Anne Applebaum

Americans are now so used to their president cheating and breaking rules that many of them seem genuinely not to understand why the world was rooting for Belgium.

Lindsey Graham was one of the main subjects of a @theatlantic.com cover story I wrote in 2020, on why people collaborate with regimes they know are immoral. Here's a gift link:
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

History Will Judge the Complicit

Why have Republican leaders abandoned their principles in support of an immoral and dangerous president?

The American legal system is being abused in order to pander to the president's fantasies and make them seem real

www.nytimes.com/2026/07/02/u...

Olympian Is Indicted After Arrest at Washington’s Reflecting Pool

"No other world leader can claim to have survived and thrived on the enmity of both Trump and Vladimir Putin" giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Zelenskyy may have the last laugh over Trump

Ukraine’s president increasingly looks as if he holds the future of the west in his hands

This is another step towards a one-party state: only give government grants to your political friends

www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/b...

Trump Administration Admits Canceling Grants to States That Did Not Vote for Him (Gift Article)

Federal officials said in court documents that they halted billions of dollars in funding for energy projects to states “based solely” on whether they backed President Trump in the 2024 election.

The State Department has just put out a tender, offering funding of up to $3 million to European organizations who want to fight against "Supra-national institutions" - presumably the EU - and governments who seek to regulate the internet and end Western Civilization.

www.state.gov/drl-nofo-dev...

DRL NOFO Developing Civilizational Bonds, Democratic Resilience, and Rule of Law in Europe - United States Department of State

Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)Developing Civilizational Bonds, Democratic Resilience, and Rule of Law in EuropeBureau of Democracy Human Rights and Labor, Department of StateOpportunity number: ...

he is not wrong

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com

Massie: "I think it's ironic that we control the House, Senate, Supreme Court, and the White House, and we're yelling 'election fraud'? I mean, we won all the damn elections."

▶

"President Donald Trump’s sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump have amassed a portfolio of defense technology start-ups that are benefiting from new Pentagon priorities and spending" giving the family a direct interest in US security policy
new reporting from @washingtonpost.com
wapo.st/3R5InT7

Trump’s sons invest heavily in defense tech as father’s administration pours money in

Most investments by funds linked to Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump have taken place since their father’s reelection.

This is an outrageous attack on the Smithsonian, on the professionals who work there and the Americans who love it. Like the Bolsheviks deliberately destroying churches

www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/0...

Trump orders warning signs near Smithsonian, escalating fight over history

The president’s executive order calls for signage near the National Museum of American History cautioning visitors about “inaccurate information.”

So....it wasn't vandals www.nytimes.com/2026/06/26/u...

How the Reflecting Pool Turned Green: Missing ‘Bubblers’ and a Rush Job

No previous president has ever manipulated American foreign and domestic policy in order to make himself a billionaire. Unprecedented

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Trump’s income topped $2 billion in 2025, boosted by crypto, coin ventures

Almost 1,000 pages of financial disclosure forms show that the president’s earnings far outpaced his $600 million total income in 2024.

this is one of the many small changes Trump is making in his attempt to manipulate the midterms

Marc Elias @marcelias.bsky.social

🚨BREAKING: President Donald Trump Thursday dismissed all remaining commissioners on the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), a bipartisan federal agency created to help states administer elections. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

In sweeping attack on elections, Trump fires leadership of key federal voting assistance commission

The dismissals leave the elections assistance agency without leadership just months before the upcoming 2026 midterms.

"the amount of recovery aid the Trump administration has announced is just a fraction of the estimated $8 billion in revenues from oil exports it has taken out of Venezuela since the United States deposed the country’s ruler, Nicolás Maduro, in January"
www.nytimes.com/2026/07/06/w...

With $8 Billion in Venezuelan Oil Money, U.S. Gives $300 Million in Quake Aid

It remains a mystery why Platner has to resign for sexual impropriety and Trump doesn't

“Where is the money? There is no transparency and the US government does not inform us.”
From @financialtimes.com, on Venezuela

giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

The US has collected about $13bn of Venezuela’s oil money. Where is it?

Washington has given diverging accounts of where the earthquake-shattered country’s funds are going

To be clear: This is funding for what the State Department calls "civilizational allies" - MAGA-aligned people and parties in Europe, who share their disdain for human rights and their preference for ethnically pure societies and a totally unregulated internet

Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu

The State Department has just put out a tender, offering funding of up to $3 million to European organizations who want to fight against "Supra-national institutions" - presumably the EU - and governments who seek to regulate the internet and end Western Civilization. www.state.gov/drl-nofo-dev...

DRL NOFO Developing Civilizational Bonds, Democratic Resilience, and Rule of Law in Europe - United States Department of State

Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)Developing Civilizational Bonds, Democratic Resilience, and Rule of Law in EuropeBureau of Democracy Human Rights and Labor, Department of StateOpportunity number: ...

"The Beacon of Democracy Goes Dark". A gift link here:
lnkd.in/dAYq6ydz

"But then, like many others, he made the decision to abandon his previous ideals, to bury the patriotism that was once so important to him, and to become, instead, a loud, opportunistic collaborator."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

The Quintessential Politician of This Era

The late South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham made a mid-career turn to MAGA.

It's hard to celebrate the ideals of the Declaration of Independence if you don't believe in them
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Trump and Vance Ruined the Fourth of July

Celebrating the ideals of the Declaration of Independence is hard if you don’t believe in them.

The US strikes against small boats have not stopped any significant drug smuggling. From @theatlantic.com

www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

The Results Are In On Trump’s Boat Strikes Campaign

They haven’t stopped the drugs, but that may not be the point.

Iran, not Trump, is in control of this war. From @radiofreetom.bsky.social
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Iran, Not Trump, Is in Control of This War

The cease-fire was always just a Trump fantasy.

The Wagner group, or what's left of it, is now running an opioid ring in Africa.
www.wsj.com/world/africa...

Wagner’s Remnants Are Running an Opioid Empire in the Center of Africa

Russia absorbed much of the mercenary group, but several hundred have used the painkiller tramadol to build a new haven in the Central African Republic.

A gift link to an @theatlantic.com article on the warning signs the White House wants to erect outside one of the most beloved museums in America, warning people away

www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...

Trump’s Trigger Warnings

The president is ordering new signs outside the Smithsonian to warn Americans about history.

Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu

This is an outrageous attack on the Smithsonian, on the professionals who work there and the Americans who love it. Like the Bolsheviks deliberately destroying churches www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/0...

Trump orders warning signs near Smithsonian, escalating fight over history

The president’s executive order calls for signage near the National Museum of American History cautioning visitors about “inaccurate information.”

Why are the Trump administration's 250th celebrations so feeble? Because it's hard to celebrate the ideals of the Declaration of Independence if you don't believe in them
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Blood and Soil Aren’t What Binds America Together

If you don’t believe in the ideals of the Declaration of Independence, celebrating it is difficult.