Latest U.S. National Security Council News
Here are the people Trump has picked for key positions so far
President-elect Donald Trump is filling key posts in his second administration, and it's shaping up much differently than his first. He's prioritizing loyalists for top jobs. Trump was bruised and hampered by internal squabbles during his initial term in office. Now he appears...
Trump chooses former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker as NATO ambassador
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump said Wednesday that he has chosen former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker to serve as U.S. ambassador to NATO, the bedrock Western alliance that the president-elect has expressed skepticism about for years. Trump, in a statement, said Whitaker...
The Kremlin has revised its nuclear policy. Does that make the use of atomic weapons more likely?
The 4-year-old document has a bland, bureaucratic title — “Basic Principles of State Policy on Nuclear Deterrence” — but its contents are chilling, especially with its newest revisions. Better known as Russia's nuclear doctrine, the revamped version that was signed Tuesday by...
Trump names Interior-designee Doug Burgum to head new White House council on energy
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump announced Friday that North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, his choice to head the Interior Department, will also lead a newly created National Energy Council that will seek to establish U.S. “energy dominance” around the world. Burgum,...
Biden arrives in Peru for international summit and meeting with Xi as world leaders brace for Trump
LIMA, Peru (AP) — President Joe Biden arrived Thursday in Peru to start his six-day visit to Latin America for the final major international summits of his presidency, even as world leaders turn their attention to what Donald Trump’s return to the White House means for their countries. ...
Israel's first open attack on Iran targets missile sites and apparently spares oil and nuclear ones
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel attacked military targets in Iran with pre-dawn airstrikes Saturday in retaliation for the barrage of ballistic missiles the Islamic Republic fired on Israel earlier this month. It was the first time Israel’s military has openly attacked Iran. The...
Biden is 'deeply concerned' about the release of secret documents on Israel's possible attack plans
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is “deeply concerned” about the unauthorized release of classified documents on Israel's preparation for a potential retaliatory attack on Iran, a White House spokesman said Monday. The Biden administration is still not certain if the...
Israel's strikes are shifting the power balance in the Middle East, with US support
WASHINGTON (AP) — Israeli military strikes are targeting Iran's armed allies across a nearly 2,000-mile stretch of the Middle East and threatening Iran itself. The efforts raise the possibility of an end to two decades of Iranian ascendancy in the region, to which the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq...
Five days of frantic US diplomacy on Lebanon has yielded little
NEW YORK (AP) — President Joe Biden's administration headed into the annual U.N. General Assembly gathering of world leaders this week with high hopes that he could cement his legacy as an international statesman during escalating conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine. Yet five...
Israel warned the US that an operation in Lebanon was coming but gave no details, officials say
WASHINGTON (AP) — Israel warned U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in a call Tuesday that a military operation was going to take place in Lebanon but gave no details, U.S. officials said Thursday. The same day of the call, in an attack widely blamed on Israel, thousands of pagers belonging to...
