“They cut key experts on nuclear testing, nuclear verification and efforts to end the production of weapons grade fissile material. These cuts will only serve to increase the nuclear threats facing this nation.” www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Can’t say I had “dehumanizing, state-sponsored reality show,” on my fascism bingo card… www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

“A $1 trillion Pentagon budget sounds impressive, but pursuing it at a time when too many of our most urgent national needs are being neglected would be a colossal error.” www.forbes.com/sites/willia...

Despite Donald Trump occasionally sounding the alarm on nuclear weapons, his administration has taken aim at nuclear nonproliferation programs, writes @nonukesplz.bsky.social

"Shocking" (not) news of the day: the US Air Force, after completely mismanaging a massive, unneeded effort to build high-priced, destabilizing, vulnerable land-based, nuclear-armed missiles, is looking to extend the life of the ones they already have until 2050: gulfnews.com/world/americ...

You may have seen estimates of how much America has spent on failed national missile defense systems. But Stephen Schwartz is the true authority on all of this. He estimates (below) that we have wasted $531 billion on national missile defense scams. The money goes in; nothing comes out.

"The United States is already spending $75 billion annually—the equivalent of two Manhattan Projects every year—on new nuclear weapons until at least 2032." "What Trump got right about nuclear weapons—and how to step back from the brink," by @lucasruiz4.bsky.social and @nuclearwilson.bsky.social.

"Like so much else during the month since Trump’s inauguration, the message seemed not to have been thought through," the Editorial Board writes. wapo.st/3D77nSP

A historic betrayal not just of Ukraine and Europe, but of generations of Americans who labored and sacrificed in the hope of making the world freer for all. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Hard for me to believe that voters will back this shift. The US has been an ambiguous actor on the world stage but Americans really do believe it's an altruistic force. No one wants to actively support the Bad Guys!

Shameful. Completely at odds with every U.S. ally and every set of U.S. foreign policy values in the contemporary era.

Seems bad www.reuters.com/world/global...

Incredibly proud to have been given the opportunity to work on this timely and important project with my colleagues Christopher Preble and @lucasruiz4.bsky.social at @stimsoncenter.bsky.social. www.stimson.org/2025/gamblin...

I’m honored to receive such praise from @joecirin.bsky.social! If you have a chance, please read my new article with @nuclearwilson.bsky.social!

Outstanding analysis from @nuclearwilson.bsky.social in @thebulletin.org. He and his co-authors lay out a sensible path for Trump to implement his insight that we have far more nuclear weapons then we would ever conceivably need. thebulletin.org/2025/02/what...

More important work from @nuclearwilson.bsky.social @lucasruiz4.bsky.social! However, I have seen nothing that tells me this administration has any plan to achieve this goal and so it remains typical bluster. I hope a plan emerges!

🚨 Just in: Trump could renew Reagan's crowning achievement by negotiating with Russia and China to limit the growing numbers of new nuclear weapons, @nuclearwilson.bsky.social and @lucasruiz4.bsky.social write in @thebulletin.org thebulletin.org/2025/02/what... #nuclearweapons

Not trying to alarm people but just noting that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, among their other important functions, is also one of the small number of people explicitly designated for translating Presidential nuclear strike orders into reality. www.doctrine.af.mil/Portals/61/d...

me trying to finish writing a history book in under the wire before all government archives, libraries, databases, and FOIA offices get shut down to pay for billionaire tax cuts

Very proud of this and extremely grateful to my colleagues and coauthors @lucasruiz4.bsky.social and Chris Preble for making it happen. www.stimson.org/2025/gamblin...

New and timely report from @nuclearwilson.bsky.social, Chris Preble, and Lucas Ruiz: "Gambling on Armageddon: How US Nuclear Policies Are Undercutting Deterrence and Lowering the Threshold for Nuclear War" www.stimson.org/2025/gamblin...

"Look what happens when you write a report critical of this administration: They fire you the next day. This chills independent oversight, and that’s exactly what we need right now." www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Did not think McConnell had it in him.

Today in isolationism

Man, my grandparents legitimately thought of fighting back fascism as their proudest achievement and their legacy to America and the world. USMC, USA, USO… They all volunteered to do something to help end that blight on the world. I am so glad that they did not live to see it come back here at home.

"Well, Grant, we've had the devil's own day today, haven't we?" "Yes. Lick 'em tomorrow though." - Grant and Sherman after the disaster of the first day of Shiloh, April 1862. They won the next. Today is one of the bad days in American history. Better days will come.

If you’re wondering about nuclear weapons policy in Trump’s second term, Searchlight interviewed six experts on what the new administration could mean—for everything from Los Alamos National Laboratory to a possible return to underground testing.

Was proud to be included in this excellent piece of journalism covering the potential future of the U.S. nuclear weapons enterprise. Give it a read!

📌Just released: US Nuclear Forces, 2025 US overhaul of its arsenal continues to face political, financial, and logistical challenges. Stockpile numbers have remained relatively stable, with some fluctuation from life extension and maintenance and a lower warhead retirement rate.

The project to dismantle the norms and institutions of our government will be faster and more direct than many realize. Much of the Democratic establishment is treating it as business as usual, or even tacking right. That’s capitulation, not opposition. apnews.com/article/trum...

Can never watch Home Alone without yearning bitterly for pre-TSA airports

📝 Key note: The DOD report describes Chinese warheads as “operational,” giving the impression that they’re all deployed on their operational forces like Russia and US. However, “operational” actually describes China’s entire nuclear warhead stockpile, whether deployed, operational, or reserve.

Struck by a couple strange things in DOD's latest PLARF chart: - Inclusion of CSS-3 (DF-4), despite not listing it in this (or last year's) narrative as an active ICBM. - Inclusion of "Other" and "Silo" as ICBM systems. That's weird because many listed *are* silo-based. (Is "Other" for rail?)

This. This. This. And this.

Was proud to contribute to this edition alongside the work of my esteemed colleagues. Give it a read if you can!