David Rothkopf

Unbearable. Wtf are we doing.

Worse than that I fear.

Read between the lines. He does not seek Iran's unconditional surrender to the United States. He seeks unconditional surrender to him personally.

This should be shocking: Always defending Putin. It is the prime directive of the Trump Administration. Even when he is actively aiding our enemies in ways that will put our military and embassy personnel and allies at risk. Does anyone doubt where his loyalties actually lie?

Trump Follows His Gut. His National Security Advisers Try to Keep Up.

“Never has so much risk or such sweeping military action of so much consequence been undertaken with so little apparent planning or weighing of potential consequences, both intended and unintended,”
- David Rothkopf.

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/04/u...

Join us!

Netanyahu Finally Found a President Willing to Buy Into His Iran Dream The only way for the Israeli prime minister to redeem himself after October 7, 2023, was to turn that calamity into a region-altering strategic triumph. For that he crucially needed the U.S.

Excellent and insightful piece. Netanyahu Finally Found a President Willing to Buy Into His Iran Dream newrepublic.com/article/2073... via @newrepublic.com

This is how forever wars are financed… with mountainous debts we leave to our children.

👇👇

Preparing for the Horrific Unintended Consequences of the Iran War YouTube video by The DSR Network

What happens next in Trump’s war of choice? How bad could it get? Watch my answer to @djrothkopf.bsky.social, then stay for smarter answers from @jonatomic.bsky.social and @edwardluce.bsky.social . Spoiler: Nothing good is coming out of this war. youtu.be/9vt_-eA2JgI?...

TACO Trump franchise.

Why Did No One Ask Ukraine How to Destroy Drones? For all of the planning for war in Iran, the world’s most tested anti-drone technology was ignored.

To the surprise of some officials in Kyiv, no one from the U.S. bothered to ask Ukraine to share its expertise in how to defend against drones before starting the offensive in Iran, Simon Shuster and Nancy A. Youssef report.

Baghdad Bob had more credibility.

A federal judge has been asked to block Trump from closing and razing the Kennedy Center. "This is a case about the ongoing desecration and impending destruction of a cherished
national monument," the lawsuit says. f9c23fd5-1644-4a5f-a561-d04e6b5736d6.usrfiles.com/ugd/f9c23f_b...

Dem Senators who think Markwayne Mullin is a swell member of their club and argue that the problem at DHS is not with who's in charge it's with the guy who picks who's in charge and therefore will vote for their clubmate's confirmation...need to be held accountable at the polls.

Violent. Anti-Abortion. Anti-Trans. Tweets from Trump's new DHS pick preview more of the same. Sen. Markwayne Mullin new role would grant him leeway to control how detained immigrants receive reproductive or gender-affirming healthcare.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, Trump’s next pick for Homeland Security secretary, consistently uses his social media to share anti-abortion and anti-trans content.

And his new role could grant him leeway to control how detained immigrants receive reproductive or gender-affirming healthcare.

The Ultimate Trump Card I take no pleasure in writing this, and you should take none in reading it

Think it’s bad now? It could get much worse. open.substack.com/pub/thinking...

Nashville Noticias' Estefany Rodríguez reportedly detained by ICE agents A reporter for Nashville Noticias was reportedly taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents Thursday afternoon.

ICE arrested a journalist yesterday without a warrant.

She is an asylum seeker, has valid work permits, and is married to a U.S. citizen.

fox17.com/news/local/n...

The reality is Trump is the one who should be fired for not firing Kristi Noem for the reasons she really should have been fired.

The Ultimate Trump Card I take no pleasure in writing this, and you should take none in reading it

For some, the words unconditional surrender lead to one vivid historical fact. We cannot continue to discount the risks of nuclear use by the President.

open.substack.com/pub/thinking...

How can so many people in positions of influence in our society somehow think it is ok for a US president to think he can simply pick and choose world leaders, launch wars, claim territory, seize assets, wherever he wants whenever he wants? This is madman movie villain behavior. Absolutely nuts.

The Most Chilling Detail in the U.S. Attack on an Iranian Naval Ship The Iranian warship was taking part in an international exercise with many other countries—including the United States.

“The sinking seems to be part of Hegseth’s new policy of ignoring ‘stupid rules of engagement’ and ‘punching them while they’re down.’ It raises questions of what the Trump administration would say if a country like Iran attacked an American ship it knew was unarmed. newrepublic.com/post/207429/...

This madman has to be stopped.

Pentagon taps former DOGE official to lead its AI efforts The Pentagon on Friday named as Chief Data Officer a computer ​scientist who aided billionaire Elon Musk's ‌efforts to overhaul the government last year and who has boosted white supremacists and miso...

Former top DOGE official in his mid-twenties named head of Pentagon AI efforts.

"Kliger, in ‌social ⁠media posts between October 2024 and January 2025, has voiced controversial views and reposted content from white supremacist Nick Fuentes ​and self-described ​misogynist ⁠Andrew Tate."

Hungary Seizes Ukrainian Bank Staff, $80 Million in Cash and Gold The move follows a dispute over oil deliveries and prompted Kyiv to accuse Hungary of hostage-taking.

We are at a point where one EU country is robbing another European country in broad daylight.

"Hungary Seizes Ukrainian Bank Staff, $80 Million in Cash and Gold. The move follows a dispute over oil deliveries and prompted Kyiv to accuse Hungary of hostage-taking" www.wsj.com/world/europe...

Depleting US stocks of arms on an illegal and unnecessary war is great news for our enemies, very bad news for places like Ukraine which will be finding it harder to get what they desperately need. (Note: Our ROI on arms to Ukraine is vastly greater than it would be in even best case Iran scenario.)

A few hours after NYT reported that the U.S. bombed an elementary school in Iran, killing many children, the White House last night posted this video mixing airstrike footage with Top Gun, Iron Man, Gladiator, Halo, Breaking Bad, Star Wars, John Wick, Superman, Transformers and Dragon Ball Z

Where's My Golden Age? YouTube video by Paul Krugman

Remember all those boasts about jobs and gasoline prices in the State of the Union? www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0Zv...

I’m especially annoyed at @luxottica.bsky.social who made the RayBan frames for Meta glasses impossible to distinguish from regular glasses. Glad they’re being sued for this.