Max Boot

Zelensky is the most popular foreign leader in the United States; his 53 percent approval rating is far higher than Trump’s. So insulting Zelensky, as Trump does with distressing regularity, isn’t a smart strategy for reversing the president’s crumbling popularity. wapo.st/4zQY9Si

Trump is right that the war with Iran hasn’t lasted as long, or caused as many U.S. casualties, as previous wars such as Vietnam. But, his Iran conflict has already caused more economic pain than previous conflicts. Those disruptions are further exacerbated by his trade wars. wapo.st/4zQY9Si

Zelensky is the most popular foreign leader in the United States; his 53 percent approval rating is far higher than Trump’s. So insulting Zelensky, as Trump does with distressing regularity, isn’t a smart strategy for reversing the president’s crumbling popularity. wapo.st/4zQY9Si

Then-Secretary of State James A. Baker III famously tried to sell the Gulf War to voters by arguing it was about “jobs, jobs, jobs.” The impact of Trump’s tariffs and his Iran war can be summed up as: inflation, inflation, inflation. wapo.st/4zQY9Si

Trump's foolhardy decisions to launch trade wars with many countries followed by a “forever war” with Iran are a large part of the reason why he approaches this midterm election with the lowest public-approval rating (34 percent) since Harry S. Truman in the 1946 midterms. wapo.st/4zQY9Si

In the recent Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll, 75 percent of respondents described economic conditions as “not so good” or “poor,” compared with only 34 percent who said so on the eve of Trump’s last midterm election in 2018, when Democrats picked up 40 House seats. wapo.st/4zQY9Si

The more that Trump is seen as siding with Russia over Ukraine, the more he finds himself on the wrong side of U.S. public opinion. A recent Economist-YouGov poll found that 66% of registered voters sympathize with Ukraine compared with only 3% who sympathize with Russia. wapo.st/4zQY9Si

Trump would be hard-put to engineer a more unpopular or more unsuccessful foreign policy if he tried. Republicans are likely to pay the price next week. Let us hope that some of the Republicans left in office will be willing to work with Democrats to rein in his terrible instincts. wapo.st/4zQY9Si

I’ve given up believing in conspiratorial explanations of the Trump-Putin relationship. If evidence for some nefarious tie existed, it would’ve been uncovered by now. Zelensky had a more compelling theory when he said that Trump simply has a fondness for autocrats & the uber-wealthy. wapo.st/47o44SX

It hadn’t occurred to me that Trump views Putin as a fellow billionaire, but it’s true. Putin’s net worth is estimated at $70B-$200B. Trump, who made $2+ billion last year, no doubt respects anyone who manages to make so much money in office and to cling to power for so long. wapo.st/47o44SX

I’ve given up believing in conspiratorial explanations of the Trump-Putin relationship. If evidence for some nefarious tie existed, it would’ve been uncovered by now. Zelensky had a more compelling theory when he said that Trump simply has a fondness for autocrats & the uber-wealthy. wapo.st/47o44SX

What explains Trump’s bizarre affinity for Putin? The Russian warmonger is standing in the way of his goal of winning a Nobel Peace Prize. Shouldn’t Trump be mad at him? wapo.st/47o44SX

It hadn’t occurred to me that Trump views Putin as a fellow billionaire, but it’s true. Putin’s net worth is estimated at $70B-$200B. Trump, who made $2+ billion last year, no doubt respects anyone who manages to make so much money in office and to cling to power for so long. wapo.st/47o44SX

Trump’s willingness to do the bidding of a murderous despot is despicable and dangerous. Luckily, Ukraine has become less dependent on U.S. support. That means Trump has less leverage to force Zelensky into a bad deal with Russia. You might say Trump doesn’t hold the cards anymore. wapo.st/47o44SX

The speed of Starlink was degraded last week, making it difficult for Ukraine to stop Russian terror attacks on schools, hospitals and apartment buildings. It’s still not clear exactly what happened, but the Telegraph reported that Musk proposed the move to Trump, who agreed. wapo.st/47o44SX

So much for the Lindsey Graham law, which authorizes the president to toughen sanctions on Russia and to impose tariffs on countries that import its oil. On Friday, Trump announced he was waiving its provisions, thereby flouting the will of a large, bipartisan congressional majority. wapo.st/47o44SX

Putin has manipulated Trump again. Trump blames Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries for the soaring oil prices that are exacerbating his political woes. Never mind that his war in Iran is the actual culprit. If Republicans lose the midterms, Trump has a ready-made scapegoat. wapo.st/47o44SX

Max Boot's new book is the most recent and written by a disillusioned conservative who has no truck with Reagan hagiography, or the haters.

Countries that do what Trump wants get lucrative business deals; those that don’t get higher tariffs.
Trump is pursuing his own version of “dollar diplomacy,” a term coined during the Wm Howard Taft administration. The problem is there’s little evidence that “dollar diplomacy” works. wapo.st/47gE6Rf

Putin hopes to dangle development deals in front of Kushner and Witkoff to lift U.S. sanctions. He made some progress when Trump announced that the US would be importing diesel fuel from Russia. But most sanctions remain in effect, and Congress passed legislation to strengthen them. wapo.st/47gE6Rf

While Witkoff and Kushner say they would not benefit from the Lukoil sale, the deal reeks of conflicts of interest at best and outright corruption at worst. It is emblematic of the de facto Trump Doctrine — mixing private and public interests to an unprecedented degree. wapo.st/47gE6Rf

Putin hopes to dangle development deals in front of Kushner and Witkoff to lift U.S. sanctions. He made some progress when Trump announced that the US would be importing diesel fuel from Russia. But most sanctions remain in effect, and Congress passed legislation to strengthen them. wapo.st/47gE6Rf

Countries that do what Trump wants get lucrative business deals; those that don’t get higher tariffs.
Trump is pursuing his own version of “dollar diplomacy,” a term coined during the Wm Howard Taft administration. The problem is there’s little evidence that “dollar diplomacy” works. wapo.st/47gE6Rf

When the Houthis attacked Saudi Arabia, Trump refused to come to their aid because he is reluctant to be trapped in another endless war. Even with Trump, who is turning the presidency into a multibillion-dollar profit center, there are sharp limits to what money can buy. wapo.st/47gE6Rf

The Saudis and Emiratis have invested so much in business projects associated with the Trump clan in large part because they are hoping to buy influence. But while they got access to AI chips (UAE) and civilian nuke tech (Saudis), they also got dragged into a costly war with Iran. wapo.st/47gE6Rf

While Witkoff and Kushner say they would not benefit from the Lukoil sale, the deal reeks of conflicts of interest at best and outright corruption at worst. It is emblematic of the de facto Trump Doctrine — mixing private and public interests to an unprecedented degree. wapo.st/47gE6Rf

You would think Trump et al. would have figured out by now that dictators are not primarily interested in economic development. While Trump & Co. have devoted their lives to making money, the leaders of N Korea, Hamas, Iran & Russia have devoted their lives to accumulating power. wapo.st/47gE6Rf

In his first term, Trump hoped to lure Kim Jong Un into giving up his nukes in return for Western investment. The pitch didn’t work. Undeterred by the failure of his North Korea diplomacy, Trump offered a similar deal to Hamas in 2025: disarm in return for beachfront condos. wapo.st/47gE6Rf

As Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff negotiate an end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, they are also working with the Kremlin to sell $20 billion in international assets owned by the Russian oil company Lukoil to a group of investors that includes their own business partners. wapo.st/47gE6Rf

Over at my Substack--"The Long View"--I have some thoughts about how the Trump-Zelensky relationship is again in crisis mode because of Trump's incorrigible pro-Putin bias. bit.ly/4s0v9VI

Talking on CNN International about the Trump administration's "performative cruelty," as manifested in the plan to livestream the execution of the Fort Hood killer. The spectacle is a revolting one. video.snapstream.net/Play/3TmGkhK...

The lack of self-awareness is something else. As if the Trump administration has any credibility lecturing any other country about its international obligations. One of the first things Trump did was pull out of the WHO. www.wsj.com/world/russia...

Without a deal, Iran is more likely to lash out than to surrender; it retains plenty of missiles and drones it could use to target oil facilities and ships across the region. Indeed, in recent days, Iran has stepped up attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz. bit.ly/4j5qcbI

The failure of the Iraq War has made me into a chastened hawk acutely conscious of the limits of American power. I hope our leaders have learned the same lessons, but as I read news that Trump is sending a third aircraft carrier to the Middle East, I fear that they have not. wapo.st/4ziR9xC

Without a deal, Iran is more likely to lash out than to surrender; it retains plenty of missiles and drones it could use to target oil facilities and ships across the region. Indeed, in recent days, Iran has stepped up attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz. bit.ly/4j5qcbI

Most of the increase in exports is coming not from the Strait of Hormuz but from alternative, bypass routes that are longer and more expensive: The cost of moving a tanker of oil from the Middle East to China has skyrocketed from $7 a barrel before the war to $35 a barrel today. bit.ly/4j5qcbI

Trump claims he's winning the war. But if oil is flowing so freely, why was the Brent crude oil price on Friday still over $100 a barrel—i.e., roughly 40 percent higher than the day before the war began? The price of diesel fuel in the US has risen even faster: by almost 75 percent. bit.ly/4j5qcbI

I recall getting briefings from officers who told me that the previous unit in their “AO” had screwed up, but they had all the trend lines going in a positive direction. A few years later, I would visit the same base and get the same briefing from a new unit that had just rotated in. wapo.st/4ziR9xC

I supported the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, convinced that it would lead to greater democratization in the Middle East. We all know how that worked out. Since then, I don’t have a lot of certainties about the world in general, and the Middle East in particular. wapo.st/4ziR9xC

The invasion was a catastrophic mistake that resulted in huge costs without any appreciable strategic benefit. It’s true that things are much better in Iraq now than they were a decade ago, but the most lasting consequence of the conflict was to entrench Iranian influence in Iraq. wapo.st/4ziR9xC

The longer I spent in Iraq, the less I understood it. It was easy to talk in Washington about the war as a battle between “good guys” and “bad guys.” It was harder to do when you saw how murderous and corrupt even many of our allies in the Iraqi government were. wapo.st/4ziR9xC

The whole experience of Iraq has taught me to be more wary of America’s ability to transform foreign lands and made me more skeptical of wars of choice. The ongoing conflict with Iran only reinforces those lessons. wapo.st/4ziR9xC

The failure of the Iraq War has made me into a chastened hawk acutely conscious of the limits of American power. I hope our leaders have learned the same lessons, but as I read news that Trump is sending a third aircraft carrier to the Middle East, I fear that they have not. wapo.st/4ziR9xC

I spoke yesterday at a @CFR_org roundtable with @WillHitchUVA about his important, and highly readable, new book, "A Shadow Over the World," about America, FDR, and the rise of fascism in the 1930s. It's a masterpiece of narrative history. bit.ly/4rJhSR3

"The U.S. military needs a radical change in its thinking: It can no longer expect to operate from invulnerable bases near the front," @maxboot.bsky.social writes.

A good summary of how @washingtonpost continues to do kick-ass journalism. Rumors of its demise were greatly exaggerated. It is recovering from the cutbacks and continuing to produce important stories. www.washingtonpost.com/impact?itid=...

The military can no longer expect to operate from invulnerable bases near the front. But it’s hard to imagine that the armed forces can focus on such a major strategic reorientation when they are dealing with Hegseth’s destabilizing political purges & his retrograde T-count demands. wapo.st/4jsqNEo

And it’s about to come out in paperback.

Ron Reagan.... happened to mention that Max Boot had written what was probably the best biography of the 40th President, an opinion shared by many others. It's a 731 page tome, published in 2024, entitled "Reagan: His Life and Legend." potus-geeks.livejournal.com/1963874.html

Because the Bahrain port was inoperable, the Navy had to rely on its base at Diego Garcia, 2,200 miles away, to supply the fleet in the Mideast. That increased the cost, and decreased the frequency, of supplies reaching the ships, while also making port calls too dangerous. wapo.st/4jsqNEo