As X battles over Trump’s bloodbath comment, remember his fmr chief of staff told me he praised Hitler. Consider the character of his comments together, from those he attacks - immigrants, stutterers - to those he praises - Putin, Jan 6 rioters. 1/

timesofisrael.com/trump-admires-… 2/ The themes are fairly consistent; admiration of unfettered power, demonization of critics and those he sees as weak (Gen Kelly also detailed his disdain for wounded veterans), and predictions of carnage and chaos if he’s not in control.

New: To Donald Trump, Hungarian strongman Viktor Orbán is “fantastic,” Chinese leader Xi Jinping is “brilliant,” North Korea’s Kim Jong Un is “an OK guy,” and, most alarmingly, he allegedly said Adolf Hitler “did some good things”, former senior advisers recalled to me. 1/ 2/ It’s a worldview that would reverse decades-old US foreign policy in a second term should he win November’s presidential election, an assessment laid out in “The Return of Great Powers” which is out tomorrow. Full story: cnn.com/2024/03/11/pol…

CNN Exclusive: In late 2022, the US began “preparing rigorously” for Russia potentially striking Ukraine with a tactical nuclear weapon in what would have been the first nuclear attack in war since the US dropped atomic bombs on Japan in WW2, two senior admin officials told me.1/ 2/ In my new book, “The Return of Great Powers” publishing on March 12, I reveal exclusive details on the unprecedented level of contingency planning carried out as senior members of the Biden administration became increasingly alarmed by the situation.

Breaking: Fmr FBI informant charged with lying about the Bidens’ dealings in Ukraine told investigators after his arrest Russian intel officials were involved in passing information to him about Hunter Biden, prosecutors said in a filing, noting that the information was false. 1/ 2/ Alexander Smirnov claims to have “extensive and extremely recent” contacts with foreign intel officials, prosecutors said. He previously told the FBI he has longstanding and extensive contacts with Russian spies, including individuals he said were high-level intel officers…

Since this equivalency has become a talking point for some in GOP, let’s compare.

Navalny’s “crime” was challenging Putin as a candidate and exposing his corruption. Russia first attempted to murder him with the world’s most powerful nerve agent. When that failed… 1/

https://twitter.com/leemzeldin/status/1758476966410289534

2/ …they essentially called him a terrorist and convicted him with nothing approaching a fair trial and sent him to a penal colony where they denied him basic medical care. He has now died in prison.

Trump’s alleged crimes are attempting to overturn an election he lost…

Breaking: Special counsel David Weiss charged a former FBI informant with lying about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter’s involvement in business dealings with Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings. 1/ 2/ Alexander Smirnov, 43, is facing charges in connection with lying to the FBI and creating false records. He was arrested Thursday at Harry Reid Int’l Airport in Las Vegas, after his arrival in the US from overseas, and will make his initial appearance in federal court Thursday

New: As Ukraine aid continues to stall in Congress, U.S. and its allies describe a potentially debilitating impact on Ukraine’s longer-term prospects of losing the war, multiple officials tell me. “..no guarantee of success with us but
..certain to fail without us,” one said.1/ 2/The most immediate concern is the impact on Ukraine’s ongoing counteroffensive in the east and south, where Ukrainian forces have struggled to make significant forward progress even when US support was still coming.

Two years ago today, the US announced the last C-17 carrying the last US forces had left Afghanistan. Today, many thousands of Afghans who served alongside the US and its allies remain behind. Listen to the harrowing & deeply frustrating story of just one family I know well. 1/ 2/ I’m leaving out personal details for their safety but their story mirrors that of many others. I met them on a series of assignments in Afghanistan in the 2000s. They were full of hope the fall of the Taliban meant a new life, in school and at work and, for a time, it did.

New: The federal prosecutor overseeing the Hunter Biden criminal investigation sent a letter to House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan in early June making clear that he has “ultimate authority” over the criminal probe into President Joe Biden’s son. 1/ 2/ “I want to make clear that, as the Atty Gen has stated, I have been granted ultimate authority over this matter, including responsibility for deciding where, when, and whether to file charges and for making decisions necessary to preserve the integrity of the prosecution…”

Where does the Ukraine war stand? UK Def Sec Ben Wallace briefed some of us in DC. Some headlines:

1- On Ukrainian offensive: Ukraine is “in a stronger position than the media might report or, indeed, reports might suggest. They're not going to be rushed, and that's important.” 2- NATO has trained some 29,000 Ukrainian soldiers, 20,000 in 2022 and 9,000 so far this year, with, Wallace said, “basic training, supported by our Scandinavian colleagues.”

New: Israeli PM @netanyahu has fired his Defense Minister Yoav Galant after Galant called for a pause on Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul. More from our @Hadas_Gold: The PM summoned Minister Gallant to his office and told him that he had lost confidence in him after he acted against the government and against the coalition while the Prime Minister was on a political visit abroad.

20 years ago today, I was on a C-130 from Constanta, Romania to Sulaymaniyah, Iraq with the Green Berets, who were spearheading the US invasion from the north alongside Kurdish Peshmerga units. We sat on our packs as a (shaky) precaution against Iraqi fire from the ground. 1/ 2/ Among the Special Forces units were Chem/Bio teams tasked w/finding & documenting chemical or biological warfare sites in northern Iraq, specifically those the US believed the Kurdish Islamist group Ansar Al-Islam might be running. As embedded reporters, we would join the raid

New: US is assessing drone ops over the Black Sea following harassment by Russian jets, 4 US officials tell CNN. US is “taking a close look” at the drones’ routes and assessing how to better deconflict w/ the Russians. W/my colleagues @NatashaBertrand @OrenCNN 1/ 2/ The US has not stopped the flights entirely amid the assessment—the military sent the same model of drone, an MQ-9 Reaper, on a mission in approximately the same area over the Black Sea shortly after the collision occurred.

Current trend lines on the Ukraine war are disturbing and point to a longer - and potentially larger - conflict:

-In his speech Tue, Putin made clear he’s committing Russia more, not less, to the war. His forces are ineffective but he’s willing to pour in more cannon fodder. 1/ 2/ -China’s potential entry into Ukraine, by providing lethal assistance to Russia as US officials are warning, will potentially lengthen the war. It also would inject a third superpower into the conflict, with all three seeing the war as defining for a new world order.

Breaking: President Putin says Russia is suspending its participation in the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty. Under the key nuclear arms control treaty, both the US and Russia are permitted to conduct inspections of each other’s weapons sites, though inspections have been halted since 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This is quite a moment in Ukrainian and US history. A leader at war, in a conflict he and the US president both portray as a battle for the free world. Echoes of Churchill’s address at the start of World War Two. This is quite a welcome. Zelensky says to Pelosi with a smile “I think this is too much.”

Biden just now dismisses current prospects for peace in Ukraine: “Putin has no intention of stopping this war.” “We will stay with you as along as it takes,” Biden makes clear.

As we assess Tehran’s response to ongoing protests, what is Ebrahim Raisi, as president, capable of? Look to Raisi, as senior judiciary official, in 2009. When I was in Tehran for the 2009 protests, it was Raisi - then Vice Chief Justice - who helped lead the harsh crackdown. 1/ 2/ He was notorious among protesters and dissidents for meting out the most inhuman punishments. Dissidents told me of torture in prison, demeaning acts of violence.

Biden opens on election results, with a message perhaps both to a US audience and to China: “The American people proved once again that democracy is who we are…in America the will of the people prevails.” Biden says the US is “not looking for conflict” and looks to manage the US-China relationship responsibly.

As Biden and Xi meet, how has Xi Jinping’s “Chinese dream” survived the galloping expansion of his power?

China’s economic model: its growth rate is now falling, to the point Beijing - which before only manipulated its GDP figures - now refuses to release them. 1/ 2/ China’s Covid model: much of the country is still under lockdowns slowing economic growth and seeding public opposition, while few in the world want China’s vaccine.

Breaking: Federal appeals court allows DOJ to continue looking at documents marked as classified that were seized from former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort. The emergency intervention upends a trial judge's order over those documents that blocked federal investigators' work A special master's review of that subset of about 100 records, which would've allowed Trump's legal team to see them, is now partially stopped. The special master, Judge Raymond Dearie, is able to continue his work reviewing the rest of the material seized from Mar-a-Lago,