U.S. National Security and Military News Review

An Accuser’s Story Suggests How Trump Might Appear in the Epstein Files

Mike Baker and Michael S. Schmidt — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 18:31:04 -0400

A former Jeffrey Epstein employee said that she told the F.B.I. in 1996 and 2006 about what she considered a troubling encounter with Donald J. Trump.

Jake Larson, D-Day Veteran and TikTok Star, Dies at 102

Adeel Hassan — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 14:15:20 -0400

Mr. Larson, the last survivor of a unit that stormed Omaha Beach in 1944, shared his memories on social media where he amassed a wide following.

Justin Fulcher, a Top Aide to Pete Hegseth, Leaves the Pentagon

Julian E. Barnes — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 10:36:07 -0400

Justin Fulcher, an adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, said in a statement that he had planned to work in the federal government for only six months.

Air Force will buy more KC-46s, skip competition

Audrey Decker — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 08:19:35 -0400

ROYAL AIR FORCE FAIRFORD, England—After years of uncertainty about the Air Force’s tanker plans, the service has decided to buy more KC-46s instead of launching a new competition for its next tanker buy.

This decision ends speculation that the service might launch a contest, likely between Boeing and Airbus, for an interim tanker buy of 75 aircraft to replace the aging KC-135 fleet. Instead, the Air Force will purchase more of the troubled but already-in-production KC-46 as a “bridge” solution until it figures out its long-term tanking needs.

“The Air Force approved the acquisition strategy for the KC-46 extension program. That acquisition strategy approves up to 75 additional KC-46s. Now, there are obviously details to be worked out in the pricing and all the management there, but the acquisition strategy has been approved for up to 75 KC-46s in the KC-46 extension plan as part of KC-135 recapitalization,” Air Force Chief Gen. David Allvin told Defense One on the sidelines of the Royal International Air Tattoo.

The decision to stick with Boeing’s KC-46 likely stems from budget pressures, since continuing Pegasus production would cost less than putting research and development money into a new program. The new contract will come after Boeing finishes delivering tankers under the current program of record, for 188 aircraft.

While a strategy has been approved, the Air Force stressed that details like contract type and cost still need to be worked out. Boeing has been building the KC-46 under a fixed-price contract, which has resulted in billions of dollars in losses for the company. If the service changes the current contract, it could move some parts of the program—such as needed fixes or upgrades to the tanker—to a cost-plus arrangement, under which Boeing would be reimbursed for work.

The decision to buy additional KC-46s was looking more and more likely after the service included funds for a “Tanker Production Extension” program in its 2026 budget request. That program would use the KC-46 as “the most affordable requirements basis” for the extension effort, according to budget documents.

For two decades, the Air Force had planned to build its tanker fleet under a three-pronged plan: buy a commercial modified tanker, launch a competition for another commercial modified tanker to be the “bridge buy,” and eventually build a next-generation aircraft. The first step of the plan was the KC-46.

Then, in 2023, service officials announced they would cut the second part of the plan— the bridge tanker buy—down from 160 to 75 aircraft, and accelerate the next-gen tanker program, called “Next Generation Air Refueling System.”

The service had once hoped to field the stealthy new tanker by the end of the 2030s, but that timeline looks increasingly unlikely, since the Air Force cut NGAS funding down to $13 million in the 2026 budget request and has instead focused its attention on the sixth-gen fighter program, the F-47.

Allvin stressed that NGAS is not one platform, but rather a family of systems that may or may not include a brand-new tanker. And, he said, some of the funds in the 2026 NGAS budget line will go to look at how the service can make its current tankers more survivable.

Meanwhile, the Air Force continues to work through problems with the KC-46 program, which has been plagued by a number of "category one” deficiencies—problems with the potential to cause a crash or loss of life—and delivery pauses.

Allvin said he’s “comfortable” with Boeing’s progress on the deficiencies, and that the tanker is still functioning “very well” in operations, referring to the tanker’s role in Operation Midnight Hammer, where KC-46s helped refuel B-2s that struck Iran’s nuclear development sites in June.

“I’m not saying we’re totally out of the woods, but I believe we are making good progress clearing those deficiencies, and the aircraft is performing very well operationally,” Allvin said.

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Inside the Reindustrialize Summit and Its Push to Revive U.S. Manufacturing

Farah Stockman and Nic Antaya — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 05:00:50 -0400

Trump cabinet officials mingled with tech investors and manufacturers in an effort to supercharge factories.

WINNING: Lessons From Iran and Russia Attacks

Sun, 20 Jul 2025 00:59:14 -0400

CHINA: Taiwan Has Problems

Sun, 20 Jul 2025 00:57:37 -0400

What to Know About the Fallout Around the Epstein Files and the Trump Administration

Devlin Barrett — Sat, 19 Jul 2025 21:27:44 -0400

Here’s what to know about the disturbing facts and unsubstantiated suspicions that make Jeffrey Epstein, a registered sex offender, a politically potent obsession.

Digest of Recent Articles on Just Security (July 14-18, 2025)

Just Security — Sat, 19 Jul 2025 06:34:32 -0400

Just Security Editorial Board

A Warm Welcome to Mark Nevitt as a Just Security Editorial Board Member!
Tess Bridgeman, Ryan Goodman and Megan Corrarino

Series: Governing the Quantum Revolution

The Security Stakes in the Global Quantum Race
by Argyri Panezi

AI & Cyber

Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions (Updated)

Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
by Just Security

Trump Executive Actions

Court of International Trade’s Flawed Ruling in Striking Down Trump’s Tariffs
by Samuel Estreicher and Andrew Babbitt

U.S. Diplomacy

United States / Syria

Understanding the Trump Administration’s Delisting of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham
by Jason M. Blazakis

U.S. National Security / Courts

Classified Information and State Secrets: Why the Senate Must Consider National Security Risks in Judicial Confirmations
by Noah Bookbinder, Christie Wentworth and Danielle DeVillier

United Nations / Gender Apartheid

Gender Apartheid Should Be an International Crime
by Heather Barr, Macarena Saez and Stacey-Leigh Manuel

International Court of Justice

From Bench to Ballot: Judicial Integrity and Political Ambition at the ICJ
by Roy Schöndorf and Ava Drai

Podcast

The post Digest of Recent Articles on Just Security (July 14-18, 2025) appeared first on Just Security.

Ron Wyden, a Democrat, Won’t Let Go of the Jeffrey Epstein Case, Either

Matthew Goldstein — Sat, 19 Jul 2025 01:11:26 -0400

Senator Ron Wyden has found that four banks waited until Mr. Epstein’s arrest on federal charges to flag $1.5 billion in suspicious transactions. Mr. Wyden wants the documents made public.

PROCUREMENT: Curbing Drone Smugglers

Sat, 19 Jul 2025 00:52:29 -0400

AIR DEFENSE: S400 in South Asia

Sat, 19 Jul 2025 00:51:08 -0400

Explosion at Los Angeles Training Center Kills 3 Sheriff’s Deputies

Jesus Jiménez, Tim Arango and Shawn Hubler — Sat, 19 Jul 2025 00:38:51 -0400

It was not immediately clear what caused the blast at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Biscailuz Training Academy center. No one else was injured, officials said.

Gabbard Claims Obama Administration Tried to Undermine Trump in 2016

Julian E. Barnes and David E. Sanger — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 19:34:19 -0400

Democrats denounced a report issued by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence as politically motivated and error-ridden.

Trump Administration Requests Release of Epstein Grand Jury Records. What’s Next?

Mattathias Schwartz — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 19:13:37 -0400

The records are at the center of President Trump’s effort to manage fallout from the Epstein case. But unsealing them is complex and requires a judge to sign off.

3 Deputies Are Killed in Explosion at Los Angeles Training Center

Jesus Jiménez and Ana Facio-Krajcer — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 12:43:02 -0400

It was not immediately clear what caused the blast at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Biscailuz Training Academy center.

The Familiar Fingerprints of a Forgotten Art Heist

Michaela Towfighi — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 09:41:44 -0400

After a valuable de Kooning was discovered behind a bedroom door, a true crime fan wondered: Is that all the thieves stole?

The Trump Administration’s AI Action Plan Is Coming. Here’s What to Look For.

Joshua Geltzer — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 09:05:21 -0400

The Trump administration’s long-anticipated “AI Action Plan” is expected to be publicly released next week. In response to a Request for Information issued by the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, stakeholders submitted over 10,000 public comments laying out their views on what should—and should not—be included. That volume of feedback underscores the level of public interest in the administration’s approach to AI and the far-reaching consequences of U.S. government policy on this front.

These six overarching questions will be critical to understanding the significance of the plan, and accompanying materials such as one or more expected executive orders, once those are released:

1. What is the scope of the AI Action Plan?

There are many dimensions to AI strategy and policy, from U.S. government procurement and use of AI to supply chain resilience, export controls, and domestic and global norms about AI practices. The AI Action Plan is therefore likely to be broad in scope, providing insight into where the administration is heading on AI. That said, the Action Plan’s precise scope remains uncertain; and, the more that the Action Plan ends up covering, the harder it may prove to offer a single strategic vision that resolves tensions among aspects of multidimensional AI policy, such as fostering continued U.S. private sector leadership while keeping the most sensitive U.S.-produced technologies from reaching the hands of foreign adversaries and rivals.

2. What does the plan say about AI infrastructure and power?

AI’s rapid development requires significant investments in land and energy resources, among other inputs. The AI Action Plan will likely cover the ways to increase the availability of these raw inputs to the U.S. private sector, both domestically and abroad. So far, the Trump administration has, for example, continued to drive implementation of an initiative kicked off by the Biden administration making available federal land for the types of data centers essential to AI model training and operation. The Action Plan can build on that effort by outlining a strategic vision for making sustainable investments in the raw requirements for AI infrastructure.

3. What does the plan say about the human costs of AI development?

AI’s emergence brings enormous opportunities for innovation, efficiency, and more, yet even its most enthusiastic proponents acknowledge that there are also costs. Those include costs for the people whose jobs will be eliminated or at least dramatically overhauled by increasingly sophisticated AI models and greater reliance on those models in workplaces across a range of sectors. It will therefore be key to understand how the Action Plan imagines preparing the American workforce to evolve with major AI breakthroughs and prepare for potentially significant upheavals.

4. Where does the plan land on export controls?

So far, there has been a lively debate between those who want to keep the most cutting-edge AI technology developed by the U.S. private sector out of the hands of the country’s global rivals and those who want to see that private sector’s reach extend as far and wide as possible—in part to try to crowd U.S. rivals out of the market. The Trump administration’s previous revocation of the “AI Diffusion Rule,” paired with big AI deals announced with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates during the president’s May trip to the Middle East, marked notable wins for the latter camp. So, too, did the recent news that the Commerce Department will reverse course and now permit certain high-end chips to be sold to Chinese purchasers. The Action Plan is the next key data point in understanding which side of this debate is prevailing within the administration.

5. Where does the United States fit in globally on AI?

The U.S. private sector may be at the forefront of AI development, but AI maturation is a global phenomenon. And other countries have increasingly strong views of their own on AI strategy and policy, as demonstrated by the European Union’s complex AI Act and recently-announced code of practice. The Action Plan is a chance for the administration to explain how its approach fits in globally and might be pursued through international forums such as the G7—or not.

6. Will the plan take a position on hot-button legal and legislative issues?

The expectation is that the Action Plan will cover a range of AI-related strategy and policy topics. But it is worth looking to see if it expresses a view on behalf of the administration on certain hot-button legislative and even legal issues. With respect to the former, the recent push in Congress to create a ten-year (then five-year) AI state law moratorium via federal preemption gained traction remarkably quickly, almost becoming federal law. Already, efforts are underway to revive the proposal for a future legislative vehicle that might see it pass. The Action Plan offers the administration a chance to weigh in on similar legislation going forward.

When it comes to legal issues, in recent weeks federal district courts have issued three landmark decisions grappling with whether training AI models on copyrighted materials is protected as fair use under intellectual property laws. In short, two judges said yes and one said no. But there was a lot more nuance to what each judge said; and, regardless, the issues are almost certain to be considered by appellate courts in coming months, making the recent rulings important but far from the final word on these critical intellectual property issues. While these have largely been legal fights among private parties, the Trump administration fired the country’s top copyright official days after her office released a report suggesting that AI model training might not be protected as fair use. If the administration wants to air its legal views on this issue and others such as whether AI chatbots’ output qualifies as First Amendment-protected speech, the Action Plan could offer an opportunity to do so.

* * *

There is no set formula for writing, coordinating, and releasing national strategies or action plans. What makes it in—and what does not—can be just as consequential, and just as revealing, as the content itself. Just as importantly, how something is said can signal as much about the path ahead as what is said. Given the stakes for AI development, deployment, and use, the forthcoming AI Action Plan warrants close scrutiny along all these dimensions. Where the U.S. government takes AI strategy and policy will have far-reaching consequences—for Americans’ jobs, their lives, and their place in the world.

The post The Trump Administration’s AI Action Plan Is Coming. Here’s What to Look For. appeared first on Just Security.

Understanding the Trump Administration’s Delisting of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham

Jason M. Blazakis — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 08:50:37 -0400

On July 8, the Department of State removed Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), also known as Jabhat al-Nusrah, from the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list. In a press release previewing the delisting, Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted that the action fulfills President Donald Trump’s May 13 pledge to offer sanctions relief to the people of Syria. On June 30, the White House followed up on Trump’s promise by announcing that the United States would lift all sanctions on Syria, except for those imposed on former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group. The White House ordered the State Department to review the listing of HTS and its leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Ahmed al-Jawlani. The State Department’s FTO delisting of HTS is in direct response to the White House’s order.

The move to delist HTS as an FTO is not without risk, especially when considering its lineage, and Jawlani’s historical direct links to two of the world’s deadliest terrorist groups: ISIS and al-Qaeda. Both organizations are still significant threats to U.S. national security interests.

I was the head of the State Department’s Office of Counterterrorism Finance and Designations when the U.S. government first designated Nusrah Front as an alias for al-Qaeda in Iraq on Dec. 11, 2012. Nusrah was added to the list of terrorist organizations because it was a ruthless terrorist group. As described in the State Department’s press release: “Since November 2011, al-Nusrah Front has claimed nearly 600 attacks,” including “40 suicide attacks,” and “sought to portray itself as part of the legitimate Syrian opposition while it is, in fact, an attempt by [al-Qaeda in Iraq] AQI to hijack the struggles of the Syrian people.” AQI, of course, was a precursor to what would become ISIS. The State Department also explained that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (the first leader of ISIS’s so-called caliphate, which seized much of Iraq and Syria) tasked Jawlani with establishing AQI’s (ISIS) operations in Syria. In other words, Jawlani was originally Baghdadi’s point person in Syria.

Baghdadi and Jawlani broke up in 2013, with Jawlani renewing his allegiance directly to the head of al-Qaeda and Nusrah breaking off from ISIS. The split between the two led to a global, bloody rivalry between ISIS and al-Qaeda. Then, in 2016, Jawlani and Nusrah disassociated themselves from al-Qaeda. Like a chameleon changing its stripes, Nusrah later changed its name to HTS. This is when the group tried to hide its past.

The State Department and the wider U.S. government national security architecture did not buy Nusrah’s rebranding. In May 2018, the State Department amended Nusrah’s terrorist listing to add HTS as an alias. I was still the head of the Counterterrorism Finance and Designations office when we made that determination. As the State Department stated in a press release, Nusrah had “launched the creation of HTS as a vehicle to advance its position in the Syrian uprising and to further its own goals as an [al Qaeda] affiliate.” My boss at the time, Ambassador Nathan Sales, who was appointed by President Trump, explained that the amended “designation serves notice that the United States is not fooled by this al-Qaeda affiliate’s attempt to rebrand itself.”

The U.S. government adds groups to terrorist lists based on all-source information, often a compilation of classified and unclassified information. Simply put, in the case of HTS and Jawlani, who was sanctioned by the State Department pursuant to E.O. 13224 on May 16, 2013, it was very clear that they were dangerous terrorists.

This is, in part, why Trump’s move to delist HTS is risky and why the president’s photo-op with Jawlani in mid-May was ill-advised. HTS and Jawlani have a lot of baggage. Of course, the downfall of the brutal Assad regime is a positive development for the Syrian people. Assad’s monstrous rule is well-documented. And HTS played an instrumental role in Assad’s ouster. The new political reality, in which HTS runs the post-Assad government, requires fresh thinking on the sanctions front. But HTS’s involvement in human rights abuses, including the targeting of minority Druze communities earlier this year, as well as during recent clashes, is deeply problematic. At bottom, the decision to delist HTS as an FTO remains risky as a matter of policy.

There are other complications. Jawlani has distanced himself from al-Qaeda, but HTS has lingering ties to al-Qaeda-affiliated actors in Syria. And some HTS members are not as nationalist-minded as Jawlani. According to Reuters, a U.N. monitoring team report that is expected to be published this month concludes that there are no “active ties” between HTS and al-Qaeda. However, that same analysis reportedly reads: “Many tactical-level individuals [within HTS] hold more extreme views than … [Jawlani] and Interior Minister Anas Khattab, who are generally regarded as more pragmatic than ideological.”

A previous U.N. sanctions monitoring team report, published in February, noted that while HTS had spearheaded the campaign to defeat the Assad regime in late 2024, “other listed and non-listed entities were involved” as well. Those listed entities include foreign fighter groups such as the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), Katibat al-Imam al-Bukhari (KIB), and Katibat al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (KTJ), all three of which are part of al-Qaeda’s global network. Still other al-Qaeda-affiliated groups were involved in the insurgents’ successful offensive. “While [HTS’s] leadership promoted a nationalist agenda, nearly half the HTS forces were reportedly aligned with” al-Qaeda’s “ideology,” the U.N. team wrote. The analysts also reported that al-Qaeda’s “affiliates” – including Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), Al-Shabaab and Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) – all “published congratulatory messages for HTS” after the fall of Damascus last December. The “de facto Taliban authorities” in Afghanistan congratulated HTS as well.

Nonetheless, HTS’s delisting is well within legal parameters and historical FTO delisting decision-making. There are three pathways to delisting FTOs. The Secretary of State may delist an FTO if it is defunct, meaning there has been a change of circumstances since the group’s last listing or relisting. Since the advent of the FTO list in 1997, 21 groups have had their FTO listing rescinded, with the vast majority of these organizations being defunct.

The Secretary of State may also delist an FTO for national security reasons. This pathway has never been pursued by the State Department. Finally, there is a third discretionary pathway for delisting. Secretary of State Rubio can simply remove any group from the FTO list for any reason. It is likely that this third pathway is the one the State Department used given HTS’s checkered and deadly terrorist past, involvement in human rights abuses (which can, depending on the exact context of each abuse, be a legal basis for keeping a listing intact), and past precedent. For instance, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a discretionary decision to remove the Mujahedeen e-Khalq Organization (MEK) from the FTO list in 2012.

What nearly all news reporting and think-tank analysis of the HTS FTO delisting misses, however, is the fact that the group remains listed as a terrorist organization pursuant to U.S. law. As such, the Trump administration retains leverage over Jawlani, current and former HTS members, and the new Syrian regime. Secretary of State Rubio did not revoke HTS’s E.O. 13224 designation as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” (SDGT). Nor did Rubio remove Jawlani, also designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, from the rolls of terrorist actors.

Furthermore, the U.N. maintains the listings of HTS and Jawlani on its ISIS and al-Qaeda list of terrorists. It is very likely, though, that the United States, the original sponsor of the U.N.’s Nusrah and Jawlani listings, has proposed the delisting of HTS and Jawlani from the U.N. 1267 Committee. The United States, unless it wants to be non-compliant with its U.N. obligations, cannot unilaterally remove HTS’s or Jawlani’s E.O. 13224 listings. This compliance matters even more because the U.S. government is about to undergo its mutual evaluation by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in 2026. FATF reviews whether a country’s Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism architecture is compliant with FATF recommendations that protect financial systems from criminal and terrorist abuse. One aspect of that compliance is ensuring a country is meeting its U.N. 1267 obligations.

The world should not, however, hold its breath for a U.N. 1267 delisting. Therefore, it could take time before Jawlani and HTS are removed from the E.O. 13224 list of terrorists. Russia, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, seems unlikely to comply quickly with a U.S. proposal to remove HTS and Jawlani from the U.N. 1267 list. Assad now lives in Russia and is a long-time ally of Vladimir Putin. In other words, Russia will need substantial political concessions before allowing HTS and Jawlani to be removed from the U.N.’s list of terrorists.

The Trump administration’s recent Syria sanctions relief efforts, including the delisting of HTS, are only the beginning of what will be an incredibly complex set of delistings. By necessity, these moves will require high-level negotiations in New York and several capitals, Moscow included.

The U.S. government has more room to maneuver on Syria’s listing as a State Sponsor of Terrorism (SST). In 1979, Syria was the first country added to the State Department’s SST list. With its change of government, Syria may be eligible for removal. That decision, however, like that of finally removing Jawlani and HTS from the E.O. 13224 terrorist lists, must result in iron-clad guarantees that the new Syrian regime will not allow ISIS or al-Qaeda to use Syrian soil as a sanctuary for their international terrorist plotting. Furthermore, the Trump administration must push hard for Syria’s new de facto government to respect the human rights and religious freedom of all Syrians.

The post Understanding the Trump Administration’s Delisting of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham appeared first on Just Security.

Early Edition: July 18, 2025

Weronika Galka — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 08:04:53 -0400

Signup to receive the Early Edition in your inbox here.

A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR

An Israeli strike on Gaza City’s Holy Family Catholic Church yesterday killed three people and injured ten others, including the parish priest, according to church officials. The strike also caused extensive damage to the religious complex. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, told Vatican News that “what we know for sure is that a tank, the IDF says by mistake, but we are not sure about this, […] hit the Church directly.” Several hundred Palestinians were sheltering at the church compound when the strike occurred. Natan Odenheimer reports for the New York Times; Stefano Pitrelli, Claire Parker, Mohamad El Chamaa, and Siham Shamalakh report for the Washington Post.

Qatar, Egypt, and the United States on Wednesday presented Israel and Hamas with an updated Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal proposal that incorporates the progress made in negotiations in the last ten days, sources say. U.S. Envoy for Hostages Adam Boehler yesterday described the truce deal as “closer than it’s ever been.” Barak Ravid reports for Axios; Eric Bazail-Eimil reports for POLITICO.

Israel has demolished thousands of buildings across Gaza since its March resumption of hostilities with Hamas, with satellite imagery reviewed by BBC News showing entire towns and suburbs leveled in the past few weeks. An IDF spokesperson said that the “destruction of property is only performed when an imperative military necessity is demanded.” According to multiple legal experts, Israel’s actions may amount to war crimes under the Geneva Convention, which largely prohibits the destruction of infrastructure by an occupying power. Benedict Garman, Matt Murphy, and the BBC Visual Journalism team report.

Israeli forces killed at least 27 people in attacks on Gaza yesterday, medics and church officials said. The number of killed reportedly includes eight men tasked with protecting aid trucks. Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Crispian Balmer report for Reuters.

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE

President Trump yesterday called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express “not a positive reaction” to the attack on the church, according to the White House press secretary. Shortly after the call, Netanyahu’s office said that “Israel deeply regrets that a stray ammunition hit [the church]” and that the incident is under investigation. Natan Odenheimer reports for the New York Times.

In a statement, Pope Leo XIV yesterday said he was “deeply saddened” to hear of the attack on a Gaza City church and renewed his call for “an immediate cease-fire” in the territory.

SYRIA

Damascus is not preparing to redeploy government forces to the Sweida province, the SANA state news agency reported today, with an interior ministry spokesperson denying earlier reports of an planned redeployment. Reuters reports.

The United States did not support recent Israeli strikes on Syria, a State Department spokesperson said yesterday, while declining to say whether Washington supports Israel carrying out such military operations when it deems necessary. Humeyra Pamuk reports for Reuters.

594 people have been killed during the recent sectarian violence in southern Syria, the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights monitoring group said yesterday, adding that 83 members of the Druze religious minority were “summarily executed” by government forces and three Bedouin civilians were summarily killed by Druze fighters. Emir Nader reports for BBC News.

An armored convoy carrying several Western diplomats was passing by Syria’s defense ministry when Israel struck the building with several missiles on Wednesday, sources say. No one in the convoy was injured, the sources added. Timour Azhari reports for Reuters.

ISRAEL-IRAN CEASEFIRE

U.S. bombardment badly damaged, and potentially destroyed, Iran’s deeply buried nuclear enrichment plant at Fordow, according to U.S. officials familiar with a new U.S. intelligence assessment. Two other sites were not as badly damaged and may have been degraded only to a point where nuclear enrichment could resume in the next several months, the officials added. Gordon Lubold, Courtney Kube, Julie Tsirkin, Katherine Doyle, Dan De Luce, and Carol E. Lee report for NBC News.

Iran is making new efforts to arm its militia allies across the Middle East, a pattern of high-value weapons seizures by Syrian, Yemeni, and Lebanese forces shows. Benoit Faucon and Adam Chamseddine report for the Wall Street Journal.

France, the United Kingdom, and Germany yesterday informed Iran that they would restore the U.N. Security Council sanctions on Tehran unless it reopens talks on its nuclear programme immediately and produces concrete results by the end of August. John Irish reports for Reuters.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR

More than 100 Ukrainian drones targeted Moscow and various parts of Russia yesterday, according to the Russian defense ministry. Matthew Luxmoore and Thomas Grove report for the Wall Street Journal.

The European Union today approved its 18th package of sanctions against Russia, aiming to lower the G7’s price cap for buying Russian crude oil to $47.6 per barrel, diplomatic sources say. Andrew Gray and Lili Bayer report for Reuters.

Ukraine will let foreign arms companies test new weapons on the front lines of Ukraine’s war against Russia’s invasion, Kyiv’s state-backed arms investment and procurement group Brave1 announced yesterday. Sabine Siebold reports for Reuters.

GLOBAL AFFAIRS

Leading human rights organization Cristosal has pulled 20 employees out of El Salvador amid President Nayib Bukele’s drive to crack down on critics and humanitarian organizations, the group’s representatives said. Emily Green reports for Reuters.

Burkina Faso’s military rulers have disbanded the country’s electoral commission, according to the country’s state-run RTB TV, which reported that the interior ministry will handle elections in the future. Chris Ewokor and Damian Zane report for BBC News.

U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS

The Congress today approved the White House’s request to claw back $9 billion for foreign aid and public broadcasting, with a 216-to-213 House vote sending the measure to Trump for signature. GOP Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA) and Michael R. Turner (OH) voted against the measure. Catie Edmondson reports for the New York Times.

The Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans yesterday unanimously voted to advance the nomination of Emil Bove to a lifetime federal judgeship to full Senate consideration. Democrats on the panel boycotted the vote after the panel’s chairman, Sen Chuck Grassley (R-IA) called the roll before every Democrat had a chance to air their objections. Carrie Johnson reports for NPR; Glenn Thrush reports for the New York Times.

The Senate Judiciary Committee also yesterday voted to advance Jeanine Pirro’s nomination to the post of the U.S. attorney for the D.C. to the Senate floor for a final vote. Keith L. Alexander reports for the Washington Post.

The Justice Department Civil Rights Division’s head, Harmeet Dhillon, and Robert Keenan, the Division’s Senior Counsel, have requested a day-long prison sentence for Brett Hankison, a Louisville police officer convicted in connection with a raid that resulted in Breonna Taylor’s death. In a sentencing memo filed on Wednesday, Dhillon and Keenan also suggested that the Biden administration should not have prosecuted the officer on the civil rights charges on which he was convicted. Perry Stein and David Nakamura report for the Washington Post.

A grand jury has indicted a former Voice of America employee on allegations that he threatened to kill Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) along with her family members between 2023 and early 2025. Filip Timotija reports for the Hill.

The U.S. Army Special Operations Command yesterday circulated an alert to retired senior military personnel who served in Iraq or Syria now living in Florida that they were the target of a possible terrorist threat. The notice did not specify the source of information, the kind of threat, or which terrorist group was involved. Eric Schmitt and Julian E. Barnes report for the New York Times.

TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENTS

In a 308-122 vote, the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday gave the final Congressional approval to major bipartisan legislation that aims to regulate a type of cryptocurrency known as stablecoins. Veronica Stracqualursi and Morgan Rimmer report for CNN.

The Trump administration’s cuts to cybersecurity and technology staff at the State Department are more extensive than previously reported and risk creating gaps in cyber, quantum, AI, and tech-focused expertise at the department, sources say. The mass firings at the State Department could significantly impact the administration’s ability to deliver on its priorities, multiple former and current officials say. Maggie Miller reports for POLITICO; Jennifer Hansler, Kylie Atwood, and Annie Grayer report for CNN.

The Commerce Department yesterday announced steep tariffs on refined graphite, an essential ingredient for electric vehicle and other batteries, after issuing a preliminary ruling that Chinese suppliers were guilty of “dumping” the material on the U.S. market. Jack Ewing reports for the New York Times.

U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Nearly 800,000 mpox vaccines that the U.S. government had pledged to donate to African countries can no longer be shipped because they are about to expire, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. 220,000 vaccine doses have enough shelf life to be delivered to countries experiencing mpox outbreaks if the Trump administration signs off on their shipments, an Africa CDC spokesperson said. Carmen Paun reports for POLITICO.

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s son is working closely with the White House to impose sanctions on Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is set to preside over Bolsonaro’s upcoming trial on charges of leading an attempted coup, sources say. Terrence McCoy reports for the Washington Post.

U.S. embassies and consulates should “comment publicly on elections only when there is a clear and compelling U.S. foreign policy interest to do so” under new guidance the State Department issued yesterday. The department has historically criticized and questioned the legitimacy of certain elections, notably in authoritarian countries. Matthew Lee reports for AP News.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control yesterday announced it has sanctioned the top leaders of Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua over involvement in criminal activities, including illicit drug trade, human trafficking, and money laundering. Reuters reports.

U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS

The Justice Department yesterday asked sheriffs across California to provide lists of inmates in state jails who are not U.S. citizens, the crimes they committed, and their scheduled release dates. The DOJ said it would pursue “all available means of obtaining the data” if the sheriffs do not voluntarily hand it over. Jesus Jiménez reports for the New York Times.

The Health and Human Services Department has confirmed to Axios it is sharing Medicaid recipients’ personal data with the Homeland Security Department, saying that the information-sharing is lawful and focuses on ensuring benefits are not going to undocumented immigrants. Maya Goldman reports.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS

Trump yesterday signed an executive order creating a new classification of non-career federal staffers (“Schedule G”) who can more easily be fired. The White House did not specify how many workers would be put into the new classification. Jarrett Renshaw reports for Reuters.

Trump’s firings of watchdogs have created an atmosphere of fear inside inspectors general offices, with office leaders worried that simply doing their jobs could get them fired or prompt political blowback, sources tell the New York Times

The Just Security Podcast: What Just Happened, The Budget Bill and the Future of DHS and ICE

David Aaron — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 07:55:34 -0400

The massive budget bill that passed this month allocates tens of billions of dollars to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Homeland Security Investigation (HSI). The influx of funding of that scope and size will significantly expand the role DHS and immigration enforcement agencies play in American life.

What are the the institutional constraints on the FBI and law enforcement agencies compared to those on DHS and immigration enforcement?

To help unpack what these differences might mean for achieving policy objectives while protecting civil liberties and providing political accountability, host David Aaron is joined by Steve Cash, who comes with a wealth of high-level experience in Congress and the executive branch and who most recently served as Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

Show Note:

Just Security’s FBI Archive
Just Security’s DHS Archive

The post The Just Security Podcast: What Just Happened, The Budget Bill and the Future of DHS and ICE appeared first on Just Security.

The Pentagon will host a ‘Top Gun’ school for Ukraine-style attack drones

Patrick Tucker — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 05:26:33 -0400

Participants from across the military will converge on Camp Atterbury in Indiana next month for a “Top Gun” school for first-person kamikaze drones—the type that right now are helping Ukrainians defend against invading Russian forces.

Since 2023, the semi-annual Technology Readiness Experimentation, or T-REX event has served as a showcase for new drone prototypes and other emerging weapons technologies that are useful across the services. This year’s will also display human skill in one of the fastest growing areas of warfare: flying first-person viewer, or FPV drones. The demonstrations will simulate combat conditions in urban environments and elsewhere. It’s all part of the newest Pentagon push to attain what military leaders are calling “American drone dominance.”

The Defense Department Office of Research and Engineering, working with the Army and the Indiana National Guard, helps put on T-REX. But Alexander Lovett, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for prototyping and experimentation, said it is relevant to the Navy, Air Force, and Marines as well.

“The services are now standing up FPV drone schools and drone capabilities,” Lovett said at a Pentagon event Wednesday, put on by the Research and Engineering Office. The Top Gun school portion will feature teams and drone pilots facing off against one another, “red versus blue,” and new counter-drone tech, he said.

Cheap consumer drones in warfare aren’t new. Russians and Ukrainians used them during Russia’s initial invasion in 2014, to collect reconnaissance data to enable artillery strikes on the ground. Before long, militant groups like ISIS were using them to drop grenades on opposing forces.

But in late 2023, as Ukraine’s defense ministry stepped up its production and delivery of first-person kamikaze drones and pushed out wide-scale training to Ukrainian forces, the unmanned aircraft quickly went from a battlefield curiosity to a determinant of tactical victories, accounting for 70 percent of Russia’s battlefield loses, RUSI estimated in February.

The Pentagon has taken notice. In 2023, it launched a pilot effort to quickly scale up the production of low-cost, highly autonomous attack drones with a program dubbed Replicator. While the project was hailed for its vision, it didn’t achieve the scale of output that many hoped for.

But last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a slate of policy changes to enable military entities within the services and combatant commands to do their own purchasing, rather than go through slower and more formal channels.

Wednesday, Hegseth told reporters: “When it comes to drones, large, small, all classes, we need to be world class, and we will.”

He highlighted the memo as a means to “open the aperture for other companies and other systems to be rapidly tested and fielded by units also pushing decisions down to lower level leaders.”

Emil Michael, the newly-confirmed undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, pointing to the various drone models and prototypes in the Pentagon courtyard, described the display as “the beginning of American drone dominance.”

At this point, dominance is an aspiration. Russia has supplied its frontline troops with nearly 1.5 million small drones, CNA analyst Sam Bendett told The Guardian in January. Thursday, he told Defense One the number is likely larger this year than last, but Ukraine may now be ahead, supplying its own forces with 200,000 drones a month. A larger problem is China, which dominates the market not only for small consumer drones but also the essential digital and electric components that go into them.

Michael, in his remarks to reporters, pointed to other administration efforts to re-balance that. “The percentage of components that are made in America will only increase,” he said, though he did not say how quickly.

But Russian and Chinese forces can train drone operators in settings where jamming measures are active. Michael said drone makers wishing to sell to the Pentagon learn “the lessons from conflicts that are happening around the world…That's sort of endemic to becoming a drone manufacturer in the [United States.]”

Still, actually learning how to make drones work in heavily degraded communications environments means testing in settings very different from the United States. Michael seemed unfazed by those obstacles.

“If you're a smart builder, we’ve opened the door for you to come to our test ranges. And we've opened the door for rapid acquisition, and you could build to those specifications… That could be done easily here by people who haven't done that over there.”

Experts disagree with that assessment.

Last month, Brandon Tseng, a co-founder of Shield AI, a drone company working with the United States military as well as Ukrainians, told Defense One: “There might be two or three electronic warfare environments in a year as part of some major exercises in the USA. It's something that the USA needs to increase the number of their challenges in doing it.”

Outside of that, the FAA and FCC place barriers on jamming and electronic warfare testing across almost all of the United States, because jamming interferes with cell phones and other critical communications equipment. Drone and counter-drone tech developers have long-said that’s a big hindrance to their efforts.

In response to a different question at the Pentagon on Wednesday, Lovett essentially concurred with Tseng: “We have limited places where we can do that, which are usually government ranges that then drives availability, and it's just a factor of life.” He highlighted recent efforts to work the FCC and the FAA to adjust rules and guidelines to allow for more testing and test ranges. But the process of finding safe ways to jam drones in the United States will not be quick.

For Tseng, the secret to American drone “dominance” is working in a combat environment like Ukraine, where actual dominance is on the line every day. “if you are not operating in Ukraine, then your stuff is not serious. That's how the European military leadership sees it. We know a lot of companies went into Ukraine. They're no longer there anymore, right? This electronic warfare environment was so harsh.”

Bendett told Defense One: “We will never be able to truly replicate [Chinese company] DJI success, but we have to shake loose our own creativity and the ability to tap into a massive amount of efforts currently working in tactical drone developments.”

Allowing military units to pick their own drones, rather than wait for the Pentagon to make a decision, is a key part of that.

And learning the lessons of Ukraine from actual Ukrainians is another likely key element to drone dominance, one of the organizers for the upcoming T-REX event told Defense One on background. To that end, members of the Ukrainian military will be be on hand to observe the experimentation. And the feedback will likely be blunt.

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SPECIAL OPERATIONS: Ukrainian Bridge Sabotage

Fri, 18 Jul 2025 00:11:21 -0400

INFORMATION WARFARE: Selling Ukraine War Lessons

Fri, 18 Jul 2025 00:09:45 -0400

Canada/United States : Ottawa's Château Laurier, the setting for delicate US-Canada negotiations