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This page is part of a resource collection on Authoritarianism & Bigotry in the Second Trump Administration.
Cuba
2026
January 6. Karen DeYoung & David Ovalle: Trump team puts a target on Cuba, with threats and oil blockade. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have made clear that the collapse of Cuba’s communist government is not only a likely side benefit of Maduro’s ouster but a goal.
January 29. Roque Planas: Trump threatens tariffs on goods from countries that sell oil to Cuba.
January 30. Thomas Graham & Ruaridh Nicoll: Mexico president says Trump tariffs on Cuba’s oil suppliers could trigger humanitarian crisis.
February 15. Ruaridh Nicoll: No fuel, no tourists, no cash – this was the week the Cuban crisis got real.
February 27. Ruaridh Nicoll: Trump suggests US could carry out ‘friendly takeover’ of Cuba.
March 6. Perry Stein & Jeremy Roebuck: Justice Department targets Cuban officials, aims for indictments.
March 16. The Guardian: Trump predicts he will have ‘honour of taking Cuba’ amid power blackout: US president declares he can do ‘anything I want’ after oil blockade plunges country into darkness.
March 22. Vivian Salama & Sarah Fitzpatrick: Trump’s Eye Is Already on Cuba: “Regime change is lined up,” awaiting the president’s signal, according to one administration official.
Greenland
2026
January 13. Casey Michel: The Oligarchs Pushing for Conquest in Greenland.
January 14. Isaac Stanley-Becker: Denmark’s Army Chief Says He’s Ready to Defend Greenland: Danish forces are moving to the island to show NATO—and Trump—that they’re serious about security.
January 14. Tom Nichols: Trump Is Risking a Global Catastrophe: His irrational fixation on Greenland could lead to widespread conflict.
January 19. Martin Belam: What is it like living in Greenland and being threatened by Trump?
January 21. Charles Maynes & A Martínez: Trump’s Greenland demand has been a gift to U.S. geopolitical foes like Russia.
January 22. Leila Fadel: Investigation links several of Trump’s associates to mining interests in Greenland.
January 27. Jon Henley: ‘Enemy of Europe’? How Trump’s push for Greenland spooked far-right allies.
February 6. Jon Henley: Opposition to US has hardened in western Europe after Greenland threat.
March 19. Miranda Bryant: Denmark reportedly flew blood bags to Greenland in preparation for a US attack.
March 20. Tanya Noury: Denmark planned to blow up Greenland runways if Trump moved to seize island.
2025
August 27. Jeffrey Gettleman & Maya Tekeli: Denmark Summons U.S. Envoy Over a Reported ‘Influence Operation’ in Greenland.
Iran
2026
February 28. State of the World: The U.S. and Israel launch a major attack on Iran.
February 28. NPR: Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been killed.
February 28. William Christou & Angela Giuffrida: Explosions rock Dubai, Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait as war spreads across Middle East.
February 28. Reuters: Prior to Iran attacks, CIA assessed Khamenei could be replaced by hardline IRGC elements if killed.
February 28. Timothy Snyder & Phillips P. Obrien: Making Sense of Iran War.
March 1. Reuters: Pentagon tells Congress no sign that Iran was going to attack US first, sources say.
March 2. Chris Stein: US strikes on Iran triggered by Israel’s plan to launch attack, Rubio says.
March 2. NPR: What to know about Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the role he played in and outside Iran.
March 2. Carol Leonnig: Kash Patel’s latest firings ousted agents with expertise in Iran. The FBI director gutted a specialized, global espionage unit of counterintelligence agents, just days before Operation Epic Fury.
March 3. Tess McClure & Deepa Parent: Minab school bombing: how the worst mass casualty event of the Iran war unfolded.
March 3. Robert Reich: What is Trump’s endgame with Iran?
March 3. Robert Booth & Dan Milmo: Iran war heralds era of AI-powered bombing quicker than ‘speed of thought’: Speed and scale of US military’s AI war planning raises fears human decision-making may be sidelined.
March 3. David Gilbert: Here’s Why Trump Posted About Iran ‘Stealing’ the 2020 Election Hours After the US Attacked: Donald Trump’s post on Truth Social about Iran echoed a conspiracy theory that has been circulating online for years.
March 3. Ruth Ben-Ghiat & Anne Applebaum: Wars and Autocratic Decision-Making.
March 5. Mark Hertsgaard & Giles Trendle: Trump’s War With Iran Is Also a Climate War: Fossil fuels are structurally embedded in modern warfare.
March 7. John Hudson & Warren P. Strobel: Intel report warns large-scale war ‘unlikely’ to oust Iran’s regime.
March 8. Anton Troianovski: How Trump’s War in Iran Has Echoes of Putin and Ukraine.
March 9. MS NOW: Nuclear experts undercut White House claims about Iran reactor at heart of case for war.
March 10. Hannah Allam: The U.S. Built a Blueprint to Avoid Civilian War Casualties. Trump Officials Scrapped It.
March 12. The New York Times: 16 and Counting: Oil and Cargo Ships Are Growing Targets in War With Iran.
March 12. Alan Rappeport: Trump Removes Sanctions on Russia to Help Oil Flow Amid Iran Conflict.
March 13. The Wall Street Journal: Trump Knew the Risk of Iran Blocking the Strait of Hormuz. He Still Went to War.
March 13. Jonathan Alter: The CIA Since the Turn of the Century: Historian and journalist Tim Weiner on how ideology is the enemy of intelligence, not just for Trump in Iran but for every American president.
March 17. Patrick Wintour & Julian Borger: UK security adviser ‘attended’ US-Iran talks and judged deal was within reach.
March 18. Vivian Salama: The Iran War’s Next Threat Is to Food and Water.
March 24. Sharon Zhang: US, Israeli Attacks Have Damaged Nearly 500 Schools, 300 Health Centers in Iran.
March 28. Julian Borger: Houthi forces enter Iran conflict with missile attacks on Israeli military sites.
Mexico
2026
February 3. Oscar Lopez: Outrage in Mexico at Trump praise for ‘legendary’ 19th-century US invasion: The US president’s celebration of the 1847 conquest draws fury from Mexican leaders over ‘imperialist tone.’
February 3. Megan Janetsky: Trump accused of distorting history of Mexican-American War to justify heavy hand in Latin America.
Venezuela
2026
January 3. The Guardian: Global outcry after US launches strikes on Venezuela and captures president: France, Russia, China and EU say Washington broke international law after US troops carried out the operation.
January 3. NYT Editorial Board: Trump’s Attack on Venezuela Is Illegal and Unwise.
January 4. Timothy Snyder: Venezuela: The Precedents. And America: The Future.
January 5. Sibylla Brodzinsky: Colombian president says ‘I will take up arms again’ if US invades.
January 5. Anne Applebaum: Trump’s ‘American Dominance’ May Leave Us With Nothing. The president’s moves in Venezuela foretell a new global system.
January 6. Greg Sargent: Trump Blurts Out Dark Truth About Venezuela Plan—and About MAGA Voters. To some critics, it’s about plunder. To others, it’s about hemispheric hegemony. Actually, it’s about both.
January 6. Dan Mangan: Trump says Venezuela to give up to 50 million barrels of oil to U.S.
January 6. Ryan Cooper: Trump’s Cargo Cult Imperialism in Venezuela.
January 6. Garrett M. Graff: The 3 Keys to Understanding Trump’s Retro Coup in Venezuela: This weekend’s invasion was both a throwback to the last century and a new, uniquely Trumpian nightmare.
January 14. Shelby Talcott & Eleanor Mueller: US gets first $500 million Venezuelan oil deal, holding some proceeds in Qatar.
General News
2026
January 7. Jan-Werner Müller: The Trump doctrine exposes the US as a mafia state.
2025
December 10. Adam Serwer: Trump’s New Imperialism: Just like the neocons he criticizes, Trump embraces the wielding of American power to impose his own worldview on countries that do not share it.