Jan W. Mueller | Lightnews

Jan-Werner Mueller

@jwmueller-pu.bsky.social

16K followers 900 following 1.8K posts

Political Theory and Intellectual History. Politics of Architecture and Iconography. Some Public Affairs Commentary.

Posting in a personal capacity.

Texts mostly in LRB, Guardian, Foreign Policy, Architectural Review.

Representation: Wylie. .. more

Videos

Computer science 57%

Mathematics 29%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Jan-Werner Mueller @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social · 1d

Around 50 Members of Congress have signed on:

A congresswoman wants to impeach Kristi Noem. She’s right to do so | Jan-Werner Müller

It may be tempting to dismiss the move as hopeless – but it interrupts the Trump administration’s promise of impunity

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller

Project Syndicate @projectsyndicate.bsky.social · 1d

Amid all the damage Trump has done in the first year of his second term, the destruction of America’s diplomatic capacity has received relatively little attention. But it could prove among the most costly, warns @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social. bit.ly/49Fj0gb

The High Cost of Trump’s Amateur Diplomats

Jan-Werner Mueller surveys the damage from the Trump administration’s gutting of US diplomatic capacity and expertise.

bit.ly

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller

Tomorrow’s Affairs @tmrwsaffairs.bsky.social · 1d

The gutting of American diplomacy will lead future historians to ask why the US decided to throw so much away, so swiftly and so senselessly - By @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social tomorrowsaffairs.com/trumps-war-o...
@projectsyndicate.bsky.social
#Trump #Diplomacy

Trump’s war on diplomats is making the US more manipulable on the world stage

The gutting of American diplomacy will lead future historians to ask why the US decided to throw so much away, so swiftly and so senselessly

tomorrowsaffairs.com

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller, Steve Peers, Daniel W. Drezner

Dom Ervolina @dominicervolina.com · 2d

I added captions to this video of people heckling Greg Bovino leaving a Target in Minneapolis, and there's so many people yelling things at him it's like a comedy skit

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Jan W. Mueller, Richard S.J. Tol , and 2 more Joanna Bryson, Jan W. Mueller, Richard S.J. Tol, Michael Zimmer, Sarah Roberts

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

"The Pentagon used a secret aircraft painted to look like a civilian plane in its first attack on a 'drug boat,' killing 11 ... the laws of armed conflict prohibit combatants from feigning civilian status to fool adversaries into dropping their guard, then killing them. That is a war crime."

U.S. Attacked Boat With Aircraft That Looked Like a Civilian Plane

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Joanna Bryson

Jan-Werner Mueller @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social · 2d

From the French Foreign Ministry:

Jan-Werner Mueller @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social · 2d

"Democrats...need to break out of a fateful dynamic: during Trump 2.0, misdeeds and scandals are following each other in such rapid succession that neither the press nor the public ever seem to get to focus on one. Impeachment can concentrate minds and slow down political time."

A congresswoman wants to impeach Kristi Noem. She’s right to do so | Jan-Werner Müller

It may be tempting to dismiss the move as hopeless – but it interrupts the Trump administration’s promise of impunity

www.theguardian.com

Adam Bonica @adambonica.bsky.social · 2d

If there's one empirical insight I'd want everyone to understand about American politics, it's this:

America's problems are solved problems. Just not here.

What would change if the US simply matched the average of 31 peer democracies? Not Denmark or Norway. Just the middle of the pack. 🧵

Screenshot of a data visualization titled “The Cost of American Exceptionalism,” subtitled “What would change if the U.S. matched the OECD average?” The page explains that each card shows how outcomes would change if the U.S. matched the average of 31 peer democracies. Below, a section labeled “Economy & Inequality” displays eight cards comparing U.S. figures to OECD averages. Highlights include: +$19K per household per year in redistributed income and +$96K in redistributed wealth if the top 1% matched OECD shares; a 71% lower CEO-to-worker pay ratio (from 354× to 101×); 50 million more workers with union coverage; 26 million more people with health insurance; $2.1 trillion saved annually in healthcare spending; $691 less per person per year in prescription drug costs; and intergenerational economic mobility being twice as high. Each card shows the U.S. value alongside the OECD average.

Jan-Werner Mueller @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social · 2d

'...both Trump and the loyalists he sends out into the world are utterly predictable because of their openly declared desire to do financially, though not necessarily geopolitically, advantageous “deals”...Trumpists have signaled that the US is not only open for business, but also for...bribery.'

The High Cost of Trump’s Amateur Diplomats

Jan-Werner Mueller surveys the damage from the Trump administration’s gutting of US diplomatic capacity and expertise.

www.project-syndicate.org

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller, David R. Miller, David Darmofal

Zach Everson @zacheverson.com · 2d

Donald Trump’s first appearance in the NYT—

“Major Landlord Accused of Antiblack Bias in City” from 1974

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Jan W. Mueller, Mark Rice , and 5 more Joanna Bryson, Jan W. Mueller, Mark Rice, Aviel Roshwald, Élisabeth Vallet, David Darmofal, Steven H. Seggie, Elise Thomas

Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 3d

Congratulations to all the bankers, hedge-fund managers, private-equity honchos, tech titans, corporate executives and op-ed writers for backing the man who will do more to undermine the system that made them insanely wealthy than any other presidential candidate in their lifetimes.

Tim O’Brien @timobrien.bsky.social · 3d

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the US central bank had been served grand jury subpoenas from the Justice Department threatening a criminal indictment, a dramatic escalation of the Trump administration’s attacks on the Fed.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Fed Served With DOJ Subpoenas, Powell Vows to Stand Firm

www.bloomberg.com

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller, Menzie Chinn, Élisabeth Vallet , and 1 more Jan W. Mueller, Menzie Chinn, Élisabeth Vallet, David Darmofal

Tim O’Brien @timobrien.bsky.social · 3d

Fed Served With DOJ Subpoenas, Powell Vows to Stand Firm

www.bloomberg.com

Justin Wolfers @justinwolfers.bsky.social · 3d

What can history teach us about what happens when a populist strongman with an idiosyncratic taste for low interest rates undermines central bank independence?

Jan-Werner Mueller @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social · 3d

"Justices have been almost exclusively engaged with how to deal with laws that directly punish or forbid certain speech, which is analytically easier than trying to determine when in the conduct of the government’s business a comparable result to that of direct censorship should be disallowed."

Universities Need a New Defense

The authoritarian threat is growing. The old playbook won’t work.

www.chronicle.com

Jan-Werner Mueller @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social · 3d

"Trump ist nicht verrückt. Er will die Insel aus geostrategischen Gründen kontrollieren. Wenn, dann wird er hoffen, durch sein Säbelrasseln irgendeine Art von Deal zu erzwingen."

"WELT-Global-Reporter" weiss leider null von bestehenden "Deals" DK-USA.

Und ausserdem: Die Linken sind schuld!

Krise des Westens: Nicht Donald Trump, sondern der Linksliberalismus bedroht Europa - WELT

Muss Europa die Werte des Westens künftig allein verteidigen, ohne die USA? Diese Behauptung ist größenwahnsinnig. Denn der eigentliche Riss verläuft im Inneren unserer Gesellschaft.

www.welt.de

Reposted by Joanna Bryson

Jan-Werner Mueller @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social · 3d

"The policies being enacted poll badly, often catastrophically. This is not a popular revolution. It is a minoritarian project exploiting a counter-majoritarian system—and regimes built that way are inherently unstable."

The Wall Looks Permanent Until It Falls

On the optimism of preparation in a time of democratic decay.

data4democracy.substack.com

Jan-Werner Mueller @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social · 3d

"We have more lawyers per capita and the world’s most profitable legal services industry. Yet we rank 101 out of 114 countries—behind Afghanistan—in ordinary citizens’ ability to access and afford legal services."

The Wall Looks Permanent Until It Falls

On the optimism of preparation in a time of democratic decay.

data4democracy.substack.com

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller, Mark A. Lemley, Joe R. Feagin , and 3 more Jan W. Mueller, Mark A. Lemley, Joe R. Feagin, Daniel W. Drezner, Karen Benjamin Guzzo, David Darmofal

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 3d

The U.S.-Born Unemployment Rate Rose After Trump Reduced Immigration www.forbes.com/sites/stuart...

The U.S.-Born Unemployment Rate Rose After Trump Reduced Immigration

Government data show the Trump administration’s policies reducing the number of foreign-born workers did not help U.S.-born workers in 2025.

www.forbes.com

Reposted by Fabián Muniesa, Henry Farrell

Jan-Werner Mueller @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social · 3d

"Some might worry that signaling punishment for Trumpists down the line will only increase the lawlessness ...But...by that logic, one might as well give up on accountability altogether and concede that the initiative – and, ultimately, power – now rest permanently with one’s political adversaries."

A congresswoman wants to impeach Kristi Noem. She’s right to do so | Jan-Werner Müller

It may be tempting to dismiss the move as hopeless – but it interrupts the Trump administration’s promise of impunity

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller

Citizens' Impeachment @citizensimpeachment.com · 3d

"This administration has been running on a promise of impunity at all levels, and Democrats have to start signaling that actions have consequences."

An opinion piece from @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social worth reading this morning with your coffee.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

A congresswoman wants to impeach Kristi Noem. She’s right to do so | Jan-Werner Müller

It may be tempting to dismiss the move as hopeless – but it interrupts the Trump administration’s promise of impunity

www.theguardian.com

Jan-Werner Mueller @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social · 4d

Personalism also means that you take every little loss of power personally.

Trump names battleship class after himself, advancing his personalization crusade

Sticking his name on everything is especially difficult to defend as it so plainly does little to meet the nation’s needs.

www.ms.now

Jan-Werner Mueller @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social · 4d

👇🎯

Melissa Chan @melissakchan.bsky.social · 4d

It is possible to oppose Trump, see his comments on Iran, and still root for the Iranian people regardless of what the US president says. It’s not about him, it’s not about you, it’s about the people of Iran and not about just this protest, but years of people power heartbreak.

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller

Melissa Chan @melissakchan.bsky.social · 4d

Jan-Werner Mueller @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social · 4d

Did he misspell her name because he assumed she has to be woke?

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller, Victor Pickard

Jay Rosen @jayrosen.bsky.social · 4d

Over at @status.news they're putting into the same frame the weakness of Tony Dokoupil, the new anchor at CBS, and the politics of Larry Ellison, "the billionaire Oracle co-founder who bankrolled his son’s takeover of CBS News’ parent company, Paramount."

Jan-Werner Mueller @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social · 4d

"Today, we live in a clicktatorship, ruled by a LOLviathan. Our algothracy is governed by poster brains."

Recommended:

Life Under a Clicktatorship

What happens to government when everything is content?

donmoynihan.substack.com

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller

Alan Elrod @aselrod.bsky.social · 4d

“What Danish politicians are only slowly realizing is that the main issue isn’t national security, but the Trumpian euphemism of “economic security”.” @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social on the U.S. as mafia state

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The Trump doctrine exposes the US as a mafia state | Jan-Werner Müller

The Venezuela incursion is in line with this logic, made even plainer as the US eyes Greenland

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller, Brendan Nyhan, Steven French , and 4 more Jan W. Mueller, Brendan Nyhan, Steven French, Michael A. Clemens, Efrén O. Pérez, Rebecca Tushnet, Dan Immergluck

Ryan Enos @ryanenos.bsky.social · 5d

The most chilling thing to read.
“The bottom line is this: When a federal officer gives you instructions, you abide by them and then you get to keep your life,” Representative Wesley Hunt of Texas said on Newsmax."

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/o...