The Death of Stalin (Signalgate)

There’s a scene in The Death of Stalin where the politburo grandees – all desperate not to be next on the firing list – stand around Stalin’s twitching corpse, debating whether he’s dead, who should fetch a doctor, and whether said doctor has already been purged. Every word is weighed, every glance a potential betrayal. It’s a masterclass in fearful incompetence wrapped in bombast.

Now enter Signalgate – America’s own descent into farce, only with fewer medals and more mobile phones. In this reimagining, we swap the smoky corridors of Soviet power for a Signal group chat, where Trump’s top brass – Vance, Rubio, Hegseth and Waltz – planned military strikes on Yemen as if arranging five-a-side football. Then, in a moment of outstanding digital idiocy, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz accidentally invited The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, into the chat. Not just any journalist – one of the sharpest political editors in America.

Picture Beria accidentally looping in George Orwell. That’s where we are.

And just like the Kremlin’s old guard, they immediately fell back on the oldest trick in the authoritarian playbook: attack the journalist. Goldberg, they now imply, is the villain. He was reckless, disloyal, possibly even subversive – for being there. Not for leaking anything. Not for asking awkward questions. Just for having eyes and ears.

It’s pure Stalinism in its modern form. In the film, terrified yes-men shout over one another to appear loyal, all while quietly sharpening knives behind backs. Truth is a liability, and messengers are dealt with. In today’s America, when the truth emerges not through espionage but through sheer clumsiness, the same tactics apply. Create noise. Smear the witness. Hope the public lose interest before the facts land.

The real absurdity lies in the double standard. These are the very same characters who howl about free speech, who puff up their chests about holding power to account, who claim the press should be fearless. Until, of course, it turns its gaze on them. Then it’s all about "national security", loyalty tests, and trying to paint the journalist as the problem – not the people discussing airstrikes on a glorified group chat.

It would be laughable if it weren’t so bloody serious. In both cases – Soviet and Trumpist – power is wielded not with care or competence, but with bravado and paranoia. The Death of Stalin was supposed to be a satire. This lot appear to be treating it as a training video.