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WASHINGTON

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the 2023 Munich Security Conference.

Peace & Gossip in Munich

News and notes on the future of Putin, Ukraine, NATO, and trans-Atlantic unity, at least as determined by the international heavies at the Munich Security Conference—including the readout on what everyone really said at Trader Vic’s and Schumann’s Bar.
Julia Ioffe • February 22, 2023
Tara Palmeri & Peter Hamby • February 20, 2023
Scott’s V.P. Move, Haley’s Gift & The New ’24 Calculus
aNikki Haley, the newest entrant in the Republican 2024 field, needs to overcome a line of low-key sexist interrogation about her ability to win over the G.O.P. base.
News and notes on what’s consuming this town on a long weekend: Haley’s early returns, Scott’s V.P. strategy, “fixing” Biden’s Kamala problem, more Biden age scrutiny, and the D.N.C. race.
Baratunde Thurston • February 19, 2023
The Black Liberation Paradox
“Yes, I want enlightenment for white people. I just don’t want my own growth to depend on it,” Thurston writes.
Modern emancipation needs to be more than a function of liberating white minds. Black people also need to find joy on our own terms. What’s the point of saying “Black Lives Matter” if that life is defined solely by struggle?
Given his rolodex and sports talk radio-style personality, Chris Christie could get plenty of earned media and benefit from the Trump-DeSantis murder-suicide pact.
Tara Palmeri • February 17, 2023
The Chris Christie ’24 Chaos Theory
A number of ambitious and peripheral Republicans are increasingly betting on the likelihood of Trump-DeSantis mutually assured destruction. Will a Florida wipeout open a lane for… Chris Christie?
DeSantis, a 2005 graduate of Harvard Law, isn’t any sort of threat to return us to a world of taxation without representation, but he’s an expert MAGA dog-whistler.
Tina Nguyen • February 15, 2023
The DeSantis Constitution
A little arcane constitutional dog-whistling has provided DeSantis with a clever way of courting an insurrectionary segment of the MAGAverse while playing inside the confines of a party practically begging for an insurrection-free presidency.
The great Russian offensive has, so far, been remarkably lackluster—and people don’t seem to realize that this current series of sputtering pushes is the offensive, itself.
Julia Ioffe • February 14, 2023
Ukraine’s Four-Letter War
As the battle for Ukraine enters its second year, neither side seems willing to negotiate. A source familiar with the Russian posture described Moscow’s opening position as “go fuck yourself.” Another well-informed source said that’s Kyiv’s opener, too.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) with with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) outside the Senate Chamber at the U.S. Capitol.
Tara Palmeri • February 13, 2023
The Never Trump (or Biden!) Caucus Sees Its Opening
A candid conversation about centrist Washington’s quadrennial third party presidential fantasy, with a reformed third party poster boy.
Whether Kyrsten Sinema will run for re-election in 2024 is the subject of endless Washingtonian curiosity.
Tara Palmeri • February 10, 2023
Sinema Vérité
A look into the very real headaches that Kyrsten Sinema is about to cause for Democrats and Republicans (and herself!) in Washington and Arizona.
Until recently, DeSantis had been careful not to antagonize the former president or to alienate his base; Trump, in turn, had mostly avoided taking potshots that might inadvertently elevate a presumptive rival.
Tina Nguyen • February 9, 2023
The Trump-DeSantis War Goes Nuclear
News and notes on the modern Republican party: Trump’s decision to escalate his war on DeSantis, M.T.G.’s diminishing clout among the Taliban 20, and a new Peach Pit for the MAGA crowd in the swamp.
The balloon has become a brilliant political foil: Republicans painted Joe Biden as weak on China for not immediately blasting the thing out of the sky; when his administration did, it allowed Democrats to show their boss as cool and in control.
Julia Ioffe • February 8, 2023
Balloon Mind State
The D.C. foreign policy set responds to the ultimate meme-worthy, news cycle-driven international mini crisis of our times.
Now that Biden’s re-election campaign looks inevitable, how will the dynamic between himself and Kamala Harris change?
Tara Palmeri & Peter Hamby • February 6, 2023
The Kamala Question & Biden’s Political Challenge
As the State of the Union looms, Biden’s candidacy is inevitable, and yet little else is equally certain. Herewith, a candid tea leaf reading about what keeps his team up at night.
A new outside group is shaping up to be the official super PAC of the DeSantis campaign.
Peter Hamby • February 6, 2023
DeSantis Allies Are Eyeing a ’24 Super PAC
It’s the clearest sign yet that DeSantis is embarking on a national campaign. And given the consultants involved, it’s all but certain to have his approval.
Rev. Al Sharpton alongside RowVaughn Wells and her husband, Rodney Wells, at the funeral of their 29 year-old Tyre Nichols.
Baratunde Thurston • February 5, 2023
Thoughts & Tears for Tyre
We are overdosing on fear in America. The answer lies in community, an openness to new forms of policing, a new conception of justice, and love.
Chairmanship fights tend to bring out the worst in members—but Kevin McCarthy can’t afford any turbulence in these particularly fraught times.
Tara Palmeri • February 2, 2023
McCarthy’s Horse-Trading Nightmare
His imperiled speakership was a collaborative effort that resulted in plenty of begging and favor-trading. Now, as members expect reciprocity for loyalty in the form of committee assignments, McCarthy’s up to his eyeballs placating unhappy former allies in his slim majority.
“Taliban 20”
Tina Nguyen • February 1, 2023
The Dark Squad Rises
News and notes on the G.O.P.’s “Taliban 20” detente, George Santos’s political personality disorder, and Ron DeSantis’s digital army.
What has kept Putin from giving the green light for a wider, more forceful and disruptive asymmetric offensive in Europe?
Julia Ioffe • February 1, 2023
Putin’s Plot Against America
There is a growing fear in Washington that Russia will resort to hybrid tactics to inflict pain on Western powers in ways that it can no longer achieve through conventional warfare alone.
In the nascent Trump campaign, Kellyanne Conway has played a bit of a two-step—acting as a top advisor to Trump (albeit unpaid) while also a Fox News contributor, where she can spread the Trump gospel.
Tara Palmeri • January 31, 2023
Kellyanne’s Future & The G.O.P.’s First ’24 Strike
News and notes from the nascent presidential trail, on Conway’s green room game theory and the House Republican plan to bork the Democratic bench.
Former president Donald Trump will headline CPAC.
Tara Palmeri & Tina Nguyen • January 30, 2023
Trump’s Triangle of Sadness
News and notes from around this town on the Republicans off their talking points: the future of CPAC, Trump’s soft start, debt ceiling pressure points, and more.