Carl Åkerström

[Michael Weiss @michaeldweiss]

Joni gets it exactly right. I’d add a few things to his analysis.

The EU’s SAFE program to prioritize domestic arms procurement over U.S. purchases is only a logical consequence of the MAGA shakedown of the last eighteen months, a shakedown that has coincided with Colby’s various side hustles. See the serial pauses on Biden-authorised aid packages to Ukraine, or the cancellation of cross-border strike authorisation using Western munitions — an authority since mercifully transferred to SACEUR in opposition to Colby. SAFE also looks prescient in light of the stockpile shortages and reported hiccups in foreign deliveries resulting from the Iran war.

As Joni notes, you don’t get to tell the Europeans they must become militarily independent and autonomous because they’re on their own, only to then dictate terms about who they can and can’t buy weapons from.

Also important to remember is that Colby is despised most of all by Republican defense and security hawks in Congress. I mean to say, they really, really hate him.

This is why whole sections of the NDAA were written to shackle him vis-a-vis Ukraine aid and U.S. troop withdrawals from Europe. (Rubio stopped the latest attempt by DoD; and while the headlines attributed that attempt to Hegseth, who is busy worrying about the T levels of the enlisted, it is always Colby shaping Pentagon decision-making.) This is also why Kirill Dmitriev, whose efforts to broker rapprochement between Moscow and Washington now lie in ruins, is amplifying Colby’s pompous and hypocritical nonsense on Twitter, while the same Republican hawks in Congress advance Lindsey Graham’s sanctions bill with Trump’s evident consent.

And it’s not just Europe being bullied anymore.

At the weekend, the FT reported that erstwhile booster of a “pivot to Asia” has taken to hectoring the Japanese and Australians about their pre-commitments to defending Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack. Colby is now using a snap Pentagon review of AUKUS to muscle Canberra over as-yet-undelivered U.S. submarines (no doubt to great bellylaughter in Paris).

Even “ideal” allies that tick all the MAGA boxes eventually get treated like the help by this entitled asshole, who only pretends to have strategic prerogatives and principles, but who has burnt so many bridges, as it were, he’s got more enemies at home than abroad.

[Vatnik Soup @P_Kallioniemi]

A straight red card in the World Cup normally means two things: you're sent off immediately, and you automatically miss the next match.

After US player Folarin Balogun was sent off against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Donald Trump called FIFA president Infantino and asked him to review the suspension.

Days later, FIFA made the unprecedented decision to let Balogun play against Belgium anyway.

I always knew FIFA was corrupt, but this is next-level bullshit.

[Samantha Power @SamanthaJPower]

Starting in early 2025, Elon Musk and the Trump administration began terminating USAID's programs and firing its staff — with Musk himself boasting about "feeding it into the woodchipper." One year ago today, USAID was officially dissolved, its remaining programs haphazardly folded into the State Department. Amid all the lies and misinformation that have followed, some facts about what has actually been lost:

• USAID saved more than 3 million lives a year at a cost of less than $10/month per American. That is what was destroyed. On purpose.
• According to Boston University's Global Impact Counter — which tracked deaths attributable to the cuts until it stopped operations in February 2026 — an estimated 781,000 people died preventable deaths in the first year, including 518,000 children.
• Global child mortality (the number of children who die before their fifth birthday) rose in 2025 for the first time in 35+ years — by 200,000 additional deaths.
• USAID's 50-country disease surveillance network — the system that cut outbreak response times from 2 weeks to 48 hours — is gone. We are now watching an unprecedented Ebola outbreak unfold in real time — with the highest first-month caseload and death rate in modern history.
• Programs reaching 93 million women and children were cut 92%. TB programs cut 56%. Water and sanitation cut 86%. Over 2,000 health facilities permanently closed.
• 25 million fewer people received humanitarian assistance in 2025. The overall humanitarian budget was slashed 74% — from $14.1 billion to $3.7 billion.
• 363 million people face acute hunger in 2026. The famine early-warning system that would have seen it coming went dark for five months.
• $1.7 billion in democracy and governance funding (election monitoring, anti-corruption work, support for independent media and civil society) was terminated.
• 360+ independent media outlets lost funding. Hundreds of legal clinics closed.
• Far from saving money, the Trump administration itself has already said the dismantlement will cost taxpayers at least $19.2 billion in cancellation fees, severance, and penalties. That's more than half of USAID's annual budget — spent on destruction and closeout, not support for vulnerable people.
• American farmers, universities, and businesses are among the casualties too. USAID partnered with more than 3,500 U.S. companies and maintained 17 university-based research labs. Its work with U.S.-based contractors and the private sector generated hundreds of thousands of American jobs and multiplied the return on every dollar spent. Those markets and partnerships are gone.

[Tommy Vietor @TVietor08]

Elon Musk lies and claims that not one child has died because he decided to destroy USAID and feed it "into the wood chipper." @NickKristof went to South Sudan and Uganda and saw for himself. Share this to push back on Musk's gaslighting.

[Nicholas Kristof @NickKristof]

Elon Musk says that no one died because of his demolition of USAID, and that "Kristof is lying through his teeth." So here I invite him to join me on a visit to Africa to see for himself: https://t.co/TVEoFX8gzj

[evan loves worf @esjesjesj]

It’s not just that he has literally never given to charity, he straight up hates people who do. This is exactly why he ended programs to feed the hungry and give healthcare to the sick.

[Caolan @CaolanReports]

“Thank you that you don’t forget about Ukraine.”

That’s what Zelenskyy said to me today.

I’ll carry that with me forever.

So grateful to be in this beautiful country, telling the truth about its fight for survival, justice and freedom. 🇺🇦❤️

[Nicholas Kristof @NickKristof]

.@elonmusk says that no one can name a person who died from his aid cuts. In fact, I've met the kids who are dying, and I've talked to the families who lost children. In my columns, I've cited many, many names of people who have died because of Musk's aid cuts. A few examples:
*Yamah Freeman was a 23-year-old woman who died in childbirth because Musk cut funding for the diesel for ambulances in her part of Liberia. She couldn't get to a hospital and died as people were carrying her there. I talked to her parents and sister in their village.
*Gbessey Kiadu, age 1, died of malaria because of his cuts to malaria medication in Liberia. I talked to his mom in her village.
*Ibrahim Koroma, an infant, died of AIDS in Sierra Leone after he interrupted HIV supplies. I talked to health workers who cared for him.
*Achol Deng was an 8-year-old girl with HIV in South Sudan who died when Musk cut funding for the health care worker who provided her medicines. I talked to the healthcare workers.
I could go on and on. In almost every village you go to in South Sudan, Uganda, Liberia, Sierra Leone or other countries I reported in, you find people dying because of aid cuts. I challenge Musk: Come with me on a reporting trip, and we'll talk to these moms and dads, and you'll see the dying children themselves. I think if you see the kids whose lives are at stake, maybe you'll change your mind.

[Vatnik Soup @P_Kallioniemi]

This is exactly what we predicted earlier - Laura Loomer's engagement has dropped by 28% after she started challenging pro-Kremlin propaganda.

Social media is not real, and most Russia-supporting influencers are being amplified by Russian, Iranian and Chinese networks.

[Kareem Rifai 🌐 @KareemRifai]

This is an utterly insane story: 25,000 documents reviewed by WaPo indicate that throughout Tulsi's career, her political moves were controlled by her guru, cult leader Chris Butler.

This woman was leading the world's largest intelligence apparatus.
https://t.co/6Enu7JgMgR

[Tim Walz @Tim_Walz]

Found an imaginary problem, said only they could fix it, didn’t listen to experts, hired buddies who grifted millions, failed miserably, bragged how great it went.

The entire Trump presidency in a nutshell.

[Vatnik Soup @P_Kallioniemi]

Trump spent years attacking Biden for sending roughly $65 billion in military aid (falsely claiming that $300 billion was sent) to Ukraine.

Then came the Iran war, costing the US around $25 billion, triggering a global economic shock, and forcing Gulf allies to burn through huge stocks of Patriot missiles and other air defense systems.

Now Trump's deal promises a $300 billion reconstruction fund, sanctions relief, and access to tens of billions in previously frozen Iranian assets.

MAGA somehow calls this a "win."

Make it make sense.

[Tymofiy Mylovanov @Mylovanov]

Applebaum: What binds Russia, China, Iran and North Korea is not religion or ideology.

China is communist, Russia nationalist, Iran theocratic. What binds them is fear of liberal language: rights, rule of law, separation of powers and independent courts. 1/

[Liam Nissan™ @theliamnissan]

Yup

[Joni Askola @joni_askola]

The fact that Elon Musk’s father is actively carrying water for the Kremlin in Moscow is a national security blind spot for the United States and its allies.

Errol Musk is a heavily compromised liability, and his relationship with Russia leaves the West exposed to unprecedented blackmail and espionage risks.

Errol Musk has returned to Russia to praise the regime and enjoy his life on the Kremlin's terms. Given his dark history of abuse and scandals, Russian handlers have likely collected an arsenal of kompromat on him. The FSB does not hand out luxury treatment to foreign elites for free, since they expect a return on their investment, and Errol’s value lies entirely on who his son is (no matter if they are close or not).

This arrangement poses a direct threat to Western security. Elon Musk is a vital contractor for the US military, holding immense power over critical capabilities. He is also a volatile figure who frequently acts on impulse and exhibits highly questionable ideological stances. If Moscow decides to tighten the screws on Elon by exploiting his father, no one knows what will happen, making this entire situation deeply troubling. The US should never have put itself in this situation

[Ben Harris @btharris93]

Regardless of your feelings towards our current government (and I have an extremely low opinion of it), there is no doubt that Tommy Robinson is a traitor and an enemy of the British people.

[Vatnik Soup @P_Kallioniemi]

Moscow is increasingly becoming a meet-up spot for the worst people you ever heard of

[Vatnik Soup @P_Kallioniemi]

Elon's dad and Tommy Robinson hanging out in Moscow.

As Russia edges closer to collapse, it has become a popular hotspot for grifters of all kinds. There's plenty of money to be made by spreading Russian propaganda and nonsense online, and none of these losers want to miss out.

[Caolan @CaolanReports]

Before I leave Ireland, I want to place on record that in the last 24 hours I have received constant stalking and death threats for my reporting. However I will not be intimidated.

What I have uncovered is deeply troubling, and the effort to silence it only makes that clearer.

[RTÉ News @rtenews]

Irish reporter and social media influencer Caolan Robertson has been awarded an Order of Merit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
https://t.co/s7fm2zygKg