CFR fellow, WaPo columnist. Pulitzer finalist for biography. REAGAN: HIS LIFE AND LEGEND: NYT bestseller & NYT 10 best books of 2024. Writing John McCain bio.

New York
Joined April 2009
Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 retweeted
Putin's army is stuck. Now he is trying to win through propaganda and a terrorist campaign
Institute for the Study of War
@TheStudyofWarOct 24
Replying to @TheStudyofWar
2/ Russian forces have made effectively zero net gains in 2026 at the cost of over 40,000 casualties per month since July and around 458 casualties for every square kilometer of territory that Russian forces lost.
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Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 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.
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Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 retweeted
Yaroslav Trofimov
@yarotrofOct 23
Ukraine’s envoy to Washington says that Trump’s request to Musk was ignored.
Starshield/Starlink speed restrictions remain in place. Every day matters for Ukraine, because every Ukrainian life matters. Our people are waiting for positive news, hoping that the restrictions will be lifted and our defenders will have the capabilities they need to protect lives. Unfortunately, as of today, nothing has changed. We continue to wait.
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Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 retweeted
"What explains Trump’s bizarre affinity for Putin? The Russian warmonger is standing in the way of his goal of winning a Nobel Peace Prize. Shouldn’t Trump be mad at him?" The latest from @MaxBoot: wapo.st/4sm2b2Q
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Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 retweeted
Yes, hearing the same.
New. I’m told by frontline drone commanders in Ukraine that Starlink speed restrictions have likely been lifted. They are still doing tests but “this looks to be the case”
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Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 retweeted
Trump: "I alone could secure a prisoner release from Russia without giving anything in return" Trump literally ten minutes later: "Now you idiots know why I had to waive sanctions on Russia, no shot I got that prisoner release otherwise"
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Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 retweeted
I have long since given up believing in conspiratorial explanations of the Trump-Putin relationship. If evidence for some nefarious tie existed, it would’ve been uncovered by now, especially after four years of Democratic control of the executive branch. Zelensky had a more compelling theory when he said that Trump simply has a fondness for autocrats and the uber-wealthy—and Putin is both. wapo.st/47o44SX
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Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 retweeted
It hadn’t occurred to me that Trump views Putin as a fellow billionaire, but it’s true. Putin’s net worth has been estimated at $70 billion to $200 billion. Trump, who made more than $2 billion last year, no doubt respects anyone who manages to make so much money in office and to cling to power for so long. wapo.st/47o44SX
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Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 retweeted
This is the most probable explanation why President Trump has so much love for Putin. No conspiracy. Just genuine admiration for rich, powerful, uncontrolled.
I have long since given up believing in conspiratorial explanations of the Trump-Putin relationship. If evidence for some nefarious tie existed, it would’ve been uncovered by now, especially after four years of Democratic control of the executive branch. Zelensky had a more compelling theory when he said that Trump simply has a fondness for autocrats and the uber-wealthy—and Putin is both. wapo.st/47o44SX
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Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 retweeted
Such a phenomenal douche. Our allies fought and died next to us. I spent a butt load of time in Afghanistan (in far worse circumstances than this performative clown) and the only comment to our allies is “thank you.” That’s it. Heartfelt. Thank you. Also, he’s addressing ROTC students with this horseshit. That is just plain dangerous. Our next generation cannot be taught such BS.
Clash Report
@clashreportOct 17
Hegseth on Afghanistan: I was a captain in Afghanistan, and we would go to the headquarters in Kabul, and there would be 50 flags at the headquarters. It was a beautiful thing to see 50 different countries contributing to the NATO alliance and the ISAF mission there. Except there were like maybe five that contributed. It was actually closer to one or two that, by the end, were actually involved in kinetic operations. In fact, the ISAF patch, we would joke that it meant "I Saw Americans Fighting."
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
Over 1100 non-American soldiers from 31 US-allied countries were killed fighting in Afghanistan, approximately 1/3 of the total combat deaths. t.co/x4tGhxJiFG
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Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 retweeted
In his first term, Trump hoped to lure Kim Jong Un into giving up his nuclear weapons in return for Western investment. The pitch didn’t work. Undeterred by the failure of his North Korea diplomacy, Trump made a similar offer to Hamas in 2025: disarm in return for beachfront condos. Not surprisingly, Hamas isn’t interested. This June, Trump was at it again, this time with Iran. That didn’t work either. wapo.st/47gE6Rf
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Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 retweeted
"Even for Trump, who is turning the presidency into a multibillion-dollar profit center, there are sharp limits to what money can buy." The latest from @MaxBoot: wapo.st/4hVxVqy
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Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 retweeted
You would think Trump, Kushner and Witkoff would have figured out by now that dictators are not primarily interested in economic development. While Trump & co. have devoted their lives to making money, the leaders of North Korea, Hamas, Iran and Russia have devoted their lives to accumulating power. Sure, their people suffer as long as Western sanctions remain in place, but what do the dictators care? They’re doing just fine. wapo.st/47gE6Rf
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Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 retweeted
While Witkoff and Kushner say they would not benefit from the Lukoil sale to their business partners, the deal reeks of conflicts of interest at best and outright corruption at worst. It is emblematic of the de facto Trump Doctrine — mixing private and public interests to an unprecedented degree. wapo.st/47gE6Rf
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Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 retweeted
Two hours after Donald Trump announced Russia and Ukraine had agreed to a mutual energy ceasefire, Russia launched a cruise missile attack on Kharkiv’s CHP-5 thermal power plant.
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Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 retweeted
🚨🚨🚨President Zelensky told me: "The ceasefire announcement was news for me. But if Russians agree to an energy ceasefire Ukraine will agree. If president Trump negotiated it with Putin - please tell us when the ceasefire begins - we are ready and we will accept it"
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Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 retweeted
Trump’s default mode is pro-Putin. It’s all too easy for the Russian dictator to manipulate the American president, and Putin seems to have done so again with the diesel fuel deal to drive yet another wedge between the U.S. and Ukraine. Read my new Substack: bit.ly/4s0v9VI
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Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 retweeted
Christopher Miller
@ChristopherJMOct 11
The death toll in Zaporizhzhia, where Russia attacked residential buildings with glide bombs hours after Trump announced his diesel deal with Putin, climbs to 23.
I am grateful to all our emergency services, who are always there for our people and work to address the aftermath of brutal Russian strikes. Only this morning, search and rescue operations were completed in Zaporizhzhia, where Russia killed 23 people, including four children. Yesterday, the Russians struck a medical facility in Kharkiv, and overnight there were Russian strikes on civilian infrastructure, residential buildings, and energy infrastructure. This morning, the Russians struck a five-story apartment building in Slovyansk – an entire section of the building was destroyed, and people may still be under the rubble. And this continues unabated – this week alone, the Russians have used around 1,450 aerial bombs, 75 missiles of various types, and more than 1,640 attack drones, about 60% of them jet-powered. Today, we will continue coordinating with partners – there will be talks with European leaders. Virtually every day, we coordinate at different levels and work on additional defense packages, first and foremost air defense and munitions for combat aircraft. All of this is to protect the lives of our people and Ukraine’s interests. The real cause of the war in Europe is Russia and Russia alone. It is possible to stop strikes on energy infrastructure as early as today, but Putin does not want to do so. Ukraine will be ready to stop striking Russian oil refineries if Russia stops striking our energy infrastructure. Any de-escalation steps must be reciprocal and backed by real guarantees.
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Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 retweeted
A great commentary from @MaxBoot
Trump’s default mode is pro-Putin. It’s all too easy for the Russian dictator to manipulate the American president, and Putin seems to have done so again with the diesel fuel deal to drive yet another wedge between the U.S. and Ukraine. Read my new Substack: bit.ly/4s0v9VI
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