Opinion | Cuba needs real regime change, not a Trump-friendly despot The president says Havana may be "next" after Iran. What does that mean?

Instead of promoting democracy, Trump is seeking to install deferential dictators. As he said, “When somebody’s nice to me, I love that person… even if they’re bad people.” Installing obsequious autocrats may gratify his ego, but it’s hard to see why it serves U.S. interests. wapo.st/4vLxQfs

Opinion | Cuba needs real regime change, not a Trump-friendly despot The president says Havana may be "next" after Iran. What does that mean?

Trump might be more cautious now that he has seen in Iran what can go wrong with a “little excursion,” but he might also be eager for a diversion from the Middle East mess. Cuba is much weaker than Iran, and therefore an inviting target for a bully like Trump. wapo.st/4vLxQfs

Opinion | Cuba needs real regime change, not a Trump-friendly despot The president says Havana may be "next" after Iran. What does that mean?

Trump issued an executive order claiming that Cuba “constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat” to the United States. In truth, William LeoGrande, a Cuba expert at American University, told me, “The evidence that Cuba is a national security threat is vanishingly thin.” wapo.st/4vLxQfs

'Is He Alive?': Searching For Ukrainian Children Taken By Russia When Olha Puzyk's son, Viktor, was taken from a children's home in Kherson after the Ukrainian city was occupied by Russian forces in 2022, she was left with one agonizing question: Is he alive? This ...

Even at this late date, many Americans don't know what Putin's Russia is doing to the Ukrainians -- either because they don't want to know or because the media they consume won't tell them. But they ought to know. www.rferl.org/a/ukrainian-...

A tale of two Americans: The Pope speaks out against Russian atrocities. The president says nothing (and even worse, relaxes sanctions on Russia while ending aid to Ukraine).

Here’s Trump bragging about making the U.S. a country that no one wants to come to and many want to leave.

A month ago.

“They have seen false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘Declares the Lord,’ when the Lord has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfill their word.” (Ezekiel 13:6 ESV)

A false prophet is the first victim of his deception.

Trump Thinks He’s Become Orange Jesus In Trump 1.0, people mocked the President by calling him Orange Jesus. In Trump 2.0, he actually thinks he’s become Jesus, Susan B. Glasser writes.

At 250 feet tall, Trump's arch would be the biggest such structure in the world. Asked last fall what this modern-day arch was meant to commemorate, Trump pointed to himself and replied, “Me.” @sbg1.bsky.social www.newyorker.com/news/letter-...

Trump stiffed the lawyer who cross-examined Stormy Daniels in his trial - never paid her bill.

Pope James David Vance the First The vice president has decided he’s a more accomplished theologian than Leo XIV.

J. D. Vance has decided he’s a more accomplished theologian than Pope Leo XIV—and in doing so, Vance showcases what another pope once called “the queen of all vices”: the deadly sin of pride, @radiofreetom.bsky.social argues.

If you ask Christian nationalists to choose between Christianity and nationalism, guess what they’ll pick? A final word on Trump vs. Pope Leo.

“From where I sit, it looks to me like Trump is accelerating the move of Christian nationalists away from Christianity and towards pure Trumpist nationalism—even among Catholics.”

open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

@schaller67.bsky.social @ @atrupar.com's PN:
"In short, Americans are sick and tired of Trump. And with almost three years left in his second term, he is unlikely to gain strength in the months and years ahead — a reality that may make him more desperate and dangerous than ever."
🧾 is.gd/wooL0Q

Trump and the Pope are in irreconcilable conflict for the simple fact that the Pope speaks of Christian virtues and Trump’s entire mode of existing in this world stands in stark opposition to Christian virtues.
But the Pope won’t be perturbed. His message is bigger than Trump, the USA, or politics.

Breathtaking to hear Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for adjudicated sexual assaulter Donald Trump, ask "why were they silent for so long?" about Democrats and Eric Swalwell.

These people have absolutely no shame.

John Eastman concocted a ridiculous, unconstitutional theory of the vice president’s power in an attempt to overturn Trump’s loss in the 2020 election. The J6 Committee interviewed multiple witnesses with knowledge of Eastman’s scheme, which Trump adopted as his own:

www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/...

Yep, this is precisely the "logic", and it doesn't withstand any serious scrutiny.

The Nationalist Right Isn’t Taking Orbán’s Loss Well Mourning one of their own.

We don’t know how Magyar will govern. But his first steps clearly represent a pivot back to liberalism—not in the left-wing sense, but in the sense which includes the “conservative liberalism” of a Ronald Reagan or a Margaret Thatcher.

Pam Bondi didn’t show up for her hearing today, despite our subpoena. We’re going to begin contempt proceedings. It’s time to hold these people accountable to the laws we passed in Congress.

Orban’s defeat isn’t a mere disappointment to Trump, Putin, and the transnational far right. It’s a direct setback.

They didn’t watch the election from afar, they tried interfering. They concocted plots, tried a false flag lie, sent top officials to Hungary to help campaign.

And they lost. Badly.

This is what a pathological liar & sociopath who’s utterly detached from reality sounds like. And Maria just sits there and smiles.👇

The pathology is so malignant and preposterous, it’s not hard to understand why some people look away and ignore

Trump’s Latest Meltdown Attacking the pope was only part of the president’s disturbing night on Truth Social.

Americans must not shrug off Donald Trump’s latest social-media implosion—too much is at risk to keep dismissing his dysfunction, @radiofreetom.bsky.social argues.

Take it from a historian who has a lot more evidence at his disposal -- it is actually entirely possible for something to be mostly one person's fault. You're not required to apportion blame for everything in equal measure. Honest!

It's funny how so many of Trump's longtime supporters are "Shocked, shocked!" that he is exactly who he's always been.

Trump’s Erratic Behavior and Extreme Comments Revive Mental Health Debate

In his second term, Trump seems even less restrained and more incoherent at times. He uses more profanity, speaks longer, regularly makes comments rooted in fantasy rather than fact, wanders off into odd tangents and shocks even allies with his outbursts. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/13/u...

Should be part of his next test.

Fresh off his trip to Hungary where he begged Hungarians to back Viktor Orban, J.D. Vance has decided world leaders shouldn't meddle in other countries' politics.

The man with the nuclear codes www.nytimes.com/2026/04/13/u...