I've been working on national security in Washington for over 40 years. Government, think tanks and philanthropy. Now retired, I still write, lecture and do media interviews. And I'm still learning. On Substack at: joecirincione.substack.com
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“Israelis are begging their Jewish cousins in the diaspora to recognize reality: Netanyahu has again and again refused to commit to a deal that would end the war and free the hostages.” A message from J Street Israel Director Nadav Tamir: jstreet.org/the-message-...
Tricky one today. And your opening word begins with M? Radical. Wordle 1,536 4/6 ⬛⬛⬛🟨⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Here is the music video by Octopizzo referenced in the piece (gifted, above). If you don’t have time to read the article, just watch this. 100 Kenyans have died in the youth-led protests. youtu.be/zok_0ef7h2w?...
A neighbor brought me some coffee from her work trip to Kenya. I brewed her gift this morning. It is fabulous. It prompted me to read an article I might have skipped in this morning’s paper. It, too, is fabulous. The fight for freedom is global. Thank you, neighbor. wapo.st/4nakjss
He’s been an outstanding Representative. Now, he’s doing the right thing. @nadler.house.gov says watching “the Biden thing” convinced him of “the need for generational change.” Thank you, Congressman. www.politico.com/news/2025/09...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
There are those in the administration, like Project 2025’s Russell Vought and Stephen Miller, who know exactly what they are doing.
I have been a union member, a labor organizer. Never have I seen an administration celebrate Labor Day by having the sycophant serving as secretary of labor display a giant banner of an autocratic president with the false claim that he puts “American workers first.”
mbt-forttotten-takoma.ddot.dc.gov
I biked to the @nationals.com’s game. Beautiful day to watch James Wood knock one out. Not yet, but he’s due. If you’re at the park let me know and I’ll come visit.
When I began biking the Metropolitan Branch Trail it was a bit sketchy. You had to be careful along certain stretches. Now it’s longer, beautifully paved and the scariest thing you see is graffiti. And most of that is pretty cool
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
As if we didn’t have enough to worry about. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
The overall goal here is clear: Trump wants full control of the U.S. economy. That’s reckless no matter who the president is. But it’s a ruinous mission for a president who obviously has no idea what he’s doing. trib.al/VnbR4iD
Biden’s Team Lied About Gaza. It’s Time to Hold Them Accountable. foreignpolicy.com/2025/07/18/b...
I urge you to read this interview by @ichotiner.bsky.social. Biden’s former ambassador Jacob Lew is not only stunning unapologetic about failing to end the slaughter but claims in his defense that “some of the children [killed] were children of Hamas fighters, not children taking cover in places.”
“The GHF opened only 4 sites. Hundreds of Palestinians have been shot amid the chaos there. Since July 1, 204 people have died of malnutrition. (The total Palestinian death toll for the war is more than 62,000.)“ Biden officials could have prevented this. They did not. apple.news/AdtCwYkHrT16...
The only thing that is consistent with Trump is the incompetence.
Exactly! The Cult of Trump is a key part of the authoritarian playbook.
If you saw my previous posts on Trump’s ignorant, incoherent foreign policy, this will add validation. Witkoff knows nothing about the conflicts he is supposed to end but refuses to consilt with those that do, incl. our closest allies. www.politico.com/news/2025/08...
It is an absolutely beautiful day to bike around Capitol Hill. It’s quiet down here, with no sign of National Guard or HSI. But, boy, the Trump cult sure is weird. I’ve never seen anything like the banners now hanging on government buildings.
It is AI generated, which I note in the Substack article, from which the “photo” is generated. But I should have noted it in the Bluesky posting. It makes him look better than he actually does.
From the sublime to the ridiculous to the truly scary. With @SarahDWire.bsky.social, Senior National Political Correspondent @USATODAY.COM, John Bennett, WH Correspondent for CQ @RollCall.com and former @WashingtonPost.com Columnist, @PBump.com bit.ly/Click-2-Listen You Tube youtu.be/UJ0XlWMdoTI
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
@merkley.senate.gov and I were just in Israel to discuss the situation in Gaza and press to end the war and return all the hostages. We visited a World Food Program site in Israel with enough food to feed everyone in Gaza for 3 weeks. The Netanyahu government's weaponization of hunger must stop.
A new poll “found 60 percent of voters oppose sending additional U.S. military aid to Israel, the highest level of opposition and lowest level of support since Hamas' October 7 attacks.” www.haaretz.com/us-news/2025...
"He sees his job as president not as serving the public, but as personal profiteering. And, in that, he has succeeded beyond even his wildest imagination." bit.ly/My-Column
You can’t make this stuff up. The Department of Homeland Security has hired an election conspiracy theorist to work in election integrity. The role did not previously exist under the Biden administration. trib.al/3jYBvX0
It is one of the most important security challenges facing the West, and the man pretending to be president has no idea how the war started or how to end it.
I understand. Many of us felt the same way in 2016, then all during his first term and in 2024 again. What I’m trying to get at is that despite all that we still use normal frames to analyze him.
It was used in purpose (mocking the CCCP sweatshirt Foreign Minister Lavrov wore to the Alaska summit) but I take your point. Next time I use AI I’ll do it as a cartoon.
Thank you!
My latest, after a vacation hiatus On Israel's unprecedented slaughter of journalists Non-paywalled link: wapo.st/4oSWffh
It is AI generated, but I am taking my cue from the CCCP sweatshirt that Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov wore to the Alaska summit. A gloating, in-your-face admission that Putin's agenda is to restore the Soviet empire.
Excellent point. There are people in Trump’s regime that are systematically weakening or eliminating our tools for stopping Russian penetration of our society, punishing corrupt oligarchs and countering Russian intelligence operations. Trump doesn’t know what he’s doing, but Putin’s agents do.
It is certainly true that everything he has done with regards to Russia has helped Putin (with the possible exception of new tariffs on India). Rachel Maddow has documented how his every step has hurt America and aided Putin. m.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn9B...
There is no conceivable interpretation of the law of war in which a camera set up nearby legitimizes a mass casualty double tap strike on a protected civilian site like a hospital. The fact that Israel is citing it as if it meets some standard should, by itself, trigger a halt in weapons to Israel.
From rationalizing the slaughter of children to sabotaging the enforcement of U.S. law prohibiting the supply of arms to countries restricting humanitarian aid, Jacob Lew’s role in enabling Israeli atrocities in Gaza should exclude him from any future position of trust—and, frankly, polite company.
It’s like asking what Tony Soprano’s foreign policy is. Or thinking that Michael Corleone’s interest in Cuba was geostrategic.
You know, I’ve thought about this. Our first reactions were that he was a fraud. Then he won the presidency. Twice. We began to think that there was something deeper. A hidden evil plan. And there is, in a way. But it isn’t a strategy as much as a brutal, authoritarian, impulsive drive for power.
We can’t let him continue to con us. Trump now has the ability to implement his darkest impulses. He moves to silence or sideline anyone who might oppose him or his army of fools. @maddow.msnbc.com tracks this. “Watch what he does, not what he says,” she warns. www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1QF...
To Trump, it didn’t matter what came out of the meeting as long as it dominated the news for a few days, which it did. It is very possible that sending troops to Washington, D.C. was done for the same reason, then acquired its own momentum.
It would be more accurate to describe Trump’s meeting with Putin as something that wasn’t serious from the very beginning. It was a distraction that spiraled out of control. This was likely intended as a change of subject from the Epstein files scandal.
Trump’s attempt to show some results from the two meetings — that he would set up a meeting between Putin and Zelensky to hammer out a peace deal — was a complete scam. Russia announced this weekend that no such meeting is planned.
It’s time we all recognized that this is complete nonsense. We have to let go of the idea that he might have some grand strategy in mind. Or a master plan.
He sets up major meetings on a whim, with zero preparation, agency coordination or clear goals. He seems to believe his own hype that he is a master negotiator who alone can get deals done.
He has purged or sidelined most of the seasoned national security experts in the government. He relies on a very small circle of loyalists who are singularly lacking in foreign policy experience, including VP JD Vance, Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and right-wing lunatic Laura Loomer.
Beyond the fawning treatment of a brutal dictator, the near-betrayal of U.S. allies and the lasting damage done to U.S. standing in the world, is what this summit and the emergency meeting with Europe’s top leaders three days later revealed: Trump has absolutely no idea what he is doing.
We think there must be a method to his madness. The truth is worse. While we (press, analysts, publics) try to figure out his game, he is high on his own supply. Yes, the summit was a distraction from Epstein, but it was also Trump acting on his impulses with all the power of the presidency.
I analyzed and did interviews on Trump’s Putin and European meetings. Discussed all the details and manipulations. Then realized there was a deeper truth: Trump has absolutely no clue what he is doing. joecirincione.substack.com/p/the-idioti...
No parent should watch their baby go without formula. No child should suffer from hunger. We’re proud to support @pressley.house.gov, @pettersen.house.gov and 100+ Members of Congress calling for urgent US action to get lifesaving aid into Gaza, including baby formula.
Israel’s male-only government “is distorted. It is less effective, less representative, and less just. And we are paying the price,” writes Nadav Tamir @jstreetdotorg.bsky.social www.jpost.com/opinion/arti...
We all must stop pretending that Trump has some kind of policy agenda, some geopolitical strategy. open.substack.com/pub/joecirin...
As you watch the extraordinary spectacle of Trump's government attempting to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda, let's not lose sight of just how lawless and indefensible Trump's misconduct has been all throughout. Here's a thread recapping all of it. 1/
A wave of authoritarianism is reshaping the world. Donald Trump isn’t leading it—he’s learning from it. See how he’s borrowing from his peers, such as Orban, Putin, Netanyahu, and Modi, in Zeteo’s new breakdown of the Global Authoritarian Playbook. Watch the full video: zeteo.com/p/the-global...
He's every bit as much a pathologically lying sociopath as Trump.
A confused old man rambling incoherently as lackeys praise his every word.
He is a complete failure. What a surprise.
New Episode 🚨🚨🚨 Nonproliferation expert Joe Cirincione joins Matt to unpack what the recent US and Israeli strikes on Iran actually achieved—and what they didn’t. 🎧: pod.fo/e/2f82e0 🎥: youtu.be/IFJAPL9dg4A
Papilio Glaucus. The common eastern tiger swallowtail. It wonderful to have a butterfly bush in your backyard that attracts such beauties. (And appropriate to post this on Bluesky.)
Always at the top of my list of weekend news summaries. This week, I was delighted to get a shout out from Bill — an excerpt of our discussion earlier this week about Trump’s vain bid for a Nobel Peace Prize.
The incompetence & idiocy of Trump‘s foreign policy is revealed again in his failure to come anywhere close to ending Putin’s war. 53 times Trump said he would end it in 24 hours. He’s made it worse. Putin has doubled his attacks since Trump became president. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
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Trump can’t handle the truth. It took a while but he did it. Trump fired the head of the intelligence agency that gave an accurate assessment of the light damage Trump’s bombing of Iran caused. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
I support Israel, too. But not this government. And not this war. This is not defense, it is barbarity. It is collective punishment. It will destroy Israel, not preserve it. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...
This is stunning. We knew it was bad, but now the IDF’s own data shows that 83% of the people they have killed have been innocent civilians. How can American Jewish organizations continue to support these atrocities in the name of defending Israel? www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
I, too, have become a big fan of this show for many of the reasons that you’ve mentioned. I raised my kids on Next Generation, but this may be better.
I have no idea who you are but you have no idea what you are talking about.
Exactly so. Putin fought to win, the West gave Ukraine only enough to survive. If we had provided the kinds of weapons in ‘22 and ‘23 that we gave later (tanks, Bradleys, jets, long-range missiles) and imposed crippling sanctions, Ukraine could have pushed the invaders back to Russia.
In Alaska, we saw a lawless president who excuses the bloody imperialist invasion of Ukraine roll out the red carpet for a lawless president who ordered the bloody imperialist invasion of Ukraine. The democratic world must stand against the dictators.
@joecirin.bsky.social says the European leaders gave a masterclass on how to handle a needy @realDonaldTrump. Get more here(Audio) bit.ly/Click-2-Listen or on YouTube: youtu.be/D00SsuMfxgU
I ask my guest, @joecirin.bsky.social the question I get all the time, "What does Putin have on Trump?" Get more here(Audio) bit.ly/Click-2-Listen On YouTube: youtu.be/D00SsuMfxgU
Donald Trump wants the Nobel Peace Prize so bad. My guest on today's pod, @joecirin.bsky.social, explains how the European leaders used Trump's vanity to keep him from completely doing Putin's bidding. Get more here(Audio) bit.ly/Click-2-Listen or on YouTube: youtu.be/D00SsuMfxgU
Boom! Boston’s Mayor Wu brings the hammer down on pretend-attorney general Bondi. 🔨
There was an unprecedented meeting at the White House yesterday. Why? Because America’s allies don’t trust our president anymore. Why? Well the fact he is nuts, loyal to Russia, a liar, and an incompetent surrounded by incompetents has something to do with it. www.thedailybeast.com/is-peace-in-...
First, thanks to David Ignatius from the @postopinions.bsky.social for this great piece. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202.... An thanks to James Graham Wilson for his tireless historical work on nuclear issues and the end of the Cold War. 1/
We know @realDonaldTrump changes positions like he changes wives. But I wonder if he even remembers what he said yesterday. Our Foreign Policy "Guru" @joecirin.bsky.social on the weakest president. Get more here(Audio) bit.ly/Click-2-Listen or on YouTube: youtu.be/D00SsuMfxgU
TACO Trump does not only apply to Tariffs. It's his Foreign "Policy," too. @joecirin.bsky.social calls out lDonald Trump's failures. Get more here(Audio) bit.ly/Click-2-Listen or on YouTube: youtu.be/D00SsuMfxgU
I don’t think we have ever had two international meetings like we’ve just had in Alaska and now Washington i just finished recording a great conversation with @billpress.bsky.social about all of this. Look for it to post tomorrow - and subscribe to Bill’s great podcast.
Excellent analysis from the great Tim Snyder. “Peace for Ukrainians has to include more than just assurances from Moscow that Russia will not attack .” open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p...
Part Two of the brilliant interview by @raskin.house.gov on @msnbc.com tonight. “It’s only when we hang tough together as the democratic countries of the world…that we’ve got the promise of negotiating..a diplomatic way out of this mess.”
Some well-meaning people think that we must concede to Putin in order to end his war on Ukraine. Tonight, my friend, my neighbor, my Congressman @raskin.house.gov explained as clearly as anyone has, how we can end this war. Part one of his @msnbc.com interview:
I am personally in favor of sending ICE to Ukraine. It can use its new $145 billion budget to arrest and deport the flood of illegal immigrants who have entered Ukraine from Russia.
Read the full analysis here: www.foreignaffairs.com/ukraine/ukra...
Pavel, there are many paths to victory. The half measures from the US and Europe have prolonged the war, but even so, Ukraine survives. Here is one set of proposals from an @atlanticcouncil.bsky.social expert who argues against your view that the war can’t be won.
Americans strongly support more military aid for Ukraine. Even among Republicans, sentiment to do more to resist Putin is growing, as CNN reports today.
What Putin meant (explicitly), when he said the war wouldn’t have happened if Trump had been president, was that Trump would have ceded to his demand for Ukraine.
For starters, the Ukrainians are asking for Trump to simple continue the level of aid Biden gave. You should ask them what more they need. The sanctions are exactly what Trump claimed he would impose if Putin didn’t declare a ceasefire. Instead we got another TACO. No ceasefire; no sanctions.
We must increase our military aid to Ukraine, impose crippling sanctions on Putin and stand with Europe. Biden did not do enough. Trump is worse. Please don’t use “diplomacy” as a cover for surrender to a dictator, or imposing your “peace” on a people fighting for national survival.
Conceding to Putin’s occupation, kidnapping of children and slaughter of innocents isn’t “diplomacy,” it is appeasement that would threaten all of Ukraine and most of Europe. Putin will not stop his war until he is militarily defeated.
Trump spent the last week playing dictator in D.C. — and capped things off by getting played by a dictator in Alaska. Another disastrous week for American democracy and U.S. leadership.
And to go a bit deeper into the appeasement and false history of Mearsheimer and others. www.persuasion.community/p/the-left-c...
A little background. www.semafor.com/article/10/2...
These positions are exactly why I resigned in disgust from the Quincy Institute three years ago this summer. Far from “responsible statecraft” they peddle a softened version of Putinism, blasting Europe for their “unreasonable” defense of Ukraine. responsiblestatecraft.org/trump-ukrain...
Thousands of Israelis stayed home from work, flooded city streets and blocked roads and highways across the country on Sunday, staging some of the largest anti-war protests in months as the military prepares for a major assault on Gaza City. wapo.st/4mvMVfK
Exactly right. I don’t think we have ever had a meeting like this in the White House before. Because we have never had a president this horrible before.
We still have not plumbed the depths of how badly Trump got played by Putin. Putin tells Trump blatant lies, Trump then repeats those lies — firstly, because they serve his interests but secondly, because he is so ignorant that he simply doesn’t know the truth.
Even in the annals of an erratic presidency, Trump's Alaska meeting stands out as a reversal of historic proportions. Trump abandoned his goal of an immediate cease-fire and bowed to Putin’s approach of seeking a broader deal requiring Ukraine to give up territory. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/16/u...
Trump appears to have achieved nothing from his bizarre & unprepared invitation of war criminal Putin. 1. Most important was that Trump received Putin subserviently. That says more about Trump than Putin. 2. Trump recognized Russia as the superpower it no longer is. /1
