The Intercept
February 16, 2017
A senior official on President Trump’s embattled National Security Council warned in previously unreported comments that it is “inevitable” an Islamic terrorist group will carry out a successful nuclear attack against the United States, and that in ...
Category: Politics
Dark Essays By White House Staffer Are the Intellectual Source Code of Trumpism
The Intercept
February 12, 2017
Let’s say you are a top official on the National Security Council and Donald Trump requests a memo explaining the purpose of his chaotic presidency. What are the odds you would draft a 4,000-word essay arguing that America is like a doomed aircraft that’s ...
What Slobodan Milosevic Taught Me About Donald Trump
The Intercept
February 7, 2017
During his inaugural address, Donald Trump deployed rhetoric that was familiar to anyone who spent time in the Balkans in the 1990s. “You will never be ignored again,” Trump thundered, with Congress as his backdrop. He expanded on the idea a few days ...
In Just 10 Days, President Trump Has Split the Government Into Warring Factions
The Intercept
January 31, 2017
War has broken out, not on foreign territory or on our streets, but in the offices and hallways of the departments and agencies that create and execute the laws, policies, and regulations of the United States. Its sights and sounds are those of a bureaucracy ...
Should Officials Resign When the Government Goes Crazy?
The Intercept
January 29, 2017
You are a dedicated civil servant and you have loyally performed your job for years, but suddenly you are confronted with tasks and policies that horrify you. Should you carry on, or should you quit?
This unusual question is presenting itself with urgent regularity as President ...
Obama’s Gift to Trump: A Policy of Cracking Down on Journalists and Their Sources
The Intercept
April 6, 2016
ONE OF THE intellectual gargoyles that has crawled out of Donald Trump’s brain is the idea that we should “open up” libel laws to make it easier to punish the media for negative or unfair stories. Trump also wants top officials to sign nondisclosure agreements, ...