubio, Miller and Ratcliffe — were pushing to oust Maduro in Venezuela. Our story from September is perhaps even more relevant now: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/29/u...

This has always been core to Trump and MAGA. Anyone expressing surprise now wasn’t paying attention.

NEW: The New York Times got a State Dept. cable telling diplomats to destroy visas that had been approved and printed to give to Afghans. And diplomats are told to do scheduled interviews but not grant visas. US shuts all legal entry routes for Afghans. Our story: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/28/u...

NEW: The New York Times got a State Dept. cable telling diplomats to destroy visas that had been approved and printed to give to Afghans. And diplomats are told to do scheduled interviews but not grant visas. US shuts all legal entry routes for Afghans. Our story: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/28/u...

The Trump movement is open about its anti-immigration project, framed as a transnational one to save “Western civilization.” Trump’s post (with many falsehoods) should be read with our story on a State Dept. cable aimed at pressing Europe and other allies: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...

NEW: The New York Times got a State Dept. cable in which Rubio orders diplomats in Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to press for immigration limits and cite crime. They’re also told to report on governments that are pro-immigration. Our story: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...

NEW: The New York Times got a State Dept. cable in which Rubio orders diplomats in Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to press for immigration limits and cite crime. They’re also told to report on governments that are pro-immigration. Our story: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...

NEW: Rubio saw that the Russians had exerted great influence on a Ukraine "peace" plan drafted by Witkoff and Kushner and blessed by Trump and Vance. He flew to Geneva to try steering the proposal to something the Ukrainians would accept. Our story: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/u...

Xi Jinping took the unusual step of calling Trump today to discuss Taiwan and Ukraine. That comes as tensions between China and Japan soar over the Japanese PM saying Japan's military could defend Taiwan. Trump admires Xi, who aims to steer him. Our story: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/b...

Exclusive: The U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify the swastika, nooses and the Confederate flag as hate symbols. The military service drafted a new policy that classifies them as “potentially divisive.”

Trump Team Calls Maduro a ‘Cartel’ Boss. That Word Doesn’t Mean What You Think. Venezuelans coined a figure of speech for the phenomenon of generals corrupted by drug money: “Cartel de los Soles.” Then the US started talking about it as a literal organization. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/u...

NEW: Trump ordered a crackdown on a US group he calls "antifa." But no such group exists. Now, Rubio designates four European groups as "foreign terrorist organizations." The Trump administration could try to draw a link between them and Americans. Story: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/14/u...

Please join me and my friend @barbarademick.bsky.social tomorrow, Monday 11/17, for a zoom video talk on her gripping new book on a Chinese adoptee in Texas and her twin sister in China, “Daughters of the Bamboo Grove.” Register at the Overseas Press Club of America: opcofamerica.org/Eventposts/b...

NEW: Trump ordered a crackdown on a US group he calls "antifa." But no such group exists. Now, Rubio designates four European groups as "foreign terrorist organizations." The Trump administration could try to draw a link between them and Americans. Story: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/14/u...

Join me next Wednesday 11/19 when I speak at the Museum of Chinese in America in New York on my book on China, #AtTheEdgeOfEmpire. It won the Baifang Schell Book Prize from the Asia Society and was a finalist for the Orwell Prize. Ticket info: www.eventbrite.com/e/moca-talks...

NEW: A Pentagon intelligence report raises concerns that China could acquire F-35 jet technology if the US sells the planes to Saudi Arabia. Trump and MBS could finalize the deal next week in DC. China and Saudi Arabia cooperate on missiles. Our story: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/u...

NEW: A Pentagon intelligence report raises concerns that China could acquire F-35 jet technology if the US sells the planes to Saudi Arabia. Trump and MBS could finalize the deal next week in DC. China and Saudi Arabia cooperate on missiles. Our story: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/u...

Sen. Shaheen sent a letter to Sec. Rubio criticizing him for paying Equatorial Guinea an astounding $7.5 million to take deportees from the US who aren’t their citizens. The State Dept. has said the country has big corruption and human trafficking issues. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/11/u...

One under discussed aspect of lethal US strikes in the Caribbean is the effect on mil-intel cooperation with foreign partners. If I was still in the US government & a foreign partner started lawlessly killing people like this, I'd definitely raise a red flag w/r/t intel sharing, arms sales, etc.

I was thrilled to speak about my book on China #AtTheEdgeOfEmpire at #UWRF25 in Bali! It capped international festival talks this year at Jaipur, Auckland, Sydney and Edinburgh. Thanks to Janet DeNeefe and her team. More talks coming — join me at the Museum of Chinese in America in NYC on Nov. 19.

I was thrilled to speak about my book on China #AtTheEdgeOfEmpire at #UWRF25 in Bali! It capped international festival talks this year at Jaipur, Auckland, Sydney and Edinburgh. Thanks to Janet DeNeefe and her team. More talks coming — join me at the Museum of Chinese in America in NYC on Nov. 19.

Things are fine.

Two panels commemorating the contribution of Black American soldiers towards the liberation of the Netherlands in World War Two have been quietly removed from a cemetery in Limburg. It follows a complaint by right-wing think tank The Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission.

The arc of his success is nothing short of staggering. At the start of the year, Mamdani was polling at 1%, tied, as he likes to say, with the candidate known as “someone else.” Now, at age 34, he will be NYC's youngest leader in more than a century

NEW: Trump's threat to end aid to Colombia jeopardizes US security cooperation on anti-drug efforts. It's part of Trump's assault on leftist leaders in Latin America. Colombia's president, Gustavo Petro, says Trump murders civilians in boats. Our story: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/u...

NEW: Trump's threat to end aid to Colombia jeopardizes US security cooperation on anti-drug efforts. It's part of Trump's assault on leftist leaders in Latin America. Colombia's president, Gustavo Petro, says Trump murders civilians in boats. Our story: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/u...

Picture of the East Wing demolition of the White House taken on my flight out of DCA.

NEW: Some prominent Trump advisers and supporters are criticizing the administration's expanding military actions against Venezuela. They ask whether Rubio aims to do "regime change." Steve Bannon, Laura Loomer and Curt Mills are speaking up. Our story: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/u...

ICE kidnapped a 7th-grader with a pending asylum claim and spirited him out of state without notifying his parents, seemingly with the cooperation of the local police in Everett, MA. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/12/m...

Marco Rubio co-signed a letter in support of the nomination of María Corina Machado for the Nobel Peace Prize. Here’s the letter he and several other GOP lawmakers sent to the Nobel committee last year. Mike Waltz also co-signed the letter. www.rickscott.senate.gov/services/fil...

The Trump White House denounced the Nobel committee's awarding of the peace prize to Venezuelan politician María Corina Machado. But Rubio is a big supporter and co-signed a letter last August to the committee saying she should win the prize. Our story: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...

The Trump White House denounces the Nobel Peace Prize committee for awarding Machado. But an adviser to Machado told The New York Times that her group talks to US agencies about countering Maduro. Here's our recent story on Rubio's support of her and his contacts: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/29/u...

Marco Rubio co-signed a letter in support of the nomination of María Corina Machado for the Nobel Peace Prize. Here’s the letter he and several other GOP lawmakers sent to the Nobel committee last year. Mike Waltz also co-signed the letter. www.rickscott.senate.gov/services/fil...