Section: The Atlantic (USA)
Why Exxon Was Fined $2 Million
The U.S. Treasury Department slapped a $2 million fine on Exxon Mobil for violating Russia-related sanctions in 2014 when Rex Tillerson, who is now the U.S. secretary of state, was the company’s CEO.At issue are the sanctions the U.S. imposed on Russia following its invasion in 2014 of Ukraine’s Crimea and an energy deal Exxon signed...
The Other Putin-Trump Meeting
When President Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin went for more than two hours, well past the scheduled half-hour, it was a major news event. But it turns out that wasn’t even the end of the conversation between the two men.Author Ian Bremmer first reported the second meeting Tuesday. Other outlets also reported the...
Will the U.S. Return Russia’s Diplomatic Compounds?
Russia said two Russian diplomatic compounds in New York and Maryland seized by the Obama administration in retaliation for Moscow’s interference in the 2016 election are no closer to being returned after talks Monday in Washington—and warned of a strong response.“We came up with a number of ideas on how to achieve a visible and tangible...
Trump Goes All In on the ‘Collusion Is Normal’ Defense
After months of adamantly denying that investigators would find even a shred of evidence pointing to collusion between his campaign and Russia, President Donald Trump is aggressively embracing the view that his son’s cooperation with apparent Russian agents was entirely normal. On Monday, he acknowledged that his son, Donald Trump Jr., met...
Seven Are Dead in Separate Attacks in Egypt
Two separate attacks in Egypt on Friday have killed seven people, including five policemen at a checkpoint in the Sinai Peninsula, and two tourists at a popular resort on the Red Sea. In the attack on officers, the suspects escaped and no group has claimed responsibility. One man was arrested in the resort attack, and investigators are still...
The Projection President
In Paris on Thursday, Donald Trump said, “A lot of people don’t know” that “France is America’s first and oldest ally.” That may be true. But commentators noted that when Trump uses the “a lot of people don’t know” formulation, it’s usually a sign that he didn’t know himself.It’s called projection. And Trump...
Gunman Who Killed Boris Nemtsov Receives 20-Year Prison Sentence
Zaur Dadayev, the gunman who fatally shot Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov in February 2015, was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a Moscow military court on Thursday following his conviction in late June. Prosecutors originally asked for Dadayev, a former member of an elite security battalion in Chechnya, to receive life in prison. On...
Tucker Carlson Is Doing Something Extraordinary
Over the last two nights, something fascinating has broken out on the Tucker Carlson show: A genuine, and exceedingly bitter, debate between conservatives on foreign policy. On Tuesday, Carlson told retired Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Peters he thought the U.S. should team up with Russia to defeat ISIS. Peters responded that, “You sound like Charles...
Trump’s Interests vs. America’s, Vancouver Edition
As the first (and, so far, only) Trump-branded property to open since the election, the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Vancouver has prompted significant scrutiny. When it opened just five days after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, ethics experts questioned whether the property presented an opportunity for anyone to attempt...
The ‘What About Ukraine?’ Defense of Trump Jr.’s Russia Meeting
Before welcoming Donald Trump Jr. onto his show on Tuesday, Sean Hannity boiled down his defense of the president’s son to one word: Ukraine. In obsessing over whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Russian officials to interfere in the 2016 presidential election—and most recently whether it was ethical and legal for Trump Jr. to meet...
