Days before the U.S. military operation that removed Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro from power, Trump administration lawyers blessed the action by saying it would “not rise to the level of war in the constitutional sense” and would serve “important national interests,” according to a legal opinion that articulates a muscular view of presidential power.
President Trump said on Jan. 14 that the Iranian government appeared to have stopped killing protesters, though he did not say what that might mean for the possibility of U.S. military action against the country.
The Senate on Jan. 14 blocked a bipartisan measure that aimed to prevent President Donald Trump from taking further military action in Venezuela, after two Republicans withdrew their support under pressure from the administration.
President Trump ordered a military buildup in the Caribbean in the fall as part of the pressure campaign against the now-ousted Venezuelan leader, Nicolás Maduro. That move now limits his options if conflict breaks out between Washington and Tehran over a popular uprising in Iran, according to current and former defense officials.
U.S. defense spending needs to be rebaselined to at least 4 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product to enable the Navy to meet current readiness demands and to expand its fleet of warships to contend with future threats, its top admiral said Jan. 14.
President Trump’s administration’s move to formally change the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War could cost as much as $125 million, according to a new report from the Congressional Budget Office.
The Navy’s top admiral said he would “push back” if President Trump tries to send a long-deployed aircraft carrier from the Caribbean to the Middle East as part of a U.S. military response to Iran’s crackdown on protestors. But Adm. Daryl Caudle said the Navy is prepared to discuss options—and that the USS Gerald R. Ford would be honored to go if ordered.
After leaving her role performing the duties of the chief information officer for the Department of Defense last month, Katie Arrington has taken a new position as CIO at quantum computing company IonQ.
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the most powerful military in the world, and now it’s also a place where you can try to win sports cards and other collectible items from a Lucky Box machine. On Christmas Eve, the company that makes the vending machines announced on social media that a Lucky Box is now inside the Pentagon.
