US War Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that America’s allies in Europe must take the lead on the defense of their own continent and help turn NATO into “a read hard-line military alliance.”
An alliance with the president was the Israeli prime minister’s selling point. Now it may be his downfall.
Democrats balked at handing Bill Pulte spy powers. Will they stay strong against Trump’s new pick for intel chief? The post Are Jeffries and Schumer Getting Ready to Greenlight Domestic Spy Power for Trump? appeared first on The Intercept.
A national security expert flagged the impact of one of President Donald Trump's moves that effectively allowed a key U.S. spy tool to expire.During an appearance on CNN, Leon Panetta, the former CIA director under former President Barack Obama and White House chief of staff during the Clinton administration, expressed concern about the expiration of a key part of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.House lawmakers refused to reauthorize Section 702 of FISA earlier this month in response to Trump's pick for acting director of national intelligence, Bill Pulte. When Trump refused to drop Pulte, FISA lapsed, and Panetta explained what losing FISA means for national security."You want to create a vulnerability in terms of our national security? Prevent FISA from taking effect," Panetta said. "Because what that does is it allows terrorists to be able to communicate in this country."FISA provides the U.S. with the "ability to basically capture that kind of communication so that we know what terrorists are up to and what threats our country is facing," Panetta added."With FISA shut down right now, without question, this country is very vulnerable to some kind of terrorist attack," Panetta said. "People have got to wake up. The president's got to wake up."Panetta said that he understands "the political games that go on sometimes," but "at this moment, our national security is what is most important to the president, to the country and to Congress."
Before Trump paused Jay Clayton’s nomination, Democrats thought they were on a “glide path” to renewing FISA. Now the president wants to tie domestic surveillance to voter suppression. The post Senate Democrats Aren’t Happy About Trump’s Spy Law Ultimatum appeared first on The Intercept.
President signs memorandum at Palace of Versailles where Germans were humiliated after losing first world war. Key US politics stories from Wednesday 17 June at a glanceThe Trump administration declared a “major win” but likewise the Hezbollah chief, Naim Qassem, proclaimed a “great victory” as the text of the 14-point US-Iran memorandum of understanding became public.Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said: “The agreement is a record of US failure. People will see it and judge.” Irna, Iran’s official state news agency, released a photograph of Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, holding up a Persian-language document apparently showing his signature alongside that of Trump. According to Reuters, Ghalibaf told state TV: “Everything we sought to achieve through military action, we obtained several times over through negotiation; it was not even comparable.” Continue reading...
Some in the president’s party were skeptical about whether the agreement he reached included adequate concessions from Iranian officials.