‘Trump Believes That the World Should Be Run by the Great Powers’
Mr. Edsall contributes weekly essays from Washington on politics and demographics.
ET
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?
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.
Trump has managed to give Iran the upper hand in this conflict while tanking the global economy and shredding America’s most important alliances. Trump may not have pulled out of NATO on Wednesday, but European leaders understand that the pact is increasingly meaningless. “If you create doubt every day about your commitment, you hollow it out,” President Emmanuel Macron of France told reporters on Thursday.
Friday, April 3, 2026
The only off ramp toward the complete destruction of the Middle East's desalination plants is for Trump to declare victory and withdraw all U.S. forces and bases from the Middle East and let Iran charge its $2 million per vessel toll at the Hormuz passage until they rebuild and work it out among their neighbors
Control Over Strait of Hormuz Will Determine Who Wins the War
Iran seeks permanent leverage over the Middle East with new rules for the strategic waterway
ET
ET
Trump can't target Iran's desalination plants because Iran could do the same to its neighbors and put all friend and foe alike in an existential crisis.
Thursday, April 2, 2026
Trump's Vietnam
Trump Tries to Sell Americans on War in Iran
President says U.S. military objectives would be completed ‘very shortly’ and pledges to hit Iran ‘extremely hard’
Wednesday, April 1, 2026
Whether Ukraine could really open Hormuz, how long it can keep its renewed technological edge over a newly funded Russia, and how much its Gulf deals will in fact deliver are all open questions. But the US loss of leverage in Kyiv is clear and should raise questions in the White House. For example, when planning for the attack on Iran, why was so little learned from watching Ukraine deal with Iranian Shaheds? Why has the White House not recognized that Kyiv is no longer just a military burden, but also a resource — even for the mighty US military? Why continue to relieve the pressure on President Vladimir Putin, even when he’s helping Iran to kill US servicemen and Zelenskiy is offering to help protect them?
Trump is a man-child playing with matches — the world’s most powerful military — in a gas-filled room.
Trump Has a Way Out of the War
Opinion Columnist
Sorry Tom your best solution won't happen because Trump hasn't left anyone to negotiate with
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