Threats
Denied Wall Funding, Trump Sends National Guard to Southern Border
Details are still being hashed out, but previous presidents’ decisions to do the same offer clues about what’s to come.
Policy
A Day of Whiplash in the US’s Syria Policy
At simultaneous live events, the president and military leaders offered conflicting views about America’s involvement.
Policy
Could Trump Actually Use Military Funding for His Border Wall?
The president would have to overcome legal and Congressional obstacles to use Department of Defense resources on construction.
Policy
Trump's 'Very Soon' Withdrawal From Syria Is Exactly What Many Troops Feared
What the president said is exactly what some special operations forces worried would happen — under President Hillary Clinton.
Threats
The Shadowy Operative at the Center of the Russia Scandal
Court documents call him Person A, but descriptions match the officer to Russian intelligence and to Paul Manafort and Rick Gates.
Threats
What Does 'Denuclearization' Mean to Kim Jong Un?
A close reading of what the Korean leader reportedly told Xi Jinping in Beijing.
Ideas
The White House Doctor and the Dual-Officeholding Ban
Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson’s appointment reinvigorates the debate over the proper relationship between the military and the government.
Ideas
A Deal with North Korea Won't Happen Without China
How Kim Jong-Un's surprise visit to Beijing underscores China’s influence.
Threats
Trump's 'Good Relationship' With Russia Is Slipping Away
By shuttering a consulate and expelling 60 diplomats in response to the spy poisoning in Britain, he’s taken a remarkably hard line against Putin.
Business
Mattis to Military: You Have Your Money. Spend It Wisely
The defense secretary warns “results and accountability matter in every expenditure.”
Policy
Where’s the New Transgender Troops Ban Headed? Look at the Travel Ban Fight
Like Trump’s effort to bar visitors from several Mideast countries, a long legal battle awaits the newest limits on who can serve in uniform.
Policy
F-35 Sale to Taiwan Not Worth the ‘Risk,’ Experts Warn
As the Trump administration takes an aggressive stance on China, senators push an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter deal with Taiwan.
Ideas
John Bolton Is Misunderstood
The actual track record of Trump’s next national-security adviser offers cause for cautious optimism.
Policy
How John Bolton Views US Allies and Adversaries
His 2007 memoir lays out the incoming national-security adviser’s worldview.
Ideas
Arms Sales Decisions Shouldn’t Be About Jobs
Basic foreign policy principles should drive potential weapons exports, not pork-barrel politics.
Ideas
McMaster's Choice
Before he was the national-security adviser, he wrote a lacerating account of generals who failed in advising Lyndon Johnson. What will he say now that he is free to talk about Trump?
Policy
Trump Backs Off Budget Veto in Odd White House Event Laden with Misstatements
The mischaracterization of the 2018 defense budget as the biggest ever was just the start.
Ideas
John Bolton Will Not End Well
Wait until Trump starts working with this swamp veteran with bad press and Pentagon push-back who likes to name-drop Edmund Burke.
Policy
What John Bolton's Appointment as National Security Adviser Means
Until today, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster was considered Trump's most militant adviser on North Korea.
Threats