Hanna Bogorowski Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan replaced James Mattis in the Pentagon role late Monday and vowed to work with President Donald Trump to advance his agenda, a task Mattis professed in his resignation letter to no longer being able to do. Trump announced the leadership change Dec. 23, just three days after…
LISTEN TO TLR’S LATEST PODCAST: By Russ Read Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis “teamed up” to block national security adviser H.R. McMaster’s plan for Afghanistan from reaching the president’s desk, according to a Politico report. Mattis and Tillerson apparently believed that McMaster’s initial plan, which involved a troop increase and four-year…
LISTEN TO TLR’S LATEST PODCAST: By Will Racke President Donald Trump issued a ban on transgender people serving in the military to ensure that House Conservatives didn’t derail their own spending bill, which was packed with administration priorities including funds for the border wall. Trump’s stunning Twitter announcement came after defense hawks and social conservatives…
LISTEN TO TLR’S LATEST PODCAST: By Saagar Enjeti President Donald Trump expects to find the Islamic Republic of Iran non-compliant with the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal in September, he told The Wall Street Journal in a Tuesday interview. “If it was up to me, I would have had them noncompliant 180 days ago,”…
LISTEN TO TLR’S LATEST PODCAST: By Will Racke Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is growing increasingly frustrated with his relationship to the White House and may not serve even a full year as the nation’s top diplomat, Reuters reported Tuesday. Tillerson has confided in friends that he will be lucky to last a year on the…
LISTEN TO TLR’S LATEST PODCAST: By Ryan Pickrell Washington is pushing for a bloodless solution to the North Korea problem, but Pyongyang believes the U.S. has other plans. Secretary of Defense James Mattis warned in May that taking military action against North Korea would result in a conflict that would be “tragic on an unbelievable scale,” adding…
LISTEN TO TLR’S LATEST PODCAST: By Benjamin Decatur Secretary of Defense James Mattis said Wednesday that the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria has taken President Donald Trump’s warning against launching another chemical attack seriously. “They didn’t [launch a chemical attack]. It appears they took the warning seriously,” Mattis told reporters aboard a U.S. military aircraft destined…
LISTEN TO TLR’S LATEST PODCAST: By Saagar Enjeti National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster cast blame for the dire current situation in Afghanistan on the previous administration’s handling of the war effort, while speaking at a Center for New American Security conference Wednesday. The national security advisor’s comments came during an answer to a question as to…
LISTEN TO TLR’S LATEST PODCAST: By Jonah Bennett The Pentagon is preparing to send nearly 4,000 troops to Afghanistan to fight in America’s longest war in an effort to turn the tide against the Taliban. A Trump administration official told the Associated Press that Secretary of Defense James Mattis is likely to make the troop…
LISTEN TO TLR’S LATEST PODCAST: By Benjamin Decatur Secretary of Defense James Mattis blamed former President Barack Obama for the ongoing disaster in Afghanistan when speaking to a Senate Appropriations subcommittee Wednesday. Mattis argued that the Obama administration’s decision to pull support for Afghan forces allowed the Taliban to rebuild and refocus their efforts. “I believe that we pulled…