The Trump administration’s refusal to pay the financially strapped United Nations is creating ripple effects beyond the international stage — including a potential fiscal dilemma for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/04/trumps-u-n-fight-is-becoming-new-york-citys-problem-00858876
A team of U.S. officials led by President Donald Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, might head to Kyiv this month in a bid to relaunch talks on a peace deal, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff. https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-visit-steve-witkoff-jared-kushner/
Exakt eine Woche vor der Ungarn-Wahl werden plötzlich Sprengsätze an der Pipeline von Serbien nach Ungarn gefunden. Welche Überraschung!
Nähere Details sind noch nicht bekannt.
Aber Orbán und seinen „Wahlkampfhelfern“ aus Russland würde ich eine „False Flag“ locker zutrauen.
Ungefragte Hilfe bei meiner Live-Schalte im Regen von #Erbil.
Kurdische Gastfreundschaft – trotz Krieg, trotz Not. Danke!
@welt
A military service law requires all men under 45 to obtain approval from the Bundeswehr to leave the country for longer than three months. https://p.dw.com/p/5BfSn
From liberal dissident to MAGA darling, Viktor Orbán has undergone quite a transformation.
Here’s how the Hungarian leader has brought Budapest back into Moscow’s orbit.
🔗 https://www.politico.eu/article/viktor-orban-vladimir-putin-eu-hungary-russia/
Exclusive: US intelligence warns Iran unlikely to ease Hormuz Strait chokehold soon, sources say
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-intelligence-warns-iran-unlikely-ease-hormuz-strait-chokehold-soon-sources-2026-04-03/
w/@JonathanLanday @phildstewart
.@AP on the ground following the biggest prisoner release in Cuba in years. None of the people our team spoke to had been detained for political motives. Human rights groups have raised concern.
Story here and stunning pix from Ramon Espinosa: https://apnews.com/article/cuba-prisoners-released-havana-prisons-843f4cceab3786c064919af0a5250947
#ÚLTIMAHORA | El Gobierno de Cuba anuncia el indulto de 2.010 presos.
NEW: Trump is considering more changes to his Cabinet, according to four officials.
He has expressed frustration and disappointment with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer.
"He's very angry and he's going to be moving people," an administration official told @politico.
No final decisions have been made on Chavez-DeRemer and Lutnick, and Trump has contemplated firing people and then backed off before.
My latest reporting: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/02/trump-weighs-more-cabinet-changes-after-bondi-ouster-00856921
How Viktor #Orbán became Vladimir #Putin’s best friend in the #EU
In-depth investigation by our colleague @jamiewrit:
https://www.politico.eu/article/viktor-orban-vladimir-putin-eu-hungary-russia/
Democrats are demanding more information about Secretary Hegseth's finances and investments following a report — which the Pentagon demanded be retracted — that he may have tried to invest in defense stocks before the war in Iran began.
Read more: https://abcnews.link/mBmB1md
BREAKING: "We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next 2-3 weeks," the President says in his address to the nation.
Trump says the US is close to completing its military objectives, but did not provide details on how and when the U.S. will pull out of the region.
"We are gonna finish the job and we're going to finish it very fast."
ON OIL he says the US will take no more oil through the Strait of Hormuz. Tells countries that do, to buy oil from the US and build up some "delayed courage" and "take" the strait.
‘No evidence it’s real’: Officials see few signs Trump’s NATO rhetoric is turning into action http://dlvr.it/TRqPnW
🚨POTUS will use his address tonight to declare that the war in Iran is winding down.
He also intends to harshly scapegoat NATO allies for the biggest unresolved matter of the war, Iran’s ongoing restrictions of shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
W/ @EliStokols and @meganmesserly
Read the full story: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/01/trump-to-declare-iran-war-is-winding-down-and-others-need-to-resolve-hormuz-00854265
🔴Exklusiv: Heute wird #Trump eine mit Spannung erwartete Rede zum Konflikt mit #Iran halten. Nach Informationen von @meganmesserly, @EliStokols & @DashaBurns will er verkünden, dass man sämtliche Ziele erreicht habe – und die Nato attackieren.
https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/plus69cd734054836f652f88ba44/rede-an-die-nation-sieg-erklaeren-rueckzug-druck-auf-europa-was-von-trumps-iran-rede-erwartet-wird.html
SCOOP: US President Donald Trump will use a primetime Oval Office address Wednesday night to declare that the month-long war in Iran is winding dow – and attack #NATO.
Reporting by @EliStokols, @meganmesserly & @DashaBurns:
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/01/trump-to-declare-iran-war-is-winding-down-and-others-need-to-resolve-hormuz-00854265
RT @AxelSpringerGRN: US President Donald Trump will use a primetime Oval Office address Wednesday night to declare that the month-long war…
BREAKING: Politico reports that Trump will use his primetime speech to say that the war is 'winding down' and US objectives have been met, while saying that allies are responsible for reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump to declare Iran war is winding down and others need to resolve Hormuz http://dlvr.it/TRqL0d
“Ukraine has built what is arguably the world’s most combat-tested, multi-layered drone defense architecture,” says @HoansSolo.
My piece on 🇺🇦drone defense playbook, with insights from our recent Donbas trip + my interview with Petraeus.
@BusinessInsider https://www.businessinsider.com/iran-war-us-top-allies-fall-behind-in-drone-defense-2026-3
Hungary is the most corrupt country in the EU. Its election is the best chance in 16 years of getting rid of its unscrupulous strongman, Viktor Orban. If the opposition wins, liberals everywhere should study what it got right https://www.economist.com/leaders/2026/04/01/lessons-for-the-world-from-tiny-hungary?taid=69cd45b71ba7940001f8ef23&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
„Es zeigt, dass es schadet, nicht genau zu sein: Collien Fernandes, dem Spiegel und vor allem der notwendigen Debatte über digitale Gewalt und über Deepfakes. Denn die gibt es ja, und sie sind ein gewaltiges Problem.“ https://uebermedien.de/115711/warum-es-in-der-debatte-um-digitale-gewalt-und-deepfakes-wichtig-ist-genau-zu-sein/
Jeffrey Epstein victims are suing Les Wexner, accusing him of enabling Epstein's sex-trafficking
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.660793/gov.uscourts.nysd.660793.1.1.pdf
Europe will have to take on global threats alone if it doesn’t support America in Iran.
Says our @axelspringer_EN CEO Mathias Döpfner. Read his op-ed here: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2026/03/31/europe-iran-war-us-israel-00852813
Kidnapping of US journalist in Iraq linked to Iranian militants http://dlvr.it/TRpMMl
The Iraqi Ministry of Interior has announced that American journalist Shelly Kittleson was kidnapped today in Baghdad.
Während Pakistan sich als Gastgeber hochrangiger Gespräche in Stellung bringt, läuft im Hintergrund ein leiserer diplomatischer Kanal weiter. Einer, der überraschenderweise über Tokio führt.
Recherche von @SophiaCai99:
https://www.bild.de/politik/ausland-und-internationales/krieg-im-iran-japan-fuehrt-geheim-gespraeche-mit-teheran-69cb67165d64d6420617f8fb
Huge if true: Lavrov lobbying Hungary in favor of Alisher Usmanov.
Kremlin hotline: Hungary colluded with Russia to delist sanctioned oligarchs, companies and banks
A new joint investigation with @VSquare_Project, @DelfiEE, @FRONTSTORY_PL and @ICJK_sk.
https://theins.press/en/inv/290911
Fun fact: I reached out to Sandro Castro’s manager a few weeks ago to request an interview. He wanted $2,000 to set it up: "If you agree to these terms, we can talk."
BREAKING: Iran's foreign ministry says it has not conducted any negotiations with the United States since the war began
EXCLUSIVE: We've obtained a cache of text messages and recorded conversations between Russian intelligence officers and a student they coerced into becoming an informant.
Here’s a rare insight into Moscow’s efforts to infiltrate opposition groups abroad: https://www.politico.eu/article/russia-spy-recruit-pressure/
The South Carolina Trump/ Epstein accuser told the FBI Epstein surprised her at a Rick James concert she went to with a friend. I talked to that friend who told me she had never been to a Rick James concert in her life.
No evidence the accuser ever met Epstein or Trump can be found, and the “missing 37 pages” of FBI notes don’t contain any new info.
Link below.
Advanced Western militaries accustomed to defeating enemy fighter jets and missiles are struggling against a threat that outnumbers their defenses. Reporter @IbraNaber with an in-depth investigation on Iranian drones for @BusinessInsider: https://www.businessinsider.com/iran-war-us-top-allies-fall-behind-in-drone-defense-2026-3
As the world gets more complex and more volatile, @POLITICO's trusted journalism is essential.
I'm honored to lead our global newsroom as we work together to accelerate and expand the agenda-setting and market-moving coverage our audience expects.
Wenn israelische Siedler im Westjordanland palästinensische Dörfer angreifen und Menschen terrorisieren, dann ist das kein „Ausnahmefall“ und kein „Randphänomen“ mehr. Es ist das, was es ist: Terror.
Und gefährlicher noch als die Taten selbst ist das politische Klima, in dem sie stattfinden. Teile der Regierung von Benjamin Netanyahu verharmlosen, relativieren oder schauen weg.
Das ist nicht nur inakzeptabel. Es ist unmoralisch – und es untergräbt Israels eigene demokratische und rechtsstaatliche Grundlagen.
Die Warnungen sind längst da: aus der Armee, aus den Sicherheitsdiensten, aus den Medien, aus der Opposition. Die Frage ist nicht, ob das Problem existiert. Die Frage ist, ob der Staat den Willen hat, es konsequent zu bekämpfen – mit der ganzen Härte des Gesetzes.
Man kann nur hoffen, dass die nächsten Parlamentswahlen dazu führen, diese radikalen Kräfte abzuwählen.
Lippman is a dogged and fearless reporter and everyone should be reading his stuff.
Love this job. // @AxelSpringerGRN