Ben Rhodes

1. How did we get here? What is the argument that Americans have had since our founding? I set out to answer those questions by writing my new book out this May, available for pre-order: penguinrandomhouse.com/books/717294/a…

23 years ago tonight, in an Oval Office address, George W. Bush announced the start of the Iraq War. 4,492 American service members were killed in the years that followed. 32,292 were wounded. At least 200,000 Iraqi civilians died. The humanitarian impact was immense. America wasted 9 years and 3 trillion dollars on a war that never should have happened—a war predicated on a lie, pushed by warmongering neocon politicians, and paid for by everyday people. Imagine what that $3 trillion could have bought here at home. Imagine the decade we could have spent focusing on America, our people, our place in the world. Imagine the lives our service members, stolen from us, would have lived. But instead, the president took us to war. Yet another costly quagmire in the Middle East. I voted against the Iraq War. I knew the White House would lie to Members of Congress and voters alike to manufacture the pretext for a conflict—and they did. Now, Iran is shaping up to be Iraq 2.0—new lies, new bloodthirsty politicians, still paid for by American families. Yesterday, we learned that Trump wants another $200 billion for his war. That's after Congress already gave the Pentagon more money than it even asked for in the budget. Enough is enough. It is not too late to learn from the past. Stop this madness. Bring our troops home. End this war.

I spoke to Anthropic’s AI agent Claude about AI collecting massive amounts of personal data and how that information is being used to violate our privacy rights. What an AI agent says about the dangers of AI is shocking and should wake us up.

3 weeks into the war and Trump is lifting sanctions on Iran and Russia and enraged Gulf, European and Asian allies. Real strategic genius at work.

La guerra en Irán es ilegal y España la ha condenado desde el principio. Los valores que han dado a Europa paz, prosperidad y certidumbre durante décadas son precisamente los que deben defenderse cuando más se necesitan.

Venezuela’s Delcy Rodríguez ousted Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino and replaced him with the sanctioned counterintelligence chief, Gustavo González, signaling continuity with a hard-line security apparatus despite her new relationship with the US. wsj.com/world/americas…

The United States is no longer a democracy and is sliding towards autocracy faster than Hungary and Turkey, according to the annual report of the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute at Gothenburg University. theguardian.com/world/commenti…

EXCLUSIVE: Slovenia’s PM Robert Golob has urged European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to investigate accusations that Israeli spy firm Black Cube interfered in the country’s election campaign, according to a letter we obtained. politico.eu/article/robert…

Remember that 20 million people saw their health care premiums double because $30 billion was too expensive.

Pedro Sanchez has continually shown how to lead in this era. Other world leaders should take note.

$200 billion would pay for free college for every American, $10 day childcare, 1000 new trade schools, the 40% federal share of special needs education and a lot more. What are we even doing here? MAGA is now Iran first?

Only 13% of Democrats view Israel favorably. So AIPAC: - Created shell super PACs to mask their identity - Smeared progressives from the left - Still lost half their races Then claimed: “Being pro-Israel is good policy—and good politics.”

JD Vance mid-term campaign swing to....Hungary.

I have been deliberately silent on social media for a while. I use all my social media platforms to promote education & make dreams come true for young minds. I rarely post anything about family or politics. This morning, Israel demolished the building I have an apartment in. It took 22 years of my work here & 20 years of my wife’s work to own this apartment. This madness has to stop.

I am a US citizen & Surgeon who took care of the Boston Maraton Bombing victims in 2013. I paid for 7 years to own a small apartment in downtown #Beirut for my 3 kids to enjoy summers there. Today, #Israel reduced my dream home to rubble, with american weapons, paid by my taxes.

AIPAC has spent $22m to boost pro-Israel candidates in Illinois Dem primaries. But its ads focus on anything but Israel, & it’s mostly using shell PACs to conceal the $ trail, reflecting the increasing unpopularity of the group (& of Israel) on the left. politico.com/news/2026/03/1…

The "moral clarity" of many thousands of kids killed in Gaza and Lebanon.

The arrogance of expecting allies to join a war that the US and Israel started for no reason is breathtaking.

Larijani’s replacement will be appointed by IRGC. With every assassination U.S. and Israel engineering greater radicalization of Iran’s leadership. It will makes for a bleak future for Iran, Iranians, the region and ultimately makes it far more difficult for U.S. to disentangle itself from endless conflict in the region.

This is dangerous, immoral, and illegal - the third government he's tried to overthrow in the first three months of this year. We are in a worst case scenario of authoritarianism.

Look forward to anti-war/free-speech MAGA types absolving Trump for launching a war and demanding positive coverage like a vintage 20th century dictator