Poet, writer, translator, professor, and former director of the International Writing Program. My views ≠ The University of Iowa.
Iowa City/Santa Fe
Joined April 2011
- Tweets34.4K
- Following1.3K
- Followers2.5K
- Likes148K
Pinned Tweet
On the Road to Lviv, my book-length poetic meditation on Adam Zagajewski, cultural diplomacy, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, is now available @arrowsmithpress.
Christopher Merrill retweeted
BREAKING!! Seven bipartisan lawmakers warn U.S. banks, fuel distributors and port authorities that importing Russian diesel could invite legal action and congressional scrutiny, while helping fund Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Christopher Merrill retweeted
Elon Musk has spent more money on American elections in the last two years than George Soros has in his entire life.
Extraordinary statement.
Christopher Merrill retweeted
"Our endorsement of Acton rests on more than Ramaswamy’s failure to meet a basic standard of decency. She has earned consideration on her own record, her preparation and her commitment to the people she seeks to serve."
Cleveland Plain Dealer reverses their decision to stay neutral and endorses @amyactonoh — a true leader and public servant.
cleveland.com/open/2026/10/w…
Christopher Merrill retweeted
Brazil rejected Bolsonaro. Serbia's students beat Vučić. Machado is home in Venezuela.
What a day for democracy.
Christopher Merrill retweeted
🚨 #BREAKING: Lula has won re-election as Brazil's president, in a stunning upset against conservative Flávio Bolsonaro, son of disgraced former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving 27 years in prison for a coup attempt. Liberals stacking wins in the US has bled abroad.
Christopher Merrill retweeted
Trump swaggered into Georgia right before the midterms, breathlessly announcing a huge new Audi factory, a massive win for the state he claimed. Here's the receipt: Audi had absolutely no such announcement, no plans to build a plant in Georgia, and no knowledge of this supposed commitment. This wasn't just campaign exaggeration; it was a bald-faced fabrication, invented out of thin air just days before an election, banking on voters not checking if a major international corporation actually agreed to a multi-billion dollar investment during a political rally. It perfectly illustrates how quickly reality gets benched for a headline grab, promising prosperity that only exists in a speech bubble, all while the people who supposedly value "truth" never question the actual facts. thehill.com/homenews/state-w…
Christopher Merrill retweeted
This past week alone, Russia has launched around 1,600 guided aerial bombs, 48 missiles of various types, including ballistic missiles, and nearly 2,300 attack drones against Ukraine. Unfortunately, almost every day, these brutal strikes leave people killed and injured. In the evening, Russian strikes on the Dnipro region killed four people. My condolences to their families and loved ones. Another 22 people were injured, including an 11-year-old girl. In Vinnytsia, a Russian drone struck a high-rise apartment building. Six people were injured. In Kharkiv, the Russians first struck a home improvement hypermarket and then carried out a cynical double-tap strike on the emergency services that arrived at the scene. First responders were injured. There were also strikes overnight on a thermal power plant, substations, coal mines, grain storage facilities, shopping malls, and a postal logistics hub. Damage has been reported in nine regions.
This is how Russia responds to diplomacy and deisolation. And it is very important that support for those who protect lives not diminish alongside the negotiation process. We need to unblock the deliveries of Patriot interceptors already approved by European countries. We need to continue supporting Ukrainian combat aviation to defend against jet-powered “shaheds.” Every such defense package, especially ahead of winter, helps save lives. I thank all partners who provide this kind of support.
Christopher Merrill retweeted
The Russia smell of this Alaska fossil fuel deal was so bad that even former Exxon people bailed from the company. The smell of Russia permeates the corrupt Trump administration. ft.com/content/e9cfbfbb-e65a…
Christopher Merrill retweeted
Elon Musk claims that Ukraine allegedly violated Starlink's terms of use and used the system on combat drones.
As someone who was inside the process at the Ministry of Defense, I can say with certainty that this is not true.
In February of this year, whitelists were introduced. Stationary terminals could be registered by both military personnel and civilians.
But for any satellite terminal to work while on the move, it had to be added to a special list and connected to the military Starshield system. Otherwise, no satellite communication terminals in Ukraine would work.
In other words, using civilian Starlink for drone missions was technically impossible. All drone missions that required satellite communication could only be carried out using Starshield.
We are very grateful to the United States and SpaceX for access to critically important satellite communications. Ukraine did not violate the terms of use.
Christopher Merrill retweeted
This is important. @elonmusk wasn't stopping war or pacifying the front line when he disabled speed on Starshield; he was disabling Ukrainian air defence.
His random decision led to the deaths of innocent Ukrainian citizens.
I hope there's a class action in heaven somewhere
Christopher Merrill retweeted
Nancy Pelosi made 200 stock trades in her entire 40-year political career.
Donald Trump made 28,700 stock trades in just 1.5 years as president.
MAGA likes to scream about Pelosi's stock trades but not a word about Trump using the presidency to enrich himself.
@grok verify
Christopher Merrill retweeted
21-year-old twin sisters Taraneh & Romina Rahimi are suffering the full force of the Iranian regime: Romina sentenced to 25 years, Taraneh to death, after protesting their govt. The cousin who helped raise them tells me of torture behind bars.
Christopher Merrill retweeted
This is the kind of deal the Democrats need to investigate immediately if they take Congress. An oil deal in Alaska which actually might be a gift to the Russians with Trump involvement. ft.com/content/e9cfbfbb-e65a…
Christopher Merrill retweeted
The @GOP must be thrilled that 11 days before elections, we learn that the Trump family secretly orchestrated a deal to allow Russians to drill Alaska in exchange for a $25 billion "investment" funneled through their proxies.
Christopher Merrill retweeted
US energy company execs have resigned in disgust as the Trump family is caught secretly expediting the funneling of $25 billion from a sanctioned Russian energy giant in exchange for allowing Russians to obtain a natural gas project in Alaska.
According to investigations by The New York Times and Financial Times, Russia's Novatek allegedly concealed its financial involvement in the American project through a UAE-linked intermediary.
Gentry Beach, a longtime Trump ally and close friend of Donald Trump Jr., signed an agreement with Novatek to pursue natural gas development in Alaska. Reuters documented the arrangement in February.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin discussed this cooperation on the Alaska energy project with Trump's representatives, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, during negotiations involving Russia and Ukraine.
The controversy deepened when Polar Train LNG's CEO, Joel Riddle, raised concerns about concealed Russian financing and possible sanctions violations. He departed in September, followed by other senior executives.
The Financial Times also described discussions about a potential arrangement under which Novatek would provide technology for the Alaska project in exchange for sanctions relief benefiting its Arctic LNG 2 development in Siberia.
According to The New York Times, Riddle and two other departing executives warned the Trump administration about the Russian financing and urged officials to investigate.
The White House maintains that the project was mentioned only briefly and that no detailed discussions took place. There is no established evidence that Kushner or Witkoff knew about the allegedly concealed financing. Polar Train LNG denies wrongdoing.
The central question is how a sanctioned Russian energy company became involved in a major American energy venture while Putin was discussing potential economic cooperation with Trump's representatives and a longtime Trump family associate was pursuing a separate agreement with the same Russian company.
Selling Alaska to the Russians or selling Ukraine to the Russians - to the Trump family it's all the same.
ft.com/content/e9cfbfbb-e65a…
Christopher Merrill retweeted
A psychopathic mass murdering dictator is killing innocent people for no good reason and they are just trying to defend themselves and not get tortured raped and murdered. And they need our help. And we ought to help them. That’s what’s actually going on.
Christopher Merrill retweeted
The fact that Trump will remove tariffs to help Republicans win elections, but he won’t remove tariffs to help Americans afford necessities, tells you exactly what his priorities are.
BREAKING:
The United States is expected to remove 50% tariffs on some Canadian products in a bid to help Maine Senator Susan Collins and other Republicans in the upcoming midterm elections.
Full Story: on.wsj.com/4i6fCyU
