Nicholas Kristof

NY Times columnist, author and farmer of cider apples and wine grapes @KristofFarms

[Nicholas Kristof @NickKristof]

Publication day for "Chasing Hope: A Reporter's Life"! Thanks to all who have helped it come together. It's available everywhere for purchase or download.

[Tom Fletcher @UNReliefChief]

No more delays. No more excuses. We must open all the crossings, mobilize the whole humanitarian community, and get our full Winter plan delivered for Gaza.

[Ben Mckelvey @benmckelvey]

@NickKristof As @RoryStewartUK says diplomats prefer China over Russia because in Russia they send a spy in as your chef but in China they just tell your chef to spy, so you get better food

[Nicholas Kristof @NickKristof]

Interesting post. It seems to me plausible from her career path that Alice Huang was not a career Ministry of State Security spy, with State Security as her formal work unit, but an informant controlled at the end by the MSS. Doesn't make a huge difference in practice, though.

[Desmond Shum @DesmondShum]

Alice Huang: The Spy Narrative Misses Her Real Business

Everyone on X seems to treat the “Alice Huang is a Chinese spy” narrative as established fact. I say, not so fast.

Having spent over two decades doing business in China, I recognize a different character: the 掮客 (commercial fixer) and 白手套 (white glove)—an intermediary who shields the real principals behind a deal.

Her career in Shanghai’s murky capital markets, followed by Megaspeed’s $4.8 billion in Nvidia chip purchases, reveals a strikingly similar pattern.

The relevant questions should be: Whose money? Whose chips? Whose interests?

My latest Substack follows the money rather than the sensational spy narrative.

https://t.co/qXUo4DNiIa

[Charlotte Alter @CharlotteAlter]

Hot take: Sherrod Brown for Majority Leader.

Experienced enough to do the job well, yet still represents the spirit of the Blue Tsunami. Good relationships on the left and center. Understands the populism of the moment and the mechanics of the Senate. A perfect mix of new & old

[Josh Rogin @joshrogin]

The Jensen Huang saga reminds me of a story I recounted in my book about Neil Bush. During his divorce proceedings, he admitted to sleeping with Chinese women sent to his hotel rooms in Hong Kong:

His wife’s lawyer said: “Mr. Bush, you have to admit it's a pretty remarkable thing for a man just to go to a hotel room door and open it and have a woman standing there and have sex with her.”

Bush’s response: “It was very unusual.”

[Eric Reeves @sudanreeves]

"he Emiratis have now hired someone close to the leader of that majority. Jennifer Poersch, a lobbyist at Guidepost Strategies, registered Oct. 30 to represent the UAE Embassy for $100,000 a month, Sludge found in federal foreign-agent filings. Her husband, J.B. Poersch, runs Senate Majority PAC, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer's super PAC..."

#UAE involvement in American politics in any way whatsoever is disgraceful...and #Schumer disgraces himself by not recognizing the fact
#RSF #genocide #Sudan #Husseibeh

[Nicholas Kristof @NickKristof]

As always, Danny @citrinowicz is right: Risks of major escalation in the Gulf remain very significant, partly because of dangers of miscalculation.

[Danny (Dennis) Citrinowicz ,داني سيترينوفيتش @citrinowicz]

Iran After the Midterms: A Long-Term Iranian Victory Could Trigger a Short-Term Escalation

I think we need to distinguish between the short-term and long-term implications of the US midterm elections.

In the long run, Iran has achieved a significant strategic success. The blue wave has demonstrated something that every future American president will have to consider before launching another war against Tehran: Iran does not need to defeat the United States militarily to impose enormous economic and political costs on Washington. Disrupting global energy markets, driving up gasoline prices, and increasing the cost of living for ordinary Americans can ultimately have devastating political consequences.

Once the new Congress takes office in January, pressure to end the war will increase significantly. Democrats will seek to use congressional oversight and funding restrictions to constrain Trump, although their ability to stop military operations will not be absolute. The political lesson of this war may influence American policy toward Iran for years to come.

But in the short term, the situation may actually become more dangerous. Tehran feels strengthened by the election results. It has little incentive to make major concessions, particularly regarding the Strait of Hormuz, frozen Iranian funds, and its ability to export oil. Iran was unwilling to surrender before the elections, and it certainly has no reason to do so now.

This leaves Trump with several difficult options. He can walk away without a meaningful agreement, but that would hardly look like victory. He can accept some Iranian demands regarding Hormuz to open the door to nuclear negotiations. Or he can continue the current pressure campaign, hoping Tehran will eventually blink.

The problem with the third option is that the current situation is not static. It is an ongoing military confrontation with considerable potential for escalation.

Iranian attacks on oil tankers, followed by recurring American strikes inside Iran, create a dangerous cycle of action and retaliation. Every additional night of American attacks increases the possibility of a stronger Iranian response. The potential expansion of attacks against regional energy infrastructure, including the recent strike on the Khor Mor gas field, adds another dimension to this danger.

Meanwhile, the substantial concentration of American military forces in the region raises another possibility: Trump may be preparing for one final escalation, hoping that a powerful strike will either force Iran into an agreement or allow him to declare victory and end the war.

But what happens if Iran responds by escalating further rather than surrendering? That is the fundamental question Washington still has not answered.

There is also a danger of Iranian miscalculation. Tehran may interpret the Democratic victory as evidence that Trump is increasingly constrained and therefore underestimate his willingness to use military force. At the same time, Trump may believe that one more major strike can restore American leverage without triggering a wider conflict. Both assumptions could prove dangerously wrong.

Netanyahu remains another important factor. Although politically weakened, he is still Israel's prime minister and continues to press Trump for additional military action, offering Israeli support for another campaign. He also understands that a change of government in Israel could close this window of opportunity.

And this brings us to the central paradox: Iran's political success in the US midterms could actually increase the risk of military escalation before January.

The elections may have accelerated the political end of the war, but they have not eliminated the possibility of one final, potentially devastating confrontation.

Trump still needs something he can present as victory. Iran will not surrender. And the daily cycle of attacks and retaliation makes it increasingly difficult for either side to control the escalation.

The war may be approaching its political end, but its most dangerous military phase could still lie ahead.

#Iran
#iran

[Vali Nasr @vali_nasr]

Trump has has been weighing three options, war, deal or blockade which means continue with current no war and no deal status quo and hope Iran will cave. He is claiming GCC is asking for this but in reality he has been sitting in war plans he asked for past few weeks, not comfortable with giving the order to attack. despite letting Vance step up diplomatic efforts Trump is not ready to make concessions that would get a deal. That leaves him
With the option favored by in Rubio and Bessent, settle for economic pressure. But this is at best a stop-gap policy. And it is now up to Iran to accept the status quo and it has said (most recently in Supreme Leader’s statement) that it will not. Which means Iran will try to break the blockade which could escalate into more war. The question will be when.

[Jan Egeland @NRC_Egeland]

Trump’s Board of Peace acknowledges that the disasterous winter storm flooded tens of thousands of tents and temporary shelters in Gaza - and that Israel has blocked the shelter materials needed to avoid the horrific and needless suffering of Gaza’s civilians.
What they omit is that Israel even has blocked NRC, as the humanitarian shelter coordinator, access to Gaza and removed our longstanding registration in Israel. History will judge this severely.

[Ross Douthat @Douthat60]

My extended interview with President Trump:
https://t.co/RON9JoL5zs

[Nicholas Kristof @NickKristof]

@dolphinsands Great genes you have!! Looking great.

[Cameron Hudson @_hudsonc]

"I would like us to figure out how to stop making deals with countries like Saudi Arabia or the UAE, who are doing genocide in Sudan. I would like us to actually promote our values." Gulf state allies are going to feel the difference with the new Congress.

[Nicholas Kristof @NickKristof]

@JakeWSimons @NadimKoteich But Lana played a hideous role first in Yemen and then in Sudan. She was chief apologist for the UAE arms supply line to the RSF as it engaged in mass murder and mass rape. I share concern about other candidates—but empowering the slaughter in Sudan should be disqualifying, no?

[talmon joseph smith @talmonsmith]

Personal News:

my debut book 'WHAT CAN WE AFFORD: A TOUR ACROSS AMERICAN INEQUALITY
& A SEARCH FOR THE ROAD AHEAD'

COMING MARCH 9TH is
AVAILABLE ON PREORDER

all original reporting. literal sweat blood & tears went into finalizing it

no time for elite policy pretense.
lets go

[Nicholas Kristof @NickKristof]

@alaafromgaza92 All my sympathy. When we lose a parent, at whatever age, we feel like an orphan.

[Gisha גישה مسلك @Gisha_Access]

According to local authorities, over the weekend, some 70,000 tents, sheltering tens of thousands of residents of Gaza, were damaged in heavy rains, flooding, and high winds. Reconstruction must begin now. As a priority, Israel must allow entry of reinforced structures and tents, engineering equipment, and items and equipment needed for repair, maintenance, and reconstruction of critical civilian infrastructure.

[Nicholas Kristof @NickKristof]

@_hudsonc What a catastrophe it would be for UN staff morale and for humanitarianism if @Lana_Nusseibeh were chosen UN Secretary-General largely because of her success in obstructing the UN and humanitarianism in both Yemen and Sudan.

[Amy Pope @IOMchief]

Devastating scenes in #Gaza as heavy rain floods displacement sites. Tents are washing away. Families are wading through water to reach their children.

This week IOM will send over 4,000 tents. But tents can't hold back the floods.

Durable shelter materials are needed now.

[Cameron Hudson @_hudsonc]

"We shouldn't be selling weapons to a country that is using our weapons to do awful things." He's talking about Israel, but this sentiment applies equally to the UAE. Will be interested to see if the new Democratic majority he is apart of pursues this policy for Sudan.

[Jamie Metzl @JamieMetzl]

I have a history PhD from Oxford and try to support all of my historical claims with strong evidence, particularly when regarding the president of the United States.

But based on a comprehensive review of 250 years of American history, it is simply irrefutable that Donald Trump is by far the most corrupt president in U.S. history when it comes to using the office to enrich himself and his family.

Here are the facts, and why there isn’t even a close second.

Trump’s own federal financial disclosure reported more than $1.4 billion in 2025 income from family crypto ventures, including about $635 million from his meme coin and nearly $800 million from World Liberty Financial. Reuters separately estimated that the family added at least $2.3 billion to its fortune from crypto ventures after Trump returned to the White House.

The clearest example of how Trump used the office came in May 2025. The 220 biggest holders of his meme coin were invited to dine with the sitting president at his private golf club. The coin jumped more than 60 percent when the dinner was announced. To get a seat at the table, you had to buy and hold a product that made the president money. Trump turned access to the presidency into a sales pitch.

The foreign dealings raise an even more serious question. Four days before Trump took office, an investment vehicle backed by a UAE national security official agreed to pay $500 million for nearly half of World Liberty Financial. The Wall Street Journal reported that $187 million of the initial payment was directed to Trump family entities.

Trump is clearly not the first United States president to be guilty of corruption, but the size and scale of his malfeasance put him in a league of his own.

Under Ulysses S. Grant, whiskey distillers and federal officials pocketed money by cheating the government out of liquor taxes. Under Warren Harding, Interior Secretary Albert Fall took bribes in exchange for leasing federal oil reserves. Richard Nixon had a personal tax scandal, but his defining abuse of presidential power was the Watergate cover-up, an effort to protect his hold on office. LBJ’s political connections helped turn a small Texas radio station into a family broadcasting empire.

By September 2025, less than eight months into Donald Trump’s second term, he and his family were roughly $5 billion richer than they had been around the 2024 election, according to Forbes. In comparison, a reasonable estimate is that all 44 other U.S. presidents combined added about $250 million to their wealth while in office, adjusted to today’s dollars. That puts the Trump family’s gain at about 20 times the estimated combined total for all other presidents over the course of two and half centuries.

The election results were, at least in part, a clear repudiation of this staggering and historically unprecedented corruption. Congress now has a mandate to investigate, follow the money, pursue the recovery of all ill-gotten gains, and enact enforceable safeguards so that no president can ever again use the White House as a vehicle for personal enrichment.