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Melania Diplomacy

A purported breakthrough in Russian diplomacy comes from a surprising place. Plus, Moscow scores an apparent intelligence coup via a U.S. congresswoman, and Trump warms up to regime change.

Melania Trump
Putin deftly seized the opportunity to build a relationship with the first lady—who, as President Trump has told the press, was the person reminding him after every phone call with Putin, that, for all his niceties, the Russian president was still bombing Ukrainian cities every single day. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Julia Ioffe
October 16, 2025

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Last Friday afternoon, with a shut-down Washington emptying out for the long holiday weekend, first lady Melania Trump walked through a set of double doors to address the White House press corps. She had an announcement: For the last two months, she’d been speaking to Vladimir Putin. In fact, Melania said, she had an “open channel” to the Russian president.