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Leigh Ann Caldwell, Peter Hamby, Julia Ioffe, Marianna Sotomayor, John Heilemann, & Abby Livingston
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Sunday through Thursday
Puck’s daily political newsletter from Washington—featuring Leigh Ann Caldwell, Peter Hamby, Marianna Sotomayor, Julia Ioffe, John Heilemann, and Abby Livingston—on what’s really happening in this town, from the White House to the Pentagon to Capitol Hill, K Street, the campaign trail, and beyond.
THE LATEST ARTICLES
Julia Ioffe
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April 9, 2026
Hegseth’s Pentagon Purge
Under the cover of the Iran war, Pete Hegseth moved to oust Army chief Randy George, a staunch ally of his archnemesis and untouchable Pentagon rival, Dan Driscoll. Was it a well-calculated plot, a sign of his juice, or maybe a signal that J.D. Vance has lost some of his foreign policy sway?
Julia Ioffe
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April 8, 2026
The Day After TACO Tuesday
A six-week, $40 billion war paused—sort of—in a self-declared U.S. victory. Except it left the Islamic Republic richer, more entrenched, and newly in control of the Strait of Hormuz.
Julia Ioffe
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March 31, 2026
Trump’s Antifa Terror
Even as war rages across the Middle East, raising fears that Iran could activate sleeper cells in the U.S. and Europe, the Trump administration is quietly working to designate antifa as a top counterterrorism priority—despite the protestations of experts who say this is a pretext for targeting domestic dissent.
Julia Ioffe
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March 26, 2026
Trump’s Endless War Games
Donald Trump’s so-called “military operation” against Iran is rapidly beginning to mirror Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine misadventure—overconfident, poorly planned, and sliding toward a drawn-out quagmire.
Julia Ioffe
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March 24, 2026
Putin’s Post-Iran Paranoia
The Russian president has curtailed his schedule, and Moscow has virtually no cell service. The official explanation is about Ukrainian drones, but Putin is clearly spooked by the attacks on his old ally.
Julia Ioffe
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March 19, 2026
The Quiet Americans
Republican veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan used to be among the most vocal critics of new military adventures in the Middle East. Democratic Rep. Jason Crow, a veteran himself, wonders where they all went.
Julia Ioffe
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March 12, 2026
Elbridge Over Troubled Waters
How Elbridge Colby, a longtime critic of military adventurism in the Middle East, contorted himself into a champion of Trump’s war in Iran—and became Congress’s new favorite whipping boy in the process.
Julia Ioffe
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March 1, 2026
Is Trump Headed for an Iran Quagmire?
Trump is once again betting that overwhelming military force won’t trigger a prolonged war involving U.S. troops. But history offers cautionary tales after the euphoria of a dictator’s fall.
Julia Ioffe
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February 26, 2026
Marco Rubio’s New Loyalty Oath
Ideological screenings are just the beginning of the State Department’s political tests for new foreign service officers, who must affirm their support for Trump’s executive orders, navigate training seminars monitored by Trump appointees, and demonstrate their “fidelity” at every turn.
Julia Ioffe
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February 16, 2026
La La Greenland
At the Munich Security Conference, American lawmakers struggled to reassure European allies who are still traumatized by Trump’s threats to invade Greenland. Lindsey Graham’s F-bombs didn’t help.