Trump Got Schooled by Iran. He’ll Never Learn
Thursday, April 9, 2026
Iran is run by a vicious, oppressive theocracy that doesn’t share Trump’s predilections for short-term bursts of violent performance art. They are in it for the long haul, gaudy White House ballrooms and soaring presidential libraries be damned. They’re willing to absorb extraordinary punishment to protect their faith and country. Trump failed to recognize that before he went to war and may not even understand it now. His cognitive boundaries are circumscribed by wealth, celebrity, self-aggrandizement and self-preservation – and little else.
Tuesday, April 7, 2026
On Friday March 6th Washington Post reporters Noah Robertson, Ellen Nakashima and Warren P. Strobel revealed that “Russia is providing Iran with targeting information to attack American forces in the Middle East.” The next day, Trump attended the transfer at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware of the flag-draped coffins of six U.S. members of the Army Reserve killed by a kamikaze drone strike at the Shuaiba port in Kuwait. An inevitable, but unanswerable, question: Was the drone strike guided by information Russia provided to Iran?
‘Trump Believes That the World Should Be Run by the Great Powers’
Mr. Edsall contributes weekly essays from Washington on politics and demographics.
The Iran war is not a military conflict from which the United States can simply back out, with things reverting to how they were before. Iran would surely demand a heavy price in a new accommodation with the United States — but this price will surely be less costly than that of the alternative future. This is a transformational war, and if these changes continue for even a few years, the global order will change irrevocably.
The War Is Turning Iran Into a Major World Power
Dr. Pape is a professor of political science at the University of Chicago who studies military strategy and international security.
Sunday, April 5, 2026
Trump has created a veritable pardon industry, in which people with White House connections accept payments from wealthy convicts. Among those on whom he has bestowed freedom are dozens of people convicted of fraud. He has also pardoned Juan Orlando Hernández, a former president of Honduras, who helped traffic hundreds of tons of cocaine into the United States, and Ross Ulbricht, who was serving a life sentence for running Silk Road, a sprawling criminal enterprise that sold drugs. There seems to be no crime too ugly for a pardon.
The People Trump Pardoned Are on a Crime Spree
The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values. It is separate from the newsroom.
The Haircut
Dear Diary:
It was a Friday evening in March, and I desperately needed a haircut. I booked an appointment at 6:30 p.m., the last slot available that day, at a nearby barbershop, and got it done.
The next morning was particularly windy, and I couldn’t find my winter hat. Running out the door, I grabbed a baseball cap and stuffed it in my jacket pocket.
Later that afternoon, as I was heading for the Bedford Avenue subway stop, the wind picked up, making for a brisk walk.
I pulled the baseball cap over my head, the hood of my sweatshirt over my ears and the hood of my jacket over them both. It looked foolish, but it was effective.
I got on the train and was still shivering when it passed under the East River and arrived at the First Avenue stop.
The doors opened, and a man got on. I recognized his face but couldn’t immediately place it.
I looked down, trying to jog my memory. Then I looked at him again, and it clicked: my barber from the day before.
At that moment, he turned and nodded to me and then glanced at my excessively covered head.
“It was that bad, huh?” he said.
— Philip McHugh
Saturday, April 4, 2026
Banks should walk away from participating in the overpriced SpaceX I.P.O. and Elon Musk's demand that they subscribe to AI Chat Bot Grok
Big Banks Seeking a Piece of SpaceX’s I.P.O. Must Subscribe to Elon Musk’s Grok
Mr. Musk is requiring Wall Street firms to purchase subscriptions to his A.I. chatbot if they want to advise on one of the largest initial public offerings in history.
Robust job growth in March report though subject to a sharp downward revision next month gives Jerome Powell a temporary opportunity to raise interest rates and focus on fighting inflation.
Strong Jobs Numbers Make the Fed’s Job Easier
Robust job growth in March suggests that the labor market remains relatively healthy, allowing officials at the central bank to focus on fighting inflation.
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