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This is Defector, a new sports blog and media company. We made this place together, we own it together, we run it together. Without access, without favor, without discretion, and without interference.

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Defector

Séamus Malekafzali is a New York-based journalist and writer primarily focusing on the politics of the Middle East.

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Séamus Malekafzali

Donald Trump looks on as Lindsey Graham talks in the foreground.

President Trump Returns To The  White House After Spending Holidays In Florida

Politics

Lindsey Graham Has Waited Decades For The Chance To Obliterate Iran

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Albert Burneko

Protesters take cover behind overturned trash containers as a line of federal agents forms a barricade across a downtown street during clashes following the fatal shooting of a demonstrator earlier in the day, on January 24, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

feds minneapolis

Federal Agents Kill Again; Gunmen Still At Large

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Justin Ellis

Screenshot 2026-01-22 at 2.44.39 PM

How Do You Justify Abducting A Child?

Gavin Newsom, looking like a gross sleazeball

gavnewsom

Gavin Newsom Has Nothing To Offer

A single bullet hole can be seen on the driver’s side of the windshield of a vehicle that a woman was shot and killed in by federal officers on Portland Ave. in Minneapolis, Minn. on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) killing, Minneapolis, January 2026

Journalismism

CBS News Is The Trump Administration’s New Laundromat

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David Roth

Federal Agents arrest a man during an Immigration Enforcement Operation in Minneapolis, Minneapolis, MN, U.S., January 13, 2026.

Immigration Enforcement Operations continue in Minneapolis

Fascists Are Pathetic

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Tom Ley

Dokoupil and trump

Media Meltdowns

CBS Anchor Tony Dokoupil Is Stuck In An Endless Loop Of Humiliation

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Giri Nathan

US Vice President JD Vance speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC on January 8, 2026. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP)

US-POLITICS-BRIEFING-VANCE

JD Vance Is A Hog That’ll Eat Any Slop

Protestors stare down federal officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement outside a federal building near Minneapolis following the shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent.

Clashes erupt outside ICE facility in Minneapolis

When Everyday Life Becomes Domestic Terrorism

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Samer Kalaf

ICE agents stand at the scene where ICE agents fatally shot a woman earlier in the day in Minneapolis.

ICE shooting kills woman in US state of Minnesota

ICE Is Modeling Its Brutality After The IDF

US Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat from Minnesota

Amy Klobuchar

How Hard Is It To Oppose Murder?

Staff Writer
Find me on Signal @DefectorChris.19

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Chris Thompson

Pete Hegseth

Which Lives Are Worthy Of The Media’s Protection?

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Barry Petchesky

PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - JANUARY 03: U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the media during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago club on January 03, 2026, in Palm Beach, Florida. President Trump confirmed that the United States military carried out a large-scale strike in Caracas overnight, resulting in the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

President Trump Holds News Conference After US Captures Venezuelan President Maduro

Donald Trump Will Tell You Exactly What He Wants From Venezuela

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Brandy Jensen

US-POLITICS-CORRESPONDENTS

Arts And Culture

American Cant

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Patrick Redford

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 07: David Ellison attends the 48th Kennedy Center Honors at The Kennedy Center on December 07, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Shannon Finney/WireImage)

48th Kennedy Center Honors

Capital

Paramount Launches Hostile Takeover Bid For Warner Bros. Discovery

From left, American real estate developer Donald Trump and his girlfriend (and future wife), former model Melania Knauss, financier (and future convicted sex offender) Jeffrey Epstein, and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell pose together at the Mar-a-Lago club, Palm Beach, Florida, February 12, 2000.

Trump, Knauss, Epstein, & Maxwell At Mar-A-Lago

Newly Released Jeffrey Epstein Emails Claim That Donald Trump “Knew About The Girls”

Columnist. Author of many <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Drew-Magary/e/B001JS8R52/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1">fine works of literature</a>, including Point B. Handsomest man in the world.

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Drew Magary

(GERMANY OUT) Scrabble game, board with the term HILFE (help) and figures

Scrabble game, board with the term HILFE (help) and figures

Funbag

Big Words Are Big Fun

Donald Trump smiles woodenly from the owner's box at the Nov. 9 Commanders game.

Trump in Landover

Booooooo! Boooooooo!!!

U.S. President Donald J. Trump (R) talks with Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris before a state dinner at the Lusail Palace on May 14, 2025, in Doha, Qatar. The visit underscores the strategic partnership between the United States and Qatar, focusing on regional security and economic collaboration.

President Trump Makes First Middle East Trip Of His Second Term

Report: Donald Trump Trying To Slap His Awful Name On The Commanders’ New Stadium

U.S. President Donald Trump departs Air Force One on October 30, 2025 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. Trump is returning to Washington following a high-stakes meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, alongside securing trade deals with ASEAN, Japanese and South Korean partners on his week-long Asian tour.

President Trump Returns To U.S. After Asia Trip

If You’re Stuck At An Airport Right Now, It’s Because Trump Fucked You

Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, father of Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), listens to daughter's remarks during a primary night event August 16, 2022 in Jackson, Wyoming.

Dick Cheney

Dick Cheney Departs The World He Made

Head Coach Bill Belichick of the North Carolina Tar Heels poses during a press conference on December 12, 2024 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

North Carolina Tar Heels Present New Football Coach Bill Belichick

Jamboroo

Our Rich People Suck At Spending Money

Donald Trump, looking like shit in front of a blue curtain.

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Get A Job, Asshole

Former Binance CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao arrives at federal court in Seattle, Washington, on April 30, 2024. Changpeng Zhao, the founder and former chief executive of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, was sentenced today to four months in prison after he pleaded guilty to violating laws against money laundering. (Photo by Jason Redmond / AFP)

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Donald Trump’s Crypto Corruption Machine Is Whirring Along At A Stunning Pace

Donald Trump delivers an announcement on his Homeland Security Task Force in the State Dining Room of the White House on October 23, 2025 in Washington, DC

President Trump Makes An Announcement In The State Dining Room Of The White House

What Can’t The President Do?

donald trump