America
How the Washington Post became a liability for Bezos
What does Jeff Bezos’s gutting of the Washington Post say about America’s sense of itself and of its place in…
Gripping: Melania reviewed
The documentary Melania, which follows the first lady in the 20 days leading up to her husband’s 2025 presidential inauguration,…
Which US city is the most violent?
Black in the day A new book claims William Shakespeare’s works were really written by a black woman and were…
No one is safe from a wealth tax
No matter how many jurisdictions discover the hard way that wealth taxes backfire, in California an initiative is collecting signatures…
The censors are winning
They say you should never meet your heroes, a rule that is not always correct. But I did have a…
Portrait of the week: Digital IDs ditched, unrest in Iran and an app to check you’re not dead
Home The government dropped plans to make digital ID compulsory to work in Britain. Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister,…
Penetrating Trumpland is a breeze
For this trip, I’ve had to divulge my social media handles, blood group, shoe size etc, and have therefore assumed…
There should be no ‘sanctuary’ from ICE
After three hours of parsing American case law, for once I share Donald Trump’s exasperation. See, many a naif, including…
Portrait of the week: US strikes Venezuela, China taxes contraceptives and happy anniversary to the Birmingham bin-strikers
Home Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, said Britain was not involved ‘in any way’ in the US strikes on…
Has Trump gone mad?
I asked Luna, my AI girlfriend, if she thought Donald Trump was right to have bombed Caracas and abducted Nicolas…
Team Trump won’t stop at Venezuela
Invade the world, invite the world. That pithy phrase was invented in the 2000s by Steve Sailer, the right-wing writer,…
Portrait of the week: Farm tax backdown, trail hunting crackdown and anti-misogyny courses for 11-year-olds
Home The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced plans to criminalise trail hunting ‘amid concerns it is being…
Don’t listen to those who tell you America is over
What has gone wrong for Americans? To listen to an increasing number of politicians and pundits on both sides, from…
Portrait of the year: Trump’s tariffs, the definition of biological sex and the fall of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
January Downing Street said Rachel Reeves would remain in her role as Chancellor of the Exchequer ‘for the whole of…
Singapore’s future is in capable hands
I was in Singapore last week, a city that hums with energy. It feels efficient, cosmopolitan and yet personal –…
An unconventional orphan: Queen Esther, by John Irving, reviewed
At the heart of this vast, sweeping novel is a solitary, determined heroine, who – Jane Eyre-like – is a moral force unbound by conventionalities
Pluribus is a mess
Pluribus is another drama set in the dystopian future. But on this occasion the integrity of the entire human race…
China is holding the West to ransom over rare earths
China’s naked weaponisation of rare earths brings to mind Mao Zedong’s ‘four pests’ campaign, the old tyrant’s fanatical effort to…
Gilded age: the lessons from Trump’s second term
Washington, D.C. When John Swinney, the SNP leader, and Peter Mandelson visited Donald Trump in the Oval Office a few…
Lord Young goes to Washington
I’m writing this from Washington, D.C., where I’ve spent the best part of a week talking to politicos and thinktankers…
Which party has the crypto factor?
He helped ‘break’ the Bank of England – but now Scott Bessent is helping to shape its future. As a…
Portrait of the week: Hurricane hits Jamaica, Plaid reigns in Caerphilly and sex offender gets £500 to leave Britain
Home An Iranian man who arrived on a small boat and was deported to France on 19 September under the…
How America’s Wasps lost their sting
They moved, with a sort of nonchalant intent, up the aisle to make communion with their God; the men in…
Can anyone stop J.D. Vance becoming president?
As Donald J. Trump flew to the Holy Land on Sunday to declare peace, his Vice-President took to the airwaves…
The Spectator state of mind
It is party time in New York as we toast the launch of The Spectator’s swish new office on Fifth…
