Outside the Beltway

Next up: Pompeo

By threatening to withdraw from the nuclear deal with Iran, Donald Trump is making it far less likely that any upcoming talks with North Korea will succeed.

Service members deployed to Algeria, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Mali, Niger, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Tunisia, and Uganda qualify.

Anderson Cooper has interviewed adult film star Stormy Daniels for 60 Minutes, but lawyers for President Trump are apparently considering legal action to stop the report from airing.

CJR’s Dan Mitchell has a tiny quibble with a recent viral NYT thumbsucker. 

Two seemingly contradictory essays out today highlight the exhausting political conversation environment.

Netflix no longer offers President Frank Underwood. They’re lining up a replacement.

North Korea’s Dear Leader has baited the President of the United States into a trap.

The eighty year old mystery regarding the fate of famed aviator Amelia Earhart may have taken a step toward being solved if the results of a new forensic study are correct.

Maryland’s legislature is considering a law that would require candidates for President to release their tax returns. It’s probably not Constitutional.

The Russia investigation rolls on with more evidence of questionable conduct on the part of Trump and his team.

Adult film star Stormy Daniels has filed a lawsuit against the President, handing the already beleaguered White House yet another headache.

The chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisors is out after failing to convince the boss not to impose tariffs.

The President suffered a setback in his other job yesterday.

The Kim regime released a statement saying they were open to talks and would not conduct provocative tests while they were ongoing.

While Team Trump has gone out of its way to waylay the Russia investigation, this may not be is part of that effort.

POLITICO buries the lede in making the case for “Donald Trump’s bubble presidency.”

How ‘tainted’ must a funder be before a charity is obliged to reject the donation?

The circumstantial case for corruption by Kushner is growing.

The latest, and most grave, example of the current tide of right-wing populism can be found in Italy.

Was the 2016 contest unique, or are we destined to forever vote against the candidate we hate most?

Shots fired: European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker threatens to fight back if President Trump imposes tariffs on steel and aluminum.

I’ve made the sad discovery that longtime friend of the blog John Burgess passed away on February 16, 2016.

We form stereotypes about generational cohorts when they’re very young and then freeze them.

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

With the Winter Olympics over, the next step on the Korean Peninsula is utterly unclear.

Following yesterday’s move by Dick’s Sporting Goods, Walmart has raised the age for all gun sales to 21.

The 29-year-old was one of President Trump’s most trusted aides but she had an impossible job.

China’s Xi Jinping solidified his hold on power well into the next decade over the weekend.

Jonathan Bernstein thinks so and Chuck Todd and company outline a pretty strong case.

Mark Levin says we’re “morons” and “illiterate in English” because we’ve quoted the NYT.

What is CPAC telling us about the contemporary conservative movement?

A mass wave of mainland Chinese immigration to Australia has led to discrimination against Taiwanese expats there.

Some thoughts on the biggest Marvel blockbuster yet. [Modest spoilers]

The Mueller investigation moves forward.

If a law enforcement officer with 30 years of experience can’t stop an active school shooter, what makes anyone think a teacher with a gun can?

While the glass ceiling in high-level posts was shattered decades ago, men still dominate the field.

President Trump is calling on the Justice Department to ban bump stocks, but it seems clear that this is an area where Congress needs to be taking the lead.

Al Hoffman Jr., a Florida-based real estate developer who was a leading fund-raiser for George W. Bush’s campaigns, said he would seek to marshal support among other Republican political donors for a renewed assault weapons ban.

A significant and important development in the Russia investigation that shows that President Trump’s claim that the stories of Russian interference in the 2016 election were “Fake News” is completely untrue.

The prospect for a fix to help DACA beneficiaries is looking gloomier than ever.

Donald Trump’s lawyer admits to making a six-figure payment on the eve of the 2016 election to a porn star that Trump was alleged to have had an affair with. That just raises a host of other questions.

Republicans spent the eight years of Obama Administration railing against fiscal irresponsibility. Now that they have power, they’re the ones being fiscally irresponsible.

The Judge presiding over a case dealing with Trump’s proposed border wall expressed doubts about the project. The President will no doubt be irked by the identity of that Judge.

As Brexit negotiations go on and the consequences of Britain leaving the European Union become clearer, some Britons are starting to ask for a chance at a second referendum.

The rise of ‘car sharing’ services has greatly benefitted consumers but had a devastating effect on taxi drivers.

President Trump has harsh words for Democrats who didn’t applaud his SOTU.

Donald Trump’s own lawyers are afraid he can’t help but lie to such an extent that he should not sit down for an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller.

Dodge is facing controversy this morning for using the words of Martin Luther King Jr. in a Super Bowl commercial, but they’re not the only party who may have some questions to answer.