There is a colourful catchphrase popular in hip-hop culture that describes a kind of mutual respect between hustlers or players — “game recognises game”. It feels apropos of Donald Trump’s rehabilitation of ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the rescue of …
Anti-Trump judges sparked a legal crisis
JD Vance caused a firestorm on Sunday when he posted on X, formerly Twitter: “If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal. If a judge tried to command the attorney …
Can America control its oligarchs?
When you hear the word “oligarch”, you might imagine someone like Farkhad Akhmedov, one of the 50 wealthiest Russians. In his book Mastering the Universe, economics professor Rob Larson writes that Akhmedov’s personal superyacht features a pair of helipads, a …
Elon Musk is a danger to Trumpism
Last month, in one of his final acts as outgoing director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Rohit Chopra proposed to restrict financial institutions from dropping customers based on their political or religious views. If adopted, the rule would …
Trump’s Riviera would tear the Middle East apart
Only Donald Trump can unselfconsciously talk about one of the world’s most obstinate political and humanitarian crises in terms of its real estate opportunities. Only Trump can be taken seriously while doing so. And so here we are.
“We’re going …
Progressives should cheer Trump’s FBI purge
Why is President Trump charging hard at the FBI? Because what goes around comes around, and the FBI has been on the warpath against him for nearly a decade. A matter of settling scores, then — and maybe for Trump …
A trade war could crash China
Even though it is Chinese New Year this week, Beijing has wasted no time in hitting back at Trump’s additional 10% tariff on all US imports from China. For now, though, this remains a mere skirmish, yet to escalate into …
Britain could thrive in splendid isolation
The age of neoliberal globalisation is well and truly over. Donald Trump’s volley of executive orders and new tariffs were the final nails in that coffin. In asserting America’s interests so forcefully, the President is cascading the question of self-interest …
What is Bill Gates afraid of?
At a moment when the world’s most revered humanitarian faces growing public scrutiny and a fading public profile, what does he do? Try to change the narrative. Over the past year, we’ve seen Bill Gates embark on a powerful PR …
Why Trump would win a tariff war
If you want to know how to respond to Donald Trump’s trade tariffs, just think back to what happened between the EU and the UK after the Brexit referendum. The EU thought it could pressurise the UK either into reversing …
Why Trump would win a tariff war
If you want to know how to respond to Donald Trump’s trade tariffs, just think back to what happened between the EU and the UK after the Brexit referendum. The EU thought it could pressurise the UK either into reversing …
The progressive case for Trump’s deportations
Donald Trump returned to office issuing a range of executive orders that toughened up immigration enforcement. These include using the armed forces to facilitate deportations, boosting the number of troops at the border, and reinstating the Remain in Mexico policy, …
The return of American class politics
In his farewell address, mere days before leaving the White House, Joe Biden made a dramatic intervention. Warning about how an oligarchy of “extreme wealth, power and influence” risked the basic rights of every citizen, he even suggested it could …
Why Trump turned on the unions
On Tuesday, Donald Trump ousted two of the strongest union advocates at the National Labor Relations Board: board member Gwynne Wilcox and general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo. While the firing of Abruzzo is par for the course with the arrival of …
Trump’s American utopia doesn’t exist
Politics involves a subtle balance of optimism and pessimism. Hence the two faces of Donald Trump: the grim-faced mug shot from the courtroom, with the frown of an elderly gorilla being taunted by his keepers, and the smiley-faced demagogue whose …