Diane Francis Newsletter

2 weeks ago | dianefrancis.substack.com | Diane Francis

The Trump reality show delivered great content in recent days as Donald Trump and Elon Musk staged a mixed martial arts-style cage match. The verbal pummeling was not shocking to spectators. Musk is a loose cannon who has been on his way out for many reasons: He opposed Trump’s tariffs, and his DOGE failed to cut government costs as promised.

3 weeks ago | dianefrancis.substack.com | Diane Francis |Diane Francis

Trump’s four-day swing through the Middle East reaped the rewards, but now his focus in the region must be to shut down Iran’s nuclear bomb program. Iran resists and claims its technology is for peaceful purposes only. But on May 29, Austria’s domestic intelligence service stated that Iran’s nuclear weapons development was “well advanced” and that Tehran has an arsenal of ballistic missiles that could carry nuclear warheads over long distances.

1 month ago | dianefrancis.substack.com | Diane Francis

Trump dined and schmoozed with 220 anonymous investors on May 22 at his Virginia golf club because they had collectively paid $394 million to buy his near-worthless crypto coin called $TRUMP. Their grubstakes ranged from $55,000 to $37.7 million, and the coins sank in value from $75 apiece in January to as low as $14. Coming on the heels of the $400-million jet “gift” by Qatar, it was another shabby display of payola and greed by the White House.

2 months ago | dianefrancis.substack.com | Diane Francis

Unsettling developments and policies tumble out of the Trump White House, upending geopolitics, unsettling millions, and disrupting markets and business. Inside America, Trump breaches norms, and badmouths or defunds time-worn institutions. And his intimidation grows abroad, punctuated by the mistreatment of Ukraine’s President in the Oval Office and continued with tariff and annexation threats against allies while treating psychopath Vladimir Putin with kid gloves.

Mar 20, 2025 | dianefrancis.substack.com | Diane Francis

Two truce talks involving Donald Trump have failed in recent days. Vladimir Putin snubbed Trump’s push for a full 30-day ceasefire even after Ukraine agreed. Instead, Putin offered to refrain from striking Ukrainian energy infrastructure for 30 days, then broke the truce hours later. In Gaza, the US talked with Hamas about a truce and a hostage exchange. Those deals fell apart, so Israel launched air strikes against Hamas in Gaza, and the US launched strikes against Iran’s Houthis in Yemen.