The United States under the Trump administration is in a class by itself in terms of this hypocrisy. While US companies such as Anduril test their drones in Ukraine, as a Modern War Institute report detailed in January 2025. Trump has refused to give Ukraine Patriot missiles.

Strongmen are always looking out for number one: themselves. That’s why they create inner sanctums around themselves, surrounding themselves with family members who do not give them objective feedback. We should all be concerned when leaders surround themselves with only sycophants.

Putin’s war against Ukraine isn’t just about gaining territory, it aims to obliterate Ukraine as a sovereign country and culture.

I’m having a Substack Live convo with Anne Applebaum at 9amET today. We’ll talk about autocratic alliances, Russia's war on Ukraine, and more. Make sure notifications are enabled on Substack and look for the join link (which will be emailed to all Lucid subscribers at 9am).

As an educator, I am concerned about the destruction of truth. There is a concerted effort to wipe away the importance of truth across the board — an attempt to make trusted authorities into optics of suspicion. We must keep defending all the brave, courageous truth-tellers out there.

Identifying historical patterns, including how autocrats behave when their power is threatened, can help us to understand what may happen in the future. We should all be prepared so we can expect the unexpected and do something productive if and when that moment comes.

I am having a Substack Live conversation at 1pmET today with @jonathanswan about his new book Regime Change and where he sees the Trump presidency going. Open the Substack app, enable notifications, and look tor the join link from me at 1.

As someone who has studied strongmen throughout history, I can’t stress enough that we should not see authoritarians as infallible.

Apparatchiks have their orders: conjure a Communist threat inside America, associating with it the entire Dem Party, to prepare people to accept whatever authoritarian crackdown the administration may be planning to stop elections from handing them a defeat.

My latest about a new communist conspiracy from MAGA, just in time for the midterms. Watch how their language and slogans align and how Communist threats to elections become the drum they beat as we head into the midterms.

Lucid | Ruth Ben-Ghiat | Substack

A newsletter for big-picture thinking about autocracy and threats to democracy around the world. Click to read Lucid, by Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a Substack publication with hundreds of thousands of subscriber...

lucid.substack.com

Here, I talk about why we should pay attention to what I describe as an age of “plunder.” That is, the erosion and destruction of the rights and freedoms of the many.

Desperate times mean desperate measures, if you are an unpopular leader afraid of going the way of your friend Viktor Orban. In my latest, I wrote about the ludicrous powerpoint Trump talked about in his speech and why it reinforces the fanaticism of Trump & MAGA. open.substack.com/pub/lucid/p/...

I Reviewed the China-Blaming Jan. 5 2021 Power Point. Will Trump’s Speech Rely On It?

Welcome back to Lucid, and hello to all new subscribers.

open.substack.com

I wrote about Trump's obsession with the 2020 election and what we should pay attention to on Thursday night — The Big Lie, Foreign Interference Edition. Read my full essay at my Substack, Lucid.Substack.Com

LUCID Trump's Obsession With Undoing His 2020 Defeat Every authoritarian leader has a central obsession that comes to occupy propaganda and policy. Trump's is fixing the system so he never loses aqain Ruth Ben-Ghiat @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social July 15, 2026 open.substack.com/pub/lucid/p/...

took another look at the “Coup Power Point” on “election fraud, foreign interference & options for 6 Jan” cooked up by Col. Phil Waldron … made its way to then-CoS Mark Meadows & was presented to several members of Congress on 1/5/21 to justify imminent “events” - @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social

I Reviewed the China-Blaming Jan. 5 2021 Power Point. Will Trump’s Speech Rely On It?

Welcome back to Lucid, and hello to all new subscribers.

open.substack.com

#Democracy #Election2026 An insightful take on our situation, well worth a few minutes to watch. @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social

Dictator Historian Answers America's Biggest Question

YouTube video by WIRED

youtu.be

Not sure if you happened to catch Thursday's episode of The Daily. I was interviewed and talked about the extraordinary ways President Trump and his family have monetized the White House, based on a decade of reporting on the Trump family. Please listen & share www.nytimes.com/2026/07/09/p...

The Unprecedented Personal Profits of Trump’s Presidency

nytimes.com

My latest about corruption — this time about the particular role sons-in-law, like Jared Kushner, have played throughout history and why we should pay attention to them. open.substack.com/pub/lucid/p/...

When Corruption is a Family Affair

Trump's Sons-in-Law are Part of a Pattern

open.substack.com

KF Senior Fellow @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social warns that authoritarian corruption depends not only on those who abuse power, but also on the institutions that enable them. Her latest Lucid essay examines the Supreme Court’s role in weakening checks on presidential power. https://bit.ly/4ffNoBF

The Supreme Court, Partner in Authoritarian Corruption

A key truth revealed by the Slaughter v. Trump decision

lucid.substack.com

Perfect time to be reading @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social Stoking in-group fighting is one of the most effective authoritarian techniques. The fact that the left isn’t laser-focused on Trump’s $2 billion+ earnings as president, but treats it as a shrug, says everything about where we’re at.

Strongmen, Oligarchs, & Fascists: Thinking Live with Ruth Ben-Ghiat @timothysnyder.bsky.social and @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social #USA #Trump #uspoli open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p...

Strongmen, Oligarchs, & Fascists: Thinking Live with Ruth Ben-Ghiat

A recording from Timothy Snyder's live video with Ruth Ben-Ghiat

open.substack.com

@ruthbenghiat.bsky.social is very good here, trying to pause and rethink the conceptual difference between T & his flunkies in relation to the traditional Strongmen that she studied so carefully before.

Can’t think of 2 better humans @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social @timothysnyder.bsky.social to talk about, and try to make sense of the shit show we are living through. open.substack.com/pub/lucid/p/...

Superpower Suicide/Murder, Weak "Strongmen," and Why the Trump Administration Hates Science

A recording from Ruth Ben-Ghiat and Timothy Snyder's live video

open.substack.com

Join us now at Snyder.substack.com!

Thinking about... | Timothy Snyder | Substack

Opening the future by understanding the past. Click to read "Thinking about...", by Timothy Snyder, a Substack publication with hundreds of thousands of subscribers.

snyder.substack.com

Timothy Snyder@timothysnyder.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Join me in conversation with @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social on "Thinking Live" for a conversation about the state of democracy at home and abroad. Today, June 15th, 3pm ET snyder.substack.com

Join me in conversation with @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social on "Thinking Live" for a conversation about the state of democracy at home and abroad. Today, June 15th, 3pm ET snyder.substack.com

I was pleased to be with @aliciamenendez.bsky.social for the premiere of her new @msnowreports.bsky.social show!

My problem with the White House thunderdome isn’t that it’s “vulgar,” or “tacky,” qualities I often enjoy & terms which are often crudely classist when used pejoratively. My problem, as always, is the fascism. Don’t get distracted by taste, which is deeply subjective; it’s the fascism.

2 important things about today's column 1st, we need to talk about how insane it is that Elon Musk abused his X platform to whip up violent race riots in Belfast, and yet 3 days later becomes the world's 1st trillionaire. How is this real? 2nd, also important... www.inquirer.com/opinion/elon...

Hello from the Tribeca Film Festival!

Your money — whether it’s a 401K, a pension, or a college endowment — is now tied up in Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Guess who will be stuck holding the bag when the rocket crashes?