Outside the Beltway

On the op/ed page of WaPo, the 10 living former U.S. secretaries of defense say things that shouldn’t have to be said.

Yet another retired general in the post would be a bad idea.

Presidents have appointed loyalists since time immemorial. Has this one gone too far?

The founder of Small Wars Journal passed Saturday.

Obvious advice is obvious.

Mark Esper has been confirmed and sworn in as the next Secretary of Defense, ending a period of nearly 100 days during which the Pentagon was headed by a succession of Acting Secretaries.

The Pentagon has been headed by Acting Secretaries for an unprecedented period. Does it really matter?

Patrick Shanahan is out as nominee to be Secretary of Defense after questions were raised during his background investigation.

Tensions are increasing in the Persian Gulf as the Iran war hawks seem to be winning the battle for the President’s support.

The White House claims to want to talk to Iran but the President’s actions make clear that negotiation is the furthest thing from his mind.

Patrick Shanahan, who has been serving as Acting Defense Secretary since James Mattis left in December, is being selected to replace Mattis in that position.

The Trump Administration is taking an unnecessarily militaristic approach toward Iran, and that poses real dangers for the country and for the Middle East.

Sexual misconduct in the military continues to frustrate observers.

“If you don’t fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition…” — James Mattis

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will not be running for Senate despite urging from Republicans in Washington and back in Kansas,

President Trump announced today that James Mattis would be out as Secretary of Defense by the end of the year.

President Trump has lost another one of his top advisers on the fight against ISIS.

President Trump is now apparently on the warpath against the Federal Reserve Board Chairman he appointed only a year ago.

In what clearly appears to be a rebuke of the President, Defense Secretary James Mattis is retiring as Secretary of Defense.

Defense Secretary James Mattis has announced that the deployment of U.S. troops to the Mexican border will be extended through the end of this year.

Reports about tension between Defense Secretary James Mattis and President Trump are becoming louder, and it’s being suggested that Mattis could be out of office after the midterms.

Just how far should White House staffers and civil servants go in protecting the public from an erratic president?

A new book by legendary Washington reporter Bob Woodward appears to contain explosive revelations about the President and the operation of the White House.

President Trump reportedly vetoed a plan to issue a statement lauding Senator John McCain after he died on Saturday.

The Trump Administration has taken the latest step in a process that began in May with the withdrawal from the JCPOA. Where it takes us is anybody’s guess, but the probability of something going wrong is quite high.

The Trump’s Administration’s rhetoric and actions have given the Iranians no reason to trust the United States going forward.

Jon Huntsman, the U.S. Ambassador to Russia, is rejecting calls that he should resign in the wake of what everyone seems to agree was a disastrous summit meeting with Vladimir Putin.

A thinly-sourced report says Yes.

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.

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.

President Trump may be looking to push Chief of Staff John Kelly aside by giving him a next to impossible job.

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.

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.

After eight months in office, the pressures on Chief of Staff John Kelly continue to mount under a President who cannot be controlled and whose behavior will not change.

President Trump’s call for National Guard troops isn’t going over well even with Republican Governors.

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.

The President’s new attempt to ban transgender Americans from serving in the military is as legally defective as the original ban was.

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.

Staffers are fleeing the administration like rats from a sinking ship.

President Trump has announced that he’ll be imposing significant tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. This is an unwise decision.

The Defense Department will reportedly recommend to President Trump that transgender members of the service currently serving in the military be allowed to continue serving.

National Security Adviser H.L. McMaster is the latest person rumored to be considering moving on from the Trump Administration.

President Trump’s tweets, other public statements, and actions are causing world leaders to doubt the reliability of the United States on the world stage.

When it comes to foreign policy, Donald Trump has no over-arching philosophy and little knowledge, so don’t expect anything approaching a coherent doctrine from his Administration.

America’s closest European allies are rebuffing the Trump Administration’s efforts to renegotiate the nuclear deal with Iran. They’re right to do so.

America’s closest allies sent a strong signal that they do not agree with President Trump on the nuclear deal with Iran.

New reports indicate that the President is spending more and more time watching television and tweeting. That’s not what he was elected to do.