Thanks, DOGE. Heckuva job. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/0...

“The president may wish to be considered in the same class as Napoleon or Alexander the Great, but he is in danger of turning himself into the next Mobutu Sese Seko or Mohamed Suharto: a kleptocrat remembered not for his ideas, not for his power, but for his greed.” www.nytimes.com/2026/05/21/o...

Interesting to see even Netanyahu and U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee condemning Itamar Ben Gvir’s mistreatment of the pro-Palestinian flotilla intercepted by Israeli forces. Yet this far right extremist remains security minister.

With Raul Castro now indicted, Trump seems to be turning his attention to regime change in Cuba even while he still hasn’t found an exit strategy in Iran. Last month, I wrote about why his intervention in Cuba isn't likely to work out well. wapo.st/4vLxQfs

If Israel and the US were really trying to bring to power hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad—an advocate of Iran’s nuclear program—then the war plan is even dumber than it looked. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/19/u...

Bad news for Russia is good news for humanity. www.wsj.com/world/russia...

Lots of armchair generals are telling Trump to “finish the job” by returning to bombing Iran. But the hawks overestimate what U.S. airpower can accomplish and underestimate what Iran can do in response. wapo.st/3RMqzfv

Rogue states unite.

Given the deeply unsatisfactory results from 38 days of bombing, it’s hard to imagine what more of it could accomplish. Iran still retains 70% of its missiles and 40% of its drones. If Iran retaliates, it could make the current economic catastrophe seem like child's play. wapo.st/3RMqzfv

Given that Trump delayed a renewal of attacks on Iran again today—his “two week” ceasefire has now lasted more than a month—I suspect he is skeptical of the hawks. Attacking Iran again is high risk, low return.

Stavridis: “Opening the Strait militarily is a fulltime job for an aircraft carrier with 80 aircraft, a dozen guided missiles cruisers/destroyers, a half-dozen minesweepers, 75+ USAF aircraft, 35 army helicopters, and probably 5K-10K ground troops around the Iranian littoral. Whew.” wapo.st/3RMqzfv

NYT: By laying out U.S. arms sales to Taiwan as a bargaining chip with China, President Trump has handed a gift to China’s leader, Xi Jinping, in his efforts to undermine the Taiwanese government. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/18/w...

“If the Americans get everything they want, said Justus Hansen, a member of Greenland’s Parliament, there will never be any “real independence.” “We might as well raise our own flag halfway,” he said. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/18/w...

NYT: Even for Mr. Hegseth, who has stretched the boundaries of partisan politics in his job leading the Pentagon, it would be an extraordinary breach of decorum for a serving defense secretary to campaign for a political candidate www.nytimes.com/2026/05/18/u...

Another massive grift. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Lots of armchair generals are telling Trump to “finish the job” by returning to bombing Iran. But the hawks overestimate what U.S. airpower can accomplish and underestimate what Iran can do in response. wapo.st/3RMqzfv

Trump would be wise to ignore the hawkish advice he is hearing and try his level best to forge a deal with Tehran. He should explore an “open for open” accord where both sides lift their blockades. That would buy time for lengthy talks on Iran’s nuclear program. wapo.st/3RMqzfv

Contrary to what Trump said on Friday, he has not won "a total military victory" over Iran, and nor is he likely to. The sooner he recognizes that reality, the better. wapo.st/3RMqzfv

Stavridis: “Opening the Strait militarily is a fulltime job for an aircraft carrier with 80 aircraft, a dozen guided missiles cruisers/destroyers, a half-dozen minesweepers, 75+ USAF aircraft, 35 army helicopters, and probably 5K-10K ground troops around the Iranian littoral. Whew.” wapo.st/3RMqzfv

Adm. Cooper’s artfully worded claims of what he has achieved (“damaged” is not the same as “destroyed”) should be regarded with healthy skepticism. From the Vietnam War to the Iraq War, the U.S. military, like every military, has tended to exaggerate its battlefield accomplishments. wapo.st/3RMqzfv

Given the deeply unsatisfactory results from 38 days of bombing, it’s hard to imagine what more of it could accomplish. Iran still retains 70% of its missiles and 40% of its drones. If Iran retaliates, it could make the current economic catastrophe seem like child's play. wapo.st/3RMqzfv

Lots of armchair generals are telling Trump to “finish the job” by returning to bombing Iran. But the hawks overestimate what U.S. airpower can accomplish and underestimate what Iran can do in response. wapo.st/3RMqzfv

Another Trump supporter waylaid by Trump’s roundups of immigrants. www.wsj.com/opinion/when...

Trump threatens to attack Cuba. Cuba gets drones to protect itself. Those drones could become a pretext for a US attack. www.axios.com/2026/05/17/u...

Ryan Hass: Trump’s visible sympathy for Xi’s framing on Taiwan will embolden Beijing to increase pressure on Taipei. This will elevate – not lower – the risk of confrontation. www.brookings.edu/articles/tru...

Is Trump trying to lose the technology race with China? www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...

Terrific @washingtonpost.com story about how a 12 year old Ukrainian boy defeated a Russian attack drone. Good to see the Post still reporting from Ukraine. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/0...

I bet Xi is a lot less impressed by Trump than Trump is by Xi. Oh to be a fly on the wall when Xi talks with his closest associates about Trump.

Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy said that the island has run out of fuel reserves as a result of an “ironclad energy blockade” imposed by the U.S. “We have absolutely no fuel [oil], we have absolutely no diesel,” he said at a news conference Wednesday. www.wsj.com/world/americ...

China is happy to let Trump twist in the wind and deal with the consequences of his own reckless war of choice. Speaking on MS NOW.

This confirms, incidentally, last week's WashPost report: www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

So much for the US military campaign that Trump and Hegseth claim has decimated the Iranian military…. NYT: Iran still fields about 70 percent of its mobile launchers across the country and has retained roughly 70 percent of its prewar missile stockpile. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/u...

The companies have quietly raised concerns about what they see as a deliberate and escalating campaign against American business interests in Ukraine. The White House, despite its pledge to defend U.S. commercial interests abroad, has been muted in its response. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/w...

35-year CIA veteran: “The Chinese have a very dark portrait of the United States as a global hegemon that’s declining in power and becoming more violent as it tries to cling to its primacy.“ wapo.st/4wi8aHz

35-year CIA veteran: “The Chinese have a very dark portrait of the United States as a global hegemon that’s declining in power and becoming more violent as it tries to cling to its primacy.“ wapo.st/4wi8aHz

Veteran CIA analyst John Culver: I wonder when Americans might start to say, maybe Taiwan is a war we don’t want to get involved in, because at best you might fight it to a Pyrrhic victory. You might avoid nuclear escalation, but you might not. wapo.st/4wi8aHz

With his conduct of the Iran war, Trump is lighting on fire US alliances in the Persian Gulf and Europe. Speaking on MS NOW.

35-year CIA veteran: “The Iran war has been a boost for China’s green technology sales. They have the largest strategic petroleum reserve in the world, and they’ve been filling it while everybody else is emptying theirs. So I don’t detect they’re under extreme pressure.” wapo.st/4wi8aHz

35 year CIA veteran: I think one lesson that Chinese might draw from the Iran war is that, because of the advances in anti-ship capability, and the dynamics of human nature to avoid risk, there’s real power in being the side that’s trying to impede shipping rather than to enable it. wapo.st/4wi8aHz

35-year CIA veteran: “Today, it’s hard to point to an area other than undersea warfare and say the United States still has an advantage. The Chinese are leading us in some categories such as air-to-air missiles, surface-to-air missiles, counter-space and electronic warfare.” wapo.st/4wi8aHz

35-year CIA veteran: “The Chinese have a very dark portrait of the United States as a global hegemon that’s declining in power and becoming more violent as it tries to cling to its primacy.“ wapo.st/4wi8aHz

35-year CIA veteran: “If the reports are true that we expended a huge portion of our long-range strike and missile defense capacity fighting Iran, then we don’t have anywhere near the inventory we would need for a China fight.” wapo.st/4wi8aHz

So it turns out Trump planned to give Iran control of 20% of the world’s oil. 😆

After making gains late last year, the Russian military has slowed to a crawl. In some parts of Ukraine, it has lost territory. At its average monthly rate of advance so far this year, it would take Russia more than three decades to seize full control of the Donbas. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/10/w...

Love this article about the football coach at Eureka College, Ronald Reagan’s alma mater. www.nytimes.com/athletic/717...

Lawyers for Pete Hegseth argued that military retirees were subject to freedom of speech restrictions because of their connection to the military, and that if they didn’t like those restrictions, retirees could forfeit their pension and benefits. Let that sink in. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/08/o...

About 352,000 Russian soldiers had died in the war against Ukraine through the end of 2025, according to a new estimate, underscoring the high cost that President Vladimir V. Putin is willing to bear to pursue his battlefield aims. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/09/w...

Another “ceasefire” that isn’t. www.wsj.com/livecoverage...

I wrote on Monday about Pete Hegseth and Gen. Francis Donovan ramping up lawless boat strikes, which amount to extrajudicial killing. This week there have been 3 more strikes! Truly out of control. Awful that the US military is doing this and the world barely notices. wapo.st/4tOygA5

Helene Cooper 🔥: The Pentagon released what it called “new, never-before-seen” files on U.F.O.s on Friday, hailing the step as an example of the commitment of the department, which kicked out reporters earlier this year, to transparency. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/08/u...