Ten years ago today. In just the last few days: Trump made a deal for the U.S. to buy Russian diesel, an economic lifeline for Putin; he and Elon Musk blamed each other for an order that slowed down Starlink satellite connectivity over Ukraine, hampering the country's defenses during a devastating Russian attack; and Trump waived sanctions on Russia that Congress, led by his late friend Lindsey Graham, had pushed for. Now, Putin has proposed a summit with Trump and Xi to decide Ukraine’s fate for them, bulldoze a century of international cooperation, and frame Russia as an equal to the U.S. and China. We’ll see if Putin’s puppet continues to dance on his strings.

I was delighted to meet Dr. Omar Mohammad, a historian and writer whose work I have long admired, in person today. For years, Omar's work was famous the world over without anyone knowing his name. His anonymously authored blog, Mosul Eye, became a rare, reliable source of information from inside northern Iraq during the darkest period of ISIS's control over the region. Omar refused to let his city be destroyed in silence, and he continues to tell the story of Mosul and its struggle for a better future today. His new book documents the work of bearing witness—sometimes while risking everything. I hope it inspires a new generation to defend freedom and transparency as he did and does.