Putin-Trump

Putin appears to earn yet another Trump reprieve

Israel E1

 Trump puts Israeli fanatic before US interests

Trump-Putin meeting x2

Trump shouldn't bite on Putin's poisoned North Korea lure

Putin will attempt to play Trump in Alaska

China-Philippines, DC crime

Escalating China-Philippines tensions underlined by China collision. Chinese commanders are engaged in increasingly aggressive maneuvers in the South China Sea.

D.C. crime challenge is real and needs real solutions. Federal control is one positive reform but other actions are also needed.

India tariffs, Israel offensive

Trump right to tariff India over Russia war support. India cannot keep having American cake and eating U.S. interests. 

Israel's new Gaza offensive must center on ground forces, not air power. The costs to Gazan civilians and to U.S. diplomatic standing from a new air campaign would be too great.

Trump nukes

 Trump bolsters military's nuclear readiness to deter Russia

Trump-Netanyahu

 Is Trump losing patience with Netanyahu?

Israel/Gaza, Elbridge Colby

Israel has only bad options in Gaza

from las week

Allied attacks on Elbridge Colby miss the mark

State Department waste

 State Department security agency splurges $200K on Sydney junket

Russia/Trump, UFO reporting, Iran

Why the Kremlin has delegated state media to respond to Trump's rejoinder

UFO reporting is caught between excess sensationalism and excess skepticism

from Sunday...

Two reasons the U.S. and Iran look set to fight again

UK welfare failure

 U.K. government roils as weakening government cancels spending cuts

Air defense munitions

 America's urgent air defense munitions crisis

Israel-Iran conflict

 Israel-Iran war will bring military and terrorism challenges for U.S.

Israel-Iran, CJNG

 Is Israel going to bomb Iran or is it just buffering Trump's diplomacy?

What happens when the Jalisco New Generation Cartel starts killing Americans?

China drone threat, Trump-Putin call, NCIS review, Macron-China

 Ukraine drone attacks offer a China warning for the U.S.

Trump prostrates before Putin's threat of new war crimes

from Tuesday:

NCIS launches internal review following Navy Secretary security incident

from Monday:

Emmanuel Macron slightly turns up the heat on China

CPAC Hungary, West Bank

 CPAC Hungary: the age of Chinese Communist collaborators is here

Israeli settlement expansions in West Bank undermine US interests

NATO spending,

 NATO's troubling new addiction to defense spending gimmicks

Rubio NSC

 Rubio's callous national security cull

Iran terrorism, Golden Dome, Trump-Europe, Trump-Putin, Comey

Will Iran kill nuclear negotiations with terrorist attacks in the West?

Trump's Golden Dome is big gamble but may bring big rewards

Trump plays good cop, Europe plays bad cop with Russia and Israel

from Monday

Putin plays Trump for an idiot with continuing ceasefire prevarication

from last Friday

James Comey puts fidelity to profits before fidelity to FBI and country

Gaza-Jordan, GOP-SALT

 Jordan saves children in Gaza while others protest for show

Republicans should let the "One, big, beautiful bill" die on SALT hill

Arabs and Israel, Putin Istanbul

Why Trump is boosting Saudi Arabia and sidelining Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump values the Arabs' financial relationships and deference over Netanyahu's arrogance.

Why I believe Putin will go to Istanbul. Putin wants to avoid new U.S. sanctions and Trump's ire. He will likely fear that failing to attend may lead to a breaking point against him.

POTUS and Putin

Guest Wall Street Journal op-ed

Trump isn't the first president Putin has played. Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Biden were all played by Putin also.

Zelensky-Trump

Vladimir Putin's problem: Zelensky has learned the art of Trump's favor. Ukraine's president is agreeing to whatever Trump suggests then contrasting his approach with Putin's.

Trump Palestinian state?

 Trump may recognize a Palestinian state

Xi-Europe

In Moscow, Xi shows Europe he expects a poodle not a partner. China's supreme leader made clear that his partnership with Russia is only deepening amid Ukraine chaos.

India-Pakistan nukes, AfD Germany

How the U.S. military guards against India-Pakistan nuclear war. The key ingredients are diplomacy, espionage, and submarines.

Germany and Marco Rubio are both wrong about the AfD. The group does have a Nazi problem but also thrives off legitimate grievances. 

Congress-Greenland, El Salvador

Congress must speak out as Trump shreds U.S. interests in Greenland. It is outrageous to spy on a close ally to undermine their sovereignty.  

End temporary protected status for Salvadorans. Their country is safe now.

UK arrests

 Iran terrorist threat underlined by significant U.K. arrests

Prince Harry

Prince Harry seeks Royal reconciliation by pondering when the King will die. Harry is clueless as to his own hypocrisy, and seems determined to widen his rift with the Royal Family.

Taiwan, Waltz/Witkoff, Waltz/Hegseth

As Navy prioritizes Middle East, China encircles Taiwan. The PLA is taking advantage of American distraction to compress Taiwan.

Mike Waltz's signal of Steve Witkoff's ascendancy? The top Trump negotiator's NSC stock is rising.

Mike Waltz is the fall guy for Pete Hegseth, and for Trump's Iran diplomacy. Waltz was never a natural ideological partner to Trump.

Trump vs. Xi and Putin

 Trump is tough on strong Xi but weak on weaker Putin

Putin ceasefire bluff

 Will Trump let Putin play him with three-day ceasefire bluff?

Chicago police, Iran attack, EU extortion

 From this week...

The courage and honor of Chicago police officer "5-11"

Is it really the perfect time to bomb Iran's nuclear program?

Trump must retaliate against EU tech extortion

Iran negotiations

 What's behind Trump's dovish turn on Iran? A clearer focus on nuclear issues than in his first term

Trump European defense spending

 Trump's chaotic messaging on European defense spending

Bill Maher

 Bill Maher went to Washington, he wasn't played.

Putin

 Putin's Christian nationalist mirage

China tariffs vs. rest

 Why Trump's China tariffs are good, and his 10% tariffs for all others are bad

from Wednesday

Trump's tariffs are damaging U.S. alliances needed for China

Rubio security incident

 Rubio security supervisor arrested by Brussels police after hotel fight

Trump tariffs

 Trump's tariffs will empower China and impoverish America

NATO relocations

 Strengthen NATO by relocating U.S. military from Spain and Italy to Greece and Poland

Putin manipulation game

Is Trump finally waking up to Putin's manipulation game?

Free speech

The Trump administration turns the screws on free speech

Kash Patel

 FBI Director Kash Patel is off to a strong start

Houthi Signal leak, Iran deployments, Dem response to Houthi leak

No question Houthi signal chat included classified information

U.S. boosts Iran strike options with aircraft carrier and bomber deployments

Democrats are exploiting the GOP on Houthi leaks

Trump Houthi strategy

Trump's Houthi strategy should avoid full scale war. The costs on U.S. military readiness and armament stocks of a prolonged, escalating conflict that will be near impossible to win are too high.

Putin-Trump call

Putin manipulates Trump into art of the KGB ceasefire deal. This is a clear indication that Putin is able to corral Trump against U.S. and allied interests.

Putin ceasefire nuances

Will Trump let Putin play him with ceasefire "nuances?" The president's penchant for seeing the best in Putin is about to hit the reality of Russian demands over any ceasefire.

Trump-Putin

How Trump fears and trusts Putin too much. The president needs to take more confidence from U.S. power while also recognizing Putin for who he actually is.

Trump Ukraine

Trump splashes a dash of ceasefire pressure on Russia. It's the first indication that Trump will be willing to exert pressure on Moscow.