Trump on Venezuela’s new leader: “If she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro.” More here from @michaelscherer.bsky.social’s interview this morning with the president. www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

New tonight: More surprising than Maduro’s capture was that the White House plans to run Venezuela. www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

How Did We Get to Such a Bad Question? www.nytimes.com/2026/01/01/o... To Carlos’ excellent list of useless questions I would add, “What keeps you up at night.”

Time to make the bacon. 🥓

🇨🇦

It's the Friday News Roundup! So nice to be back with the great Diane Rehm on her new Substack. dianerehm.substack.com/p/the-friday...

The AI vending machine "ordered a live fish. It offered to buy stun guns, pepper spray, cigarettes and underwear. Profits collapsed. Newsroom morale soared." I say keep him on. www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anth...

There’s still no thrill like seeing a story in print. First issue of the new year is on stands and in your mailbox. (Oh, and here…https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/01/mohammad-tajik-iran-cyber-intelligence/684954/?gift=kPTlqn0J1iP9IBZcsdI5ISO8BNMho4wWgcNKRLP3pqI)

This already has the makings of a movie

This is gonna be a dope story. Can't wait.

Fascinating tale of cyber-related intrigue.

I've waited nearly ten years to tell this story: In 2016, I developed a source in Iranian intelligence named Mohammad Hossein Tajik. He told me he came from a politically connected family. That he had led Iran's cyber army. And that he had secretly worked for the CIA. 🧵

DOD IG report on Signalgate, which notes that investigators had to rely in part on the transcript that we posted, because messages on Hegseth's cell phone had auto-deleted. media.defense.gov/2025/Dec/04/...

Not even making Lawfare podcasts anymore and still a top fan. ❤️ @benjaminwittes.lawfaremedia.org

A plane crash in a jungle revealed a secret government operation to bypass Congress and threatened to bring down a president. Simpler times, man. RIP Eugene Hasenfus. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/u...

News: Pentagon inspector general finds that the classified information Pete Hegseth shared in a Signal chat with @TheAtlantic could have put U.S. forces at risk. www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

😔 www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/n...

It’s that time of year again. Let’s make bacon! www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/pos... Post Reports is repeating our James Beard Award-winning podcast about my ten-year quest to find a secret recipe for candied bacon. Recipe at the end. (It goes perfectly with cocktails.) Happy Thanksgiving!

Over several interviews, RFK Jr. told @michaelscherer.bsky.social about how he plans to remake America’s public-health system. Can he lead the scientific establishment he has crusaded against? www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

A cache of emails from the longtime Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell shows her prison conditions improving dramatically as a crisis grew for Trump, @isaacstanleybecker.bsky.social reports. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

This is some lede: www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

"The fish rots from the head. The pig is in the Oval Office." www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025... You should always read @sophiegilbert.bsky.social, particularly this month.

You have to admit, the ineptitude is impressive.

When you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.

And David Ellison, the new owner of CBS.

TIME magazine owner Marc Benioff was among the dignitaries dining last night with Mohammed bin Salman, who approved the murder of a journalist. e.ejewishphilanthropy.com/deliveries/d...

A Klimt sold last night for the second-highest price ever paid at auction. Who paid the highest price? www.wsj.com/articles/sau... (Debatable whether it’s actually a da Vinci)

“Forgetting Mohammed’s brutality and Khashoggi’s warnings is a choice, and Trump made the wrong one.” www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Worth remembering today that two citizens of Saudi Arabia remain wanted for the murder of a North Carolina man. They are among dozens who have fled justice in the U.S., often with the help of the Saudi government. wapo.st/44b6nY9

"But he knew nothing about it," Trump says. False: The CIA (under Trump) concluded that Mohammed bin Salman ordered the operation that killed Jamal Khashoggi. Trump has long resisted that fact. But it's a fact. www.washingtonpost.com/world/nation...

Trump is not acting like someone who has nothing to hide, one of the president’s allies told @jonlemire.bsky.social. bhttps://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2025/11/jeffrey-epstein-trump-emails/684926/?gift=kPTlqn0J1iP9IBZcsdI5IRlpytBzII6okvuEm422iA4

Ew.

Devoured.

A juror in The Sandwich Guy's trial in D.C. told @ashleyrparker.bsky.social: “We’re supposed to be looking at the evidence, but a clear majority felt it was nonsensical, like 'Don’t waste our time or money.'" www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

FWIW in 2025, Wolff described Epstein as becoming a "source" in 2015, the year he sent the email giving Epstein advice washingtonmonthly.com/2025/07/20/t...

"The opinion also states that drug cartels are selling drugs to finance a campaign of violence and extortion, according to four people." That would be remarkable, since it's not how drug cartels work. They use violence to protect their business--selling drugs. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

The CIA conducted an audacious highly classified program to covertly manipulate Afghanistan’s lucrative poppy crop, blanketing Afghan farmers’ fields with specially modified seeds. An extraordinary story from Warren Strobel. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

And how about when they seize reporters’ phone records without telling us? www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/u...

"NSO Group, the Israeli company behind Pegasus spyware, says a group of investors led by Hollywood producer Robert Simonds has acquired a controlling stake in the firm, which has named a former Trump official to lead an effort to restore its battered reputation." www.wsj.com/tech/israeli...

“Hell, yeah, she’s getting paid!” the lobbyist said." Antonia Hitchens on the mystery of Laura Loomer's many vendettas www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

"...while Americans today have more opportunities than ever to speak, they have fewer opportunities than ever to be truly heard." This reflection from the Post's former letters editor--who read all 21,000 she got after the paper didn't endorse--is worth listening to. www.notus.org/perspectives...

Trump said he was "honored” to hear that his name not appearing on the ballot had contributed to Republican defeats. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

Trump's deep state fights with other parts of Trump's deep state www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

Tulsi Gabbard is trying to take control over counterintelligence from the FBI. It's not going great. A scoop with @shaneharris.bsky.social

Deep State still alive and kicking, ODNI says. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1... New w/ @qjurecic.bsky.social.

Hundreds of thousands of people, dead because of a decision made by the world's richest man

A growing list of senior Trump political appointees—at least 6 by our count—now live in military housing, where they are shielded not just from potential violence but also from protest, @michaelscherer.bsky.social Missy Ryan @ashleyrparker.bsky.social report. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

The U.S. hasn’t sent this many ships to the Caribbean since the Cuban missile crisis. W/ Ford's arrival, will be about as many as were used to defend Israel from Iran missile strikes. www.theatlantic.com/national-sec... by @nancyayoussef.bsky.social, Gisela Salim-Peyer, and @jonlemire.bsky.social