In January President Trump delivered on his promise to shrink the federal government: he announced a hiring freeze, despite thousands of federal job vacancies. As a candidate, Trump campaigned as a great friend of veterans. He pledged to make big improvements in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) the arm of the Veterans Administration (VA) which operates the largest healthcare system in the country. Yet Trump’s hiring freeze deepened an already existing staffing crisis at VHA hospitals and clinics throughout the U.S where there are 49,000 vacant positions. More

The Real Destabilizer in the Middle East is Not Iran But Trump

by Patrick Cockburn

As President Trump withdraws certification of the nuclear agreement with Iran, commentators across the world struggled for words to adequately convey their outrage and contempt. A favourite term to describe Trump is as “a wrecking ball”, but the phrase suggests a sense of direction and capacity to strike a target which Trump does not possess. More

The Real Reasons Trump is Quitting UNESCO

by Jonathan Cook

At first glance, the decision last week by the Trump administration, followed immediately by Israel, to quit the United Nation’s cultural agency seems strange. Why penalise a body that promotes clean water, literacy, heritage preservation and women’s rights?

Washington’s claim that the UN’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) is biased against Israel obscures the real crimes the agency has committed in US eyes. More

The Political Economy of Obama/Trump

Richard D. Wolff

The Man in the Soundproof Booth

Jeffrey St. Clair

How to Wipe Out Puerto Rico’s Debt Without Hurting Bondholders

Ellen Brown

Orange Thing: Should It Stay or Should It Go?

Paul Street

As Trump Visits Puerto Rico, Let’s Remember (and Apply) the Real Lessons From Haiti

Mark Schuller

Kaepernick, Patriotism, and the Perversion of Protest

Jason Hirthler

Exclusively in the New Print Issue of CounterPunch

Hidden War

In this Issue:The Hidden War: Edward Hunt on the moral outrages in Yemen; Department of Injustice: Stanley Cohen on Racism as Policy under Jeff Sessions; Cold War Illusions: Patrick Lawrence on the mentality that will not die; Killing Grizzlies in Yellowstone by Louisa Willcox and David Mattson; The Real Heroes of Mexico City by Laura Carlsen; Barcelona is Not Afraid by Julie Wark and Daniel Raventos; PLUS: Jeffrey St. Clair on climate change and forest fires; Mike Whitney on Syria; Chris Floyd and Lee Ballinger on Bob Dylan; Yvette Carnell on why liberals ruin everything. And much more.

CounterPunch Matching Grant

If you are able to donate $100 or more for our Annual Fund Drive, your donation will be matched by another generous CounterPuncher! These are tough times. Regardless of the political rhetoric bantered about the airwaves, the recession hasn’t ended for most of us. We know that money is tight for many of you. But we also know that tens of thousands of daily readers of CounterPunch depend on us to slice through the smokescreen and tell it like is.

There’s no safety net for us. Every dollar you can manage is crucial to our survival. So, please, help as much as you can. All contributions are tax-deductible.
If you appreciate CounterPunch and haven’t yet made a tax deductible donation this fund drive, please consider doing so. No amount is too small, every dollar counts (PayPal accepted).
Donate Today!