Brian Finucane
@bcfinucane.bsky.social
Senior Adviser, US Program, International Crisis Group. Editor at Just Security. Non-Resident Senior Fellow at Reiss Center on Law and Security at NYU Law. Ex State Dept Lawyer. War Powers| Use of Force| Counterterrorism| Law of War| War Crimes| Arms Sales
How many military helicopter vs passenger airplane collisions does this administration want to have?
FinTwitter@fintwitter.bsky.social · 2h agoFEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION CONFIRMS MARINE ONE WAS BRIEFLY TOO CLOSE TO PASSENGER AIRPLANE - STATEMENT
Good question that deserved a real answer.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3h agoBLITZER: Why is Israel, another country, your red line right now, rather than a domestic issue that impacts Americans' everyday lives? FETTERMAN: Yeah, absolutely. And I agree with a lot of Democrats too. I called trash Platner.
Sounds like that Rhodes Scholar guy won his Senate primary.
My read on the situation is that Rubio has prioritized his pet projects in Latin America above all else. And to this end, he seeks to preserve his position and avoid Trump's ire by being hands off on the substance of much of US foreign policy and by not seeking to impose any policy process on Trump.
Daniel Drezner@dandrezner.bsky.social · 6h agoMarco Rubio is ostensibly neglecting his State Department duties to stay close to Trump and focus on the important stuff… except for the most important foreign policy quagmire of the day. danieldrezner.substack.com/p/why-isnt-m...
Hence the continued attacks on vessels transiting the Strait.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 14h agoTrump: "We control the strait totally" (Trump is currently trying to negotiate to open the strait because Iran controls it)
Wait, that’s not possible. POTUS assured me the U.S. controlled the Strait.
Mike Walker@newnarrative.bsky.social · 16h agoAnother vessel is on fire in the southern corridor of the Strait of Hormuz. Two others have been struck there in the last 24 hours.
Whether or not the arrangement under negotiation for the Strait provides a pragmatic solution for the current situation is distinct from whether it is consistent with international law.
FinTwitter@fintwitter.bsky.social · 18h agoTHE PROPOSAL, REPORTEDLY BACKED BY OMAN, COULD PROVIDE A LEGAL WORKAROUND SINCE INTERNATIONAL LAW DOES NOT PERMIT MANDATORY TRANSIT FEES IN KEY SHIPPING CHOKEPOINTS - THE TELEGRAPH
Foreign leaders can be so difficult when you kill their families and launch surprise attacks on their countries. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/04/u...
An Angry Trump Struggles to Understand Iran’s Defiant Leaders
Iran’s leaders have perplexed several American presidents, perhaps none more than President Trump.
nytimes.com
There's a throughline between the boat strikes, Maduro raid, Iran War, and domestic deployments of troops—Trump loves using the military to create a spectacle.
Brian Finucane@bcfinucane.bsky.social · 24h agoUsing National Guard soldiers as props in authoritarian theater is pricey. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Using National Guard soldiers as props in authoritarian theater is pricey. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Trump’s National Guard deployment in D.C. set to cost additional $1.4 billion
The estimate, provided to Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, covers the period from Oct. 1, 2026, through the end of the president’s term.
washingtonpost.com
POTUS laser focused on the national interest.
Dan Diamond@ddiamond.bsky.social · yesterdayScoop: Trump has ordered workers to redo weeks of work on his planned White House helipad new WaPo photos show how past work was removed over weekend Trump is contemplating changes to White House lawn's slope, raising bigger Qs about project and cost
In today's edition of the Article I Crisis.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · yesterdayCornyn: "There's nothing we could do to rein in the president"
This refers to the executive branch position that prior congressional authorization is only required for hostilities amounting to "war" in the "constitutional sense" due to nature, scope, & duration. Neither Congress nor courts have endorsed this view. And Congress rejected it in the 1973 WPR.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · yesterdaySen. Rand Paul: "I've had the debate with this administration ... they told me this isn't a war. I said, why isn't it a war? They said, 'Well, a constitutional war has to have significant casualties' ... initiation or declaration of war is *before* the casualties."
Will Ferrell as George W. Bush: Strategery
ALT: Will Ferrell as George W. Bush: Strategery
static.klipy.com
Mark Jacob@markjacob.bsky.social · yesterdayIt sure looks like the U.S. has spent $100 billion and left 18 Americans dead and 600 injured in order to hand control of the Strait of Hormuz to Iran and do nothing about nuclear proliferation except encourage it.
Well, at least it was for a completely lawless and pointless cause.
CNBC@cnbc.com · yesterdayU.S. has used 'virtually all' of its long-range precision missiles during Iran war: Reuters
The Iran War of monument renovations. With a helping of 'stabbed in the back.' www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
How Trump’s claims of vandalism at the renovated Reflecting Pool crumbled
Trump has lashed out at U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro after she dropped vandalism cases and blamed damage at the pool on rushed and flawed work by a contractor.
washingtonpost.com
There are echoes of Trump’s 2020 election denialism in the Reflecting Pool debacle. In both cases he concocted ego salving nonsense to cover for his failure and then railed against loyalist senior DOJ lawyers who were unable/unwilling to pursue baseless legal actions to vindicate his fantasies.
"we have a bit in the book about how he got very into these videos of the boat strikes. They would be privately described as Hegseth’s snuff films. But he would want to have some sent to Trump because he knew Trump would want to see them." Performative killing. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/31/o...
Opinion | How Trump Has Changed, With Maggie Haberman
The New York Times correspondent says 70 percent of the president’s mind is dedicated to White House renovations.
nytimes.com
What if the executive branch had a functioning policy process that informed the decision to go to war in the first place? Or better yet, what if the US government operated in a constitutional fashion and the US Congress debated and voted on going to war? www.cnn.com/2026/08/03/p...
Exclusive: US military asks troops for ‘creative and unconventional’ ideas to punish Iran | CNN Politics
The request from a senior officer at the US military command carrying out President Donald Trump’s war with Iran came in an email: We need ideas.
cnn.com
Let’s have some coffee and catch up on the ‘Art of the Perimeters of the Deal.’
“I’m not looking to kill people.” So, about those boat strikes…
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3d agoTrump: "I'm not looking to kill people. Because people die. A lot of people die."
I guess self-soothing presidential AI slop posting is better than ego boosting airstrikes and tariffs.
And you should have seen the size of the trout I hooked on the Taylor River…
Mike Walker@newnarrative.bsky.social · 3d agoTrump aboard AF1 says the attack on Iran would have been the “biggest attack since World War II”
Shifting from implausible boasts of victory in war to implausible boasts of victory in golf. Just another source of bragging rights.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3d agoTrump: “The Winning Shot in the Bedminster Club Championship! Thank you very much to all of those who participated. I won with a 70, & am so honored in that, unlike the rest of the field, I’m given very little time to practice, bc I’m focused on many other things. It’s called TALENT, and I have it”
Transparency is limited to the ‘Secretary of War’ sharing pre-operational strike details with random journalists on the Signal chat.
Jim LaPorta@jimlaporta.bsky.social · 3d agoDef. Sec. Pete Hegseth promised it "would be the most transparent administration ever.” As the US-led war against Iran enters its sixth month, the offering to the public is less information about the conflict and its direction, even as the costs continue to mount. www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-a...
