Why Trump Won’t ‘Produce a Scalp’ After the Signal Debacle

In the telling of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, he was only executing his duties when he shared plans about a forthcoming attack on Yemen in an unclassified group chat on the Signal messaging app. “My job,” he told reporters during a swing through Hawaii, “is to provide updates in real time.” The implication: Nothing to see here. The reaction inside the Pentagon to Hegseth’s communications—disclosed this week by The Atlantic after the editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was inadvertently added to the chat—told a different story, as security specialists raced…

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A Glimmer of Hope in Difficult Ukraine Peace Talks?

The United States’ work to bring peace to Ukraine is proving to be difficult, as Americans attempt to bring about a ceasefire in the Black Sea—a major route for goods traveling between Europe and Asia. Demands from Russian, Ukrainian, and European Union figures have complicated the process. The announcement Tuesday of U.S. talks with Russia and Ukraine of bringing peace to the Black Sea sent grain prices plummeting, as investors saw the possibility of the seaway becoming once again a stable trade route. Russia and Ukraine have agreed on a…

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A Month Since Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde’s Plea

Calls for Mercy and Compassion Continue It’s been just over a month since Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde stepped up to her pulpit for the National Prayer Service, looked directly at President Trump and Vice President JD Vance, and issued a direct, earnest plea. “I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared,” she said. “Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land. May God grant us the strength and courage…

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Lawmakers urge Defense Secretary not to erase troops’ historic accomplishments

In a letter to President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a group of lawmakers is urging the Defense Department to ‘immediately reverse policies’ that they say attempt to erase records of troops’ historic accomplishments. The four lawmakers that signed onto the letter are veterans who serve on the Senate Armed Services Committee. The lawmakers said content about record-breaking combat flight hours by female aviators, medal recipients within segregated combat units during the World Wars, and historical contributions of Native American servicemembers is being removed indiscriminately. Chief Pentagon Spokesman…

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America Is Watching the Rise of a Dual State

On September 20, 1938, a man who had witnessed the rise of fascism packed his suitcases and fled his home in Berlin. He arranged to have smuggled separately a manuscript that he had drafted in secret over the previous two years. This book was a remarkable one. It clarified what was unfolding in Berlin at the time, the catalyst for its author’s flight. The man fleeing that day was a Jewish labor lawyer named Ernst Fraenkel. He completed his manuscript two years later at the University of Chicago (where I…

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