Donald Trump

By Steven Hurst | – Everyone who works in the Trump White House eventually outstays their welcome and John Bolton was no different. In a series of tweets on September 10, Donald Trump announced he’d fired his national security advisor – although Bolton insisted he’d offered his own resignation the day before. The immediate catalyst […]

Donald Trump

With Bolton gone, will Trump meet Iran’s Pres. Rouhani?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In the wake of the firing of national security adviser and full-time warmonger John Bolton, secretary of state Mike Pompeo and treasury secretary Dan Mnuchin held a press conference on Tuesday. Both reaffirmed that Trump is open to meeting Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani “without preconditions.” They also, however, affirmed that […]

Authoritarianism

Trump’s NOAA reduced to agency of Tinpot Dictator like al-Sisi’s Egypt

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Last week Trump erroneously tweeted out that Alabama was in the path of Hurricane Dorian, which could have set off a panic in Alabama that led to people leaving their homes unnecessarily, and to economic harm. The Birmingham National Weather Service contradicted the president. It now transpires that Wilbur Ross, […]

Afghanistan

Will Trump Bring Peace to Afghanistan? Don’t Hold your Breath

Reese Erlich

( 48hills.org) – Washington, DC is buzzing with talk of troop withdrawals and the impact on peace talks in Afghanistan. The US may start withdrawing troops within months, the start of what would be a gradual withdrawal of all 14,000 US troops from the country. President Donald Trump wants to leave the impression that he […]

Donald Trump

At Height of Hurricane Disaster Season, Trump moves $100 mn. from FEMA to Jailing Immigrants

Jill Richardson

(Otherwords.org) – The Trump administration is moving money away from disaster relief to lock up more immigrants. Donald Trump discusses immigration as if the benefits of residence in the U.S. are a pie. When immigrants get more, the people who were already here get less. In general, that’s not true. When immigrants come here, they […]

Brazil

Burning Down the House: Far Right Nihilism in US, UK & Brazil Menaces the Planet

John Feffer

By John Feffer | – (Foreign Policy in Focus ) – Far-right governments in the U.S., UK, and Brazil are laying bare their nihilistic roots and full destructive potential. Doesn’t idiocy ever take a vacation? As August wound down, the populist troika of Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, and Jair Bolsonaro proved once again that the […]

Donald Trump

Trumpism as the Invasion of the Attention-Snatchers, & Other Invasions

Tom Engelhardt

(Tomdispatch.com ) – He crossed the border without permission or, as far as I could tell, documentation of any sort. I’m speaking about Donald Trump’s uninvited, unasked-for invasion of my personal space. He’s there daily, often hourly, whether I like it or not, and I don’t have a Department of Homeland Security to separate him […]

Donald Trump

After Trump Flaked Out re: Iran, Is the United Arab Emirates backing off Conflict?

Stasa Salacanin

By Stasa Salacanin | – The recently-held meetings between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Iranian officials have caught many by surprise, particularly given that, not long ago, the UAE – along with Saudi Arabia – was one of the main opponents of Tehran and a vocal supporter of the US administration’s policy of “maximum […]

Donald Trump

Trump Pilfers Billions from cyber-security, Puerto Rico in Pentagon Budget for Great White Wall

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Zachary Cohen and Ryan Browne at CNN report that Trump is stealing $3.6 billion from 127 projects in the Defense Department budget that was constitutionally purposed by Congress, and using them unconstitutionally for 140 miles of his Great White Wall at the Mexico border. And remember, he promised Mexico would […]