The Telegraph • 16th October 2025

Trump has moved the Middle East’s tectonic plates. It’s a nightmare for Putin and Xi

The most important, and most immediate, consequence of the Gaza deal is how it is likely to prompt a wider accommodation with Israel. Preventing that is why Iran sponsored the attack in the first place. But Israel first extinguished the terrorist “ring of fire” around its borders and then, together with the Trump administration, set back Iran’s nuclear program by years. Russia and China were pushed out of the region and the US can now focus on the Pacific Rim and containing China.

The Spectator World • 7th October 2025

Has Israel won?

Two years after the October 7 attacks, first by Hamas, then by Hezbollah, has a war-weary Israel accomplished its main strategic goals? Yes, for the most part. It has ended its encirclement by Iran’s proxy forces (known as the “ring of fire”) and ended the constant, lethal attacks on its people, which gave cover to Iran as it secretly finished developing nuclear weapons, which could exterminate Israel’s entire population and wipe the Jewish State off the map. And it has emerged as the “strong horse” in the region, militarily and economically. But it hasn’t gotten the hostages back, finished the fighting in Gaza, or developed a viable plan for Gaza after the war ends. The plan is necessary, not only for Israel’s security but to complete the Abraham Accords.

The Telegraph • 30th September 2025

Trump has set Democrats up for a shutdown humiliation

Senate Democrats, afraid of their left-wing base, won’t sign off on a simple deal to keep the government running for the next few months at current levels. They demand sweeteners, and Trump won’t give them. Trump has a very different plan. If the Democrats force a government shutdown, Trump and his allies will use it to cut progressive programs and the federal workforce. Democrats, “the party of government,” have painted themselves into a corner.

The Spectator World • 24th September 2025

Dallas shooting was a political act

The Dallas shooting was a political act for two reasons: the killer’s apparent goals (written on his ammo shells) and the likely implications, which underscore several issues that strongly favor Republicans: public order, serious law enforcement, and closed borders, including ICE enforcement. Democrats find it difficult to respond directly because their activist base has far different views.

The Spectator World • 22nd September 2025

Jimmy Kimmel is back

Jimmy Kimmel’s broadcast has made a lot more news off the air than on it. The latest is that ABC will resume the show Tuesday night and that some 400 Hollywood celebrities have signed a petition supporting their friend. If Hollywood’s reaction to Kimmel’s troubles has been predictable, the reaction from Republican politicians has been more interesting – and surprisingly varied. All Republicans loathed what Kimmel said, but some prominent ones, led by Ted Cruz, objected (rightly) to the FCC threatening ABC's license over it.

The Spectator World • 12th September 2025

Utah’s Spencer Cox has displayed America's best values

Gov. Spencer Cox of Utah rose above the maddening crowd when he spoke of Charlie Kirk's assassination and the apprehension of his suspected killer. It was the second time in as many days that Cox voiced thoughts we all needed to hear. Instead of rage, the governor’s plainspoken, heartfelt language, together with his quotes from Charlie, underscored our country’s highest and best values. They were sober, profound thoughts, suffused with moral clarity, and we needed to hear them. Gov. Cox deserves our gratitude and praise. .

The Telegraph • 11th September 2025

The Vile Celebration of a Political Killing

Political killings are among the vilest acts in a democracy. They striking at its core values: free speech, free and peaceful assembly, and an orderly means of choosing leaders. The damage is compounded when a nation suffers several such killings (or narrow escapes) within a few years, as America has.

The Spectator World • 4th September 2025

The death throes of free speech in Britain – and its opponents

Britain’s leaders have refused to stand up for their country’s basic values and traditions in the face of ferocious, illiberal assaults, stemming mainly from these hostile immigrant communities, often supported by progressive elites, who share the leaders’ lack of cultural self-confidence.

The Spectator World • 19th August 2025

The Trump-Zelensky meetings offered a show of Western unity

Did Pres. Trump make any progress toward ending the war in Ukraine after successive meetings with Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky, and key NATO partners? The short answer is “yes, but it’s very slight, and there are still formidable obstacles, which could block a final deal.” The biggest obstacles are Ukraine agreeing to cede sovereign territory and Russia agreeing to the presence of a combined European-American military force within Ukraine, meant to prevent another Russian attack. The joint military force is the most important proposal to emerge from yesterday’s meeting.

The Spectator World • 11th August 2025

Trump’s shrewd move in DC will resonate across the US

President Trump’s initiative to restore law and order to the streets of the nation’s capital is a smart political move. All Americans consider Washington “our city,” and we want it safe. We can see on the nightly news that it is not, and we’re not happy about it. If Trump can turn that around, he will get well-deserved credit, not from the legacy media but from the public.Trump and his party will reap a second major benefit, as well. If he can lessen the muggings, car jackings and armed robberie...

The Telegraph • 25th July 2025

At Columbia, Trump has won a major victory for Western values

Columbia University has just agreed to a massive $220 million settlement with the Trump administration after a fight that centred around rampant anti-Semitism on campus. The university has also agreed to a number of policy reforms, designed to limit future attacks on Jewish students and faculty.Of the settlement, $200 million will go to the federal government and the remaining $20 million to settle employment discrimination claims. Separately, the university has suspended or expelled students wh...

The Spectator World • 17th July 2025

Axing the Department of Education will improve education

The big education news this week is a court ruling that allows the Trump administration to begin cutting jobs at the Department of Education. That’s a plus for democracy since candidate Trump pledged he would do that. It’s a plus for education since it gives more discretion (and the same money) to states and cuts out a lot of bureaucratic middlemen, which means more money for school kids.

The Spectator World • 15th July 2025

What’s the matter with Chicago?

The old song calls Chicago "that toddlin’ town.” Now, that great city has gone from toddlin’ to totterin’, thanks largely to incompetent governance by a succession of local officials – and far better leadership and lower taxes elsewhere in the country, in the places people are moving to.

The Spectator World • 11th July 2025

A trio of scandals

“Who will guard the guardians?” That question, posed two millennia ago by the Roman poet, Juvenal, is just as relevant today. It recurs every time we learn of a new political scandal – or suspect one is being hidden from us.“ That question surrounds three scandals today.

The Telegraph • 3rd July 2025

Trump fired 14 bombs, humiliated Iran, and saved Taiwan from annexation

It was a brief decisive war with a major global impact—in the Middle East and beyond. Israel’s victory seals the Jewish State’s status as the region’s strong horse. Iran’s hegemonic ambitious lie in ruins. So do Russia and China’s efforts to build major positions in the Middle East. Trump’s actions also strengthen US deterrence worldwide, a major boost for Taiwan’s security.

The Telegraph • 26th June 2025

The man who created the modern economy has died. You’ve probably never heard of him

Two men deserve special credit for the smooth, efficient distribution system that brings us an unprecedented cornucopia of produce: Fred Smith and Malcom McLean. Smith, who just died at age 80, created FedEx. McLean, a Houston truck owner in the 1950s, created containerized shipping, which has integrated the supply chain on trucks, trains, and ships.

The Spectator World • 20th June 2025

Fordow in a fortnight?

Pres. Trump’s decision to postpone bombing Iran’s underground nuclear-weapons facility at Fordow is not a mark of indecision. It is a prudent move since this is the most consequential decision of Trump’s presidency. Militarily, the pause allows the final US carrier strike group to arrive from the Pacific and for Israel to further degrade Iran’s ability to strike some 40,000 US troops in the region. Politically, it gives Trump a chance to show Americans and our European allies that the US has acted deliberately, not rashly, and given the Islamic regime every opportunity to relinquish its nuclear weapons program.

The Spectator World • 16th June 2025

Why Democrats back the wrong side of 80-20 issues

These seem to be more and more of these lopsided "80-20" issues. Progressives often take the "20%" side, claiming "social justice." Their stance puts tremendous pressure on Democratic politicians to back them. Trump exploits that by taking the 80% side so vocally that Democrats are trapped.

The Spectator World • 23rd May 2025

What to do about Iran?

Iran seems determined to keep its nuclear program and missile systems. It is running out the clock on negotiations with the US to do it. Trump surely knows that and has repeatedkt said an Iran nuclear enrichment program is unacceptable. Israel fears an Iranian nuke could lead to a second Holocaust, esp. if the Islamic regime is collapsing. The hard and dangerous problems are, “What will the US do? Will Israel act militarily if the US does not and refuses to help?”

The Telegraph • 21st May 2025

Joe Biden’s cognitive decline is the biggest scandal in modern US history

Biden’s cognitive decline is not one scandal but three interlocking ones. The first, obviously, is the president’s declining mental capacity, especially in his final two years. The second is the deliberate cover-up by White House aides, senior Democrats, and, inexcusably, the mainstream media. The third is the unanswered question of who was really making consequential decisions in the Biden WH. Together, these form the greatest scandal in modern American political history.

The Spectator World • 9th May 2025

Roadblocks prevent Trump from deporting millions of illegal immigrants

The list of serious roadblocks begins with the huge numbers, their legal safeguards, and judicial resistance to Trump's program.

The Telegraph • 6th May 2025

Trump’s foreign policy critics are underestimating him once again

The Cold War consensus on foreign policy is dead and buried. There are now deep divisions between parties and within each one. That's the context in which Pres. Trump faces hard decisions on trade, China, Iran, and Ukraine.

The Telegraph • 29th April 2025

Trump is the unlikely heir to Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Donald Trump is moving faster than any US president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office in 1933 amid the Great Depression. Indeed, it was FDR’s rapid action that led observers to mark each administration’s “first 100 days”. Believe me, nobody did that with Calvin Coolidge.At least three major similarities have emerged between Trump and FDR.Both rapidly enacted dramatic – often erratic – changes in national policy, which disoriented investors and disrupted their plans for capital expendit...

The Spectator World • 25th April 2025

Another spring, another round of anti-Semitism on campus

The weather is growing warm, which means anti-Semitic demonstrations are blooming at elite universities, with little pushback from university leaders and DA’s in “blue states.” What’s different this time? The Trump administration is acting.