Jan-Werner Mueller
@jwmueller-pu.bsky.social
Political Theory and Intellectual History. Politics of Architecture and Iconography. Some Public Affairs Commentary. Posting in a personal capacity. Texts mostly in LRB, Guardian, Foreign Policy, Architectural Review. Representation: Wylie.
Blindingly obvious that this is targeted at “degrees we think women get.”
The New Republic@newrepublic.com · 2d agoPresident Trump is banning students majoring in degrees that don’t make enough money from taking out college loans. Degrees for social work, art, religious studies, teaching aides, and music will be hit the hardest. trib.al/aaAEu6v
On the same day that David Ellison claims he's not putting his finger on the scale, there's this: "CBS’s 60 Minutes had the scoop on Jeffrey Epstein’s sketchy financials—before the Bari Weiss–run network fired the reporter fronting the investigation."
The New Republic@newrepublic.com · yesterdayBanks permitted millions in suspicious transactions tied to Epstein—and former 60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi had the story months ago. But the report would never air. trib.al/ZShZlIS
credit to NYT photo editor for illustrating this abysmal news with this telling image by Kenny Holston www.nytimes.com/live/2026/08...
UFC makes $30 million in-kind donation to President Trump
Michael Derby@michaelsderby.bsky.social · 23h agoBloodsport company lost $30 million on Trump's White House grounds combat zone. Via BBC
Another example of the lunacy of thinking discrimination against a marginalized group won't affect you if you're not part of that group bsky.app/profile/gbbr...
Gillian Branstetter@gbbranstetter.bsky.social · 2d agoAn initiative on the ballot in Washington state in November would require all athletes seeking to play girl's sports from kindergarten to high school to undergo "genetic screening, a testosterone-levels test, or an examination of their reproductive anatomy" before they can play
"So much of what is distinctive about Trump’s governance during his second term can serve the consolidation of an autocratic regime and at the same time create particular vulnerabilities for the regime," writes @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social. "We have to become better at identifying these weaknesses."
Are Trump’s most blatant authoritarian moves backfiring? | Jan-Werner Müller
The president’s methods, from ‘flooding the zone’ with scandals to prioritizing loyalty over competence, could ultimately weaken rather than strengthen him
theguardian.com
Scoop: The Trump administration is sending a letter to college presidents asking them to pledge a series of policy changes by the end of the year. Unlike last year's Compact, this effort was devised with input from higher ed leaders. Free link to my exclusive: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
McMahon Asks US Colleges to Pledge Campus Reforms by End of 2026
Education Secretary Linda McMahon is sending a letter Monday to the leaders of US universities asking them to commit to a slate of campus reforms by the end of 2026 in the Trump administration’s lates...
bloomberg.com
Funny how national governments consider that the sale of golden passports to dodgy rich people is a strictly national competence, but regularizing migrants who are working for a living is not.
POLITICO Europe@politico.eu · 4d agoTwenty-two EU leaders have raised “serious concern” that Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s migration policies are undermining the security of the bloc’s borders.
Iselin Németh Winther and Andreas Østhagen, An Introduction to Arctic Governance and Geopolitics - @elgarpublishing.bsky.social, 2026 (print and open access) www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/an-...
An Introduction to Arctic Governance and Geopolitics
This timely book provides a foundational overview of the governance and geopolitics of the Arctic, an area which has moved from the margins of world politics to a region of global relevance. Identifyi...
e-elgar.com
"The legislation includes language to block President Donald Trump from finalizing a plan to put political appointees in charge of approving grants." Temporary reprieve for science or permanent block of a quasi-Stalinist measure?
Senate finalizes funding patch that would block Trump’s grant overhaul
Language is included to delay the president’s move to put political appointees in charge of grant approval.
politico.com
Reflexionen aus einer (mutwillig) beschädigten Demokratie:
Trump 2.0-Notate (I) – MERKUR
Ein Essay von Jan-Werner Müller. Jetzt lesen in der Kulturzeitschrift MERKUR — Gegründet 1947 als Deutsche Zeitschrift für europäisches Denken.
merkur-zeitschrift.de
From earlier this week, I wrote about how the manosphere scam works and how the GOP has adopted those same tactics for itself www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
FoxNews, der wichtigste Sender der MAGA-Crowd, verlegt Ceuta von Nordafrika nach Nordspanien und der US-Vizepräsident verbreitet die FakeNews weiter. Und Millionen Amerikaner·innen glauben die Lüge. (via @chorherr.bsky.social)
i suspect this won't get nearly the coverage it deserves, but the implications are obvious: trump admin does not want coverage of its failing, illegal wars except on its own (lying) terms. nb: looks like the times is helping defend cole, which is 💯 b/c freelancers don't always get that.
David Kaye@davidakaye.bsky.social · 3d agoonce you go after reporters & their sources, you can start to kiss natsec journalism goodbye
Always a bad sign if political analysis becomes reduced to Putinology, Orbanology, Trumpology…
Larry Glickman@larryglickman.bsky.social · 3d agoAnother example of the problem with the fixation with Trump’s putative emotions: here a story about the Trump administration’s corruption, incompetence, and venality is framed as one about Trump’s “wrath.” www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/u...
The disclosure marks the first time a bank has formally tied money laundering concerns to Trump's family business.
Capital One says it closed Trump Organization's accounts after anti-money laundering probe
The disclosure marks the first time a bank has formally tied money laundering concerns to Trump's family business.
reut.rs
A longer post in this weekly series - a tribute to Carlo Ginzburg, and his approach of the historian as a detective, with a particular focus on his important essay 'Clues'. "The Historian as Detective – Carlo Ginzburg and the Search for ‘Clues’" progressivegeographies.com/2026/08/02/t...
The Historian as Detective – Carlo Ginzburg and the Search for ‘Clues’
A few years ago, after one of the presentations I’d given on reconstructing Émile Benveniste’s movements during the Second World War through various archives, one audience member said to another: “…
progressivegeographies.com
The lining of the Reflecting Pool peeled away in at least 7 places, indicating likely problems in how it was installed, according to a Washington Post analysis of visuals and interviews with experts. www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
Reflecting Pool peeling probably caused by application flaws, experts say
President Donald Trump has blamed vandals, but a Washington Post analysis finds that the peeling tracks closely with stages of the renovation process.
washingtonpost.com
One scandal in four years can mean political death; four in a day means no-one can keep up. Unless an opposition party focuses minds on one that symbolizes the corruption as a whole, the way the pedophilia scandal did for Orbán.
Greg Sargent@gregsargent.bsky.social · 5d agoTrump makes his corruption open and explicit on purpose: It helps normalize and numb people to it, and puts our institutions on notice that they need to bend the knee to him. Check out this exchange with @leahlitman.bsky.social on this point: newrepublic.com/article/2138...
Reflexionen aus einer (mutwillig) beschädigten Demokratie:
Trump 2.0-Notate (I) – MERKUR
Ein Essay von Jan-Werner Müller. Jetzt lesen in der Kulturzeitschrift MERKUR — Gegründet 1947 als Deutsche Zeitschrift für europäisches Denken.
merkur-zeitschrift.de
Labour has not ridden to the rescue, or even shown very much concern over past two years, but nobody could seriously compare Starmer's impact on HE to Trump's
Ukraine Foreign Affairs Minister: "We have detected intensive Russian propaganda campaign across Europe using pictures from Ceuta to sow destabilisation." Far-right from EU (& US!) falls with open eyes for hybrid threats from the weaponisation of migration, even fan the flames. #unity #solidarity
🇮🇹⚽🇨🇭 Italians working overtime to reply "No no, he is Swiss" under every "typical Italian mafiosi behaviour" comment on Infantino's corruption bonanza.
The Associated Press@apnews.com · 4d agoUEFA says it has lost confidence in FIFA President Gianni Infantino and that “no option should be off the table” as it will pursue a full review of his now abandoned plan to sell stakes of the World Cup to private equity investors.
The question we all wondered about: what would a modern Jeremy Bentham be like, has been answered.
Veerender Singh Jubbal@veerenderjubbal.bsky.social · 5d ago
and they are not dead as long as Trump shrugs off the senate and keeps Blanche in harness to subvert law and facilitate corruption as his “acting” AG
Ron Filipkowski@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 6d agoThe fact that Blanche refused to terminate the slush fund in writing for Trump’s criminal cronies as well as his IRS immunity deal proves that his testimony at his confirmation hearing that these things were “dead” was always a lie. They were dead only until he got confirmed.
