Outside the Beltway

President Trump’s second speech to the General Assembly of the United Nations wasn’t much better than the first, but it it did get the world laughing at us.

Last week, the Polish President floated the idea of a permanent U.S. military base in Poland. It’s a bad idea no matter how you look at it.

Donald Trump’s trade war is helping China expand its diplomatic influence.

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.

President Trump is alienating our allies and making friends with dictators, and the world is responding as you might expect they would.

Russia’s real goal in interfering in American elections may not have anything to do with favoring one candidate over another.

The frequency and ease with which this President lies is, to say the least, alarming.

Trade deals take more than an afternoon chat.

Most Americans disapprove of the President’s handling of our relationship with Russia, and foreign policy more generally, in the wake of the Helsinki Summit. That’s not having much of an impact on his overall job approval, though.

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.

In trying to assess the Helsinki press conference, a blast from the past deserves a second look.

For example, Turkey’s Erdogan.

The 95-year-old elder statesman is slowly shedding his public reticence at the risk of the access on which he has built his fortune.

The Trump Administration is inviting Vladimir Putin to Washington, D.C. for a second summit in the fall. What could possibly go wrong?

Initial polling on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court find the public more divided than they have been for other recent SCOTUS picks, but that’s unlikely to impact the fate of his nomination.

One day after an embarrassing performance at the Helsinki Summit, President Trump an absurd, completely unbelieve walk back of things the entire world heard him say loud and clear.

President Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin was an even bigger disaster than anticipated.

Even if all he gets out of the Helsinki Summit is a handshake and a photograph, Vladimir Putin has already won.

Not surprisingly, the President’s visit to the United Kingdom wasn’t exactly diplomatic, or even borderline polite.

The NATO Summit is going about as well as can be expected.

On the eve of the NATO Summit, President Trump continues to engage in tactics that seem to serve no purpose other than to undermine America’s most important and successful alliance.

Recent polling finds that Americans aren’t feeling quite so patriotic right now. It’s understandable, but we shouldn’t give up hope.

Donald Trump continues to do something that Russian and Soviet leaders likely only thought possible in their wildest dreams, drive a wedge between the United States and its NATO allies.

A milestone for the nation’s oldest service academy, founded in 1802.

The White House is hoping for a relatively quick turnaround time to pick a replacement for Justice Anthony Kennedy.

President Trump reportedly trashed the NATO alliance in conversations at the G-7 Summit, something that should make Russian President Vladimir Putin quite happy.

The Presidents of the United States and Russia will meet next month and there’s reason to worry about what Trump might give away.

Not surprisingly, Canadians aren’t too thrilled with Donald Trump these days.

Turkey’s authoritarian leader is going to be around for a long time.

Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia have apparently finally settled a three-decade old name dispute.

Thanks to Donald Trump, the happiest man in the world right now is Vladimir Putin.

European alliance and Russian goals edition.

Hurricane Trump hit the G-7 this weekend, and the damage it left behind will take years to clean up.

Dan Coates, the Director of National Intelligence, has issued a strong warning that has received little attention.

Once again, President Trump seems intent on insulting a major American ally.

The actions of the Trump administration are helping Russian-EU relations (to the detriment of the US).

The arguments in favor of a permanent U.S./NATO base in Poland are not very convincing.

Poland makes the U.S. and NATO an offer they might want to consider refusing.

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.

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

Seven years after deactivation, the U.S. Second Fleet will be patrolling the North Atlantic again.

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

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

An essay from earlier in the year by Jacob T. Levy underscores some of the points I recently tried to make about democratic norms in the current era.

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

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

As expected, Russia has retaliated for the retaliation against it in connection with the attempted murder of a former Russian spy and his daughter in the United Kingdom.

The United States has joined Great Britain and much of Europe in retaliating against Russia for the attempted murder of a former Russian spy on British soil.

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.