Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, a few minutes from Washington D. C. Donald Trump and his assistant, Natalie Harp, step off Marine One, the helicopter of the President of the United States, to board Air Force Onebound for Houston. The photograph shows a scene very typical of presidential routines. These are iconic moments of power representation: the epic of the leader preparing to act, to demonstrate his strength. The photograph does not seem to have any particularity. However, the political context makes the image not innocent. Trump walks in the foreground, moving across the tarmac with his heavy gait. But Reuters photographer Kylie Cooper makes him appear blurred. Instead, she focuses on the secondary character: Natalie Harp. A former television presenter turned advisor and personal secretary. Her silhouette is perfectly defined, her confident smile is visible and the vivid green of the dress catches the observer's eye. She walks gracefully and with a firm step, in the background. On the day of the photo, August 27th, it had been only two weeks since the Washington Post had revealed that Trump, on his trip to Turkey, secretly abandoned the official plane at Ankara airport by hiding in a catering truck. He flew secretly in another aircraft while Air Force One, with journalists and part of the cabinet on board, served as a decoy in the face of a supposed dangerous situation due to threats from Iran. The press, which believed that Trump was traveling on the same aircraft, received the order to lower the blinds to prevent the light from inside from making the plane more visible during the flight.The Washington Post revealed that Natalie Harp was one of the few people chosen to accompany the president on the secret flight. Faced with a great threat, Trump prioritized his assistant over higher-ranking politicians. The opposition has taken advantage of this proximity of Harp to the president to make sexist insinuations about a possible sexual affair. On social media, images have circulated accusing her of being the trigger for an argument between Trump and Melania.Power, information and influence

The photographer has captured the moment when Natalie Harp walks under the large 'United States' sign, personifying that idea of dominance it represents. The secretary witnesses confidential conversations and meetings of the president. For some time, the press has dubbed her "the human printer" because she is the one who selects and provides Trump with emails, messages, news, and documents, always in paper format. In the image, Harp is the only one carrying a black bag that seems very full: the zipper does not quite close. She holds it tightly by the handle. The symbolic weight of the information she manages.This photograph hints at an influence that has nothing to do with official hierarchies. Despite her angelic pose and advertising-style beauty, the photographer points out the woman who holds great sway over Trump. Or perhaps a new weak point of the President of the United States.

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Donald Trump recently stated that losing the dollar's status as the world's reserve currency would be akin to losing a major war. This is no small comparison. The dollar's primacy is an essential source of American power: it allows the United States to finance itself more cheaply, impose sanctions, and sustain deficits that are very costly for any other economy.This is why two recent signals are concerning. Federal debt has just surpassed $40 trillion, double what it was when Trump first arrived at the White House. In 2025 alone, interest payments neared $970 billion, more than its entire defense spending. And this August, the yield on the thirty-year bond reached 5.34%, the highest level since 2007. The market is demanding more and more to lend to Washington.At the same time, China has reduced its holdings of Treasury bonds to $633.4 billion, 13% less than a year ago and the lowest figure since 2008. In 2013, it held nearly $1.3 trillion. It is not a sudden flight nor a weapon capable of sinking the United States: the global market continues to absorb its debt, and Japan and the United Kingdom already hold more American bonds than Beijing. But it is a slow and deliberate withdrawal.

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“Operation Economic Outcast” is the catchy title that Trump and his administration have chosen to call their plan of economic strangulation against Iran, which was announced last week and which the world has received with a global raising of eyebrows. Many call it “Operation Economic Fury,” in ironic allusion to the pompous “Operation Epic Fury” that according to Trump was supposed to bring hell down upon the ayatollahs' regime. It is true that in the first offensive, the US and Israel managed to assassinate the supreme leader Ali Khamenei in a bombing. But then the regime managed to withstand the blow and Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the deceased, has turned out to be a supreme leader with a fanatical determination as tough as his father's (we recently read in the New Yorker that his government hires foreign assassins to liquidate critics of the regime scattered around the world). It has been fifteen days this Monday since the sixty days that the US and Iran had given themselves in June to “end the war” ended, according to a so-called memorandum of understanding of fourteen points, of which not a single one has been fulfilled. Trump's Gulf War has been a failure, and the attempt to tighten the noose on Iran through economic blockade sounds like a tantrum and a gesture of desperation. More so, when the so-called "Economic Pariah Operation" —which includes a block of sanctions against countries that have commercial relations with Iran— depends almost entirely on China's stance, a buyer of 90% of Iranian oil, and Beijing has already made it clear that its response could be harsh if the US "representatively extends" its threats against Chinese companies trading with Iran. Awaiting a new meeting between Trump and Xi Jinping, the possibility that the American president's intemperance will open a new confrontation with the other great world economy is viewed negatively by everyone. Also by the American electorate, tired of having fuel and the cost of living through the roof as a direct consequence of Trump's foreign policy, as belligerent and expansive as it is erratic and, ultimately, counterproductive.A year ago Trump boasted about having ended seven or eight wars (depending on the day) and went on an endless rant asking to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He didn't get it, but he did manage to have his mistress in Venezuela, María Corina Machado, bring it to him as a gift. As of today, the orange pachyderm's arrogance has subsided a bit, and he faces — now, in November — midterm elections that could cost him control of Congress. Such a blow could have interesting repercussions for Trumpists worldwide: including the Spanish enthusiasts of Trump, PP, and Vox, who face the last year of their term as a kind of springboard to propel them to an electoral victory that, in their opinion, was snatched from them in 2023. But an electoral setback for Trump could also have a revulsive effect in Europe and Latin America.

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Donald Trump is in great need of good news to sell to his electorate, and this Friday he finally has one. "The US has just closed a deal with Venezuela: the largest oil deal in world history," the president wrote on his social network, euphoric about a deal that gives the United States majority control of the more than 65 billion barrels of oil that are estimated to be part of Venezuela's reserves. The agreement, announced by Donald Trump and confirmed by Delcy Rodríguez, will allow the US to double its oil reserves.

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Six months ago, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, announced a military operation against Iran that was to last a maximum of six weeks. The start was spectacular, with the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his family, and of several top officials of the Iranian armed forces and their intelligence services. This beginning even led Trump to predict that the six weeks would not need to be exhausted, that everything would end sooner. Six months later, the outlook for Washington is bleak. The war has not only not ended, but has also become a major headache, a diplomatic, military, and economic labyrinth from which no exit is foreseen other than a humiliating acceptance of defeat.

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UEFA is preparing a criminal complaint against FIFA president Gianni Infantino, according to the AP agency. For days, the body that controls European football had been studying the possibility of bringing Infantino before the Swiss courts, accusing him of financial mismanagement after proposing to privatize the Football World Cup by bringing in private investors close to Donald Trump. Infantino's surprising proposal arrived a few days after the end of the World Cup, when the English press reported his plans when they had not yet been presented to the FIFA assembly. Infantino saw European football, represented by UEFA, lead the opposition to this proposal with the support of African football (CAF) and CONCACAF (Caribbean, North America, and Central America). South American football and a large part of Asian football have supported Infantino, who had to withdraw from the project.

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Last weekend, Donald Trump and his wife Melania were the guests of honor at the IndyCar race to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States' independence, in which the Vallesà Àlex Palou was competing to revalidate his champion title (he will have to wait for the next race). The event, which was held at the National Mall in Washington, has generated comments over an off-track issue: a video in which the President of the United States and the First Lady can be seen having a tense discussion. During the conversation, Melania can be seen with a serious face, speaking in her husband's ear.

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A little more than two months before the legislative elections, the Supreme Court of the United States has issued an emergency ruling that only promises to add more uncertainty to an election day that is already expected to be critical. The conservative majority has lifted the judicial blockade on an executive order that President Donald Trump had signed in March to restrict mail-in voting. The magistrates, for now, allow the tycoon to continue with his plan while they deliberate whether the executive really has the powers to dictate how Americans vote. Furthermore, the decision comes while there is still another judicial suspension on one of the sections of this same order.

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Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump face an autumn where they will have to navigate between ballot boxes. Parliamentary elections in Russia, and in the United States, which do not decide who will continue to rule the Kremlin and the White House, but which can condition the immediate future on crucial issues such as the war in Ukraine or the one in the Middle East. Between the elections for the Russian Duma on September 20 and those for the US Congress on November 3, six weeks will pass, a short enough period to detect in which interests Putin and Trump coincide, and where they clash and grate.

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If I were writing a book about the United States' war with Iran, I would know exactly what the title would be. It would be the publication Donald Trump made on social media on April 5, 2026, addressed to the leaders of Iran: “Open the [expletive] strait, you crazy motherfuckers, or you'll live in hell… BEWARE!”

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The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has once again had a confrontation with the press, this time with Kristen Holmes, a CNN correspondent. During an event in the Oval Office, while the journalist was asking him about his contacts with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and about the decision to reduce the scale of joint military maneuvers with South Korea; Trump interrupted her and ordered her to be quiet. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!", he told her insistently on several occasions. He then also called her "noisy" and "scandalous" and accused her of "spreading fake news".

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The North American president, Donald Trump, has been weighing the possibility of declaring victory against Iran without achieving a nuclear deal, the "Wall Street Journal" reported Sunday, citing U.S. officials. In reality, he has lost the war and gained nothing, but he must build a different narrative in his favor. It's an old trick we know well.

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The terrible earthquake in Colombia comes just as Abelardo de la Espriella, an ally of Trump and many far-right governments in the region, was taking office in Colombia. While awaiting to see how the new leader and his team manage the catastrophe, we will, with all solidarity, focus solely on political analysis. And, I believe, it is advisable not to overstate the easy headline about a regional right-wing and Trumpist wave. Political and electoral phenomena in Latin America, as everywhere, reflect change and continuity. In 2026 we will witness five presidential and two local elections, which are added to various presidential and legislative elections during 2025. I will present a triple thesis on the region: 1) there are four crucial features to consider; 2) there is no right-wing wave that can be analyzed homogeneously in the region; 3) the Trump factor exists, but has uncertain final results.Let's consider the four key features. First, the persistence of the protest vote against incumbents, which coexists with the ratification of certain leaderships: in Honduras, where 80% voted for opposition candidates; in Chile, where Kast won by almost 20 points, but also with support for governments in Mexico, El Salvador, and Argentina. Second, the loss of relevance and institutional power of centrist parties (excepting the case of Bolivia, where a center-right candidate won): votes have gone towards the extreme right or left, which has increased fragmentation and polarization. Third, a Trump factor is observed, due to the emergence of Trumpist candidates (Honduras, Chile, or Colombia) or their weight in elections such as the Argentine ones, with the support of the loan from Washington, or their relevance in the final stretch of the campaign in Honduras. The fourth feature is the regional relevance of the increase in the cost of living, low economic growth, and insecurity, causal factors that explain many results.

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Donald Trump did not return from the NATO summit held in Ankara with the old Air Force One, as the White House had reported at the time. On July 8, the US president did not use either the old presidential plane or the new Boeing gifted by Qatar, but rather Air Force C-32. The Secret Service used the catering vehicle to secretly transfer the Republican from one plane to another, according to government sources revealed to various US media outlets. The Washington Post, the first to break the exclusive story, explains that an Iranian threat to assassinate Trump triggered the operation.

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This has been –or perhaps we should say it still is– a dramatic and crazy end to the school year. The fires in several provinces and the events in Ceuta are chilling. We were getting used to seeing the daily images of hundreds of people housed in sports centers while anxiously awaiting news about the fire and about their homes and belongings, when even harsher images assaulted us, such as those of tens of thousands of immigrants –especially young people, very young people– crossing from Morocco to Ceuta, in what the head of government himself, Pedro Sánchez, has described as a "violation of Spain's territorial integrity." An emergency situation, undoubtedly, which has provoked all sorts of reactions. And this is where the idea of madness fits in, due to the capacity that this situation and these images have to trigger the most barbaric and unacceptable comments and initiatives.

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The intention of FIFA president Gianni Infantino to partially sell the World Cup and the Club World Cup has shaken the football world and caused an avalanche of criticism led by UEFA, the body that regulates European football. If this Tuesday the British newspaper The Times reported that Infantino plans to sell stakes to transform the World Cup and the Club World Cup into a kind of public limited company and thus allow the entry of private investors, this Wednesday he has taken a further step by sending a letter to the 211 federations that make up FIFA explaining how their budgets would be increased.

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It seems as if nature, irritated by humanity's insensitivity in caring for the place where their experience is made flesh, had raised the degree of difficulty in inhabiting it. And wanted to put us up against the wall. In reality, nature has been mutating with all its might since always, but in recent times it has received the impact of accelerated human aggressiveness that has contributed to making it more hostile to us. And man's hand has a lot to do with catastrophes, for example in the extension and destruction of forests or in the permanent generation of energy that causes natural mutations, starting with the climate.

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The FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, breathes easy. After a World Cup with a host of fires, it seems he has gotten his way. They booed him and criticized him, true. And he has seen how, especially in Europe, politicians and journalists said he should not be the president of the institution that decides the future of world football. But the criticisms go in one ear and out the other, as he has achieved his goal: incredible audiences, selling the most expensive tickets in World Cup history, keeping Donald Trump happy, and, especially, ensuring he will continue to rule. In the elections of March 2027, he will be re-elected.

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Elections are vulnerable because chaos has become the perfect means to erode trust, evidence, and democratic systems. Vulnerabilities are not just theoretical nor are they interested exaggerations; they have been exploited worldwide, from South Africa to Ukraine, Bulgaria, and the Philippines. Hacking voting machines remains too easy. But it is even easier to build narratives of distrust and emotionality. Playing with minds and fragmenting realities to erode democratic processes.

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Trump attended the heaviest final in history, not so much to act as host as to make some memes with his friend Infantino. He went with two hot potatoes in his pockets: his war in Iran (which he's losing) and the midterm elections next November (which he might also lose). Both potatoes, of course, are strongly connected: naturally, the disastrous management of the Gulf crisis and its consequences worsen Trump's expectations before the elections, in which the majority in Congress is at stake.In Iran, Trump continues to cling to what the journalist from the New Yorker Robin Wright has defined as "ad-lib strategy", i.e., a strategy that is no strategy at all. A course of action based on sudden turns, caprice, volatility, and changes of direction, in which massive bombings are ordered one moment and supposed diplomatic successes are announced the next, which are always successes in the style of Vance, Hegseth, or Rubio: ideas that must have seemed good in the meetings of the hard core of the Trump administration but which fail on contact with reality. Having resumed the armed conflict after signing, even if only by teleconference, a peace agreement – now frozen from Tehran, while Trump went off to football – can only be described as a demonstration of ineptitude and weakness. It is clear that Trump and his collaborators underestimated the resistance capacity of the Ayatollah regime, which has even overcome the beheading of its leadership and renewed it without too many problems, at least in appearance. It has not been a walk in the park like staging a coup in Caracas, kidnapping Maduro, installing a puppet government in the country, and stealing its oil. Trump's pirate ship has run aground in the Gulf, and besides the thousands of human lives already consumed by the conflict, the orange pachyderm risks the Strait of Hormuz remaining closed. The consequent rise in fuel prices, and prices in general, is an extremely unpopular effect among the American electorate. This is one of the factors that explain the very low popularity ratings that Trump has been dragging for some time, and the poor expectations that polls give him for the "mid-termelections of November.This is why Trump has for days been resorting to the fascist resistance manual (they have one too) and appeared last Friday on Fox – no other channel wanted to broadcast it – with a statement warning of a possible electoral fraud like the one, according to him, that already occurred in the 2020 elections, a lie based on misrepresentations about immigration, demographics, and the census. Does that sound familiar? It's the same song that the far-right here repeats day and night, both the Spanish and the Catalan, starting with the pathetic Feijóo. It wasn't what Trump wanted, but remembering the American elections of 2020 was a way to also remind us that he was the instigator of the assault on the Capitol on Three Kings' Day in 2021. And that, consequently, he should not be in the presidency, but in prison.

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