Luke Johnson
@ljohnson.bsky.social
Journalist in Berlin
Lukegjohnson.com
Publicsphere.news
Lukegjohnson.com
Publicsphere.news
Talked about the Russian frozen asset loan yesterday with Hugo Dixon, one of the creators of the idea. Here's why he says the alternatives fall short.
December 18, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Talked about the Russian frozen asset loan yesterday with Hugo Dixon, one of the creators of the idea. Here's why he says the alternatives fall short.
President Donald J. Trump, a convicted felon
December 18, 2025 at 7:42 AM
President Donald J. Trump, a convicted felon
Talked about the Russian frozen asset loan plan with Hugo Dixon, one of the creators of the idea publicsphere.news/p/hugo-dixon...
Hugo Dixon explains the plan to use Russian frozen assets for Ukraine
The European Commission is meeting tomorrow to discuss a bold financing plan that the Trump Administration opposes
publicsphere.news
December 17, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Talked about the Russian frozen asset loan plan with Hugo Dixon, one of the creators of the idea publicsphere.news/p/hugo-dixon...
Doing live videos on the Russian asset loan and EU summit this week! Today at 5pm CEST with Hugo Dixon and 1pm Friday CEST with @davekeating.substack.com publicsphere.news/p/today-and-...
Today and Friday: Live Videos on the Russian Asset Loan and the End-of-Year EU Summit
Join me, Hugo Dixon, and Dave Keating for the latest on a crucial week for Europe and Ukraine
publicsphere.news
December 17, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Doing live videos on the Russian asset loan and EU summit this week! Today at 5pm CEST with Hugo Dixon and 1pm Friday CEST with @davekeating.substack.com publicsphere.news/p/today-and-...
Reposted by Luke Johnson
Ahmed al Ahmed, the man who tackled one of the Bondi killers, became an Australian citizen 3 years ago.
His deed was "his way of conveying his gratitude for staying in Australia, for being granted citizenship."
He took 5 bullets, and fears he'll lose his left arm.
www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...
His deed was "his way of conveying his gratitude for staying in Australia, for being granted citizenship."
He took 5 bullets, and fears he'll lose his left arm.
www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...
December 15, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Ahmed al Ahmed, the man who tackled one of the Bondi killers, became an Australian citizen 3 years ago.
His deed was "his way of conveying his gratitude for staying in Australia, for being granted citizenship."
He took 5 bullets, and fears he'll lose his left arm.
www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...
His deed was "his way of conveying his gratitude for staying in Australia, for being granted citizenship."
He took 5 bullets, and fears he'll lose his left arm.
www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...
Putin is the terms and conditions.
A very special end-of-war deal. Terms and condition apply.
US promises Ukraine ‘Article 5-like’ security, but it's a limited time offer
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are hashing out security package details in Berlin.
www.politico.com
December 16, 2025 at 9:43 AM
Putin is the terms and conditions.
Reposted by Luke Johnson
Do read the whole thread. 👇🏻
Which leaves us with the one solution I have seen so far that satisfies all three criteria: The reparations loan. It is a piece of genial policy work: It gives Ukraine quasi-cash as the loan only has to be repaid once Russia ends the war and to the extent that Russia pays reparations.
December 16, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Do read the whole thread. 👇🏻
Reposted by Luke Johnson
What a horrifying weekend of news. Too much.
December 15, 2025 at 3:30 AM
What a horrifying weekend of news. Too much.
It's that time of year, my notable books list of 2025 publicsphere.news/p/5-notable-...
with titles from @chrislhayes.bsky.social, Victoria Amelina, @andreisoldatov.bsky.social, Vollker Ullrich and @wdavidmarx.bsky.social
with titles from @chrislhayes.bsky.social, Victoria Amelina, @andreisoldatov.bsky.social, Vollker Ullrich and @wdavidmarx.bsky.social
5 Notable Books of 2025
Here are 5 works of nonfiction, which changed how I see and think about the world.
publicsphere.news
December 15, 2025 at 8:46 AM
It's that time of year, my notable books list of 2025 publicsphere.news/p/5-notable-...
with titles from @chrislhayes.bsky.social, Victoria Amelina, @andreisoldatov.bsky.social, Vollker Ullrich and @wdavidmarx.bsky.social
with titles from @chrislhayes.bsky.social, Victoria Amelina, @andreisoldatov.bsky.social, Vollker Ullrich and @wdavidmarx.bsky.social
Reposted by Luke Johnson
SCOOP: The Trump administration is providing the names of all travelers passing through U.S. airports to immigration officials in search of people with deportation orders, a substantial expansion of government efforts to draw on data to hunt down immigrants.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/u...
Immigration Agents Are Using Air Passenger Data for Deportation Effort
www.nytimes.com
December 12, 2025 at 9:26 PM
SCOOP: The Trump administration is providing the names of all travelers passing through U.S. airports to immigration officials in search of people with deportation orders, a substantial expansion of government efforts to draw on data to hunt down immigrants.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/u...
Last month, Russia said it had taken Kupiansk, www.reuters.com/world/europe... but Zelenskyy posted a video from there today. www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/202... Ukraine has its challenges, but Russia moves slower than molasses: it still hasn't taken Pokrovsk, despite months of headlines.
Russian forces take Ukraine's Kupiansk, top military official says, Ukraine denies it
The chief of Russia's general staff told President Vladimir Putin on Thursday that Russian forces had taken control of the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kupiansk, but Ukraine's military denied the ci...
www.reuters.com
December 12, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Last month, Russia said it had taken Kupiansk, www.reuters.com/world/europe... but Zelenskyy posted a video from there today. www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/202... Ukraine has its challenges, but Russia moves slower than molasses: it still hasn't taken Pokrovsk, despite months of headlines.
Despite plans like this, the fact remains that the minimum acceptable deal for Kyiv is too much for Moscow, and vice versa, and the U.S. lost leverage over Kyiv by stopping weapons funding, and isn't willing to use its leverage against Russia. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Opinion | The outlines of a sustainable Ukraine peace deal inch into view
Trump’s tilt toward Russia isn’t helping, but there’s still a path to a reasonable endgame.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 10, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Despite plans like this, the fact remains that the minimum acceptable deal for Kyiv is too much for Moscow, and vice versa, and the U.S. lost leverage over Kyiv by stopping weapons funding, and isn't willing to use its leverage against Russia. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Reposted by Luke Johnson
An example of today's power outages schedule in Kyiv. It varies from one district to another and it is subjected to changes depending on how the repairs go.
In short, we have 3 or 4 hours of electricity during daylight.
🗓 Provided by DTEK, 1st private provider of electricity in the country.
In short, we have 3 or 4 hours of electricity during daylight.
🗓 Provided by DTEK, 1st private provider of electricity in the country.
December 10, 2025 at 8:39 AM
An example of today's power outages schedule in Kyiv. It varies from one district to another and it is subjected to changes depending on how the repairs go.
In short, we have 3 or 4 hours of electricity during daylight.
🗓 Provided by DTEK, 1st private provider of electricity in the country.
In short, we have 3 or 4 hours of electricity during daylight.
🗓 Provided by DTEK, 1st private provider of electricity in the country.
We're back to too many dolls. It's actually notable that Trump did one of these rallies again, he hasn't done them for months.
Trump: "You can give up certain products. You could give up pencils. Because under the China policy, every child can get 37 pencils. They only need 1 or 2. They don't need that many. You always need steel. You don't need 37 dolls for your daughter. 2 or 3 is nice. So we're doing things right."
December 10, 2025 at 10:17 AM
We're back to too many dolls. It's actually notable that Trump did one of these rallies again, he hasn't done them for months.
New frontiers in the war on woke: fonts. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/u...
At State Dept., a Typeface Falls Victim in the War Against Woke
www.nytimes.com
December 10, 2025 at 10:07 AM
New frontiers in the war on woke: fonts. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/u...
Trump thinks "size will win" in the Ukraine war. Exactly why the U.S. won the wars in Vietnam and Afghanistan. www.politico.com/news/2025/12...
Full transcript: POLITICO's interview with President Donald Trump
The president sat for an in-depth interview with POLITICO's Dasha Burns.
www.politico.com
December 9, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Trump thinks "size will win" in the Ukraine war. Exactly why the U.S. won the wars in Vietnam and Afghanistan. www.politico.com/news/2025/12...
Reposted by Luke Johnson
New WSJ reporting: "During a December visit to Washington, David Ellison offered assurances to Trump administration officials that if he bought Warner, he'd make sweeping changes to CNN, a common target of President Trump's ire, people familiar with the matter said..."
Behind Paramount’s Relentless Campaign to Woo Warner Discovery and President Trump
David Ellison has launched a hostile takeover bid for Warner Discovery, taking his case directly to shareholders after Netflix clinched a deal.
www.wsj.com
December 9, 2025 at 1:50 AM
New WSJ reporting: "During a December visit to Washington, David Ellison offered assurances to Trump administration officials that if he bought Warner, he'd make sweeping changes to CNN, a common target of President Trump's ire, people familiar with the matter said..."
ICYMI: The Trump Administration is Obsessed With Europe publicsphere.news/p/the-trump-...
The Trump Administration is Obsessed With Europe
Under Trump, traditional U.S. adversaries are treated like allies and vice versa.
publicsphere.news
December 8, 2025 at 10:32 AM
ICYMI: The Trump Administration is Obsessed With Europe publicsphere.news/p/the-trump-...
NEW newsletter post: The Trump Administration is obsessed with Europe. In its national security strategy, it has 48 mentions, while traditional U.S. adversaries China and Russia have 21 and 10 mentions, respectively. publicsphere.news/p/the-trump-...
The Trump Administration is Obsessed With Europe
Under Trump, traditional U.S. adversaries are treated like allies and vice versa.
publicsphere.news
December 7, 2025 at 10:28 AM
NEW newsletter post: The Trump Administration is obsessed with Europe. In its national security strategy, it has 48 mentions, while traditional U.S. adversaries China and Russia have 21 and 10 mentions, respectively. publicsphere.news/p/the-trump-...
Ukraine has foiled multiple Russian assassination plots against Zelenskyy, but this one is stunningly brazen and escalatory in an EU country that is not at war with Russia.
For the EU, you may not be at war with Russia, but Russia is at war with you.
For the EU, you may not be at war with Russia, but Russia is at war with you.
Quite breathtaking story - military grade drones at Dublin airport which flew on the path Zelensky's plane took. The drones reached the flight path of his plane exactly the time it should have been there, but just missed it because Zelensky arrived ahead of schedule:
Four unidentified military-style drones breached no-fly zone to target Zelenskyy's arrival in Dublin
Gardaí are investigating whether the drones took off from land in Dublin or from an undetected ship.
www.thejournal.ie
December 5, 2025 at 10:56 AM
Ukraine has foiled multiple Russian assassination plots against Zelenskyy, but this one is stunningly brazen and escalatory in an EU country that is not at war with Russia.
For the EU, you may not be at war with Russia, but Russia is at war with you.
For the EU, you may not be at war with Russia, but Russia is at war with you.
European leaders have said they will support Ukraine "as long as it takes" and said that Kyiv's future is in Europe. Will they defy the U.S. -- which has been making feckless attempts to end the war -- to do something substantive and throw Kyiv a lifeline? www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
US Urged Europeans to Oppose EU Plan for Loan to Support Ukraine
The US lobbied several countries in the European Union in an effort to block EU plans to use frozen Russian central bank assets to back a massive loan to Ukraine, according to European diplomats famil...
www.bloomberg.com
December 5, 2025 at 10:50 AM
European leaders have said they will support Ukraine "as long as it takes" and said that Kyiv's future is in Europe. Will they defy the U.S. -- which has been making feckless attempts to end the war -- to do something substantive and throw Kyiv a lifeline? www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
This meeting lasted 5 hours, but you can sum it up in 7 words.
The bottom line: Putin did not accept Trump’s peace plan.
December 3, 2025 at 10:54 AM
This meeting lasted 5 hours, but you can sum it up in 7 words.
My theory on why powerful people have meltdowns once they face critical reporting is that they are in such insulated bubbles that nobody ever tells them that what they're doing might be unethical.
Over on x, David sacks is melting down about The New York Times reporting on his many conflicts of interest
December 2, 2025 at 2:34 PM
My theory on why powerful people have meltdowns once they face critical reporting is that they are in such insulated bubbles that nobody ever tells them that what they're doing might be unethical.
Trump's planned pardon of a convicted drug trafficker isn't just hypocrisy -- it's him objecting to the idea that former presidents can't face legal accountability after they leave office. publicsphere.news/p/strongmen-...
Strongmen of the World, Unite!
Trump's pardon of a notorious convicted drug trafficker and former president is not only hypocrisy, it's solidarity
publicsphere.news
December 2, 2025 at 10:29 AM
Trump's planned pardon of a convicted drug trafficker isn't just hypocrisy -- it's him objecting to the idea that former presidents can't face legal accountability after they leave office. publicsphere.news/p/strongmen-...