President Biden was getting ready to leave the White House for an audacious flight to Israel to demonstrate solidarity after the Oct. 7 terrorist attack when suddenly the trip seemed to be falling apart before it even began. An explosion at a Gaza hospital had reportedly killed or wounded hundreds, the Palestinians were blaming Israel,…
Month: December 2023
Biden Lies Low in St. Croix During Holiday Week
As wars rage in Gaza and Ukraine, migrants stream illegally into the United States in record numbers and an intense 2024 campaign season looms, President Biden is lying low. Here on tropical St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Mr. Biden; the first lady, Jill Biden; and their granddaughter Natalie are spending New Year’s…
New Spin on a Revolving Door: Pentagon Officials Turned Venture Capitalists
When Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III and other top officials assembled for an event this month at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, they walked into a lesson in how the high-stakes world of Pentagon lobbying is being altered by the rise of defense technology startups. Inside, at this elite gathering near Los Angeles of…
Mutiny Erupts in a Michigan G.O.P. Overtaken by Chaos
The mutiny took hold on Mackinac Island. The Michigan Republican Party’s revered two-day policy and politics gathering, the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference, was an utter mess. Attendance had plummeted. Top-tier presidential candidates skipped the September event, and some speakers didn’t show. Guests were baffled by a scoring system that rated their ideology on a scale,…
Prosecutors Ask Appeals Court to Reject Trump’s Immunity Claims in Election Case
Federal prosecutors asked an appeals court on Saturday to reject former President Donald J. Trump’s claims that he is immune from criminal charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election and said the indictment should remain in place even though it arose from actions he took while in the White House. The government’s filing to…
The Pentagon Road to Venture Capital
US Innovative Technology Fund: James Geurts, former assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, also acquisitions executive at Special Operations Command (2021); Hugh Wyman Howard III, retired rear admiral, former commanding officer of Naval Special Warfare Command (2022); Ryan McCarthy, former secretary of the Army (2021); Richard Spencer, former secretary of the…
Trump’s Team Prepares to File Challenges on Ballot Decisions Soon
Former President Donald J. Trump’s advisers are preparing as soon as Tuesday to file challenges to decisions in Colorado and Maine to disqualify Mr. Trump from the Republican primary ballot because of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, according to a person familiar with the matter. In Maine, the challenge to the secretary…
Trump’s Team Prepares to File Challenges on Ballot Decisions Soon
Former President Donald J. Trump’s advisers are preparing as soon as Tuesday to file challenges to decisions in Colorado and Maine to disqualify Mr. Trump from the Republican primary ballot because of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, according to a person familiar with the matter. In Maine, the challenge to the secretary…
Biden’s Christian ‘Persecution’? We Assess Trump’s Recent Claims.
Former President Donald J. Trump has repeatedly tried to appeal to Christian voters in recent weeks by accusing the Biden administration of criminalizing Americans for their faith. On multiple occasions this month, Mr. Trump has claimed that President Biden has “persecuted” Catholics in particular. Mr. Biden himself is Catholic. “I don’t know what it is…
East Palestine Residents Still Waiting for Biden Visit
When Jessica Conard heard that President Biden would visit her community in East Palestine, she felt a sense of relief. Mr. Biden’s presence, she believed, would signal to the world that nothing short of disaster happened here in February, when a Norfolk Southern train skipped the tracks and spilled thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals…