
Trump May Be a Liar, but Starmer Is a Coward
Following the Trump administration’s unprovoked attack on Venezuela, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has done his best to cement the UK’s status as a vassal of the United States.

Following the Trump administration’s unprovoked attack on Venezuela, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has done his best to cement the UK’s status as a vassal of the United States.

European leaders’ muted response to the illegal attack on Venezuela showed how afraid they are of antagonizing Washington. Now they fear Donald Trump’s plans to seize Greenland, but they have no clear plan to stop him.

Donald Trump is once again threatening war with Iran just six months after bombing the Islamic Republic in June. Part of the reason for his hawkishness is his closeness to Israel, whose increasingly reckless actions threaten the whole Middle East.

An essential part of ringing in the New Year will be preparing for the major political struggles of 2026. Here’s a month-by-month roundup of the key union fights, elections, and other events of note for the Left.

The seizure of two tankers carrying Venezuelan oil is a further escalation of Donald Trump’s war policy. While British prime minister Keir Starmer denied involvement in the earlier attack on Caracas, this time Britain actively joined the operation.

Critics of French left-winger Jean-Luc Mélenchon have repeatedly claimed that he’s finished. But as he launches his latest presidential campaign, his popularity among working-class and minority voters is again making him a real contender.

Seattle’s new socialist mayor, Katie Wilson, won with an authentic image, a strong social media presence, a dedicated and energetic volunteer base, a relentless focus on material issues over political labels, and an emphasis on cross-community solidarity.

Palmer Luckey’s defense company, Anduril, is arming up with AI.

In the wake of protests over West Bank real estate, Toronto has ring-fenced public space around dozens of synagogues. This expansion of “bubble zones” has less to do with real danger than with political lawfare against critics of Israel.

It’s hard to think of a parallel effort in US history to build a domestic agency of violence specialists at the scale of ICE.

Both Donald Trump and El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele style themselves successful businessmen with an affinity for social media, cryptocurrency, and criminalizing poor Salvadorans. And each stands to gain from the relationship with the other.

Discontent over dire economic conditions lay behind the protest wave that rocked Iran earlier this month. A US attack will make things even worse for the Iranian people, whether or not it results in the regime change Donald Trump would like to see.

With Zohran Mamdani now mayor, Diana Moreno’s run for his old assembly seat in Queens tests how durable democratic socialist organizing has become in New York.

ICE is out of control. Democrats have numerous ways to restrain the agency, from barring ICE from domestic spying and terminating its contracts with tech companies to creating and fully funding an independent body to investigate its many abuses.

Reports of ICE thugs providing security for J. D. Vance at Milan’s Winter Olympics have sparked outrage in Italy. In Europe, too, multibillion-euro border agency Frontex is taking on increasingly troubling powers.

Britain’s local elections saw many left-wing votes shift to Zack Polanski’s Greens. But while the Labour Party’s support is plummeting, the big winners were Reform UK, as Nigel Farage conquers former Labour heartlands.

Beating Donald Trump isn’t enough, argue the Democratic Socialists of America’s cochairs. A united left-labor campaign in 2028 could mobilize millions, challenge Democratic Party failure, and put a working-class program on the national stage.

Britain’s Labour prime minister is severely wounded by his disastrous appointment of a Jeffrey Epstein–associated US ambassador and could soon be ousted. But the party needs more than a makeover.

The new oil blockade makes explicit what US policy has long denied: that economic warfare against Cuba targets civilians in the name of “regime change.”

Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, wants to send Cuba some desperately needed oil. Donald Trump sent the US Navy into the Caribbean to make sure that doesn’t happen.