Defense & International Affairs

• War with Iran - Recent Developments

• Ukraine - Recent Developments

• War Powers “Act” Explained

• Cuba

• Greenland

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Defense and International Affairs - General Developments:

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Tues, May 26, 2026:

• House rolls out $1.14 trillion defense bill. The legislation would authorize a huge rise in defense spending but also check the Pentagon’s cuts to its troop levels in Europe. - WP See bill language and summary HERE

• House NDAA draft would limit Trump’s troop cuts, battleship plans - Hill

Friday, May 22, 2026:

• Trump says he’s sending 5,000 troops to Poland, deepening confusion over US military deployments to Europe - CNN

Tues, May 19, 2026:

• US plans to shrink forces available to NATO during crises - Reuters

Thurs, May 14, 2026:

• As President Trump left Beijing, he and Xi Jinping, China’s leader, played up stability. There was no indication that they had resolved any major points of contention on Taiwan, the war in Iran or other issues. - NYT

• Trump Was Flattering, Xi Was Resolute. The Difference Spoke Volumes. -NYT

• China’s leader made clear his top priority is the fate of the contested island and its U.S. military support, a striking move given President Donald Trump’s effort to mend ties and deliver trade deals. - WP

• Pentagon officials stunned by Hegseth decision on troops in Poland. It wasn’t clear why the Defense secretary issued the order not to send troops on a routine mission to a country the administration refers to as a “model ally.” - Politico

Wed, May 13, 2026:

• After Xi’s Warning on Taiwan, He and Trump Strike Positive Tone - NYT

Fri, May 1, 2026:

• US withdrawing 5,000 troops from Germany - Reuters

Tues, April 28, 2026:

• Pentagon asks Congress to codify ‘Department of War’ name change with $52 million price tag - Hill

Thurs, April 23, 2026:

• Iran war complicates contingency plans to defend Taiwan. Fully replacing stockpiles of weapons fired in the Middle East could take up to six years - WSJ

• Golden Dome dreams face harsh budget reality. Congressional Republicans are increasingly reluctant to move ahead with a partisan budget bill that was supposed to cover the program’s costs. - Politico

Tues, April 14, 2026:

• NATO Withdrawal? Europe Is Accelerating a NATO Fallback Plan in Case Trump Pulls Out - WSJ

Mon, April 13, 2026:

• ‘We Finally Have Democracy’: Hungarians Erupt in Joy and Relief

  Many Hungarians, exhausted by a struggling economy and worried about a move away from the European Union, were jubilant after Prime Minister Viktor Orban conceded. Some had wondered if he would. - NYT

• Millions of people in Sudan surviving on one meal a day as food crisis deepens, NGOs say - Reuters

Sun, April 12: 2026:

• Hungarians Sweep Away Orban After 16 Years in Seismic Vote - Bloomberg

• Hungary Election: Orban concedes defeat to Magyar’s Tisza - Reuters

• Hungarian voters ousted Prime Minister Viktor Orbán after 16 years in power. Election winner Péter Magyar, a former Orbán loyalist who campaigned against corruption and on everyday issues like health care and public transport, has pledged to rebuild Hungary’s relationships with the European Union and NATO. - AP

Fri, April 10, 2026:

• Haiti: Gangs tore through several rural communities last weekend, underscoring the challenges that will face the new, U.N.-backed Gang Suppression Force starting to enter the country. - NYT

• Trump’s peace board faces cash crunch, stalling Gaza plan - Reuters

Thurs, April 9, 2026:

• Blundering to Armageddon: A third world war is plausible. Here’s how to avoid one. The key is to understand that great wars can happen by accident. - Economist

Tues, April 7, 2026:

• US Vice President JD Vance’s unusual campaign appearance alongside Viktor Orban in Budapest today demonstrates how important Hungary’s election is to the White House. Sunday’s ballot looks just as significant for the Kremlin.

  After 16 years of Orban, polls indicate that voters have lost faith in their populist premier. - Bloomberg

Thurs, April 2, 2026:

• Trump Threatens to Pull U.S. Out of NATO Amid Fallout Over Iran War. Can He Legally Do That? - TIME

Fri, March 27, 2026:

• The Pentagon Needs to Give Better Answers on Its ‘Golden Dome’ - Bloomberg

Tues, March 24, 2026:

• U.S. Said It Helped Bomb a Drug Camp in Ecuador. It Was a Dairy Farm. - NYT

Thurs, March 5, 2026:

• Media freedom is in trouble in the world’s largest democracy: Investigative journalism in India is under threat. Politicians and tycoons are tightening their grip - Economist

Mon, March 2, 2026:

• France offers to deploy nuclear deterrent across Europe for first time

  President Emmanuel Macron lays out doctrine of ‘forward deterrence’ - FT

Tues, Feb 24, 2026:

• The Looming Taiwan Chip Disaster That Silicon Valley Has Long Ignored

  If China invades Taiwan and cuts off its chip exports to American companies, the tech industry and the U.S. economy would be crippled. - NYT

• Over 150 U.S. aircraft sweep into Europe, Middle East as Trump mulls strikes. The buildup comes after a round of nuclear talks between the two nations concluded last week without a deal. - WP

• DoD plans to spend entire $152 billion from reconciliation bill in one year - FNN

Thurs, Feb 19, 2026:

• Trump officials plan to build 5,000-person military base in Gaza, files show. 350-acre compound planned as base for multinational force - Guardian

• 5 takeaways from Trump’s Board of Peace launch event - Hill

Mon, Feb 16, 2026:

• Russia’s economy has entered the death zone - Economist

Sun, Feb 15, 2026:

• New START wasn’t a silver bullet, but it helped keep the world safe. Nuclear arms treaties have helped avoid a new arms race. - WP / Sen Mark Kelly

Sat, Feb 14, 2026:

• The UK, Sweden, France, Germany and the Netherlands released a statement concluding that Alexei Navalny—the assassinated leader of Russia’s political opposition—was “poisoned with a lethal toxin” and “died while held in prison, meaning Russia had the means, motive and opportunity to administer this poison to him.” The statement continued: “Our Permanent Representatives to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons have written today to the Director General to inform him of this Russian breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention. We are further concerned that Russia did not destroy all of its chemical weapons.”

Tues, Feb 10, 2026:

• President Donald Trump threatened to block the Gordie Howe International Bridge from opening until Canada “fully compensated” the US. The threat followed a meeting between Howard Lutnick and Matthew Moroun, whose family owns and operates the Ambassador Bridge, a rival crossing. Trump wants Canada to give the US 50% ownership of the Gordie Howe bridge, which was paid for entirely by Canada and is largely complete. - Bloomberg

• A Foreign Policy Worse Than Regime Change. The world is threatened by the president’s self-absorption and incoherence. - Atlantic / John Bolton

Mon, Feb 9, 2026:

• Trump is threatening to block a new bridge between Detroit and Canada from opening - AP

• Newly Unbound, Trump Weighs More Nuclear Arms and Underground Tests. It remains to be seen whether the three big nuclear powers are headed into a new arms race, or whether President Trump is trying to spur negotiations on a new accord now that a last Cold War treaty has expired. - NYT

Fri, Feb 6, 2026:

• The world is a more dangerous place as New START expires and China’s nuclear arsenal grows. - WP / Zakaria

• The U.S.-India relationship is back on track, but the damage is done - WP

Thurs, Feb 5, 2026:

• Members split on plan to use reconciliation again to boost defense. Defense chairs want a second reconciliation package to supplement the fiscal 2027 defense budget. - Roll Call

• Gabbard is showing why her job shouldn’t exist. Trump’s director of national intelligence is making worse the problems with the ill-conceived role. - WP

• Musk’s Starlink Blocks Russian Troops’ Internet Access at Kyiv’s Request - NYT

• Nuclear Arms Control Era Comes to End Amid Global Rush for New Weapons. Beijing, Moscow and shaken American allies are seeking new warheads as President Trump ends more than a half century of nuclear arms - NYT

Sun, Feb 1, 2026:

• In an interview with POLITICO this morning, the president dismissed the idea that the U.N. could ever leave New York, even as senior U.N. officials warn that the organization could be forced to scale back operations and shut its New York HQ if it ran out of cash:
  “I don’t think it’s appropriate. The U.N. is not leaving New York, and it’s not leaving the United States, because the U.N. has tremendous potential,” said Trump, who suggested that he could quickly reverse the organization’s financial fortunes if the agency reached out. “If they came to Trump and told him, I’d get everybody to pay up, just like I got NATO to pay up, right? All I have to do is call these countries. If the head of the U.N. would call the president of the United States, I would make the appropriate phone calls and they would send checks within minutes,” he said.

Sat, Jan 31, 2026:

• U.N. secretary general says global body is at risk of fiscal collapse. The United States owes nearly $2.2 billion in overdue and current assessments for the regular U.N. operating budget. - WP

Fri, Jan 30, 2026:

• The last Russia-U.S. nuclear arms control treaty, known as New START, is due to expire on February 5. Here is a guide to the treaty and why it matters. - Reuters

Thurs, Jan 29, 2026:

• State Dept. abandons honor and decency:
  The U.S. Embassy in Denmark removed 44 flags honoring fallen Danish soldiers for their service in Afghanistan war. - WP

• U.S. Territorial Expansion: Constitutional Roles of Congress, the President - CRS

Tues, Jan 27, 2026:

• Board of Peace Set to Hand Trump Sweeping Powers Over Gaza. A draft resolution revealed some of the plans for the new international body, which met for the first time last week amid criticism from some U.S. allies. - NYT

Mon, Jan 26, 2026:

• Europe must stop ‘dreaming’ about defense without US, Rutte warns. NATO chief says continent cannot afford to replace American security umbrella - FT

• Trump’s Board of Peace is already floundering. Trump’s attempt to rival the U.N., with him in charge, is likely to disappear and be quickly forgotten. - WP

Fri, Jan 23, 2026:

• Starmer Condemns ‘Appalling’ Trump Words on Afghanistan Role - Bloomberg

• China Built a Vast Oil Stake in Venezuela. - WSJ

• WSJ Editorial Board endorses Trump’s call to increase the defense budget from under $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion. - WSJ

  • Trillions Comment: This would be idiotic for a country that already spends more on defense than the next 8 or 9 countries combined, and has a rapidly growing and unsustainable public debt that exceeds the size of our economy. Moreover, enormously expensive hardware in an age of drone warfare makes no strategic or tactical sense. Finally, the WSJ editorial board should consider that effective strategic deterrence, as well as economic stability, are built on strong international alliances—an obvious reality that somehow escapes the fiscal policy and defense officials in the current Administration.

Thurs, Jan 22, 2026:

• An Untethered Trump Is Expanding Xi’s Sphere of Influence. By hollowing out the rules-based order, the US president is pushing middle powers to hedge, and giving Beijing an opening it didn’t have before. - Bloomberg

• The House barely rejected a Democratic-backed resolution that would have prevented President Donald Trump from sending U.S. military forces to Venezuela. A tied vote on the legislation fell just short of the majority needed for passage. - AP

• Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ Would Have Global Scope but One Man in Charge. The latest example of the president’s dismantling the post-World War II international system and building a new one, with himself at the center. - NYT

• China Wins as Trump Cedes Leadership of the Global Economy. The president used a keynote speech at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland to renounce the last vestiges of the liberal democratic order. - NYT

Wed, Jan 21, 2026:

• Trump’s latest TACO moment puts his increasingly erratic temperament in the spotlight - CNN

• Europe relieved, but still on edge, after Trump’s Davos speech - Semafor

Tues, Jan 20, 2026:

• Russia Is ‘Without Question’ a Threat in the Arctic, Carney Says - Bloomberg
  Carney stated that Canada has a 365-day air, sea and land presence in the Arctic and is adding to its submarine fleet, air fighter fleet, and building out over-the-horizon radar to protect from Russian missile threats. Carney said security concerns about Greenland and the Arctic can be effectively dealt with through North Atlantic Treaty Organization members, and that measures taken by Nordic countries, the UK, Canada, and other members must be reinforced in a comprehensive way.

• Canada’s prime minister delivered an impassioned speech on what he called the rupture of the world order. - Reuters

Mon, Jan 19, 2026:

• Trump plans to charge $1 billion for permanent seat on ‘Board of Peace.’ Details about the Trump-led board have prompted speculation that it could be a U.S.-led U.N. alternative. Vladimir Putin was invited to join, the Kremlin said. - WP

Sun, Jan 18, 2026:

• Nuclear-armed North Korea remains arguably the most dangerous and unpredictable threat to the U.S., but the country was not mentioned once in the National Security Strategy released by the White House in December. - WP

• Recall that during his first term, Trump’s comments about Kim Jong Un shifted from open insults and threats of destruction in 2017 to talk of a special friendship by 2018–2019. Publicly, he moved from calling Kim a “madman” and “Rocket Man” to saying they had exchanged “beautiful letters” and that “we fell in love.”

Thurs, Jan 15, 2026:

• A strategy that needs rethinking. The president’s plan for a “Golden Fleet” does not add up. - The Economist

• Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado met President Donald Trump at the White House as part of her push for greater influence after Nicolas Maduro’s ouster. The meeting comes as Trump has so far thrown his support behind acting President Delcy Rodriguez, and has cast doubt on Machado’s ability to run the country, saying he didn’t believe she had “support” or “respect” in Venezuela. - Bloomberg

• TrillionsWeekly Fact Check on support: In the Unitary Platform opposition primary held on 22 October 2023, Machado received roughly 93% of the votes.

  Despite Machado’s widespread public support, Donald Trump has allied himself with Maduro’s repressive lieutenant.

Wed, Jan 14, 2026:

• Republicans Block Effort to Check Trump’s Power in Venezuela. G.O.P. leaders succeeded in pressuring fellow senators who initially supported the measure that would have limited President Trump’s military authority in Venezuela.- NYT

• Congressional Budget Office says Sec. Hegseth’s name change from “Dept. of Defense” to “Dept. of War” could cost as much as $125 million - CBO

  • TrillionsWeekly comment: The name change itself is illegal and requires a statutory change by Congress. Unfortunately, this Administration routinely violates the law (see our webpage on illegal presidential impoundments and NYTimes recent summary of judicial rulings against the Administration).

• US gets first $500 million Venezuelan oil deal, holding some proceeds in Qatar - Semafor

• U.S. Races to Sell Venezuelan Oil, Transforming Ties With Former Foe. U.S. officials brokered the sale of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Venezuelan oil to stabilize the country’s economy after capturing its president. - NYT

• Senate Republicans derail effort to rebuke Trump on Venezuela - Politico

• Explaining Trump’s Claim That Venezuela ‘Stole’ U.S. Oil - FactCheck.org

• Venezuela war powers resolution fails in Senate as 2 Republicans bow to Trump pressure - AP

Sun, Jan 11, 2026:

• UK says NATO talks on deterring Russia in the Arctic ‘business as usual’ - Reuters

Fri, Jan 9, 2026:

• Venezuela Is ‘Uninvestible’ for Now, Exxon CEO Tells Trump in White House Meeting - Politico

Thurs, Jan 8, 2026:

• The Donroe delusion: In Donald Trump’s world, the strong take what they can. That will be bad for America—and everyone else - Economist

• The Senate on Thursday voted to advance legislation that would force President Donald Trump to seek congressional approval before taking any new military action in Venezuela, a stunning rebuke for the White House in the first big test of GOP unity since the U.S. capture of President Nicolás Maduro. GOP Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Todd Young of Indiana and Josh Hawley of Missouri backed the measure to check Trump in a 52-47 vote. - Politico

• Economist Paul Krugman argued that while Venezuela has the world’s largest known oil reserves, it was because heavy oil was reclassified as “proved” oil. He cited economist Torsten Slok, who previously wrote that most of the oil “is extra-heavy, which has low recovery and a high cost to produce.” “This suggests that Venezuela’s claims to have immense usable oil reserves were politically motivated hype,” Krugman continued. - Hill

• Donald Trump asserts control over Venezuela—and all the Americas. But the president’s claim of dominance over the western hemisphere may backfire -Economist

• Fact-Checking Trump’s Justifications for the Venezuela Operation. The president has repeatedly tied Venezuela to drug overdose deaths, claimed the Maduro regime sent an influx of criminal migrants and accused the country of stealing American oil. - NYT

Wed, Jan 7, 2026:

• Trump Team Works Up Sweeping Plan to Control Venezuelan Oil for Years to Come - WSJ

• Trump Says Venezuela to Send Oil Worth Up to $2.8 Billion to US - Bloomberg

• US Seizes Two More Ships as Trump Tightens Venezuela Quarantine -Bloomberg

• Hegseth has heated exchange with reporter over cost of Venezuela mission-Hill

• Democrats are reluctant to embrace their most bare-knuckled tool to prevent President Donald Trump from launching further military operations against Venezuela or other nations. Instead of threatening to hold up or even block government funding bills, Democrats are opting for a vote on a war powers resolution that will be largely symbolic. - Punchbowl

• Trump proposes massive increase in 2027 defense spending to $1.5T, citing ‘dangerous times’ - AP

• $1.5 Trillion Military Budget Would Add $5.8 Trillion to Debt Over Decade - CRFB

• Trump Signs Order Pressing Defense Firms to Cut Buybacks - Bloomberg

• Trump announces U.S. will leave dozens of international organizations. The White House announced it is withdrawing participation and funding from 66 multilateral bodies on everything from climate to cotton. - WP

• The success of Trump’s Venezuela intervention won’t be measured in barrels of oil but whether the country emerges as an American ally in a crucial region.- WSJ

Tues, Jan 6, 2026:

• Maduro opponent Machado vows to return to Venezuela, wants an election - Reuters

Mon, Jan 5, 2026:

• Trump revives an old vision of American power, with global implications. Trump’s moves to assert U.S. dominance in the Western Hemisphere and pull back from Europe could embolden Russia and China. - WP

• World Braces for Impact of Trump’s New Doctrine. The global fallout from America’s toppling of the Venezuelan president will be felt for years. - Bloomberg

Sun, Jan 4, 2026:

• Trump Says U.S. Is ‘In Charge’ of Venezuela, While Rubio Stresses Coercing It. The secretary of state said that a military “quarantine” on some oil exports would stay in place to put pressure on the country’s acting leadership. - NYT

Sat, Jan 3, 2026:

• Congress poised to weigh in on Venezuela campaign - Roll Call

• To Trump, on Venezuela: You Break It, You Own It - NYT / Friedman
  Trump: US will ‘run’ Venezuela after military mission to nab Maduro. White

• House official refers to mission as ‘law enforcement operation’ - Roll Call

Mon, Dec 29, 2025:

• Defense panels still not clear on Golden Dome’s attributes. Pentagon ‘owes us a clearer path forward and plan,’ Coons says - Roll Call

Fri, Dec 26, 2025:

• Republican defense hawks broke with Trump repeatedly in 2025. Armed Services leaders tilt towards interventionist policies at odds with GOP’s ‘America First’ wing - Roll Call

• U.S. Strikes ISIS in Nigeria After Trump Warned of Attacks on Christians. The attack comes after President Trump ordered the Defense Department last month to prepare to intervene militarily in Nigeria to protect Christians from Islamic militants. - NYT

Fri, Dec 19, 2025:

• Trump’s doctrine is ‘Make America Small Again’. A hemispheric focus makes little sense for a global economic and military giant. - WP / Zakaria

Thurs, Dec 18, 2025:

• Trump will use military housing money for $1,776 Pentagon bonuses - WP

• US announces massive package of arms sales to Taiwan valued at more than $10 billion, angering China - AP

Thurs, Dec 11, 2025:

• Building Trump’s proposed missile and air defense system would be an enormous task--and the president’s spending target is likely just a fraction of the final price. - Bloomberg

• America can’t make what the Military needs - NYT

Wed, Dec 10, 2025:

• Hill resists as Trump seeks changes to defense spending - Punchbowl News

• Why Does Trump Disdain Europe? The domestic culture war informing American foreign policy - Politico

Tues, Dec 9, 2025:

• Trump thrashes European leaders in wide-ranging interview: ‘I think they’re weak’. In an interview with POLITICO, the president offered no reassurance to America’s allies about Russia and vowed to reshape their politics. - Politico

Mon, Dec 8, 2025:

• NDAA RELEASED: Lawmakers released a draft of the National Defense Authorization Act, which sets defense-spending policies and priorities. The proposal permits $901bn-worth of spending in fiscal year 2026, $8bn more than Trump requested. The bill reauthorizes $400m in aid for Ukraine, even though the administration has sounded ambivalent about defending the country, most recently in the new National Security Strategy. A separate defense appropriations bill is needed to make the funds available. - The Economist

• Compromise NDAA released with bigger topline, $8 billion above Pentagon’s request. The $8B jump is essentially a compromise from the House version, which stuck to the Pentagon’s budget request, and the Senate numbers, which were $32 billion above the department’s request. - BreakingDefense

• House GOP leaders plan Wednesday NDAA vote. Conservative opposition could complicate a party-line procedural vote beforehand. - Politico

Fri, Dec 5, 2025:

• Donald Trump’s bleak, incoherent foreign-policy strategy. Allies may panic; despots will cheer - The Economist

• What to know as lawmakers disclose vivid new details of US boat strikes - AP

Wed, Dec 3, 2025:

• Pentagon watchdog findsd Hegseth’s use of Signal posed risk to US personnel - AP

Mon, Dec 1, 2025:

• Defense policy bill on the move - Roll Call
  Leaders of the Armed Services committees are reported to have finished their work on a compromise fiscal 2026 defense policy bill, and bill text is likely to be unveiled this week. House floor consideration could come next week.

Fri, Nov 14, 2025:

• Republicans turn on Trump’s defense policy chief. Administration allies say they are fed up with the Defense Department’s third-most senior leader and his foreign policy surprises. - Politico

Thurs, Nov 13, 2025:

• Compromise NDAA on track for December vote - Politico

Wed, Nov 12, 2025:

• Trump’s Pentagon name change could cost up to $2 billion. Officially changing the Department of Defense to the Department of War can only be done by Congress and would require updating thousands of signs, rewriting digital code and creating new letterheads, placards and badges. - NBC

• Seven conflicts to watch in the coming year - Economist

Fri, Oct 31, 2025:

• Elon Musk’s SpaceX Set to Win $2 Billion Pentagon Satellite Deal. Funding would support development of satellites for President Trump’s Golden Dome project. - WSJ

Wed, Oct 22, 2025:

• Pentagon’s plan to limit contact with Congress is ‘not going to work,’ lawmakers say. Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas suggested the Senate may be reluctant to confirm some Pentagon nominees unless the policy is reversed. - NBC

Tues, Oct 21, 2025:

• Putin-Trump summit on hold after Russia rejects ceasefire - Reuters

Thurs, Oct 9, 2025:

• Senate Passes Bipartisan $925 Billion Defense Policy Bill. The legislation would provide a 3.8 percent pay raise for American troops, while funding weapons and overhauling military procurement. S 2296 passed 77-20 - NYT

Thurs, Oct 2, 2025:

• Trump admin tells Congress the US is in ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels - CNN

Mon, Sept 29, 2025:

• Military leaders have raised serious concerns with the Trump administration’s forthcoming defense strategy, exposing a divide between the Pentagon’s political and uniformed leadership as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth summons top brass to a highly unusual summit in Virginia on Tuesday, according to eight current and former officials. The critiques from multiple top officers, including Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, come as Hegseth reorders U.S. military priorities — centering the Pentagon on perceived threats to the homeland, narrowing U.S. competition with China, and downplaying America’s role in Europe and Africa. - WP

Tues, Sept 23, 2025:

• Poland to Russia: ‘You have been warned’ so don’t ‘whine’ if your jets are shot down in NATO airspace - Politico

Wed, Sept 17, 2025:

• In just the past four fiscal years, Congress appropriated, with virtually no public debate, in excess of $100 billion more than any president sought for more than 2,000 weapons programs - Roll Call

Fri, Sept 5, 2025:

• The Return of the ‘War Department’ Is More Than Nostalgia. It’s a Message. President Trump and his defense secretary say they want to return to the era when America won wars. They largely ignore the greatest accomplishment of the past 80 years: avoiding superpower conflict. - NYT

• Trump unveils ‘Department of War’ — but Hill may have a say. Executive order reverses the Defense Department name adopted in 1949. - Roll Call

Wed, May 21 2025:

• Trump says U.S. has chosen plan for ‘Golden Dome’ missile defense system. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that deploying and operating just the space-based interceptors could cost up to $542 billion over the next two decades. - WP

Thurs, April 17, 2025:

• Trump includes US troop costs in tariff talks with Asian allies - Reuters

Fri, April 11, 2025:

• Trump May Be Triggering the Fastest Nuclear Weapons Race Since the Cold War; The threat of U.S. withdrawal has prompted countries around the world — from Germany to South Korea — to talk about building their own nuclear arsenals. - Politico

Mon, April 7, 2025:

• Trump Weakens U.S. Cyberdefenses at a Moment of Rising Danger. The firing of the head of the National Security Agency was only the latest move that has eroded the country’s fortifications against cyberattacks, especially those targeting elections. - NYT

Sat, March 29, 2025:

• The untold story of America’s hidden role in Ukrainian military operations against Russia’s invading armies. - NYT

Fri, March 28, 2025:

• US demanding all income from joint fund until aid paid back; Zelenskiy says lawyers need to study proposals; Updated US proposal includes no future security guarantees - Reuters

Mon, March 24, 2025:

• The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans. - The Atlantic/Goldberg

Thurs, March 13, 2025:

• Trans-Atlantic differences remain as Trump huddles with NATO boss - RC

Sat, March 8, 2025:

• Trump’s Justice Dept. ousts national security officials in latest purge - WP

Fri, March 7, 2025:

• Trump upending world order will cost America dearly - WP

• Trump questions NATO allies’ will for collective defense while casting doubt on U.S.’ own treaty commitment - CBS

Thurs, March 6, 2025:

• Trump weighs revoking legal status of Ukrainians as US steps up deportations - Reuters

Sat, March 1, 2025:

• European leaders rallied around Volodymyr Zelensky after the fracas with Donald Trump. But arming Kyiv alone would be a struggle. - WP

Fri, Feb 28, 2025:

• Zelenskyy’s Meeting with Trump and Vance Unravels into Extraordinary Clash - NBC

• France, Germany and Poland all make prompt declarations of support for Zelenskyy as Europe fears Trump’s alignment with Putin - Politico

• (Highlighting the continuing importance of NATO) US intel shows Russia and China attempting to recruit disgruntled federal employees - CNN

Thurs, Feb 27, 2025:

• Former defense chiefs denounce Trump’s reckless Pentagon firings; The five former leaders urged Congress to hold the president accountable for what they called his unjustified removal of the Joint Chiefs chairman and other top military officers - WP

Sat, Feb 22, 2025:

• With Pentagon purge, Trump thrusts military into uncharted territory; The abrupt removal of six top officers has deepened concern among the president’s critics, who fear he intends to impose his political will on the nonpartisan institution. - WP

Fri, Feb 21, 2025:

• Firing military officers for perceived disloyalty endangers the nation. Trump’s removal of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs might only be the beginning. - Senate Armed Services Ranking Dem Reed

• Trump ousts Joint Chiefs chair, other leaders in Pentagon shake-up - WP

• Pentagon announces it plans to fire 5-8% of civilian workforce; pauses larger firings - CNN

• Hegseth directed senior Pentagon officials and military leaders to plan for an 8% cut to the defense budget for each year over the next 5 years - The Hill

Thurs, Feb 20, 2025:

• Europe’s new reality: Trump may not quit NATO, but he’s already undermining it - NYT/Sanger

• How Europe must respond as Trump and Putin smash the post-war order - Economist

Wed, Feb 19, 2025:

• President Donald Trump and his appointed officials are helping Moscow’s and Beijing’s explicit intentions to replace the U.S.-led international order. If they are successful, China will emerge as the globe’s dominant superpower. - WP/Emanuel

• Trump administration orders Pentagon to plan for sweeping budget cuts; Pentagon official said money saved through cuts could be “realigned” to other Trump defense priorities - WP

Feb 13, 2025:

• China’s stunning new campaign to turn the world against Taiwan - Economist

Wed, Jan 29, 2025:

• Hegseth takes action against Milley, former Joint Chiefs Chair - WashPost

Wed, Jan 22, 2025:

• US military ordering thousands more troops to southern border, adding to 2,200 active duty forces already supporting customs and border protection - CNN

Tues, Jan 7, 2025:

• Trump says NATO nations should spend 5% of GDP on defense - Bloomberg [Note from TrillionsWeekly.com: the U.S. currently spends only 2.9%, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office]

Mon, Jan 6, 2025:

• Analysis of the Navy’s 2025 Shipbuilding Plan - CBO

Wed, Dec 11, 2024:

• House approves $895 billion defense bill w/ pay raise for FY 2025 - AP