Outside the Beltway

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 White House physician is accused of excessive drinking on the job and improperly dispensing medication among other offenses.

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.

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.

In response to inquiries about frequent media mentions of the Director’s wartime service, the CIA has confirmed he did not serve in combat.

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.

Former F.B.I, Director James Comey’s memos regarding his meeting with Donald Trump early in 2017 have been released, and they corroborate everything Comey has said about those conversations.

Barbara Bush, only the second woman in history to be the wife and mother of a U.S. President, has died at the age of 92.

President Trump undercut his own Ambassador to the United Nations today by blocking the imposition of new sanctions on Russia.

For intelligence and law enforcement to function, their leaders must remain outside the partisan fray—even in recent retirement.

A Federal Judge has struck down the revised version of the ban on transgender members of the military from serving openly, and the ruling has significance that goes well beyond the issue at hand.

Top positions in the State Department are vacant, and there’s only one person to blame for that.

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.

Given a choice between Robert Mueller and Donald Trump, most Americans are siding with Mueller. Unless they’re Republicans that is.

Hang on, the ride on the Trump Train is about to get a lot bumpier.

Without Congressional authorization, any attack on Syria would be illegal, but don’t expect Congress to do anything about it.

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

The FBI committed gross malfeasance in building a case against the widow of Omar Mateen. She nonetheless bears significant blame for 53 deaths.

Leland Bohannon objects to same-sex marriage on religious grounds. What rights should he have to act on that belief?

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

President Trump wants to send the military to the Mexican border. This is both unnecessary and a bad idea.

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.

He cooperated with the FBI. He was arrested by ICE.

Under the proposal certain visa-seekers (such as China and India) would have to have their social media presence scrutinized.

After initially praising the completion of a trade deal with South Korea, President Trump is now suggesting he may withhold final approval contingent on progress on talks with North Korea. This makes no sense whatsoever.

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.

Within hours after being fired as Secretary of Veterans Affairs, David Shulkin was fighting back.

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.

Another significant development on the Korean Peninsula.

Descriptions of Robby Jackson as “Trump’s personal physician” mischaracterize his qualifications for the job.

Much of Atlanta city government has been forced to rely on pen and paper this week thanks to a Ransomware attack.

After several days of speculation, it was confirmed that the leaders of North Korea and China had met in Beijing. This was meant as much for external consumption as it was the relationship between the two nations.

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.

Fourteen months into his presidency, he has no idea how the federal budget works.

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.

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

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

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

The President issued an incredibly confusing order that contradicts the advice of his generals and is probably illegal.

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.

Is Google acting as a good citizen here? Or abusing its market dominance?

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

Uh oh.