3+ hour, 30+ min ago (218+ words) State of the Union: Caracas rejected the move as illegal under international law. The post Trump Orders Venezuelan Airspace Closed appeared first on The American Conservative. President Donald Trump on Saturday announced via Truth Social that Venezuelan airspace is "closed in its entirety," marking a further escalation in tensions between Washington and Caracas. Venezuela's Foreign Minister Yv'n Gil Pinto denounced the move, calling Trump's statement "a hostile, unilateral, and arbitrary act, incompatible with the most fundamental principles of international law." The announcement comes amid pressure from a hawkish faction within the Trump administration, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, urging more aggressive steps ostensibly aimed at toppling the government of President Nicol's Maduro. Those efforts have included the authorization of covert operations, according to U.S. officials, even as parallel back-channel diplomatic talks between Washington and Caracas have continued. As the…...

6+ mon, 3+ week ago (810+ words) Two swallows'or firings'do not a summer make. The post It's Not Too Late to Get Admin Staffing Right appeared first on The American Conservative. It's Not Too Late to Get Admin Staffing Right Two swallows'or firings'do not a summer make. Do you hear calliope music? That's the sound of the Trump staffing carousel steaming up to speed. Mike Waltz was kicked upstairs last Thursday to the UN ambassadorship from his perch atop the National Security Council, following a thoroughgoing purge of his underlings. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will fill the position of national security advisor ad hoc, but this is doubtless temporary, as it will cut into his time perusing foreign students' social media for deportable speech offenses. (This is, in some way, a shame; the NSC is a perverse workaround for the fact that State and CIA don't…...