Writer. And an OG verified blue check.

21st century American history
Joined January 2014
When I was in Kabul, I recall the moment of silence we had for the fallen and how many of the names they read were NATO allies. When I was in Helmand, I got shot at with the Brits. My friends got shot at with the Danes and the Estonians. The SECDEF is a child.
Hegseth on Afghanistan: I was a captain in Afghanistan, and we would go to the headquarters in Kabul, and there would be 50 flags at the headquarters. It was a beautiful thing to see 50 different countries contributing to the NATO alliance and the ISAF mission there. Except there were like maybe five that contributed. It was actually closer to one or two that, by the end, were actually involved in kinetic operations. In fact, the ISAF patch, we would joke that it meant "I Saw Americans Fighting."
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
Over 1100 non-American soldiers from 31 US-allied countries were killed fighting in Afghanistan, approximately 1/3 of the total combat deaths. t.co/x4tGhxJiFG
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Thomas E. Ricks retweeted
Wow! If this doesn't get the cost of groceries and gas down, nothing will. Well done, Mr. President.
I am pleased to announce that the Department of the Interior, under the auspices of Secretary Doug Burgum, and in conjunction with famed Golf Course Architect, Tom Fazio, has developed a plan to build a World Class Championship Golf Course on the site of the current East Potomac Golf Links, located in Washington, D.C. When completed, it will be open to the Public while, at the same time, designed to the Highest Level of Golf and able to hold World Class Tournaments such as the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship, the Ryder Cup, and the Presidents Cup. This Course will create many Jobs, and have a tremendously positive Economic Development impact on Washington, D.C., and the surrounding area. Millions of Dollars will inure to the Capital area. The current Course is old, broken, dilapidated, and of no further use or effect. It is in very poor condition, with falling, dangerous, and disease infested trees and, importantly, a collapsing and hazardous seawall. When the East Potomac Course was originally built, it was famous for no trees, with views of Washington, D.C., for all to see, but now, it is completely overgrown, dysfunctional, and unsafe. Restoration work will begin on the Fazio Design on November 15th, when the old Course will be closed to play. The new Course will be opened in approximately 15 months. The United States Golf Association, PGA of America, and the PGA Tour have already been notified that they will soon have one of the Best and Most Spectacular Golf Courses anywhere in the World to put on their list of great places to play, and hold Major Events. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP ( TS: Oct 18 2026, 10:09 AM ET )​​​​​​​​‍‌​​‌​‌‌‌‍​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‍‍​‍‍​​‍‌‌‌‍‌‍
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Thomas E. Ricks retweeted
This is insane. The level of overt, proud racism, hatred and bigotry in today's Republican Party is a stain on every leader in it and it will never ever wash away.
Trump on El-Sayed: "His name is actually Abduladadalalalala. It's Adulbabababababa Mohammed Al-Sayed. So his middle name is Mohammed. So I was right. He's a jihadist."
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Tell that, Mr @SecWar, to the families of 44 Polish soldiers who died securing the tough Ghazni province.
Hegseth on Afghanistan: I was a captain in Afghanistan, and we would go to the headquarters in Kabul, and there would be 50 flags at the headquarters. It was a beautiful thing to see 50 different countries contributing to the NATO alliance and the ISAF mission there. Except there were like maybe five that contributed. It was actually closer to one or two that, by the end, were actually involved in kinetic operations. In fact, the ISAF patch, we would joke that it meant "I Saw Americans Fighting."
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
Over 1100 non-American soldiers from 31 US-allied countries were killed fighting in Afghanistan, approximately 1/3 of the total combat deaths. t.co/x4tGhxJiFG
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Thomas E. Ricks retweeted
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The White House claimed there were 16,000 non us citizens in Nevada that were on the voter rolls… after being forced to provide data to this they dropped their made up number to 185… Nevada investigated the 185 names and discovered that all of them were legal us citizens that were legally allowed to vote. Meaning the Trump White House was only off by 100%.
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Barbara Bush, the daughter of former President George W. Bush, donated to a political action committee that supports state Rep. James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate for Texas kera.org/2026/10/16/barbara-…
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Thomas E. Ricks retweeted
"There’s not a world in which I can vote for a Ken Paxton," says Dade Phelan. "Knowing who he is and knowing his integrity, no. I just can’t do it. No whatsoever." texasmonthly.com/news-politi…
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Thomas E. Ricks retweeted
The Iran War has drained America’s strategic petroleum reserve to its lowest level since 1982.
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2nd instance this week of right wing thugs beating a woman over political views?
Heidi got her first job with @AP while she was a youth working on a kibbutz in Israel. Heidi is a Jewish mother.
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Heidi got her first job with @AP while she was a youth working on a kibbutz in Israel. Heidi is a Jewish mother.
Award-winning American photojournalist Heidi Levine describes being violently attacked by a mob of Israeli settlers while covering the olive harvest in Turmus Ayya near Ramallah this morning. By @OrenZiv_ @mekomit
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Zelenskyy: "I will continue to bomb Russian Data Centers." Republicans: "Zelenskyy is attempting to interfere in the US midterms." Me: What an odd thing to say.
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Thomas E. Ricks retweeted
If there’s one photo to sum up the Trump era, this is it.
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Thomas E. Ricks retweeted
Yes we do. We are the people. He is no king.
You don’t get to tell the president what to do
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Thomas E. Ricks retweeted
The miracle of the last 20 years has been that Americans finally realized that everyone has a gay friend or family member -or hillbilly - and that the time for this kind of ignorance is over and everyone can go HOME where they’re truly loved. Pray for this suffering man.
.@VP JD Vance implies U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico (D-TX) is gay: "I love you too, sir. In a totally platonic way, to be clear. I'm the Vice President, not James Talarico."
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If you’re just a citizen who looks too hard at us, we’ll shoot you or run you over. And then lie about it. And if you’re a domestic abuser who has been rejected by your local police department, come on down and get a job application.
If you are here illegally, we will find you, arrest you, and DEPORT you. Over the weekend, the patriots of ICE REMOVED gang members, pedophiles, and other public safety threats:
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Thomas E. Ricks retweeted
The same people warning about "sharia law" are the ones demanding live streamed executions, book bans, baring journalists from the White House, eroding women's rights, rounding up people in our streets, and legislating the Bible in schools, all in the name of "Christianity."
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Thomas E. Ricks retweeted
New from @WSJ: Ken Paxton partied on New Year's Eve in Dubai with two men on the run from the feds. Story by @efindell @MarkMaremont @jdawsey1. wsj.com/politics/policy/ken-…
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Thomas E. Ricks retweeted
I don’t think you have a dog in this fight but if you did you would have shot it.
I’ll take @ellalangleymsic over Kacey Musgraves any day. And if I’m choosin’ Texas, I’ll take Ken Paxton over James Talarico.
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