T. J. Stiles
@tj-stiles.bsky.social
2.1K followers 330 following 2.3K posts
American historian and biographer. Pulitzer Prize for History for "Custer's Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America" Pulitzer Prize for Biography & National Book Award for Nonfiction for "The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt”
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tj-stiles.bsky.social
“When the American economy slipped beneath the waves under the weight of Trump’s tariffs, all that could be heard was the maniacal laughter of David Ricardo…”
atrupar.com
Trump: "I could announce 50 to 100 deals right now because I'm the shopkeeper and I keep the store. I know what countries are looking for and I know what we're looking for and I can just set those terms and they can go shopping or they don't have to go shopping, because everybody wants to shop here"
tj-stiles.bsky.social
Or they could just send a temp to College Park to Archives II, make an appointment with a records specialist, and pull the files.

The incompetence of these people. If Trump wants a distraction from the Epstein Files, he doesn’t have to shut down all work at the FBI. Er, more so, that is.
cnn.com
CNN @cnn.com · 10h
The Trump administration has ordered FBI employees in Washington, DC, to immediately search their workstations and digital media for any records pertaining to the disappearance of Amelia Earhart, a law enforcement source told CNN.
FBI employees ordered to immediately search for records related to Amelia Earhart, source says | CNN Politics
The Trump administration has ordered FBI employees in Washington, DC, to immediately search their workstations and digital media for any records pertaining to the disappearance of Amelia Earhart, a la...
www.cnn.com
tj-stiles.bsky.social
These America-detesting mamzers really hate public service, don’t they? Russ Vought isn’t a conservative. He’s a nihilist, a Russian sleeper agent, a mad bomber. He certainly wants to make everyone who chooses to serve the American people suffer.

From WaPo.
tj-stiles.bsky.social
This administration and all its people are simultaneously profoundly evil and petty—tacky, greedy, dishonest in the cheapest ways.
atrupar.com
Hirono: "I have to conclude that, since no wrongdoing was determined, that Homan kept the money. And I hope he will put that on his tax returns as income."
Reposted by T. J. Stiles
yasharali.bsky.social
An ethical use of AI.

(I did not create it to be clear).
Reposted by T. J. Stiles
tj-stiles.bsky.social
“We won’t rest until we get to the bottom of the strange cold feeling the Emperor has when he wears his beautiful new clothes. We suspect the Chinese planted a secret air conditioner.”
atrupar.com
Hassett: "China has stopped buying US soybeans. The silos are full and there are soybeans sitting on the ground w/tarps over them. That's unacceptable to POTUS. We're calling up our soybean customers around the world as part of our trade negotiations & we'll strong policies to support our farmers"
tj-stiles.bsky.social
“Charles I” has crossed my mind more than once recently. I forget, how did that work out for him?
tj-stiles.bsky.social
At this point, you have to conclude that farmers vote for Trump because they are lazy and would rather collect welfare rather than work. This can’t be a surprise to anyone.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/u...
Trump to Unveil Farmer Aid as China Shuns U.S. Crops
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by T. J. Stiles
angrystaffer.bsky.social
If this was a no, it would be really easy to say no.

Bondi’s ad hominem attack on Whitehouse is WAY more of an answer than she realizes.
atrupar.com
NOTABLE -- Pam Bondi refuses to answer direct questions about if the FBI has incriminating photos of Trump with half-naked young women, but instead deflects from them by attacking Sen. Whitehouse
tj-stiles.bsky.social
I think Trump sees himself as Julius Caesar. In reality he’s Caligula’s horse.

Or part of it, anyway.
tj-stiles.bsky.social
“We won’t rest until we get to the bottom of the strange cold feeling the Emperor has when he wears his beautiful new clothes. We suspect the Chinese planted a secret air conditioner.”
atrupar.com
Hassett: "China has stopped buying US soybeans. The silos are full and there are soybeans sitting on the ground w/tarps over them. That's unacceptable to POTUS. We're calling up our soybean customers around the world as part of our trade negotiations & we'll strong policies to support our farmers"
tj-stiles.bsky.social
Imagine being so painfully insecure that, even after being elected president, you feel compelled not only to brag constantly, but to brag about things you just made up. We’re one bad mood away from his claiming to have invented nuclear fission and having walked on the moon.
atrupar.com
Trump: "I've ended seven wars. At least half of them was because of my ability at trade and because of tariffs. If I didn't have tariffs to throw around a little bit, you would have at least 4 wars waging with thousands of people a day being killed ... we're getting close to settling 8."
Reposted by T. J. Stiles
adamrothman.bsky.social
Here is my tweet from October 2019. And they say historians shouldn't make predictions.
Tweet from @arothmanhistory:
My expert analysis, as a historian, is that things are going to get worse before they get even more worse.
5:26 PM 10 Oct 19
tj-stiles.bsky.social
ICE is using *thousands* of DEA, FBI, ATF, even IRS agents. Talk about opening the door to drug kingpins, bank robbers, white-collar criminals, and tax cheats.

If there’s a major terrorist attack in the country in the next three years, this will be part of the explanation.
tj-stiles.bsky.social
The President of the United States has initiated a low-intensity civil war.
govpritzker.illinois.gov
This evening, President Trump is ordering 400 members of the Texas National Guard for deployments to Illinois, Oregon, and other locations within the United States. No officials from the federal government called me directly to discuss or coordinate.
tj-stiles.bsky.social
Trump is fundamentally a kibitzer. A kibitzer who found himself at the chessboard, somehow, to his own surprise. Was checkmated, badly. Became a kibitzer again, when not on trial. Somehow got back to the board. Is losing again, badly. But still kibitzing.
atrupar.com
Trump: "The problem with Vietnam, we, you know, we stopped fighting to win. We would've won easy. We would've won Afghanistan easy. We would've won every war easy. But we got politically correct. 'Oh, let's take it easy.' We're not politically correct anymore, just so you understand."
tj-stiles.bsky.social
Also it’s covered in a terrible fog that turns everyone inside out! And gravity has stopped working there! Fish now keep people in bowls! Send in Space Force!
acyn.bsky.social
Trump: Portland is burning to the ground—insurrectionists all over the place. The politicians are afraid for their lives. That’s the only reason they say there’s nothing happening.
tj-stiles.bsky.social
If leading universities are “radical” and that makes them bad, why doesn’t the right start alternative universities instead of suppressing speech they don’t like? Isn’t the marketplace of ideas a conservative ideal? Isn’t competition a conservative ideal?

Jus kidding. Trumpism isn’t conservative.
tj-stiles.bsky.social
Here’s a different link to my convo with the Democrats Abroad podcast, Blue Vote Cafe.

Are we returning to the Gilded Age? (No, it’s worse now.) Is this the worst time in U.S. history? Are we headed toward civil war? Here IMHO means In My Historical Opinion.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...
What American History can Tell Us About Today
Podcast Episode · Democrats Abroad: The Blue Vote Café · 09/30/2025 · 1h 1m
podcasts.apple.com
Reposted by T. J. Stiles
tj-stiles.bsky.social
In this podcast, I give my best answers to some big questions:

Is Trump returning us to the Gilded Age?
(No, it’s worse than that.)

Do we face a civil war?

What will we have to do to rebuild when he’s gone?

Is this the worst time in our history?
tj-stiles.bsky.social
Now up: My interview with Democrats Abroad, the party organization of U.S. citizens living in other countries. The official title of the episode is, "What American History Can Tell Us about Today." It could have been titled, "When we say Trump is unprecedented, what do we mean?"
tinyurl.com/3tyk6bja
Spotify – Web Player
tinyurl.com
tj-stiles.bsky.social
Is America turning into a monarchy?

No, no, no.

You see, in a monarchy the king can’t unilaterally declare things to be crimes and determine the punishments. He needs parliament to do that.
tj-stiles.bsky.social
Less than nine months into Trump’s second term, and we’re well past the worst predictions made in the campaign. This is pure dictatorshit.
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
Jesus Christ. DHS has held this guy in the hospital handcuffed to a bed and under constant guard for over a MONTH without ANY warrant or even ANY steps taken towards putting him into the removal system!
Petitioner’s counsel has requested documentation of a judicial warrant for his arrest, any charging documents, or other authority supporting his detention. See Santiago Decl. ¶¶ 18–20. ICE has provided no response. Id.  To date, ICE has not placed Petitioner in removal proceedings, charged him with violating immigration law, set bond, issued a Notice to Appear, or otherwise processed him. See Pet. ¶¶ 16, 49. In Respondent’s Opposition brief, the government states “ICE intends to take further action consistent with the laws prescribed under the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”) once Petitioner is released from medical care and it can conduct the examination as [prescribed] in 8 C.F.R § 287.3.” Opp. at 4. Neither Petitioner nor Respondents have provided the Court with information about Petitioner’s citizenship, whether he has violated any law or regulation, or any information that would suggest that Petitioner is a flight risk.