Mallen Baker: Faultlines

Judge Diane Goodstein ruled against the Trump administration recently, and got numerous death threats for her pains. Two days ago, her house burned down. At this point, there is no evidence whatsoever that this was a deliberately caused event, but it is obvious - at a time when the rhetoric against judges who impede President Trump has been vitriolic - that it could be the latest incident in the r...

The Trump 20-point peace deal for Gaza has been welcomed by all the people worldwide who routinely flatter Trump at every opportunity - but also by others, such as the Arab states who have significant influence with Hamas. So should we be optimistic then, with everyone talking about how all the hostages will be freed within days, and this could finally be the big shift - Israel will withdraw, Gaza...

In this news round-up of the week, while testing Europe with drones, Russia's President Putin gives a major speech where he makes a substantial pivot in how he treats Trump's United States in relation to Ukraine. The US government is shut down, and both sides are trying to blame the other for what follows. YouTube gives Trump lots of money to spend on his ballroom. And I answer a Patreon supporter...

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had his email read by a cameraman with a zoom lens, and it exposed the fury going on behind the scenes over President Trump's $20 billion support for Argentina's populist leader Javier Milei. At a time when Trump's tariffs and trade war with China has resulted in American soybean farmers being thrown into crisis, they can't help but notice one thing that has really...

Pete Hegseth insisted on bringing together the very top brass of all the US military into one room so he could ... lecture them on grooming. And the Warrior Ethos. And then President Trump took over, to give a rambling rant about - well, all the things he usually rants about. Plus a few pointers on using the military within the US against American protestors, and giving permission for the use of l...

The Ryder Cup made headlines this weekend - because the MAGA crowd barracked the opposing team, hurled abuse at the players, offensive insults at their wives, even threw beer over Erika McIlroy, and tried to put the European team off their stroke by calling out as they were taking their swing. Ugly, despicable behaviour, just hours after Trump had visited to show his support. Maybe it's a one-off,...

When President Trump and Stephen Miller argue that heated rhetoric encourages political violence, you might think it is a fair comment point of view. And yet, it's impossible not to note that both utilise more inflammatory language than almost anyone else. And their opponents frequently point this out ... to almost zero effect. This video is about why the blatant hypocrisy works as a device for pr...

In this news round-up of the week, we cover the Trump DOJ move at last to put into practice the boss's public instructions to get an indictment. Even if this case stands little chance of success, it is a new front and will be the first of numerous attempts to come. Also we discuss Tulsi Gabbard abandoning future-looking Intelligence reports because the facts don't fit the current ideology. RFK Jr'...

After his big moment berating the United Nations, President Trump met with President Zelensky and had things to say on the Ukraine war that nobody was quite expecting. Not only was Zelensky astonished, the Europeans stunned, but Russia's administration reacted with a sharpness that we've not seen in reaction to Trump so far this year. Something has changed - but does it actually mean anything? And...

Just when it looked like the Trump Administration could just demand whatever it wanted and all the institutions, all the corporations, all the politicians would ultimately just quietly fold - finally at least one corporation - for now - has stood back up again. And the result of that move by Disney / ABC is that the Jimmy Kimmel Show is back on air from tonight. But this is the beginning of the fi...

We all know about China's surveillance state - it's pretty terrifying, but it was built more or less from the ground up to suit the authoritarians. Every other autocrat - or would-be autocrat - will have to retrofit the technology onto existing internets that were built by private companies following demand, rather than any kind of state-sponsored plan. Russia is now leading the way - with a three...

The Charlie Kirk memorial today marked the inflection point that MAGA believes the event of his assassination represented. As a result, the administration has ramped up its move against President Trump's opponents. Yesterday, Trump accidentally told the world that he is pushing the Attorney General Pam Bondi towards bringing prosecutions against key political figures. It could not be more blatant...

In this news round-up of the week - In the aftermath of Charlie Kirk's assassination, the Trump team has been acting quickly on its intended crackdown on opponents. Trump's FCC chairman got rid of another late night comedian, Jimmy Kimmel. Trump designated Antifa as a terrorist organisation. But this is just the start - various experienced politicians close to the action identify that the real tar...

As we already anticipated, the aftermath of the shooting of Charlie Kirk is seeing a wave of increasingly audacious action by the Trump Administration to crack down on political opponents and criticism of their operation. Now, following the previous shutting down of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, we have the next in line - with Jimmy Kimmel's show being cancelled for what seems, on inspection...

As the COP30 climate conference approaches, it's hard to ignore that a backlash against climate policy - and a scepticism in some quarters about climate change full stop - is growing in many parts of the world. Partly, this is down to the Trump effect, with Trump himself actively pushing countries to commit to fossil fuels, and with MAGA-style populists taking up the anti-net zero theme wherever t...

The Trump Administration is full of talk about the crackdown they will be bringing in the aftermath of the assassination of Charlie Kirk. President Trump has said he wants George Soros to be in prison. Maybe Antifa could be designated a terrorist organisation. Maybe various trans groups. Stephen Miller has ideas of his own, as does JD Vance. Pam Bondi wants to go after 'hate speech'. All they need...

The US and Xi Jinping's China have been conducting more trade talks - and today it was announcement that maybe they'd reached a deal ... on TikTok. Meanwhile, the consequences of President Trump's tariffs are really starting to make themselves felt, with American soybean farmers having no orders from China, with all farmers suffering from soaring input costs, and meanwhile China is buying more tha...

In this Q&A video I cover Europe giving up on expecting Trump to play a part in Ukraine peace process, predictions for our polarised societies - is this here to stay? Why is the US stock market so strong despite the downsides of Trump's tariffs? Did we learn the lessons from Kamala's defeat? Trump's intentions on Alberta separatism. The impact of US poisoned politics on the UK. Teflon Trump. What...

In this news round-up of the week for Friday September 12th 2025 - The fall-out from the assassination of Charlie Kirk continues, and the Trump team are talking about the shape of the retribution to come. The shooter himself is in custody, no thanks to Kash Patel's FBI, although he's keen to take the credit. One country just had a revolution, all because the government tried to ban social media. D...

The tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk has jolted America, but seems unlikely to provide the crisis moment that shocks the country awake to its catastrophic decline towards crisis. The rise of political violence is a reflection of the intense polarisation, as well as the influence of social media bubbles that help each side to dehumanise the other. The question will be what the Trump administrat...

Russia sent a number of drones into Poland - the first major incursion into NATO territory that Russia has made in recent times. This provoked NATO forces to shoot down those drones - but the outstanding question is - what's the play? Most likely, it is all about Vladimir Putin poking NATO trying to reveal to the world, and to itself, that President Trump's America will run away if it thinks that...

The concerns about the Trump Administration's summary execution of eleven people in a boat in international waters off Venezuela - alleged to be gang members involved in drug smuggling - have been growing louder. This burst into full view with an angry spat between vice president JD Vance and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul over Vance's statement of impunity over the action. Meanwhile, the US forces re...

The stoics would tell you that you can't control what happens to you in the world, you can only control how you respond to it. Well, it turns out that having a post-truth populist in charge of the most powerful country in the world has ripple effects over the rest of the world. Other world leaders, the mainstream media, and indeed other autocrats - it could be that the majority of Trump's impact o...

Trump is coming to the UK in ten days time. And not just for any old visit, but for a 'very special' and 'unprecedented' second state visit. All the pomp and pageantry ... and protest. In this video I answer the question, what SHOULD Brits do about the honoured guest Trump when he arrives for his state visit. Is there anything they could do that would make any sort of difference? Well, let's discu...

We'd already picked up that Trump's America wanted to pull resources from Europe and the Middle East with a view to concentrating its full focus on its main rival and growing threat - China. Well, a leaked draft Defence Strategy seen by Politico, has revealed that the thinking has done a sharp pivot specifically in relation to China. It is hugely consequential, and might reflect the core of a stra...