National Security Correspondent for the New York Times
David Sanger is chief Washington correspondent for the New York Times. He is the author of The Inheritance: The World Obama Confronts and the Challenges to American Power and Confront and Conceal: Obama’s Secret Wars and Surprising Use of American Power.
Washington is in crisis over budget and Mattis’ resignation President Trump is predicting a partial government shutdown if he doesn’t get $5 billion to build his border wall. Lawmakers have until tonight to pass a bill to keep the government running. Right now, the odds aren’t looking good.
Why North Korea fired a missile over northern Japan A North Korean missile flew over the island of Hokkaido, Japan on Tuesday. Bullet trains stopped, and some TV stations interrupted programming to warn people to take shelter. It’s only the third time North Korea has fired a rocket over Japan. The Japanese Prime Minister called it an “unprecedented, serious and grave threat.”
Will President Trump's first foreign policy test be in Asia? Barack Obama warned Donald Trump about trouble from North Korea, and his prediction is coming true. With North Korea's missile tests and America's missile defenses, China says they're like trains accelerating toward one another.
Were US forces grounded in Yemen after botched raid? Last month, President Trump authorized his first commando raid, an attack in Yemen which killed children and other civilians and a member of the Navy’s highly regarded SEAL Team 6. Yesterday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer called the raid an, "an intelligence gathering raid" that was "highly successful.
America's transition of power and US relations with Europe On his last visit to Germany as President, Barack Obama reassured Chancellor Angela Merkel: Donald Trump is committed to the NATO Alliance. But the two leaders also issued a statement on climate change, free trade, international "norms" and Vladimir Putin's Russia.
The US and Iran: Does Diplomacy Have a Future? Iran has reduced its nuclear program and is back in the global economy, thanks to the lifting of sanctions imposed under the leadership of the United States. The Presidents of both countries have made those and other concessions, but they also face stern opposition from domestic hardliners.
Nuclear Weapons: The Pride of Pakistan Two nuclear-armed nations make South Asia one of the world's most dangerous places, with Pakistan rapidly increasing its arsenal to outpace India. Now Pakistan has developed small, short-range "tactical nukes" that could be misused by rogue commanders or seized by terrorists.
Are Russian Airstrikes in Syria a Challenge to the United States? Russia reportedly gave the US less than an hour's notice of airstrikes today near the city of Homs in Western Syria. They appear designed to shore up the government of Bashar al-Assad. Secretary of State John Kerry told the UN Security Council that US will continue its bombing to the Islamic State.
A Massive Data Breach Was Just Waiting to Happen It took three months for the Office of Personnel Management to discover that key records of at least four million federal employees were being hacked . Defenses were so weak, one cyber security expert says, "The mystery is not how they got cleaned out… but what took the Chinese so long."
Neglected Nuclear Arms Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says billions of dollars are needed for emergency fixes to nuclear weapons in silos, submarines and storage facilities.
Will a Historic Agreement Be a Historic Mistake? For the first time since the Islamic revolution 34 years ago, the US and Iran have signed an agreement. Six other nations have also agreed that economic sanctions will be suspended for six months in exchange for a temporary freeze on Iran's nuclear program. Congress and America's allies are sharply divided.
Obama Talks Iran Nuclear Capability, Prepares for Mid-East Trip Less than a week before his first visit to Israel as President of the US, Barack Obama told an Israeli TV station yesterday that Iran is not all that close to building a nuclear weapon. David Sanger is chief Washington correspondent for the New York Times .
North Korea Tests a Nuclear Device North Korea performed its third test of a nuclear device today, after threatening to do so for months. South Korean officials estimated the size of the explosion yield as six to seven kilotons – half the size of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. David Sanger is chief Washington correspondent for the New York Times .
The Fiscal Cliff, Susan Rice and Political Gamesmanship As promised, President Obama had lunch with Mitt Romney today — no press coverage, no details of their discussion. But just weeks after the election, partisanship is still the word in Washington. After days of optimism about avoiding the fiscal cliffs, hard lines are now being drawn.
What AMLO Means to Los Angeles Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador has forged a special connection to Angelenos and Mexican-Americans.
Could agave become Santa Barbara’s next major crop? In many ways, growing agave in Santa Barbara makes a lot of sense. Not only does it use very little water and thrive on generally inhospitable land, but it can act as a fuel break for wildfires.