North Korea

From "fire and fury" to summits and appeasement.

More than event planning?

President Trump gets a laugh out of his relationship with the world's worst mass murderer.

What to expect from Tuesday's summit between Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in.

Message to Moon.

Ethan Epstein on imagining nuclear war with North Korea.

If all this blustering is a preface of a policy reversal, it can’t come sooner.

The trip would likely coincide with the holiday marking the establishment of North Korea.

The president’s approach to international policy is venturing outside the very mainstream of American politics.

North Korea was never going to “denuclearize.”

Today on the Daily Standard Podcast, Chris Deaton and Ethan Epstein join host Charlie Sykes to discuss what's next for the Democratic party now that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez may represent its future, as well as President Trump's relationship with three very different men: Kim Jong un, Vladimir…

North Korea understands what the United States means when it demands complete denuclearization, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told lawmakers Wednesday.

After the "successful" Singapore summit, China appears to be relieving pressure on Kim Jong-un.

Plus, why Kelly Cohen is a treasure.

Plus, why Kelly Cohen is a treasure.

No decisions have been made on future exercises, Defense Department says.

With the point of a finger, we have our answer.

The June 12 meeting in Singapore between Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim ­Jong‑un has generated a bewildering array of responses from observers around the world. These responses do not fall along predictable ideological lines. Back and forth across the ideological span, we find…

Plus, go inside the converted Walmart that houses immigrant kids.

Chosun Ilbo had been optimistic about progress toward denuclearization in the days leading up to the Singapore summit.

Donald Trump is playing a dangerous game with North Korea.

Did John Bolton sign off on this?

Speaker Ryan: 'We must continue to apply maximum economic pressure.'

Dennis Rodman, Donald Trump, and Kim Jong-un.

The big takeaways from the joint Trump-Kim communique.

While Trump makes nice, Fred and Cindy Warmbier sue North Korea for their son's wrongful death

Hosted by Charlie Sykes.

It is disconcerting to watch the president’s eagerness to serve as a character witness to Kim Jong-un.

The outcome of the Kim-Trump summit was never in doubt.

Whatever else comes of Tuesday’s historic talks between President Donald Trump and North Korean despot Kim Jong-un, they’ve already given the world at least one thing: a victory lap from Dennis Rodman.

The “friend” of Kim Jong-un is headed his way—and being used—again.

Hosted by Jonathan V. Last

How do people make sense of confusing events in the present? By casting about for precedents—metaphors—from the past.

When are we going to start doing very, very well?

Ahead of President Trump’s June 12 meeting with Kim Jong-un in Singapore, South Carolina Republican senator Lindsey Graham offered a stark warning to the North Koreans: “If they play Trump, we're going to have a war, and they're going to lose it.”

Lawmakers lay out a list of demands to President Trump ahead of planned summit.

Hosted by Jim Swift.

Meet Kim Yong-chol.

Hosted by Charlie Sykes.

Why should the U.S. trust Kim ever again?

Hosted by Charlie Sykes

Republicans praise the president, Democrats call him a poor negotiator.

"The Singapore summit . . . will not take place."

But there's little reason to think the president doesn't want to go to Singapore on June 12.

Hosted by Charlie Sykes.

Last week John Bolton remarked that the end game of the nuclear negotiations with North Korea was to replicate the “Libyan model.” Later, Bolton spelled out that what he meant was that all of North Korea’s nuclear devices should be turned over to us and “stored at Oak Ridge.” President Trump was…

Is Donald Trump a masterful negotiator or an unqualified bumbler? The truth likely lies somewhere in between, but we want to avoid closed-mindedness here and accept the possibility that a mercurial president can secure a beneficial agreement by means of wrong-footing the other side’s negotiators.…

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Hosted by Charlie Sykes.

Testing, testing.

But is it just sound and fury from Kim?

Hosted by Charlie Sykes.

And Gina Haspel picks up another Democratic vote.

The president may be prematurely spiking the football.

Early on the morning of May 10, Donald Trump tweeted a dramatic 32-second video celebrating the return home of three U.S. citizens held until last week in North Korea. It was a made-for-TV moment, and the slick video ensured that millions of Americans who didn’t stay up until 3 a.m. to watch it…

Meet the new swamp.

Or, Pyongyang, or Beijing, or Ulan Bataar…

Trump's CIA pick to face a tough Senate hearing.

Far be it from me to say whether Donald Trump’s diplomacy on the Korean peninsula entitles him to join Al Gore, Jimmy Carter, and Barack Obama among our recent Nobel Peace Prize laureates. But Condoleezza Rice is surely correct to suggest that the Trump administration—including ex-secretary of…

So much of any week’s White House news falls under the category of palace intrigue that it’s easy to overlook the crucial revelations. This week’s report by NBC News that White House chief of staff John Kelly regularly calls Donald Trump an “idiot” and has cast himself as the country’s “savior”…

The newest Trump legal team member makes a stunning admission.

Whatever he may say, Kim Jong-un wants the Americans gone.

Credible sources suggest that he has.

The House speaker credits Trump administration's pressure campaign for progress with Kim regime.

Indeed he did.

“We suffered with Obamacare,” Trump said. “Make no mistake. This is a repeal and replace of Obamacare. Make no mistake about it,” he declared before pausing for a personal boast. “I predicted it a long time ago. I said it’s failing and now it’s obvious that it’s failing. It’s dead—it’s essentially…

It may be all up to Trump.

The word du jour is “denuclearization.”

The retired general was passed over for Trump's national security adviser twice.

Hosted by Charlie Sykes.

There's no sign Kim has agreed to "denuclearize" yet.

There remains a divide within the Trump administration about the goals and aims of the planned tariffs on Chinese imports. In the new issue of the magazine, I explore this tension between free-traders and protectionists within the White House, but I start by looking at the public comments, required…

Kellyanne Conway and Tom Cotton go to bat for the CIA director.

Hosted by Charlie Sykes.

Evidence of delusion?

And Kudlow pulls back from TPP tease.

Horrific images from the aftermath of a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria are once again circulating online. The scene of this gassing is the eastern Ghouta suburb of Damascus. Both the location and the timing of this apparent war crime are symbolically important. And while the immediate…

Russia, Iran, and North Korea all play a role in the Syrian regime's chemical attacks on its own people.

On Tuesday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un paid a surprise visit to Beijing. It was his first time out of his country since well before he became Dear Respected Leader in 2011. Kim arrived in an armored train, met with Chinese president Xi Jinping, and the two appeared in a series of photo-ops…

Mao Zedong characterized the relationship between China and North Korea as that of "lips and teeth." His point was that the lips provide a buffer to the teeth: Without them, China would be dangerously exposed. Despite the occasional toothache, that relationship has endured. China is North Korea's…

Kim Jong-un cut a cosmopolitan figure as a youth—Swiss finishing schools, trips abroad with his dictator dad—but he's turned reclusive as he's ruled North Korea. Indeed, he hasn't departed his country once since assuming the throne.

The United States does not have a "bloody nose strategy" for a limited preemptive strike against North Korea, the top commander of U.S. forces in the Indo-Pacific said Thursday.

This story is developing and will be updated as necessary.

This is a developing story and has been updated with new information.

Today on the Daily Standard Podcast, associate editor Ethan Epstein and reporter Jenna Lifhits join digital editor / guest host Jonathan V. Last to discuss Thursday's late night announcement that President Trump intends to meet with the North Koreans by May of this year.

It is possible that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is suddenly “committed to denuclearization,” as South Korean National Security Adviser Chung Eui-yong claimed in comments to the press at the White House Thursday evening.

Republican lawmakers greeted with cautious openness the announcement that President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will meet, reminding the president of years of failed talks with Pyongyang and urging him not to ease economic pressure just yet.

Everyone is focused on North Korea today and I would point you to Ethan Epstein's "Three Questions" piece about the upcoming (possibly?) meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un and Steve Hayes' piece on the dangers of such a meeting.

There are three questions worth considering about the planned meeting:

Could we be on the brink of a thaw in U.S. relations with North Korea? The Trump administration is hoping so in the wake of a shocking message South Korean officials brought from North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un on Thursday: that Kim is “committed to denuclearization,” that the North will refrain…

President Donald Trump will meet with Kim Jong-un by May amid a commitment from the North to denuclearization, South Korea’s national security adviser said Thursday.

Two top intelligence chiefs appeared wary Tuesday about North Korea’s apparent willingness to engage in talks related to its nuclear program and to halt weapons testing while doing so.

Can a GoFundMe Bring Back a Beloved Theme Park? Probably not. But that’s not stopping a man in my native Cleveland who wants to bring back the famous Geauga Lake theme park. He’s started a GoFundMe to raise $20 million bucks to start bringing the park back. That’s a fraction of price you’d need to…

“Pyongyang is a crucial node in the international network of proliferation that already includes China and Russia as primary providers, Pakistan and North Korea as active disseminators, and Iran and perhaps Saudi Arabia among the final consumers. No less unsettling is the prospect that North Korea…

Stein’s Law—named for the late economist Herbert Stein, who was chair of Richard Nixon’s Council of Economic Advisers—goes something like this: “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.” (His son Ben Stein’s law, by contrast, is probably this.) It’s one of the few pithy economic phrases…

The Trump administration made clear on Friday, with what it described as the largest set of sanctions against North Korea yet, that it will continue to isolate Pyongyang even as the South seeks to engage with the North.

President Donald Trump on Friday delivered a free-wheeling speech to CPAC, a campaign-style barnburner that went over well with the raucous crowd. And on his way out, he casually got around to the important stuff: major new sanctions on North Korea.

Ivanka Trump, the White House official and daughter of President Trump, will be leading the U.S delegation to the closing ceremonies of the Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. According to senior administration officials, Ivanka will leave for Seoul on Thursday on a commercial flight, arriving in…

Speaking in Japan a couple of days before the Pyeongchang Olympics began, Vice President Mike Pence delivered a welcome message: “We will not allow North Korean propaganda to hijack the message and imagery of the Olympic Games,” he said. Unfortunately, Pence was not doing double duty as an…

Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday expressed confidence in John Kelly and the “remarkable job” the retired Marine general is doing. The embattled White House chief of staff came under fire last week for his handling of domestic abuse allegations against former staff secretary Rob Porter.

You can get away with a lot if you're a bullsh*tter... Our Books and Arts editor Adam Keiper shares this fascinating thread about a Reddit user who BS'd his way to lots of internet karma... by making a ton of stuff up. He even gave a speech at Harvard about his "accomplishments."

Today on the Daily Standard Podcast, senior writer Michael Warren talks about the long-awaited Infrastructure Week, and associate editor Ethan Epstein joins to discuss the Olympics, North Korea's 'Smile Diplomacy' and its coverage by the American press.

For a stupid but explicable reason—American culture is bored, indulgent, tribal, and unthinking—Kim Yo-jong, the younger sister of North Korean dicator Kim Jong-un, was memed (flatteringly) because she gave Vice President Mike Pence “side eye.” As the Washington Post's Philip Bump tweeted (before…

It’s likely that only the most hardcore Vogue readers remember it—and presumably Anna Wintour and company are hoping that even they will one day forget it—but back in 2011, the venerable fashion magazine posted a glowing profile of Asma al-Assad. Yes, that Asma al-Assad: the wife of the Syrian…

Rob Porter, the now-former staff secretary at the White House, was given the benefit of the doubt when credible allegations he had physically abused his ex-wives emerged this week. That’s how deputy press secretary Raj Shah put it in his briefing to the press Thursday, a day after Porter tendered…

If you should find yourself in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, you might be surprised to discover a U.S. naval vessel moored on the Pothong River near the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum. It is the USS Pueblo, a modest craft launched in World War II, recommissioned by the Navy in…

At this point the Pyeongchang Olympics really should be re-christened the Pyongyang Olympics. What should have been a celebration of South Korea's titanic cultural, economic, and political achievements is degenerating into an event that will instead normalize the barbarous North Korean regime that…

In a nuclear world, nuclear weapons are needed to deter major attacks, but who should possess these instruments of deterrence? The United States has long been committed to stemming nuclear proliferation by both potential adversaries and friends. Today the challenge of keeping nonnuclear states from…

During his first state of the union address Tuesday night, President Donald Trump repeatedly called for bipartisanship, painted hopeful images, and told inspiring stories about guests in the crowd. But a year’s worth of partisan battles cut through the president’s optimistic rhetoric.

Of the few minutes of his first State of the Union address that Donald Trump spent on foreign policy, he devoted the most time to North Korea.

NBC’s Lester Holt, on assignment in North Korea, is offering his viewers that most unusual of treats: a “rare look” inside the famously reclusive country. In fact, so rare was Holt’s visit to a Potemkin ski resort outside of Pyongyang—it has, after all, been visited previously only by the likes of…

CIA director Mike Pompeo said Tuesday that the agency had, until a year ago, not been paying enough attention to North Korea, even as the Hermit Kingdom worked to advance its weapons capability.

At first, it seemed like a joke. Because the name of the South Korean city where the Olympics will occur in February—Pyeongchang—sounds so much like the North Korean capital—Pyongyang—many joked that scores of spectators would accidentally turn up in North Korea expecting the Olympics, only to be…

Diplomatic “talks” are often little more than that—gabfests—but Tuesday’s meeting in Vancouver signals a hard-headed determination to deal with the problem of North Korea. The talks, hosted by the U.S. and Canada, brought together 20 nations, primarily those that aided South Korea in the Korean War…

Will the reboot of 'The Office' be woke? And if so, will it be funny? Reason's Ed Krayewski asks "at what point will The Office become problematic?" Turns out, those thinkpieces have already been written. From February of last year, there's: Unpopular Opinion: “The Office” Is Very Problematic in…

A question of grammar is at the center of President Donald Trump’s latest battle with the media.

President Trump’s administration made a significant policy move on Friday—extending the Iran deal by waiving nuclear sanctions, while simultaneously issuing new, non-nuclear sanctions against Iran in light of the recent protests there. But you’d be forgiven for forgetting all about that, because a…

'My neighbors probably think I’m nuts,” says Cory Gardner. The fresh-faced senator is from tiny Yuma in northeastern Colorado, a 3,500-person town with “horrible cell service” to the point where he doesn’t get reception inside his house. So when the secretary of state calls, Gardner does what the…

After striking a conciliatory tone on immigration reform in a meeting with lawmakers Tuesday, President Trump returned to tougher line on Wednesday, insisting that any legislation reinstating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program must also include funding for a border wall.

After striking a conciliatory tone on immigration reform in a meeting with lawmakers Tuesday, President Trump returned to tougher line on Wednesday, insisting that any legislation reinstating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program must also include funding for a border wall.

“My neighbors probably think I’m nuts,” says Cory Gardner. The fresh-faced senator is from tiny Yuma in northeastern Colorado, a 3,500-person town with “horrible cell service” to the point where he doesn’t get reception inside his house. So when the secretary of state calls, Gardner does what the…

There was a moment at the end of 2017 when, if you squinted hard enough, it seemed as though the Trump presidency might be approaching normal.

Everybody agrees that it’s bad that North Korea is a nuclear state. It’s “unacceptable” as the president put it (although the world has already basically accepted it). But rarely considered is why North Korea went nuclear.

Republican senators on Wednesday night brushed off President Donald Trump’s tweet threatening North Korean leader Kim Jong-un with the size and power of his “nuclear button,” the latest in a series of heated exchanges between the two leaders.

Media critics and anti-Trump skeptics are charging that President Trump may have violated Twitter’s terms of service Tuesday evening for initiating a nuclear button-measuring contest with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. “I think they're trying to decide if this kind of tweet—referring to a…

As we prepare for 2018—which absolutely, positively, has to be better than 2017—we’ve followed the example of the great Chris Wallace and asked the TWS staff for predictions for next year along four vectors: politics, sports, entertainment, and foreign policy.

North Korea isn’t much of an early adopter of technology. Compared to its neighbors, the Hermit Kingdom is the tech laggard of Asia. China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan have all been technology powerhouses for decades, while nighttime satellite images of North Korea still show the country as a…

Surprise! North Korea has rejected Rex Tillerson’s request for unconditional talks with the United States.

As the Trump administration seeks to prevent North Korea from becoming a nuclear power, it will probably want to close the barn door as well, now that the horse has gotten out.

The Senate Budget committee voted to move forward on the Republican tax bill Tuesday afternoon, a small but substantial step forward for the GOP overhaul, which will now go before the full Senate for debate. “I think we're going to get it passed,” said President Donald Trump at a White House…

North Korea’s Kim Jong-un seems increasingly addicted to scaring the world by firing ballistic missiles. After a lull of over two months, the regime fired another on Wednesday, the 16th this year. The launches have become more frequent and more aggressive. In August and September, the regime…

If you asked any ordinarily informed citizen if the State Department considered North Korea a state sponsor of terrorism, the answer would likely be “Of course.” And yet for nine years, from the end of the George W. Bush administration until November 20, the world’s most sinister and repressive…

President Donald Trump announced Monday that the United States would once again designate North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism, reversing a change made under the George W. Bush administration.

What did President Trump accomplish on his 12-day, 5-nation trip through East Asia? Not much, at least not substantively—and that’s judging by the president’s own remarks at the White House on Wednesday. Speaking to cameras and the press pool from the Diplomatic Room, the president provided a…

President Donald Trump on Wednesday gave a speech that was long on self-congratulation, but thin on concrete diplomatic victories from his 12-day Asia trip—and silent on everyone’s most pressing question, whether Trump still supports Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore.

More Election Day Fallout—The White House pushed back Wednesday on the conventional assessment that the Democratic wave election in Virginia and elsewhere reflected poorly on Donald Trump: The president’s party always faces “headwinds” in elections in the first year; Virginia was trending…

More Election Day Fallout—The White House pushed back Wednesday on the conventional assessment that the Democratic wave election in Virginia and elsewhere reflected poorly on Donald Trump: The president’s party always faces “headwinds” in elections in the first year; Virginia was trending…

Noting the universally negative coverage that he garners from the national media, Donald Trump recently declared that he loves “regional media.” At this point, he probably loves South Korean media as well.

Republican Ed Gillespie didn’t just lose his race for governor in Virginia on Tuesday. The former George W. Bush aide and Washington lobbyist led the GOP ticket in what ended up being a huge rout for the party. From gubernatorial nominee Ralph Northam to the lieutenant governor and attorney general…

During a rare appearance before Congress Wednesday, a high-ranking North Korean defector told lawmakers that the U.S. should focus on shaping the flow of information into North Korea and urging China not to repatriate defectors.

The Trump administration is facing mounting bipartisan calls to redesignate North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism ahead of a congressionally mandated deadline.

Hong Jun-pyo may be diminutive in stature, but he visited Washington this week with a tall order. The prominent South Korean politician—he finished in second in this year’s presidential election, and currently leads the conservative opposition Liberty Korea Party—wants U.S. nukes. And he wants them…

Signs of China’s economic strength abound: from the increasing number of Hollywood movies that are designed to pander to Chinese tastes to the political class’s silence in the face of Chinese cyber-aggression. Consider the non-reaction to Beijing’s stunning plundering of OPM personnel data compared…

The late North Korean tyrant Kim Jong-il had thousands of Hollywood movies in his personal collection, furnishing him with what he thought was a deep knowledge of a country he would never see. He was particularly fond, reportedly, of The Godfather—so much so that he ran his country like a Mafioso.…

“The best defense is a good offense,” as the old saw goes. The nature of that “good offense” matters, though. Too often, American officials mistake “any offense” for a “good offense.” As tensions between North Korea and the United States continue to escalate, it is apparent that American…

The late North Korean tyrant Kim Jong-il had thousands of Hollywood movies in his personal collection, furnishing him with what he thought was a deep knowledge of a country he would never see. He was particularly fond, reportedly, of The Godfather—so much so that he ran his country like a Mafioso.…

Today on the Daily Standard Podcast, associate editor Ethan Epstein talks with host Eric Felten about all the things the Obama administration could have done, but didn't, to discourage North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.

North Korea’s inexorable march toward nuclear weapons has been treated as something akin to a malign meteorological phenomenon. Sure, it’s bad. But there’s also nothing we can do to stop it, the standard line has gone. After all, by the time Barack Obama took office, the “heavily isolated” country…

As Puerto Rico still reels in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, the mayor of San Juan has found herself the latest target of President Trump’s Twitter feed. It began on Friday when Carmen Yulin Cruz, the mayor of Puerto Rico’s capital and largest city, criticized the self-congratulatory tone the…

Since Donald Trump took office, the growth of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal and the increasing capability and diversity of its ballistic missile force have made that country the most urgent threat to U.S. national security. Observers as diverse as Mark Bowden in the Atlantic, Michael Auslin of the…

This week on the Confab, national correspondent Peter Boyer talks with host Eric Felten about the revival of missile defense efforts in the face of North Korean rocket advances. And associate editor Ethan Epstein comes by to discuss Russia's promotion of Black Lives Matter in social media ads.

Sanctions hurt everybody. That’s the problem with imposing them on a reckless and brutal regime. Instead of pressuring the few in charge, you punish the people as a whole. Sometimes that’s necessary, but it’s never ideal.

Since Donald Trump took office, the growth of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal and the increasing capability and diversity of its ballistic missile force have made that country the most urgent threat to U.S. national security. Observers as diverse as Mark Bowden in the Atlantic, Michael Auslin of the…

North Korea’s foreign minister accused the United States Monday of declaring war against the Kim regime, the sharpest escalation yet of tensions between the two nations.

This week on the Confab, Gordon Chang talks with host Eric Felten about the new US sanctions on North Korea and the prospects for military action on the peninsula. Tony Mecia talks about the tax reform bill being worked up on Capitol Hill.

Can the former head of the College Democrats win a seat as... a Republican? At POLITICO Magazine, Tim Alberta has a great feature on Wisconsin's Kevin Nicholson. A veteran with a great resume, Nicholson wants to snatch up Sen. Tammy Baldwin's seat. But first, he has to convince GOP voters in…

On his last day in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, President Trump held his final bilateral meeting of the week with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. It was the leaders’ first one-on-one meeting since Erdogan’s trip to Washington in May. Here’s how Trump introduced…

At the United Nations, President Trump warned North Korea that its jefe “Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime.” If need be, Trump said, the United States would “totally destroy North Korea.” For its part, North Korea has said it would deliver “the greatest pain and…

President Trump announced on Thursday new economic sanctions on “individuals, companies, financial institutions that finance and facilitate trade with North Korea.” Making a statement in New York at the beginning of a meeting with South Korean president Moon Jae-in and Japanese prime minister…

The forces driving North Korea’s nuclear weapons program are reminiscent of Cold War strategies pursued by the Soviet Union. Most notable was Moscow’s decision in the mid-1970s to deploy 243 SS-20 intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) with three independently targetable warheads apiece and…

United Nations Watch—President Trump’s first address to the United Nations General Assembly was a bit of a hodge-podge. At times, it sounded as if it were a message to Americans that Trump would be defending them and their interests even if (and especially when) those interests contradicted the…

President Trump tweeted the following about North Korea on Sunday morning:

Many Americans, particularly on the right, have comforted themselves with the notion that fears of an oncoming Chinese century are overblown. Per capita incomes in China remain well below those in the capitalist West, and the country’s arguably irresponsible stimulus policies have led to a…

On Wednesday Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin doubled down on a threat from the president to stop trade with any country that does business with North Korea.

Today on the Daily Standard podcast, associate editor Ethan Epstein talks with host Eric Felten about why the new UN sanctions against North Korea fail to impress.

The Trump administration has done a laudable job handling the North Korea crisis it inherited. The Obama administration had neglected the gathering North Korean threat under a policy called “strategic patience.” This followed a negotiated “deal” at the end of the Bush years that lifted important…

The cache of al-Qaeda documents captured in the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin-Laden will soon be released to the public, CIA Director Mike Pompeo said Monday.

A vote is expected Monday evening on a new round of U.N. sanctions against North Korea. Unfortunately, in a bid to win Russian and Chinese support for the resolution, the measures proposed by the United States have been watered down. Removed has been what would be one the most useful tools in…

With the North Koreans claiming to have successfully tested a hydrogen bomb this week, President Donald Trump on Thursday reiterated that “military action would certainly be an option” against the rogue regime. “I would prefer not going the route of the military, but it’s something certainly that…

Will hundreds of thousands of young immigrants, brought illegally to the United States as minors by their families, suddenly be at risk for deportation? That’s what hangs in the balance with the Trump administration’s expected announcement that he will fulfill a campaign promise and rollback the…

Today on the Daily Standard podcast, associate editor Ethan Epstein joins host Eric Felten to talk about what the response should be to the Kim regime's ballistic provocations.

North Korea fired a missile that passed over Japan, the Pentagon confirmed Monday evening.

Herewith a few subjects pertaining to North Korea that have all but vanished from public discourse: the country’s gulag (thought to hold upwards of 200,000 political prisoners); chronic malnutrition in the countryside while a ruthless dictator grows morbidly obese; and intensified efforts to…

I’m a Guam hipster: I knew about it before it was cool. In fact, back in the halcyon days of June 2017 I was invited to the U.S. territory by a local business group. In those innocent times, the biggest safety risk seemed to be brown tree snakes: The Pacific island is utterly dominated by the…

This week on the Kristol Clear podcast, editor at large Bill Kristol talks with Eric Felten about the North Korean crisis, the benefits of an organized White House, and Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure."

President Donald Trump is open to preemptive military action against North Korea if negotiating with Pyongyang does not work, South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham told conservative host Hugh Hewitt Thursday. “If negotiations fail, he is willing to abandon strategic patience and use preemption. I…

Today on the Daily Standard podcast, senior writer Michael Warren talks with host Eric Felten about President Trump's heated rhetoric toward North Korea.

Democratic lawmakers are criticizing President Trump for unleashing heated rhetoric against Pyongyang this week, including his threat of “fire and fury” against the North Korean regime. That warning was "reckless and shows a serious lack of judgment," said House minority whip Steny Hoyer.

After President Donald Trump shocked his national security team with his off-the-cuff fire-and-fury remarks about North Korea on Tuesday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is trying to walk back his boss’s comments—without saying Trump was off base.

Whatever strategic planning the Trump administration has for a North Korea with nuclear weapons capabilities, there was no preparing for the president’s comments on Tuesday. The White House, including the national-security team, was unaware President Trump was preparing to speak publicly about…

Associate editor Ethan Epstein talks with host Eric Felten about North Korea's alarming nuclear advances.

President Donald Trump responded to reports Tuesday that U.S. intelligence believes North Korea has missile-ready nuclear weapons.

The fallout continues from this weekend’sNew York Times article about the “shadow campaigns” for president forming around ambitious Republicans—including Vice President Mike Pence—ready for if and when President Donald Trump does not run for reelection in 2020.

“We do not seek a regime change,” Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on August 1, speaking of North Korea. “We do not seek the collapse of the regime . . . We’re trying to convey to the North Koreans: We are not your enemy. We are not your threat. But you are presenting an unacceptable threat to…

Last week, North Korea launched its most ambitious missile test to date. And the response from the United States has been unambiguous. The Kim regime on Friday launched a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile that experts say could reach the United States. American forces countered with a…

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Tuesday that President Trump has indicated to him that the administration is prepared to strike North Korea to prevent an attack against the U.S.

Lawmakers reached an agreement Wednesday for the Senate to vote on a sweeping sanctions bill that was overwhelmingly approved by the House this week, in a push to promptly get the legislation to the president’s desk.

The Senate is weighing removing North Korea sanctions from a sweeping bill that overwhelmingly passed the House on Tuesday, the chairman of the Senate’s foreign relations panel said, in an effort to get the package passed before August recess.

The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a sweeping sanctions bill targeting Russia, Iran, and North Korea on Tuesday, 419-3.

The House is expected to vote on a sanctions bill targeting Russia, Iran, and North Korea Tuesday, but the chairman of the Senate's foreign relations panel says lawmakers need to work out a few more kinks—which might prevent the bill’s passage before August recess.

What will new White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci do to shake things up in the West Wing? Let’s go to the tape, specifically to Fox News Sunday, where Scaramucci spoke extensively with host Chris Wallace about his plans. Scaramucci listed (in his discursive manner) three actions…

Former U.N. ambassador John Bolton issued a stern warning to the president Monday about negotiating with Russian president Vladimir Putin, after Putin and Trump held their first official in-person meeting Friday. Bolton, who was under consideration to be Trump’s secretary of state, also criticized…

This week on the Confab, Fred Barnes talks with Eric Felten about how state attorneys general, such as Missouri's Josh Hawley, are moving up the slippery pole of politics. Ethan Epstein comes by to discuss North Korea's ballistic missiles, and Phil Terzian tells us about a final exoneration of day…

The response was typical Trumpism—with a soupçon of Mean Girls. Just as he had called jihadists “losers” a few weeks prior, the president reacted to North Korea’s test launch of a midrange ballistic missile on July 3 with a gibe that cut to the quick. “Does [Kim Jong-un] have anything better to do…

Donald Trump has been hoping China would pressure North Korea to behave itself, perhaps by restricting trade with the hermit kingdom. No such luck. And as the New York Times noted, “Mr. Trump vented his displeasure with China in a pair of early-morning tweets.” Being that these were tweets, and…

President Donald Trump leaves for Europe Wednesday morning ahead of the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg Friday and Saturday. But instead of starting off with meetings with the leaders of traditional allies of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, the president will first travel to our NATO ally…

Michael Warren is on vacation this week, and Andrew Egger is filling in for him on White House Watch. Michael will be back in the saddle on July 3.

James Clapper has this right: An "alternative approach" to North Korea is needed. The former director of national intelligence made the claim in Seoul this week at a seminar hosted by the Joongang Ilbo (a major South Korean newspaper) and the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

President Donald Trump tweeted a somewhat cryptic message about China and North Korea on Tuesday: “While I greatly appreciate the efforts of President Xi & China to help with North Korea, it has not worked out. At least I know China tried!”

Today on the Daily Standard podcast, Eric Felten talks with associate editor Ethan Epstein about North Korea's brutal treatment of the young American tourist Otto Warmbier, who returned from imprisonment in a coma last week only to die Monday.