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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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May 7, 2026
The Boys Are Back in Town
Many Democrats aren’t happy that Jake Sullivan and the other Biden bros who rode shotgun for Barack and Joe’s foreign policy adventures are positioning to return to power: “The idea that the same foreign policy leadership that brought us the Afghanistan withdrawal and the cover-up of Biden’s decline should be in charge of staffing the next Democratic administration,” said one insider, “is tone deaf at best.”
Julia Ioffe
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April 30, 2026
Love Him or LaNeve Him
Pete Hegseth’s decision to replace the highly regarded Gen. Randy George with Gen. Christopher LaNeve infuriated senior Army officials. As he prepares to be confirmed to the role, however, LaNeve is trying to mend fences and win converts.
Julia Ioffe
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April 23, 2026
Hegseth’s Useful Tool
Gen. Christopher LaNeve, the new chief of staff of the U.S. Army, has enjoyed a spectacular rise from obscurity, often at the expense of more popular generals that Pete Hegseth has purged—fueling suspicions that he’s become a proxy in Hegseth’s feuds and an active participant in his “slow-motion coup.”
Julia Ioffe
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April 16, 2026
Orbán’s Fall & The De-Trumpification Fantasy
The collapse of Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party, after 16 years of authoritarian rule, offers mixed signals for America’s left—and a harsh preview of the monumental task that awaits Democrats after Trump is gone.
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.