Anne Applebaum

Paperback, with a new preface, available TODAY penguinrandomhouse.com/books/725302/a…

an extraordinary piece of writing and reporting

Three months later, this is my last @washingtonpost story — delayed because nearly everyone involved in it was laid off. I am very grateful to newsroom friends who made sure it published anyway, and to brave Roman Mongold and his family for their time. wapo.st/4cNY7Cm

No strategy. No rational purpose. Pure idiocy.

So Trump is saying war should continue because scores must be settled for what Iran has “done to Humanity, and the World, for 47 years.” That is a new objective for this war and implies its beginning or end had nothing to do with the nuclear issue. It is also makes the case for every country, especially in the global south abused by colonialism, to reopen the file on their old grievances, and line up to wage wars to settle old scores. It seems most of humanity opposes this war Trump wants to wage on their behalf and may be more interested in talking about other abuses of humanity.

A U.S. defense official told me for @AP the U.S. military didn’t have prior knowledge of Trump’s decision to pull 5,000 troops from Germany and learned about it “in real time.” apnews.com/article/german…

@Mylovanov The Smolensk disaster was carefully and repeatedly investigated and yes it was an accident, caused by pilot error. The reason they can't find another explanation is because there isn't one. By posting this you perpetuate what is, for Duda and PiS, a useful conspiracy theory.

Duda: Smolensk tragedy was not an accident. There are intelligent people who say such accidents don't happen to presidential planes. When I said in Odesa we don't know what caused the disaster, local politicians laughed and said, “you don't know who killed the president?” 1/

@MySharonaBrown very good!

Anne, I just finished reading the book All We Can Know which I heard you recommend to Tim Miller on The Bulwark. Wonderfully written.

Just the beginning

This short-sighted decision will not hurt Germany. It only hurts us. It does nothing to protect our strategic interests overseas. We cannot defend America from TX or GA or NC. We need forward friends and forward access.

The greatest threat to the transatlantic community are not its external enemies, but the ongoing disintegration of our alliance. We must all do what it takes to reverse this disastrous trend.

The Trump sons are, without a doubt, a national security vulnerability AND a national security threat. Everybody knows they are for sale and what they are selling is often “new” and untested to be used by our troops.

Washington has warned European allies, including the UK, Poland, Lithuania and Estonia, to expect long delivery delays for US weapons — including Nasms and Himars — as it scrambles to replenish stockpiles depleted by the Iran war. Deliveries to Ukriane have already been delayed. w/ @FT colleagues ft.com/content/f87a8b…

Two things: -This is one of the most short sided decisions imaginable. And I’d like to see the “thorough review,” as there likely isn’t one. -I know a little about this stuff, having been part of the last drawdown in Europe. A 6-12 month action will disrupt the force during war, further alienate our allies because of no coordination, and jerk around soldiers and their families. A very, very bad decision and knee jerk reaction that will further hurt our nation and our military.

The continued attacks on NATO allies are counterproductive. The comments hurt Americans. I commanded the huge Ramstein AB in Germany. The two big airfields in Germany give us great access in three continents. We are shooting ourselves in our own feet.

The US Air Force agreed to buy an undisclosed number of interceptor drones from a company backed by Trump’s sons, according to the firm, deepening the military’s ties to defense contractors linked to the first family . bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

“Putin is dangerous, but he is not 10 feet tall. Nor is he invincible. He has been made to appear stronger than he is by years of wishful thinking, self-deterrence and delay in the West. Russia can be contained. Ukraine can prevail. All that is required is clarity: to call Putin what he is – an enemy” More in my piece for @theipaper at inews.co.uk/news/world/ukr… PS: The text delivers. The photo, less so.

In a July 2016 essay Vance wrote for The Atlantic, "he portrayed himself as a thinker who could stand up to Trump’s demagoguery—so perhaps he has a point about not believing everything you read in The Atlantic." theatlantic.com/newsletters/20…

"Yesterday on Will Cain’s Fox News show, the vice president delivered something that might be entirely new: a confirmation-denial. Vance called The Atlantic’s reporting false and then pivoted instantly to verifying that it was true." theatlantic.com/newsletters/20…

When it comes to crypto, the fox is in charge of the hen house. The Trump admin has ended dozens of SEC crypto investigations—to the direct financial benefits of his family members and friends. My @Morning_Joe Chart.

Based on the results from April, our long-range sanctions have reached a new level across three components: reducing Russia’s oil revenues, as well as the range and intensity of sanctions. It is important that not only is the target itself reached, as defined by the operational objective, but that the downtime of the target is increased or, at the very least, its operations are significantly reduced. According to the most conservative estimates, since the beginning of the year, the aggressor state has lost at least $7 billion solely as a direct result of our precise sanctions against Russia’s oil industry and refining sector – due to direct hits, downtime, and delays in shipments. I am grateful to all our warriors of the Defense Forces of Ukraine who, together with the Security Service of Ukraine and our intelligence agencies, are delivering these results. We will scale up our long-range systems capabilities. Decisions are being prepared. Glory to Ukraine!