Tom Nichols

Newport

Staff writer at @TheAtlantic. Discussion and cat pics and bad music takes are at the other place: https://t.co/GNX0vE6WOO

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Articles

Israel’s Bold, Risky Attack

2 weeks ago | theatlantic.com | Tom Nichols

At the end of the classic 1972 film The Godfather, the new don of the family, Michael Corleone, attends a baptism while his men wipe out the heads of the other New York mafia families—all of them Michael’s enemies, and all intending one day to do him harm. Rather than wait for their eventual attacks, Michael dispatched them himself. “Today, I settled all family business,” Michael says to his traitorous brother-in-law, before having him killed.
The Silence of the Generals

2 weeks ago | theatlantic.com | Tom Nichols

President Donald Trump continued his war against America’s most cherished military traditions today when he delivered a speech at Fort Bragg. It is too much to call it a “speech”; it was, instead, a ramble, full of grievance and anger, just like his many political-rally performances. He took the stage to Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA”—which has become a MAGA anthem—and then pointed to the “fake news,” encouraging military personnel to jeer at the press.
Trump Means to Provoke, Not Pacify

2 weeks ago | theatlantic.com | Tom Nichols

President Donald Trump is about to launch yet another assault on democracy, the Constitution, and American traditions of civil-military relations, this time in Los Angeles. Under a dubious legal rationale, he is activating 2,000 members of the National Guard to confront protests against actions by ICE, the immigration police who have used thuggish tactics against citizens and foreigners alike in the United States.
Trump Calls Putin ‘Crazy’-And the Kremlin Shrugs

1 month ago | theatlantic.com | Tom Nichols

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.
Putin’s Still In Charge

1 month ago | theatlantic.com | Tom Nichols

Today’s phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump was a painful reminder that Trump is the junior partner in the Russian-American relationship and that Putin will continue his mass murder campaign in Ukraine for as long as he can get away with it. Nothing else of substance emerged from the call. When it comes to Europe’s largest armed conflict since World War II, Putin’s still in charge.
A Witch Hunt at the State Department

1 month ago | theatlantic.com | Tom Nichols

Esteemed Comrades of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs! Today we ask you to review your files for any communications you may have had with unreliable elements who are critical of our Party and our leader. If you have had contact with journalists, researchers, or other subversives, we ask you to report these interactions in full to the senior comrades responsible for the important work of ideological vigilance.
Trump Is Acting as a Proxy for Putin

2 months ago | theatlantic.com | Tom Nichols

Donald Trump said on the campaign trail that he would make peace between Ukraine and Russia in a day. Three months later, he’s behind schedule, and his plan now is to end the fighting quickly by selling out Ukraine and its people to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The proposal that Trump, Vice President J. D. Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are pushing is not a framework for peace, but a rich and bloody reward to Moscow for three years of aggression and war crimes.
Pete Hegseth's Patriotic Duty Is to Resign

2 months ago | theatlantic.com | Tom Nichols

Pete Hegseth was never qualified to be the secretary of defense. Donald Trump should never have nominated him, Hegseth should never have accepted the nomination, and the Senate should never have confirmed him. Alas, qualifications, self-knowledge, and the courage of Senate Republicans are all things of the past, and for three months now, Hegseth has been a proven failure as a secretary of defense. If the president still refuses to fire him, he should resign.
Ed Martin Has Completely Disqualified Himself

2 months ago | theatlantic.com | Tom Nichols

Trump’s pick for U.S. attorney is a Russian-state-TV darling. This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. The United States of America is still a free country, and every private citizen has the right to speak to anyone, anywhere in the world, about anything.
Trump’s Greenland Ambitions Are No Joke

2 months ago | theatlantic.com | Tom Nichols

The United States grabbing land from an ally sounds like the stuff of a Netflix political thriller. But every American should contemplate three realities about Donald Trump’s aggressive desire to acquire Greenland, a semiautonomous Danish territory. First, unlike his usual shtick, in which he floats wild ideas and then he and his aides alternate between saying he was serious and saying he might have been joking, he means it. The Danes seem to believe him, and so should Americans.