Kim Hjelmgaard (@khjelmgaard) header
Kim Hjelmgaard (@khjelmgaard) profile picture

International at USA TODAY. Underdogs, mostly.

Joined April 2011
Photo by Kim Hjelmgaard (@khjelmgaard)Photo by Kim Hjelmgaard (@khjelmgaard)Photo by Kim Hjelmgaard (@khjelmgaard)Photo by Kim Hjelmgaard (@khjelmgaard)Photo by Kim Hjelmgaard (@khjelmgaard)Photo by Kim Hjelmgaard (@khjelmgaard)Photo by Kim Hjelmgaard (@khjelmgaard)Photo by Kim Hjelmgaard (@khjelmgaard)Photo by Kim Hjelmgaard (@khjelmgaard)
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hear, hear
Excellent from @bealejonathan & BBC team. Quality frontline reporting based on committed editorial investment. Not the same as podcast polemic.
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Kim Hjelmgaard retweeted
My beautiful Tehran… shimmering after the rain, cradled by the majestic Alborz Mountains. Scarred by bombs and missiles, yet unbroken. Forever in my heart 🤍 تهران من
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Kim Hjelmgaard retweeted
On the Jensen Huang-Alice Huang affair, you have to give the MSS credit for running another successful op. They are good and getting better. I have seen some takes that it is no big deal he had an affair with an alleged PRC spy because he needed no pillow talk convincing to push for looser export controls, but that misses a few things: He is (was?) text and phone buddies with President Trump, so if he divulged anything about his conversations with Trump to her, or his thoughts about Trump or chatter about China policy or frankly anything from Trump, that would be valuable to any foreign intelligence service, and especially to the MSS; Was she ever alone with his phone or computer, say when he got up to use the bathroom? Are Nvidia IT/device policies for travel to Taiwan and Singapore looser than those for travel to the mainland? What value would there be to the MSS to have physical access to the devices of the Nvidia CEO?; He is the chip allocator in chief, so a good relationship with him likely meant more chips for the MegaSpeed front and the entities back in the PRC to which those chips flowed. With the new Congress, expect subpoenas and public hearings in which he is trashed and he and Nvidia are further damaged. What a win for the MSS, to have such access to the head of the most important company in the world, and to now get to watch as politicians and shorts attack him and Nvidia. There is rarely just one lie, so don’t be surprised if the blast radius from this mess expands. And there is already the SuperMicro case…
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Earlier this year, I wrote a story on how America’s chief adversaries, China and Russia, are using every espionage tactic imaginable to gain diplomatic, military, technological and scientific advantages. Nvidia/Jensen Huang news makes it newly relevant. usatoday.com/story/news/worl…
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Today's @USATODAY in print. Read our story about a Texas mom making DHS nervous she'll spawn violent protests by tracking ICE contractors: usatoday.com/story/news/nati…
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Kim Hjelmgaard retweeted
Another important piece by @yarbatman that explains why economic pressure will inflict enormous pain on Iran without forcing the Islamic Republic to surrender. As he writes, "Trump’s approach ... can certainly immiserate most of the country’s people. But it cannot successfully strangle the Islamic Republic itself... To prevail in its economic war, the Trump administration will ... need to asphyxiate 25 million households and more than one million firms. But as breathing slows in parts of Iran’s economy, ample oxygen will remain for the country’s elite."
In this new @ForeignAffairs essay, I argue that US officials are being too triumphant about Iran’s economic downturn. Iran’s leaders are using inflation to engage in financial repression. Counterintuitively, reduced economic activity is helping the state stave off a deeper crisis and persevere during the war. Read here: foreignaffairs.com/iran/why-…
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Kim Hjelmgaard retweeted
"It's becoming conventional wisdom that the Iran war is a fiasco of the first order.…There is an argument out there that if United States is struggling to fight a middle power like Iran, it may be totally inconceivable that we could go head-to-head against China." – Asia Program Director @lylegoldstein Story by @khjelmgaard & @mcollinsNEWS for @USATODAY: usatoday.com/story/news/worl…
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Kim Hjelmgaard retweeted
If I were hit by a bus and someone leaned over me to ask whose analysis on Iran they should trust most, I’d use my last breath to say: @HamidRezaAz. (And probably wonder about their priorities!) So I’m especially delighted to welcome him to our @CrisisGroup team.
I’m delighted to share that I have joined @CrisisGroup as Senior Iran Analyst. I look forward to working with an exceptional team of colleagues and contributing to Crisis Group’s mission to prevent wars and shape policies that will build a more peaceful world.
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Few metro papers still can afford to have eyes on their delegations in Washington. Very glad @journalsentinel is investing in this legacy from @WisVoter --> @lawrencegandrea -->
Some personal news: I left Roll Call a few weeks ago to cover Washington for the @journalsentinel — my hometown paper! My first day is tomorrow! So excited to jump into Wisconsin politics & issues ahead of midterms. Reach out and say hey! [email protected] 🗞️
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"'The administration didn't explain why this war was necessary,'" said DePetris, who added that Trump's 'original sin' on Iran occurred in 2018, during his first term, when he pulled the U.S. out of an Obama administration-era nuclear deal." Via @khjelmgaard in @USATODAY: usatoday.com/story/news/worl…
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Kim Hjelmgaard retweeted
Six months of war. No victory. No durable peace. No clear off-ramp. Now Washington is turning to crushing sanctions after military force failed to deliver its objectives. Iran’s economy will suffer. Ordinary Iranians will pay a lot. Americans will pay too. There is no winning side here. Just mounting costs. A real mess. @khjelmgaard usatoday.com/story/news/worl…
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Kim Hjelmgaard retweeted
I go to China a lot because I’m interested in tech. I don’t go to Silicon Valley much anymore as it’s falling so far behind China. SV maintains a lead arguably only in: tech podcasting, tech narrative & meme-making, financial engineering & little else.
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For NYT, on the stalemate that has turned into a purgatory, and is likely to last for the foreseeable future, in my view. nytimes.com/2026/08/17/opini…
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