Persistent Delusion Among the American and NATO Defense Establishment

Trump Fires Pam Bondi As Attorney General, Blanche To Be Acting AG Update (1315ET): President Donald Trump has ousted Attorney General Pam Bondi, multiple outlets report. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche is serving as acting AG in the interim. The move comes amid White House frustration with Bondi’s leadership at the Justice Department -  particularly her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and what Trump viewed as insufficient aggression in targeting his political opponents. Trump had privately discussed firing her and floated EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin (or Blanche) as a possible replacement. Bondi...

QatarEnergy Declares ForceMajeure For LNG Shipments Through May, Representing As Many As 90 Cargoes The already dismal LNG supply situation just got worse. With up to 20% of global LNG flows shuttered due to the ongoing blockade of the Hormuz Strait and the extensive damage of Qatar LNG infrastructure, QatarEnergy has declared force majeure on some of ⁠its long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply contracts, including ‌for customers ⁠in Italy, Belgium, South Korea ⁠and China, effectively canceling contractual obligations. That would represent as many as 90 cargoes according to Bloomberg. The move on...

After Putin's Guarded Iran War Comments, Medvedev Enters The Chat Earlier this week President Putin weighed in on America's Iran operations, and as we detailed his comments were predictably a bit guarded. He had compared the war and the Hormuz Strait closure - and subsequent impact on global energy - to the massive widescale impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. But fundamentally he highlighted the "unpredictable" nature of the conflict in terms of where it's headed, as Washington appears to be searching for an offramp on its terms. On Friday Dmitry Medvedev weighed...