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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, John Heilemann, Julia Ioffe, Abby Livingston, and Marianna Sotomayor—on what’s really happening in this town, from the White House to the Pentagon to Capitol Hill, K Street, and the campaign trail.
THE LATEST ARTICLES
Julia Ioffe
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August 14, 2024
Ukraine’s Guns of August
The surprise Kursk offensive caught Putin and the Russians off guard, but no one, not even the Ukrainians, seems to know what happens next. I spoke with military analyst Michael Kofman about Ukraine’s likely motives, the expected retaliation from Moscow, and where things go from here.
Julia Ioffe
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August 7, 2024
Putin’s Hostage Games
While the Americans released by Russia in last week’s prisoner swap celebrated their emancipation, the Kremlin set about carefully spinning the exchange as confirmation of their captives’ guilt, while also celebrating a political coup of their own.
Julia Ioffe
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July 30, 2024
Harris’s Full Nelson
Washington is racing to suss out the foreign policy agenda of Kamala Harris, whom national security types view as a “blank slate.” The selection of a new advisor to lead her campaign’s policy team may provide some clues.
Julia Ioffe
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July 24, 2024
The Treaty of Harris
In the wake of Biden’s departure from the race, the foreign policy crowd is experiencing all the feels—jubilation, resentment, excitement, agony, and the sense that “the chessboard is empty” with Harris atop the ticket. Plus, the view from the Kremlin on the new Democratic nominee (and, for what it’s worth, J.D. Vance).
Julia Ioffe
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July 17, 2024
Biden Group Therapy
Fresh reporting on the collective private mourning of top Democrats after the tragic “events”—as they are known in Washington-speak—of the weekend. Nevertheless, some cling to hope. “He also said he would drop if he saw data saying he can’t win,” said a campaign source. “He’s about to see a lot of it.”
Julia Ioffe
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July 9, 2024
NATO’s Five Stages of Biden Grief
After the debate, Europeans are starting to come to the conclusion that Biden is done for and that a second Trump presidency is inevitable. And they insist they’re not freaking out about it. “We can’t control who wins,” a European defense official told me, “but we’ll work with what we have.”
Julia Ioffe
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July 3, 2024
Biden: Lost in Translation
Overseas political observers are asking how the world’s greatest democracy ended up with the choice of Biden versus Trump: “We see the same videos—and debates.”
Julia Ioffe
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June 19, 2024
Russiagate, Revisited
Eight years on from 2016, much of the Russian influence operation is now run out of the Kremlin, from Putin’s presidential administration. The good news: a lot of it is bafflingly bad and some of it is hilariously awful.
Julia Ioffe
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June 12, 2024
Vladimir Putin, Swing Voter
Unlike in 2016, and despite Trump’s affinity for strongmen, there’s no consensus inside the Kremlin over which of the two U.S. presidential candidates—the predictable antagonist or the geopolitical wild card—would be better for Putin’s Russia.
Julia Ioffe
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June 5, 2024
Mission Impossible
Biden’s national security team has been unusually loyal, with all the key players sticking around and working through one grueling cataclysmic geopolitical challenge after another—Afghanistan, Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, etcetera. Why aren’t they turning over or cashing out? “There’s a sense that we’re standing at the precipice right now,” said one senior administration official.
