Max Colchester

Hegseth on Iran: "We see ourselves as part of this negotiation as well. We negotiate with bombs." Trump says Hegseth and Gen. Caine were upset when he said the war could be settled soon.

European governments are loudly calling for de-escalation with Iran, while quietly facilitating U.S. attacks via military bases on their soil. A look at how Trump's America actually needs Europe to pursue its maximalist foreign policy. With @bopanc wsj.com/world/europe/e…

Despite the histrionics in the media, Europe is and remains a a bedrock of American power projection in the Middle East - and a central hub for the war against Iran. Our @WSJ report with @MaximColch wsj.com/world/europe/e…

*TRUMP SAYS US CONSIDERING 'WINDING DOWN' IRAN MILITARY EFFORT *TRUMP SAYS OTHER NATIONS, NOT US, MUST GUARD STRAIT OF HORMUZ

All part of the plan

W/ @josephttwallace and @CostasParis

Excl: How Russia’s shadow fleet kingpin was bailed out by Trump’s war on Iran. Etibar Eyyub’s Kremlin oil empire was tottering under sanctions. Then the bombs started falling on Tehran. “He got a second life.” wsj.com/business/energ…

🚨Clearly there's loads of news today so there's a chance this gets ignored but... it is a BIG deal. Britain, the country that invented free trade as we know it, is raising steel tariffs to 50%. Biggest tariffs since Brexit. A massively symbolic moment. news.sky.com/story/watershe…

What’s going on here with this great swing by Micheál Martin is these Trump press conferences have passed a domestic toxicity point where it’s now more in the European leader’s interest to be seen to challenge Trump than it to be seen to have been an uninterrupted success.

In a royal life already marked by tragedy, this latest act could cast Prince Harry in an appropriately Shakespearean role: a Banquo’s ghost at Prince William’s table. Harry, William and the royal rift that won't heal. with @erichschwartzel wsj.com/world/uk/princ…

“We are looking at what is by far the biggest disruption in world history in terms of daily oil production,” said energy historian Daniel Yergin. wsj.com/world/middle-e…

Sorry. Phone died. What did I miss? In the meantime, I wrote a book

About 800 Patriot missiles were used in just three days of fighting in the Middle East — more than Ukraine has had during the entire war, Zelensky said.

The Trump admin doesn’t appear to value allies. But our friends sometimes tell you uncomfortable truths. Harold Wilson thought Vietnam was a bad idea, ditto France and Germany on 2003 Iraq war. UK and others similarly worry about this Iran conflict. wsj.com/world/europe/u…

America returns to a Cold War doctrine: the go it alone strategy. wsj.com/world/europe/u…

The Islamic Republic has set up four layers of replacements for its entire leadership, including its army commanders, in case of a sustained military campaign, Iranian officials said. A good primer on what next for Iran here: wsj.com/world/middle-e…

YouGov / Sky News / Times voting intention *Greens leapfrog Labour into second place* RefUK 23% (-1) GRN 21% (+4) LAB 16%(-2) CON 16%(-2) LDEM 14%(nc), Pollster note: This is the highest we've had the Greens, the first time we've had them in second. It is also the lowest we have had Labour. In terms of how meaningful this is, it is obviously likely driven to a significant extent by the publicity from the Denton & Gorton by-election, as well as any impact it has from the Greens appearing a more viable option and less of a wasted vote. It remains to be seen to what extent it sticks, or whether it fades again as the immediate publicity boost recedes. Sunday/Monday

There were a lot of claims made last night by US officials including apparent intel that Iran considered attacking US first which deserve scrutiny. But on nuclear negotiations, there's every reason to believe that Tehran completely misread situation. -1- wsj.com/world/middle-e…

First it was Prince Andrew being hauled in by the cops. Now Peter Mandelson, the former U.K. ambassador to the U.S., has been arrested over Epstein scandal. wsj.com/world/uk/polic… via @WSJ

In the end the thing that saw Ex-Prince Andrew brought in for questioning by the cops wasn’t alleged sexual abuse. It was forwarding emails to Epstein. A look at Andrew’s time as trade envoy explains why. wsj.com/world/uk/how-f…