The Trump Presidency Timeline
Documenting the chaos since day one. 65 entries and counting.
Category: national security
national security
president suggests u.s. maybe too murdery for iran’s soccer team
Nothing says "we guarantee athlete safety" like the commander in chief hinting visiting players might not make it out of L.A. alive.
President Donald Trump hopped on Truth Social to let the world know that while Iran’s national soccer team is technically "welcome" at the 2026 World Cup in the U.S., he "really doesn’t believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety." You know, just the president of the United States casually implying he can’t vouch for whether visiting athletes might get killed if they show up. Very normal, extremely reassuring, top-tier tourism slogan material.
Iran’s sports minister Ahmad Donyamali had already said Iran won’t participate because the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other top officials. So Iran is boycotting on account of that whole "you assassinated our leadership" thing, while Trump responds by basically saying, yeah, and also, can’t promise your players won’t get whacked if they come either. The global norm since Munich 1972 has been that athletes are sacrosanct; Trump’s norm is that they’re just another prop in his forever grievance theater.
For bonus whiplash, this tough-guy warning comes the same week Trump offered asylum to Iran’s women’s team if Australia wouldn’t take them — a split-screen where he plays savior for women athletes while hinting the men’s team might not survive a trip to Los Angeles and Seattle. Diplomatic "sportswashing" used to mean regimes using games to look better; under Trump, it’s the U.S. using the World Cup to advertise that even athlete safety is now a negotiable part of his foreign policy cosplay.
Source: nbcnews.com
#national-security#killing-democracy
national security
commander-in-tweet shuts the strait of hormuz
US warships guard an empty shipping lane while Trump rage-posts about mines that aren’t the main problem. What could go wrong?
US intelligence says the biggest threat to oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz isn’t mines, it’s Iran directly blowing them out of the water with drones and shore-to-ship missiles. The Trump administration, ever the master strategist, responded by fixating on mines anyway and launching strikes on 16 mostly moored mine-laying vessels after Trump rattled his digital saber on Truth Social. US Central Command dutifully posted the video, because nothing says careful escalation management like turning a potential regional war into influencer content.
Lawmakers got a classified briefing in which, according to Sen. Chris Murphy, the Pentagon basically admitted they have no idea how to safely reopen a chokepoint that carries a fifth of the world’s oil. Meanwhile, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard has effectively shut down the strait, oil prices are spiking, and ship operators are understandably refusing to play "suicide run" with their crews. The White House, asked about all this, pointed reporters back to Trump’s social media threats as if that counts as a policy. National security by vibes and gas prices by roulette wheel is apparently the entire plan.
Energy secretary Chris Wright went on TV to insist that the US has destroyed “many” of Iran’s weapons and that traffic will resume in “a few weeks,” without offering details, math, or reality. Within days, at least three ships were still hit in and around the strait, including a Thai bulk carrier Iran openly claimed. So the current US posture is: we launched our biggest attack of the war, we can’t guarantee we can protect tankers, crews don’t want to sail, Iran is still hitting ships, and the White House is outsourcing its messaging to Trump’s unhinged posts. But relax, they’ve totally got this under control.
Lawmakers got a classified briefing in which, according to Sen. Chris Murphy, the Pentagon basically admitted they have no idea how to safely reopen a chokepoint that carries a fifth of the world’s oil. Meanwhile, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard has effectively shut down the strait, oil prices are spiking, and ship operators are understandably refusing to play "suicide run" with their crews. The White House, asked about all this, pointed reporters back to Trump’s social media threats as if that counts as a policy. National security by vibes and gas prices by roulette wheel is apparently the entire plan.
Energy secretary Chris Wright went on TV to insist that the US has destroyed “many” of Iran’s weapons and that traffic will resume in “a few weeks,” without offering details, math, or reality. Within days, at least three ships were still hit in and around the strait, including a Thai bulk carrier Iran openly claimed. So the current US posture is: we launched our biggest attack of the war, we can’t guarantee we can protect tankers, crews don’t want to sail, Iran is still hitting ships, and the White House is outsourcing its messaging to Trump’s unhinged posts. But relax, they’ve totally got this under control.
Source: theguardian.com
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#national-security#imperialism#full-stupid
national security
trump discovers new iranian weapons system: vibes-based tomahawks
Trump explains the Iran war using the same research methodology he used for COVID: none.
Nothing reassures a country ‘amid Iran war’ like a Trump press conference built entirely out of vibes, guesswork, and whatever he half-heard on cable news. Standing at the podium, Trump confidently claims Iran has Tomahawk missiles — a U.S. weapon system — and, minor detail, offers zero evidence. Who needs intel briefings when you have pure, uncut improvisation?
Meanwhile, he insists Vladimir Putin wants to be ‘helpful’ in the Middle East, which is exactly what you say when you’ve outsourced U.S. foreign policy to the guy who keeps your kompromat folder in a climate‑controlled vault. As he free-associates about war, oil, and markets sliding into a ditch, the global economy reacts like it’s watching a drunk guy juggle lit matches in a fireworks factory.
While Israel hits Iranian oil facilities and analysts try to explain missile ranges and escalation risks like adults, the American president is on live TV rewriting weapons inventories and reality itself. Actual national security experts talk about drones and deterrence; Trump talks about imaginary Tomahawks and how everything is ‘very under control.’ The only thing truly under control is the steady erosion of competent governance, as U.S. war policy gets made in real time by a man who treats facts like optional DLC.
Source: nbcnews.com
#national-security#killing-democracy#full-stupid
national security
dea runs nuclear weapons cosplay, accidentally finds real plutonium
Artist’s rendition of global nuclear security: one Geiger counter, several warlords, and a DEA agent LARPing as an Iranian general.
American law enforcement just reenacted every neocon fever dream: an undercover DEA agent pretended to be an Iranian general in charge of Tehran’s nuclear weapons program, and a Japanese "Yakuza boss" – who may actually just be a garden-variety conman – tried to sell him heroin, meth, rocket launchers, and, oh right, weapons-grade plutonium. Because when you picture nuclear proliferation, you obviously think: Myanmar rebels, Golden Triangle drug routes, and a guy who calls uranium and meth "cake and ice cream" like he’s running a cursed Baskin-Robbins.
The US calls this a "resounding success" in nuclear security, which is one way to describe discovering that insurgent groups in Myanmar are apparently mining uranium while porous borders, weak customs, and nonexistent radiation detection let nuclear material wander around the planet like it’s backpacking through Europe. Experts are now stuck asking the fun question: if this random drug-smuggling side-hustler had weapons-grade plutonium samples, where did they actually come from, and how much more is out there? The official answer so far is: ¯\(ツ)/¯, but with more footnotes.
Meanwhile, the DEA’s sting relied on the classic Washington script: pretend Iran is buying nukes, then point to Iran to justify endless war talk about Iran’s nuclear program… while the real problem is unsecured material leaking from everywhere else. So yes, we’re bombing and sanctioning one country over a program it denies, while weapons-grade plutonium is apparently available via insurgent WhatsApp in Myanmar. Strong work, global nuclear order.
Source: theguardian.com
#national-security#killing-democracy
national security
trump’s foreign policy chickens attempt to roost
Artist’s impression of US foreign policy: one guy on trial in Brooklyn, several guys erased by a missile, and Trump on TV declaring it all a personal win.
A Pakistani businessman is on trial in Brooklyn for allegedly trying to hire hitmen to kill Donald Trump, and his defense is basically: the IRGC made me do it. Asif Merchant says Iran’s Revolutionary Guard threatened his wife and adopted daughter in Tehran unless he came to the US, recruited criminals, laundered money, stole documents, and, oh yes, arranged a political assassination. Instead of hardened killers, he found undercover FBI agents who let him spill the whole plan on tape while he sketched it out on a napkin like a discount Bond villain.
Prosecutors are not exactly buying the "I was just a terrified family man accidentally working with a designated terrorist organization" story. They say there’s zero evidence for a real duress defense and plenty of evidence that Merchant knew exactly what he was doing, including recordings where he politely inquires if someone could "maybe, you can, say, kill someone" — a political figure whose name he claimed he still hadn’t been given. The FBI also had an informant embedded the whole time, because if there’s one American export that still works, it’s surveillance.
The trial helpfully opened just as the US and Israel were busy vaporizing Iran’s supreme leader and over a thousand other people, with defense secretary Pete Hegseth bragging that a US strike also killed the alleged mastermind of the 2024 Trump assassination plot. It’s not clear if that’s the same person Merchant says handled him, but the message is clear: the Trump administration’s approach to rule of law is jury trial for the middleman, drone strike for the guy higher up the food chain. Trump, never one to miss an opportunity for self-mythology, summed up the whole thing to ABC News with: “I got him before he got me.” American foreign policy, now officially a Marvel origin story.
Iran denies targeting Trump or anyone else, the US insists it heroically preempted an assassination, and a Brooklyn jury is left to sort through a mess where everyone claims to be the real victim. It’s a tidy snapshot of Trump-era national security: sprawling covert plots, secret informants, extrajudicial killings overseas, and a former president publicly boasting about having someone blown up like that’s just another campaign talking point. Checks and balances, but make it paramilitary.
Source: theguardian.com
#national-security#imperialism#killing-democracy
national security
americans stranded, warships sunk, but trump’s busy with a texas primary
Americans at a packed Middle East airport discovering the Trump evacuation plan is basically: ‘have you tried not being there?’
The Middle East is erupting, a U.S. submarine has just torpedoed an Iranian warship, and thousands of Americans are now stranded trying to get out. So naturally, the Trump administration is laser-focused on the most urgent national priority: endorsing someone in a nasty Texas Senate primary. Foreign policy? Consular protection? Evacuation planning? Please, there are donors to impress and cable hits to book.
While Americans scramble for flights and wonder if their government remembers they exist, the war footing ramps up and the White House treats them like inconvenient background extras in Trump’s latest ratings stunt. The State Department’s message appears to be: good luck, stay safe, and don’t forget to vote for whoever Dear Leader blesses in Texas. It’s a perfect snapshot of Trump-era national security: play battleship with Iran on live TV, then shrug when actual Americans get caught in the middle.
Rule of law, international norms, and basic duty of care to citizens are all gently placed in the shredder while the administration chases its next domestic political “win.” The only real evacuation plan seems to be evacuating responsibility.
Source: nbcnews.com
#national-security#killing-democracy
national security
trump considers nukes and war, decides to ‘wait and see’
President Trump, pausing on the stairs of Air Force One to ponder whether to extend diplomacy or just speedrun another Middle East war.
Trump, fresh off the steps of Air Force One and apparently still mad that physics exists, announced he’s “not happy” with the Iran nuclear talks but will graciously allow negotiators a little more time before he decides whether to start another war. U.S. envoys just finished another round of indirect talks in Geneva, while American forces quietly stack up in the region like Chekhov’s missile batteries. Trump keeps insisting Iran “cannot have nuclear weapons” while also rejecting the idea they should be allowed to enrich any uranium, including for civilian energy, because why have a nonproliferation framework when you can have vibes.
Oman’s foreign minister Badr al-Busaidi went on TV to politely beg Trump to let the professionals keep working, suggesting a deal is actually within reach if the White House would stop treating diplomacy like a reality show cliffhanger. Trump, naturally, sounded more pessimistic on his Texas photo-op tour, complaining that Iran “doesn’t want to quite go far enough” and dodging questions about how close he is to launching a strike with a very reassuring “I’d rather not tell you.” Asked about the risk of a drawn-out conflict, he explained that “when there’s war, there’s a risk of anything, both good and bad,” which is certainly one way to describe mass casualties and regional destabilization.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is headed to Israel for a quick cameo, while the U.S. Embassy quietly tells staff they can leave if they want — a classic tell that the administration is absolutely not preparing for war, except for the evacuations, the troops, and the president doing nuclear brinkmanship as improv. So the world once again waits to see whether U.S. Middle East policy will be guided by careful diplomacy or by whatever Trump blurts out the next time someone hands him a microphone.
#national-security#killing-democracy#imperialism
national security
pentagon laser defense system bravely defeats u.s. drone
Pentagon anti-drone system scans the sky for its next high-value target: a $30 balloon or a multimillion-dollar U.S. drone.
The FAA quietly shut down airspace near Fort Hancock, Texas, after what congressional aides say was a military laser-based anti-drone system accidentally shooting down a U.S. government drone. So the cutting-edge border security tech meant to protect America from foreign threats is currently batting 1.000 against...America.
This follows an earlier episode where the same Pentagon-loaned laser system was reportedly used by border agents to heroically obliterate a party balloon near El Paso, prompting another airspace freakout the FAA had to hastily walk back. So far the scorecard for this expensive wonder-weapon: one balloon, one U.S. drone, zero actual enemies. But sure, let’s keep turning the southern border into a live-fire demo range while the agencies involved refuse to explain anything beyond vague "special security reasons" and extended no-fly zones.
Nothing says "world’s most responsible superpower" like laser-blinding the sky along the Mexican border, then clamming up when taxpayers ask why their own government hardware keeps getting zapped by its own government.
Source: theguardian.com
#national-security#full-stupid
national security
guy who killed the iran deal now shocked iran wants nukes
Trump explains his new Iran ‘red line,’ seen here moments before he asks if you can nuke a centrifuge on Truth Social.
Donald Trump used his 2026 spotlight to announce a dramatic new "red line" on Iran getting a nuclear weapon, as if he didn't personally spend years lighting the old nuclear agreement on fire and then salting the earth where it used to be. The man who tore up the JCPOA and bragged about it is now gravely warning that Iran must never be allowed to do the thing his own policy choices made significantly easier.
This is classic Trump foreign policy: break the working smoke detector, smash the fire extinguisher, lay off the firefighters, then step in front of the cameras to declare that he alone will not tolerate house fires. While serious people once used inspections, multilateral diplomacy, and enforceable limits, we're back to the era of vibes-based deterrence and Sharpie geopolitics, where a "red line" is whatever Trump yells over the teleprompter that day.
What the administration is actually signaling is more unilateral brinkmanship and fewer constraints on presidential war powers. Congress, predictably, is treated as background furniture while Trump freelances nuclear policy on live TV. It's a great system if you’re an aspiring strongman or a defense contractor; slightly less great if you’re anyone living within range of, say, Earth.
So now the world is supposed to trust that the guy who confused hurricanes with Alabama is carefully managing a nuclear standoff with Iran. Sleep tight.
Source: nbcnews.com
#national-security#imperialism#killing-democracy
national security
pentagon now doing reactor uber for trump’s ai buddies
Nothing to see here, just the U.S. military beta-testing "reactor on a plane" so Trump’s friends can plug their AI server farms straight into a flying Chernobyl carry-on.
The Pentagon just did a test run of "DoorDash, but make it nuclear," airlifting a privately built Valar Atomics microreactor from California to Utah on a C-17 so the Trump administration can brag that it can drop reactors wherever it wants, whenever it wants. Don’t worry though, they promise this one didn’t have fuel in it, which is exactly the kind of detail that makes you feel safe when the same crew that can’t run a basic background check is now playing Lego with fission.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Defense Undersecretary Michael Duffey flew along with the 5‑megawatt unit to celebrate what they’re calling a "breakthrough" in fast-tracking commercial licensing for microreactors. Translation: we found a way to use the military as a flying demo showroom for private nuclear vendors while shoving regulators to the back of the cargo bay. All of this is wrapped in Trump’s grand plan to "reshape" the energy landscape by loving nuclear, hating renewables, and still worshipping coal like it’s 1892.
The sales pitch is that these pop-up reactors will power both the military and the exploding demand from AI and data centers — you know, the same AI industry that already writes half the administration’s talking points. Skeptics keep pointing out pesky issues like safety, cost, and feasibility, but the White House seems far more interested in proving it can strap a reactor to a plane than in demonstrating how you secure, regulate, or decommission a fleet of flying nukes-for-hire. What could possibly go wrong when you fuse wartime logistics, deregulation, and corporate tech thirst into one glowing little box?
Source: npr.org
#national-security#forever-grifting
national security
trump does indian ocean geopolitics from the toilet
A tranquil aerial view of the Chagos Islands, soon to be the backdrop for whatever foreign policy Trump last rage-posted before lunch.
Donald Trump has discovered the Chagos Islands again, which is bad news for anyone who thought nuclear strategy and decolonisation shouldn’t be run through his brain’s random number generator. After previously calling the UK–Mauritius sovereignty deal over the Chagos archipelago "the best" Starmer could get, he’s now back on Truth Social shrieking that the UK must not "give away Diego Garcia" and that 100-year leases are bad, actually. The plan: Britain returns sovereignty to Mauritius, then leases back the island hosting the joint UK–US base. The problem: Trump just realized he can rant about it.
The UK Foreign Office is politely insisting the deal is "crucial" for security and the only way to protect the base’s long-term future, while Trump informs them that shadowy "entities never known of before" are claiming the island. (He means Mauritius. And, awkwardly, the Chagossians the UK expelled so the base could exist in the first place.) He also warns that America will of course be ready to "fight for the U.K." as long as Britain stays strong against "Wokeism" — a bold condition to attach to basing rights and nuclear strategy.
Naturally, he spices this up by casually suggesting the US may need Diego Garcia and an airfield at Fairford to "eradicate" a potential Iranian attack if Tehran doesn’t take a deal on its nuclear programme. The White House, rather than pretending this is just grandpa yelling at clouds, helpfully clarifies that whatever Trump posts is official policy, "straight from the horse’s mouth" — a phrase doing a lot of work here. Meanwhile, UK legislation to implement the Chagos deal is mysteriously delayed, opposition parties are lining up to scream that Starmer is "giving away" the islands, and four Chagossians are literally occupying an atoll to protest the handover.
So we have: a decades-long decolonisation dispute, a displaced population, a critical US bomber base, and Iran nuclear brinkmanship — all now being steered by a man who thinks you should never sign a lease longer than a golf club membership. What could possibly go wrong.
Source: bbc.com
#national-security#imperialism
national security
america first, china winning by 20 points
Donald Trump explains his China strategy: a complex mix of tariffs, tantrums, and handing Xi Jinping a gift-wrapped AI advantage.
Trump’s second-term "strategic vision"—a phrase doing a lot of work here—amounts to handing China a fruit basket, a bouquet, and the keys to the global order. After years of ranting that Beijing wants to "challenge American power," he responded by gutting U.S. science, botching a trade war so badly that China walked away with a record $1.2 trillion surplus, and letting them sprint ahead in electric cars, wind, and batteries. America First apparently means "America first to forfeit the future."
Allies watched this clown show and did the rational thing: they called Beijing. Canada, tired of being threatened with becoming the 51st state and hammered with tariffs, signed a new strategic partnership with China. South Korea inked a dozen tech and trade deals in Beijing, the UK and Germany lined up for Xi Jinping photo ops, and world opinion polls now show more countries see China—not the U.S.—as the top economic power. Trump didn’t just weaken NATO; he created a global "find a new best friend" program, and Xi is the one handing out membership cards.
The national security pièce de résistance: reversing Biden-era curbs and greenlighting Nvidia to sell advanced AI chips to China after some billionaire donors whined about lost profits. Jake Sullivan called it "nuts" because it literally solves China’s main military-tech bottleneck. So after years of screaming about the China threat, Trump personally helps fix Beijing’s computing shortfall and then brags about being tough on China. The trade war ended with China restricting rare earths and banning U.S. soybeans until Trump folded, enraging American farmers and proving that the self-proclaimed master negotiator can, in fact, be bullied into submission—just not by his own citizens.
Source: theguardian.com
#national-security#killing-democracy#full-stupid
national security
trump to nukes: 'if they explode, they explode'
Artist’s impression of Trump’s 'Golden Dome': a giant, gold-plated umbrella over Mar-a-Lago, funded by your grandkids’ tax dollars and protected by exactly zero working interceptors.
Senator Ed Markey is here with the cheery reminder that the last remaining US-Russia nuclear arms control treaty, New START, is expiring, and Donald Trump’s position is essentially: “Eh.” For the first time in over 50 years, there will be zero limits on US and Russian nuclear arsenals, but the guy with the launch codes is publicly musing that, if the treaty expires, it just "expires"—like a coupon, or a non-disclosure agreement he forgot to pay off.
Instead of backing the boring, proven method of not dying in nuclear fire (treaties, inspections, verification), Trump is drooling over a fantasy missile shield he calls "Golden Dome"—a wildly expensive sci‑fi grift that doesn’t work, but would shovel trillions to defense contractors and, naturally, required him to "control" Greenland. Because when you’re playing nuclear roulette with 4,000 warheads, why not toss in a little casual imperialism and real estate cosplay.
Markey points out the obvious: missile defense has burned through hundreds of billions and still can’t reliably stop a determined ICBM, but it’s fantastic at one thing—fueling a new arms race, since Russia and others can just build more offensive missiles to overwhelm the magic dome. With 91% of Americans supporting new limits, Trump is once again heroically standing up to the tyranny of public opinion, basic survival instincts, and math, edging us toward Arms Race 2.0 while pretending it’s some kind of strategic genius move.
Source: theguardian.com
#national-security#killing-democracy
national security
trump’s golden dome and the doomsday clock
Keir Starmer and Xi Jinping, both carefully not mentioning the part where China is racing to build more nukes while Trump tries to sell a magic missile umbrella to terrified Americans.
Keir Starmer goes to Beijing, skips the part about human rights and Taiwan, and somehow also forgets to bring up the tiny issue of China’s secretive nuclear binge. Because nothing says "responsible statesman" like politely nodding while Xi Jinping quietly stacks warheads like it’s a Costco sale. Meanwhile, the Doomsday Clock just moved to 85 seconds to midnight – closer to nuclear Armageddon than ever – but Western leaders are busy workshopping their "constructive engagement" photo ops.
China is racing to expand its arsenal – about 100 new warheads a year since 2023 – while refusing to join arms control talks, all under the soothing label of maintaining only the "minimum level required for national security" (a number they conveniently forgot to define). The US and Russia still hoard about 90% of the world’s ~12,000 warheads, New START is about to expire, and nearly every nuclear state is upgrading to shiny new toys like hypersonic missiles and low-yield "usable" nukes. In other words: everyone is playing nuclear Jenga and hoping someone else knocks the table over first.
Enter Donald Trump, who, rather than strengthen arms control, is pushing a multilayered, Greenland-adjacent "Golden Dome" missile shield that experts say could blow up what’s left of strategic stability. Because nothing says "let’s calm this down" like building a giant, wildly expensive, probably-not-working space umbrella that convinces your rivals they’d better build more missiles to overwhelm it. The Pentagon is already warning that China’s "hair-trigger" posture and new ICBM fields make the US homeland more vulnerable, but Trump’s answer is: more toys, fewer treaties, and maximum provocation.
Xi calls Trump one of the "rampant" powers following the law of the jungle, which is rich coming from a guy racing to emperor-for-life status while quietly building the arsenal to match. But he’s not wrong about the jungle part: Trump helped torch the arms control architecture, is now selling a fantasy missile dome to his base, and everyone else is responding by doubling down on nukes. The adults in the room were supposed to stop this. Instead, they’re arguing over who gets the best optics while the countdown clock keeps ticking.
Source: theguardian.com
#national-security#killing-democracy#imperialism
national security
trump discovers the war button again
Donald Trump, bravely threatening a war he’ll never have to fight in, while a US armada does the heavy lifting for his latest episode of Strongman Theater.
Donald Trump has decided that what the world really needs right now is a little light nuclear brinkmanship, announcing that ‘time is running out’ for Iran while parking a huge US armada on its doorstep. Because nothing says responsible global leadership like menacing a country of 89 million people to juice your strongman image and cable-news chyron.
This latest episode in "What If We Just Started A War?" comes after Trump first promised Iranian protesters that ‘help was on the way,’ then immediately backtracked when it looked like actual responsibility might be involved. Now he’s demanding Tehran negotiate a new deal on its nuclear program while simultaneously doing everything possible to make sure diplomacy dies in a ditch — in other words, classic Trump: threaten war, sabotage talks, then blame the other side for not being serious enough about peace.
Behind the scenes, Pentagon hardware is doing laps in the Persian Gulf while the rest of us get to play the fun new party game, "Is this a bluff, or is the least disciplined man alive about to start a regional war because he got bored on Truth Social?" Devika Bhat walks through what Trump could do next, which ranges from more empty chest-thumping to an actual military strike — but sure, tell us again how the adults are in the room and everything’s totally under control.
Source: theguardian.com
#national-security#killing-democracy
national security
trump quietly yeets 750 pages of nuclear safety rules into the sun
Idaho National Lab, now available in ‘move fast and break containment’ mode — safety paperwork sold separately.
The Trump Department of Energy has been busy doing what it does best: secretly rewriting life-or-death rules so rich people can move faster. Over the fall and winter, DOE quietly shredded more than 750 pages of nuclear safety directives governing new experimental reactors — then handed the new, slimmed-down rules to industry while keeping the public completely in the dark. Because nothing says "responsible nuclear stewardship" like classified oopsies.
The new orders gut requirements for site security, environmental protections, groundwater safeguards, record-keeping, accident investigations, and even eliminate at least one key safety role. They also raise the radiation exposure threshold before an accident investigation is triggered — in other words, workers can soak up more radiation before anyone is officially allowed to admit something went wrong. All of this is to speed along Small Modular Reactors that just so happen to be backed by billions from Amazon, Google, and Meta, who want cheap power for AI — truly the most comforting reason to weaken nuclear safeguards.
Former Nuclear Regulatory Commission chair Christopher Hanson — whom Trump fired in 2025, naturally — points out that secretly relaxing nuclear safety "is not the best way" to build public trust. Edwin Lyman, a longtime nuclear safety expert, is blunter: the administration is taking "a wrecking ball" to the system that kept the U.S. from having another Three Mile Island. But sure, I’m sure everything will be fine. After all, when has a government-industry partnership that hides safety rollbacks around nuclear reactors ever gone badly?
#national-security#forever-grifting#killing-democracy
national security
when prince harry is your nato damage control guy
Prince Harry, a literal prince, trying to explain basic NATO obligations to a guy who once asked if we could just use nukes more.
Prince Harry, a guy who used to dress up like a Nazi for fun and still manages to clear the moral bar over Donald Trump, showed up on NBC’s TODAY to defend NATO troops after Trump’s latest brain-melter about alliance forces on the front lines.
Trump reportedly made comments downplaying or politicizing NATO deployments and the risks to troops in Eastern Europe, because nothing says "commander in chief" like treating collective defense as a reality show plot twist. Harry, who actually served in Afghanistan and has this wild concept called "respect for people risking their lives," pushed back and talked about the sacrifices of NATO service members who are, you know, trying to keep authoritarian regimes from rolling tanks into their neighbors.
In other words, we’ve reached the stage of American decline where a British royal ex-pat has to go on morning TV to remind the former U.S. president that NATO soldiers are not extras in his grievance tour. Trump keeps chipping away at the alliance that underpins Western democracy, and the international response is basically: send in the spare Windsor and hope he can talk sense into the world’s most powerful Fox News comment section.
Source: today.com
#national-security#killing-democracy#fascism
national security
microsoft gives china a backstage pass to the pentagon, trump pretends to fix it
Stock photo of a Pentagon server rack, presumably labeled: "Totally Secure, Except For The Part Where Microsoft Outsourced It To China."
For nearly a decade, Microsoft apparently decided that the best way to secure the Pentagon’s most sensitive cloud systems was to let China-based engineers work on them, then slap a few underqualified U.S. "digital escorts" on top as a fig leaf. Because nothing says "national security" like a corporate workaround to avoid the pesky requirement that people handling defense data be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
After ProPublica did the job the Pentagon allegedly didn’t know it needed to do, the Defense Department suddenly discovered this might be bad, updated its cybersecurity rules, and now Trump has signed a law to ban anyone in China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea from direct or indirect access to DoD cloud systems. In other words, they’ve finally decided that the world’s leading cyber adversaries probably shouldn’t be backstage at the Pentagon’s IT show.
Microsoft, which conveniently "left out" its China-based operations and foreign engineers from a 2025 security plan submitted to DoD, is now declining comment while promising to "work with our national security partners"—a phrase that here means "please don’t cancel the contracts." Meanwhile, Pete Hegseth is thundering on X about how foreign engineers should never touch DoD systems, and Elise Stefanik and Tom Cotton are declaring this a huge "win" for security, as if Congress didn’t just discover that Big Tech had been speedrunning a "national betrayal" for years under their noses.
The new law also forces the Pentagon to brief Congress on cybersecurity controls and incidents, which is adorable coming from the same institution that only learned about Microsoft’s little escort program because ProPublica told them. But sure, now that the barn’s empty and the horses are in Shanghai, we’re installing a really excellent lock.
Source: propublica.org
#national-security#corruption
national security
foreign policy live from the mar-a-lago buffet line
Trump, live from the world’s tackiest command center, explains that Iran ‘may be behaving badly’—unlike the U.S., which only tears up treaties and threatens wars for sport.
Trump popped up on NBC to announce that "Iran may be behaving badly," which is a bold statement from a guy whose own foreign policy record is a highlight reel of shredded treaties and impulsive drone strikes. From the comfort of Mar-a-Lago — America’s least secure Situation Room and most expensive members-only food court — he warned Iran against building up weapons, as if the entire world hasn’t watched him spend years nuking U.S. credibility on arms control and diplomacy.
In other words, the man who unilaterally torched the Iran nuclear deal is now back on TV warning that Iran might be doing exactly what experts said they’d do after he torched the Iran nuclear deal. Because nothing says ‘serious statesman’ like blowing up the one agreement actually constraining a nuclear program and then acting shocked that the guardrails are gone. But sure, let’s all pretend this is a coherent strategy and not just another episode of ‘Grievance Theater’ filmed live at his golf resort.
Meanwhile, the whole performance fits neatly into the ongoing project of running U.S. foreign policy as a personal branding exercise: tough talk for the cameras, zero consistency, and maximum chaos for everyone who has to clean up after him. America’s institutions burned their credibility to enable this once, and here we are again, watching him freelance nuclear-adjacent threats between meetings with Netanyahu at the cabana bar.
In other words, the man who unilaterally torched the Iran nuclear deal is now back on TV warning that Iran might be doing exactly what experts said they’d do after he torched the Iran nuclear deal. Because nothing says ‘serious statesman’ like blowing up the one agreement actually constraining a nuclear program and then acting shocked that the guardrails are gone. But sure, let’s all pretend this is a coherent strategy and not just another episode of ‘Grievance Theater’ filmed live at his golf resort.
Meanwhile, the whole performance fits neatly into the ongoing project of running U.S. foreign policy as a personal branding exercise: tough talk for the cameras, zero consistency, and maximum chaos for everyone who has to clean up after him. America’s institutions burned their credibility to enable this once, and here we are again, watching him freelance nuclear-adjacent threats between meetings with Netanyahu at the cabana bar.
Source: nbcnews.com
#national-security#killing-democracy#full-stupid
national security
lindsey graham discovers gravity, warns trump football is still in putin’s hands
Lindsey Graham explaining to America that the ex-KGB dictator might not be honest, as if he’s just cracked the Da Vinci Code.
Lindsey Graham went on TV to warn Donald Trump that Vladimir Putin is basically Lucy with the football – which is rich, coming from the guy who has spent the last decade as Trump’s emotional support senator every time he faceplants on foreign policy. Apparently, after years of Trump publicly swooning over Putin, undermining NATO, and treating Ukraine like a reality-show prop, Graham has noticed that the ex-KGB dictator might not be negotiating in good faith. Truly, a breakthrough in Republican science.
Graham’s message boils down to: Putin keeps dangling "peace" while refusing to budge on anything, and Trump keeps sprinting at the ball like it’s a golden opportunity for a campaign photo-op. Then Putin yanks it away and uses the chaos to strengthen his position. In other words, U.S. foreign policy is now a Peanuts rerun where the nuclear codes are offscreen.
The Trump camp, of course, is still selling this as brilliant statesmanship: the great dealmaker bringing peace to the world by believing whatever Putin says this week. Meanwhile, career diplomats and actual security experts get sidelined so Trump can chase another made-for-TV "peace" moment that exists mostly in his own press releases. Because nothing says serious global leadership like getting repeatedly conned by the same autocrat while your own party has to go on cable news and beg you not to fall for it again.
Source: nbcnews.com
#national-security#killing-democracy#full-stupid