The first #Trump admin & the #Biden admin characterized #China as the greatest threat to the #US & postured the force to prepare for & deter conflict in the Pacific region. But #Hegseth’s guidance is extraordinary in its description of the potential invasion of #Taiwan as the exclusive animating scenario that must be prioritized over other potential dangers—reorienting the vast US #military architecture toward the Indo-Pacific region beyond homeland defense.

The document — setting out a prioritization framework for senior #defense officials & a vision to execute that work — also instructs the #military to take a more direct role in countering illegal #immigration & #DrugTrafficking.

The doc, known as the Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance & marked “secret/no foreign national” in most passages, was distributed throughout the #Defense Dept in mid-March & signed by #Hegseth. It outlines, in broad & partisan detail, the execution of #Trump’s vision to prepare for & win a potential #war against #China & defend the #UnitedStates from threats in the “near abroad,” including #Greenland & the #PanamaCanal.

#SecDef #PeteHegseth has reoriented the US #military to prioritize deterring #China’s seizure of #Taiwan & shoring up homeland #defense by “assuming risk” in #Europe & other parts of the world, acc/to a *secret* internal guidance memo that bears the fingerprints of the conservative #HeritageFoundation, including some passages that are nearly word-for-word duplications of text published by the think tank last year.

#Trump #USpol #geopolitics #NationalSecurity #leak

On Wed evening, #Trump met w/VP #JDVance; the WH chief of staff, #SusieWiles; the WH personnel chief, #SergioGor; his Mideast envoy, #SteveWitkoff, & others about whether to stick w/ #MikeWaltz.

Late Thurs, as the controversy swirled, Trump summoned Waltz to the Oval Office. By the next morning, Trump signaled to people around him that he was willing to stick w/Waltz….

#CommanderInChief? #Unfit #NationalSecurity #Signal #SignalGate #law #military #OpSec

#Trump told allies that he was unhappy w/the press coverage but…he did not want to be seen as caving to [the] media….& he said he was reluctant to fire people in snr ranks so early in his 2nd term.

But…the real problem did not appear to be his #NationalSecurity adviser’s carelessness about discussing #military plans on a commercial app….It was that #MikeWaltz may have had some kind of connection to #JeffreyGoldberg, a… #journalist whom Trump loathes…[because] Waltz had Goldberg’s number….

"Just so it’s clear: It does not END with snatching people off the street on student visas who advocate positions the regime doesn't approve of—that is how it BEGINS."

~ Dean Obeidallah

#Trump #immigrants #ICE #NationalSecurity #students #fascism #FreeSpeech #Ozturk
/8

"As U.S. President Donald Trump pledges to deport 'millions and millions' of 'criminal aliens,' thousands of federal law enforcement officials from multiple agencies are being enlisted to take on new work as immigration enforcers, pulling crime-fighting resources away on other areas -- from drug trafficking and terrorism to sexual abuse and fraud."

~ Reuters

#Trump #immigrants #ICE #NationalSecurity #students #fascism #FreeSpeech #Ozturk
/7

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/thousands-agents-diverted-trump-immigration-crackdown-2025-03-22/

"This [i.e., the kidnapping of Rumeysa Ozturk] is an illegitimate act of political kidnapping, straight out of the Pinochet-Videla-Ríos Montt playbook. And it is no longer an isolated incident."

~ Charles Pierce

#Trump #immigrants #ICE #NationalSecurity #students #fascism #FreeSpeech #Ozturk
/5

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a64309330/tufts-student-rumeysa-ozturk-detained-ice/

"They are flexing their powers and normalizing their fascist behavior by going after the most vulnerable and marginalized among us. They are punishing innocent immigrants, college students, and foreign academics. They have expanded their targets to include law firms, media companies, and judges, and it will eventually include anyone who dares defy their authoritarian dictates."

#Trump #immigrants #ICE #NationalSecurity #students #fascism #FreeSpeech
/3

"It begins with pro-Palestinian students and brown-skinned immigrants as the Trump Administration and the MAGA movement are going to abuse their power to silence all their critics and enemies. ...

None of us are safe in the Trump regime."

~ Wajahat Ali

#Trump #immigrants #ICE #NationalSecurity #students #fascism #FreeSpeech
/2

https://thelefthook.substack.com/p/how-the-trump-administration-is-targeting