President Donald Trump boasted of ending hostilities between "Aberbaijan" and Albania on Tuesday. While doing so, he managed to flub the name of one country and cite another that had not actually been involved in the conflict in question. read more
The agency tasked with protecting Defense Department leaders is under significant strain, and the secretary's atypical needs are becoming untenable, officials say. read more
Donald Trump declared himself a war hero while lamenting that he does not get enough credit for ordering bombings in Iran. The president, who never served in the military and avoided the Vietnam draft due to a bone spur diagnosis, made the claim while speaking to conservative radio and Fox News host Mark Levin on Tuesday.
"You know we have an ocean that's separating us, right? A thing called... an ocean," he said. "A big, beautiful ocean. And, uh, they don't, they're right there. So it's a different kind of a thing for them." Trump possibly appeared to be referring to the Atlantic, which separates the U.S. from Europe and the west of Russia. The U.S. is, however, also separated from Russia to the west by the Bering Sea. The coast of the mainland of Alaska, where Trump and Putin met last Friday, is separated by 55 miles of sea from the eastern coast of Russia. At the closest point of any land, Alaska's Little Diomede Island is separated from Russia's Big Diomede Island by 2.4 miles of open water"which turns to ice capable of bearing human weight in winter.
[Tuberculosis] the most deadly infectious disease in the world, the World Health Organization says, responsible for killing 1.5 million people each year, even though it's both preventable and curable. read more
From the artile: "If Trump is genuinely concerned about the safety of D.C. residents," one resident said, "I would see National Guard in my neighborhood. I'm not seeing it, and I don't expect to see it. I don't think Trump is bringing in the National Guard to protect Black babies in Southeast."
You won't find the National Guard in any of the city's high-crime areas. A vast majority of soldiers and agents deployed to Washington are stationed in the vicinity of the White House and other high-profile sections of the city. There are soldiers patrolling the National Mall; armored vehicles parked at Union Station; and ICE agents manning checkpoints on U Street, an area known for its bars, restaurants and nightlife. They're not there for safety, but for show.
It is a truth of this administration, in fact, that much of it is for show. Hardly a day goes by without a new transgression against democratic norms or a fresh assault on the constitutional order. Each represents a serious threat to the American experiment in self-government, and yet each is also highly performative.