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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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December 4, 2025
A Few Bad Men
Experts are debating whether a war crime was committed when the U.S. military executed a double-tap strike on a suspected drug boat in the Caribbean, killing the survivors. But who is ultimately responsible: Pete Hegseth or Frank Bradley, the admiral overseeing the mission? And who might actually take the blame?
Julia Ioffe
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November 26, 2025
Witkoff and Kushner’s Ukraine Turkey
Trump’s latest push for peace with Russia appears destined to repeat the cycle of false promises, mismatched expectations, and inevitable disappointment. Sources close to the Kremlin say the current proposal is likely D.O.A.
Julia Ioffe
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November 19, 2025
Trump’s Venezuela Doctrine
The president’s saber-rattling in the Caribbean reflects his instinct for both political theater and indecisiveness, as well as the competing advisors in his ear. In fact, Trump’s plan for Venezuela may be a mystery even to himself. “I think he thinks about what will make him look tough, but he doesn’t think much beyond that,” said John Bolton. “He never does.”
Julia Ioffe
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November 13, 2025
Dan Driscoll’s Army of One
J.D. Vance’s man in the Pentagon is a rare Trump appointee who commands bipartisan respect and affection. Naturally, this doesn’t sit well with his boss, Pete Hegseth, who doesn’t.
Julia Ioffe
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October 20, 2025
Putin in Love
Inside the courtship of Vladimir Putin and Lyudmila Ocheretnaya, his first imperial subject—from a chance encounter in Leningrad and their K.G.B. days in Dresden to raising their family in St. Petersburg on the cusp of his sudden ascendance to unimaginable power. This piece has been adapted from Julia Ioffe’s new book, Motherland, a feminist history of modern Russia and a finalist for the National Book Award.
Julia Ioffe
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October 16, 2025
Melania Diplomacy
A purported breakthrough in Russian diplomacy comes from a surprising place. Plus, Moscow scores an apparent intelligence coup via a U.S. congresswoman, and Trump warms up to regime change.
Julia Ioffe
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October 9, 2025
Portlandia
As Trump masses troops outside blue cities in the name of protecting federal properties, current and former members of the military grapple with the question of which orders are legal—and resent being dragged into the muck of politics.
Julia Ioffe
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October 1, 2025
The Secretary of Wardrobe
Pete Hegseth summoned hundreds of generals from all over the globe to Virginia to hear him talk about shaving and fitness standards. If this seems below the pay grade of a four-star, chances are the generals weren’t his real audience.
Julia Ioffe
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September 25, 2025
State of Deportations
As Trump bends more of the federal government to focus on expelling migrants, the bleeding-heart foreign service officers of the State Department are finding themselves pulled into a project they never signed up for: deport, deport, deport.
Julia Ioffe
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September 17, 2025
Church and State
A Trump administration report claims that anti-Christian bias is pervasive inside the State Department. But multiple Christian employees say they never felt targeted—and now they worry members of other faiths are being targeted instead.