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Leigh Ann Caldwell, Julia Ioffe, Peter Hamby, Abby Livingston & John Heilemann
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Sunday through Thursday
Puck’s daily political newsletter from Washington—featuring Leigh Ann Caldwell, Julia Ioffe, Peter Hamby, Abby Livingston, and John Heilemann—on what’s really happening in this town, from the White House to the Pentagon to Capitol Hill, K Street, and the campaign trail.
THE LATEST ARTICLES
Julia Ioffe
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January 22, 2026
The Greenland Mile
After claiming the “framework of a deal” to expand America’s presence on the world’s largest island, Trump has dropped his threats to invade Greenland. Thank God, because a direct assault on Greenland wasn’t going to be a cakewalk.
Julia Ioffe
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January 15, 2026
The Havana Hangover
After years of denials, Washington is finally reckoning with new reporting that would seem to confirm the existence of the alleged Russian directed-energy weapon that causes Havana syndrome—or what the U.S. government now calls “anomalous health incidents.” But will Tulsi Gabbard be allowed to release the O.D.N.I.’s own findings?
Julia Ioffe
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January 8, 2026
The Big Olowski Has Left the Building
Lew Olowski, the State Department’s wacky, polarizing head of H.R., is said to have imploded at his farewell party when he learned that he wasn’t getting a coveted assignment.
Julia Ioffe
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January 5, 2026
Neocon Don
Trump’s largely consequence-free projection of military power in Iran and elsewhere laid the groundwork for last weekend’s shocking action in Venezuela—and validated a new framework for MAGA-style interventionism. But what happens when Xi starts playing by the same rules?
Julia Ioffe
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December 18, 2025
The Prodigal Son-In-Law Returns
Jared Kushner has quietly reemerged as an off-the-books diplomat in Trump’s second term, securing a ceasefire in Gaza and now negotiating with Putin to end the war in Ukraine. And foreign-policy types, who often disdained Kushner during Trump I, are mostly happy to have him back.
Julia Ioffe
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December 4, 2025
A Few Bad Men
Experts are debating whether a war crime was committed when the U.S. military executed a double-tap strike on a suspected drug boat in the Caribbean, killing the survivors. But who is ultimately responsible: Pete Hegseth or Frank Bradley, the admiral overseeing the mission? And who might actually take the blame?
Julia Ioffe
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November 26, 2025
Witkoff and Kushner’s Ukraine Turkey
Trump’s latest push for peace with Russia appears destined to repeat the cycle of false promises, mismatched expectations, and inevitable disappointment. Sources close to the Kremlin say the current proposal is likely D.O.A.
Julia Ioffe
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November 19, 2025
Trump’s Venezuela Doctrine
The president’s saber-rattling in the Caribbean reflects his instinct for both political theater and indecisiveness, as well as the competing advisors in his ear. In fact, Trump’s plan for Venezuela may be a mystery even to himself. “I think he thinks about what will make him look tough, but he doesn’t think much beyond that,” said John Bolton. “He never does.”
Julia Ioffe
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November 13, 2025
Dan Driscoll’s Army of One
J.D. Vance’s man in the Pentagon is a rare Trump appointee who commands bipartisan respect and affection. Naturally, this doesn’t sit well with his boss, Pete Hegseth, who doesn’t.
Julia Ioffe
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October 20, 2025
Putin in Love
Inside the courtship of Vladimir Putin and Lyudmila Ocheretnaya, his first imperial subject—from a chance encounter in Leningrad and their K.G.B. days in Dresden to raising their family in St. Petersburg on the cusp of his sudden ascendance to unimaginable power. This piece has been adapted from Julia Ioffe’s new book, Motherland, a feminist history of modern Russia and a finalist for the National Book Award.
