Outside the Beltway

Does the administration know what it is doing?

President Trump’s decision to violate the terms of the nuclear deal with Iran could be a turning point in relations between the United States and its most important allies, and not in a good way.

The date and location of the meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong Un has been set, but there’s as much chance of failure as their is hope for success.

Gina Haspel faced some tough questions from Democrats regarding her role in the C.I.A.’s post-9/11 torture programs, but she’s likely to be confirmed anyway.

For Donald Trump and his supporters, “Fake News” means any news that doesn’t shower enough praise on him.

As expected, President Trump has withdrawn the United States from the nuclear deal with Iran. There was no rational basis for doing so.

A majority of Americans want the President to stay in the nuclear deal with Iran. That’s unlikely to matter to him.

A blast from the past as Oliver North, who was once at the center of a major Washington scandal, is named President of the National Rifle Association.

They hired Israeli Private Investigators to dig up dirt on former Obama officials, including Ben Rhodes and Colin Kahl.

The former SecState is engaging in some shadow diplomacy.

It’s been 441 days since Donald Trump held a full-fledged Presidential press conference. Does anyone care?

The new Secretary of State is an improvement over the worst Secretary of State in history.

Israeli Prime Minister gave a speech yesterday designed to undermine the nuclear deal with Iran. The evidence was unconvincing, but the speech was really only aimed at an audience of one.

The United States is apparently looking to Libya as a guide for upcoming talks with North Korea. The DPRK most likely sees the fate of that nation and its leader as a warning.

General (Retired) Michael Hayden has some harsh, and concerning, criticisms of the Trump administration.

Instead of attending the White House Correspondents Association Dinner last night, Donald Trump took his show on the road where he continued his long-standing attacks on the press. Unfortunately, it’s a message that resonates with his supporters.

Not surprisingly, Mike Pompeo was confirmed as America’s 70th Secretary of State today. Now, the hard work begins.

French President Emmanuel Macron predicts, correctly, that President Trump will pull out of the nuclear deal with Iran for the worst possible reasons. This will be a disaster for America’s national interests.

The Supreme Court heard oral argument in the challenge to President Trump’s Muslim Travel Ban. It didn’t appear to go well for the challengers.

For better or worse, Mike Pompeo will be confirmed as the 70th Secretary of State by the end of this week.

French President Emmanuel Macron is in the U.S. hoping to lobby President Trump to keep the United States in the nuclear deal with Iran. He’s got his work cut out for him.

The Kim regime has announced the end, for now, of its nuclear and ballistic missile testing programs. To understand why they made this concession, one needs to read between the lines.

Despite facing headwinds in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mike Pompeo will probably be confirmed as the next Secretary of State. That’s unfortunate.

Republicans on Capitol Hill and in positions of power are slavishly backing their President over their country. They should be ashamed.

An attempt at defining the conversation.

There is no obvious strategy and even the expressed rationale makes no sense.

The United States can’t do any good in Syria, but we can do a lot of bad.

Even the United Nations has given up trying to maintain an accurate estimate.

Once again, President Trump’s foreign policy tweeting is causing problems.

President Trump took to Twitter this morning and decided poke a stick in the eye of the Russian bear.

The United States has several options in Syria. None of them are good and one of them would be disastrous.

A response to one of the most deadly chemical attacks in the Syrian civil war has come, probably from Israel. What’s next?

Just about a year after President Trump attacked Syria over the use of chemical weapons, the Assad regime has again used chemical weapons. There’s not much we can do about, nor should we.

President Trump is talking about pulling American troops out of Syria, but his own White House is contradicting him.

The woman who wounded three people at the video company before killing herself posted insane rants all over social media.

President Trump seems intent on walking away from the nuclear deal with Iran. If he does, he’ll be handing a gift to Iran and harming American national interests significantly.

As a general rule, Presidents are entitled to have a Cabinet and advisers he is comfortable with, but a Cabinet full of “yes men” is not ideal with any President, and certainly not with this one.

In selecting John Bolton as his National Security Adviser, Donald Trump has signaled to the world that he’s likely to take action that will only serve to make the world a more dangerous place.

Not surprisingly, John Bolton has some links to particularly shady people on the right.

The incoming National Security Advisor reportedly wants to purge those who aren’t sycophants.

From Europe to the Middle East, to Asia, America’s allies are concerned about what the selection of John Bolton as National Security Adviser means going forward. They should be, and so should every American.

Top White House staffers were preparing to fire several troublesome figures at once when the President suddenly upended the plan.

Americans actings as agents for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been working hard to manipulate the President.

President Trump continues to obsequiously praise Russian President Vladimir Putin

The special counsel may be moving beyond the 2016 campaign and into post-election obstruction of justice.

The Trump presidency is the latest step in treating commentators like policy experts. It is all a manifestation of how the modern GOP is a populist party.

H.R. McMaster appears to be on the way out as National Security Adviser. The important question is, who replaces him?

The selection of Mike Pompeo as the next Secretary of State makes it more likely that President Trump will take the foolish and dangerous step of withdrawing the United States from the nuclear deal with Iran.

The nominations of Mike Pompeo and Gina Haspel could be in trouble in the Senate.

While the nature of Rex Tillerson’s firing as Secretary of State was shocking in its abruptness, taken in context with the rocky nature of his tenure it was hardly surprising.