In 2018, President Donald Trump was seeking to jettison the landmark nuclear deal that his predecessor had signed with Iran in 2015, and he was looking for ways to win over a skeptical press. The White House claimed that the nuclear deal had allowed Iran to increase its military budget, and Washington Post reporters Salvador Rizzo and Meg Kelly . In response, the White House passed along an article published in Forbes by a writer named Heshmat Alavi.“Iran’s current budget is funded largely through ‘oil, taxes, increasing bonds, [and] eliminating cash handouts or subsidies’ for Iranians,...…In 2018, President Donald Trump was seeking to jettison the landmark nuclear deal that his predecessor had signed with Iran in 2015, and he was looking for ways to win over a skeptical press. The White House claimed that the nuclear deal had allowed Iran to increase its military budget, and Washington Post reporters Salvador Rizzo and Meg Kelly . In response, the White House passed along an article published in Forbes by a writer named Heshmat Alavi.“Iran’s current budget is funded largely through ‘oil, taxes, increasing bonds, [and] eliminating cash handouts or subsidies’ for Iranians,...WW…

In the usual style of overheated rhetoric around U.S. Middle East policymaking, the news that President Joe Biden’s administration is considering appointing Robert Malley as its envoy to Iran triggered a fierce reaction. Supporters of the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” policy toward the Islamic Republic swiftly began lodging attacks based more on character assassination than substantive argument.As a top national security official in the Obama administration, Malley helped negotiate the 2015 nuclear agreement between the United States and Iran, which President Donald Trump...…In the usual style of overheated rhetoric around U.S. Middle East policymaking, the news that President Joe Biden’s administration is considering appointing Robert Malley as its envoy to Iran triggered a fierce reaction. Supporters of the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” policy toward the Islamic Republic swiftly began lodging attacks based more on character assassination than substantive argument.As a top national security official in the Obama administration, Malley helped negotiate the 2015 nuclear agreement between the United States and Iran, which President Donald Trump...WW…

On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called for the FBI, Transportation Security Administration, and Department of Homeland Security to put rioters who stormed the Capitol on a no-fly list, barring them from airline travel in the U.S. “Any of those who were inside the Capitol should not be able to fly and should be placed on the no-fly list,” Schumer , waving a piece of paper with a “no” sign over a plane. “We are calling on the authorities — FBI, TSA, Department of Homeland Security — to put them on the no-fly list immediately.”“The insurrectionists who breached...…On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called for the FBI, Transportation Security Administration, and Department of Homeland Security to put rioters who stormed the Capitol on a no-fly list, barring them from airline travel in the U.S. “Any of those who were inside the Capitol should not be able to fly and should be placed on the no-fly list,” Schumer , waving a piece of paper with a “no” sign over a plane. “We are calling on the authorities — FBI, TSA, Department of Homeland Security — to put them on the no-fly list immediately.”“The insurrectionists who breached...WW…

If American exceptionalism is a virtual reality simulation, the presidency of Donald Trump is the moment that it finally glitched out. Trump mercilessly mocked the somber, self-reverent image of leadership traditionally expected of U.S. presidents, while embracing surrealism as a political style. Over the past four years, a disorienting number of political practices and behaviors were revealed by Trump to have been mere “norms” — the culture of a senescent elite whose decline was accelerated by and helped enable Trump’s rise. Since the elites’ old, pleasing simulation of American...…If American exceptionalism is a virtual reality simulation, the presidency of Donald Trump is the moment that it finally glitched out. Trump mercilessly mocked the somber, self-reverent image of leadership traditionally expected of U.S. presidents, while embracing surrealism as a political style. Over the past four years, a disorienting number of political practices and behaviors were revealed by Trump to have been mere “norms” — the culture of a senescent elite whose decline was accelerated by and helped enable Trump’s rise. Since the elites’ old, pleasing simulation of American...WW…

The assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, likely carried out by Israel with possible U.S. support, is another sledgehammer blow against a legacy project of former President Barack Obama: the Iran nuclear deal. In 2018, President Donald Trump from the deal, which was signed by Iran, on one side, and the U.S., four other permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, and Germany, as part of a broader campaign to undo Obama’s achievements in office.With an incoming Biden administration, chatter about the U.S. rejoining the deal had ramped up. Many...…The assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, likely carried out by Israel with possible U.S. support, is another sledgehammer blow against a legacy project of former President Barack Obama: the Iran nuclear deal. In 2018, President Donald Trump from the deal, which was signed by Iran, on one side, and the U.S., four other permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, and Germany, as part of a broader campaign to undo Obama’s achievements in office.With an incoming Biden administration, chatter about the U.S. rejoining the deal had ramped up. Many...WW…

Having a Black president simply caused a large number of Americans to completely lose their minds — leading directly to Trump.…Having a Black president simply caused a large number of Americans to completely lose their minds — leading directly to Trump.WW…

Imagine a soccer match in which the goalie for one side, with a wink and a nod, decides to run off for coffee in the middle of the game. That was basically President Donald Trump’s approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over the past four years. The Trump administration gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an open-goal opportunity to run up the score on the Palestinians, with no resistance and lots of connivance from the United States.With President-elect Joe Biden trudging onto the field, it’s likely the U.S. foreign policy establishment will seek a return to the...…Imagine a soccer match in which the goalie for one side, with a wink and a nod, decides to run off for coffee in the middle of the game. That was basically President Donald Trump’s approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over the past four years. The Trump administration gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an open-goal opportunity to run up the score on the Palestinians, with no resistance and lots of connivance from the United States.With President-elect Joe Biden trudging onto the field, it’s likely the U.S. foreign policy establishment will seek a return to the...WW…

In 2010, the city of Toronto, one of the most ethnically diverse places in the world and a supposed bastion of liberalism, elected a man widely considered to be a racist as its mayor. Rob Ford was a vulgar and incoherent oaf, a former city councilor who clashed with his colleagues in public and went on racist tirades against seemingly every minority group. But when Ford successfully ran for office, it wasn’t on the wave of a white backlash against diversity, as one might have expected. Instead it was immigrants and minorities, the very people Ford was supposedly insulting, who helped power...…In 2010, the city of Toronto, one of the most ethnically diverse places in the world and a supposed bastion of liberalism, elected a man widely considered to be a racist as its mayor. Rob Ford was a vulgar and incoherent oaf, a former city councilor who clashed with his colleagues in public and went on racist tirades against seemingly every minority group. But when Ford successfully ran for office, it wasn’t on the wave of a white backlash against diversity, as one might have expected. Instead it was immigrants and minorities, the very people Ford was supposedly insulting, who helped power...WW…

There are so many reasons why Trump should be the object of our moral outrage, not least his role in the violent deaths of thousands of innocent people.…There are so many reasons why Trump should be the object of our moral outrage, not least his role in the violent deaths of thousands of innocent people.WW…