I can’t believe I’m holding this! It’s the completion of a six-year project that really spans my adult life — and 80 years of Chinese history, from Mao to Xi. I tell the story of modern China through a dramatic family saga and contemporary reporting. Learn more and order here:

The White House has released its National Security Strategy. As expected, a priority is the Western Hemisphere:

"America's diplomatic capacity is being decimated from within": Survey finds that 98% of America's professional diplomats say that workplace morale has fallen since Trump took office again in January. @michaelcrowley

Here's a gift link:

The most notable thing about this State Dept. press release: Trump and Rubio decided to literally replace the United States with Trump. The building that was called the U.S. Institute of Peace is now the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace.

A 6-yr-old boy was separated from his father and placed in federal custody in NYC. It appears to be an example of a tactic that DHS has used to pressure migrants by separating them from their families after they refuse to comply with deportation orders. https://t.co/tfOngjCBhP

ICYMI: (gift) "I’m a U.S. citizen, please help me! Why are you doing this to me?" ICE detain nurse who is U.S. citizen, as she pleads with them not to arrest her. Video by @miamiherald @DavidGoodhue

Federal agents can no longer arrest people in D.C. on immigration violations without a warrant or probable cause to believe they could potentially flee if not detained, a judge has ruled. More from @maustermuhle:

Jack Reed, the top Democratic Senator on the Armed Services Committee, said this after Pentagon officials gave a briefing on the boat strike that killed injured men: "This briefing confirmed my worst fears about the nature of the Trump administration’s military activities."

DOD IG report on Signalgate, which notes that investigators had to rely in part on the transcript that we posted, because messages on Hegseth's cell phone had auto-deleted.

NEW: The commutation Trump issued to David Gentile wipes away all further fines & restitution. Gentile had been sentenced to 7 years for his role in a $1.6B scheme that defrauded thousands of investors. Prosecutors had been seeking $15.5M in forfeiture. https://t.co/5cjY1dQTZt

The @nytimes lawsuit vs DOD over press restrictions “is not just about physical access,” @AGSNYT writes to staff. “The rights we are fighting for here are bigger than that. It’s about the right to ask questions of the government. The right to publish truths they’d rather keep

NEW: The Afghan suspect in the National Guard shooting, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, was shaken by bloodshed with his CIA-trained unit. In the US, he unraveled in "dark isolation" and on mysterious road trips, a volunteer's emails warned in Jan. 2024. Our story:

The key finding in this @nytimes story: Hegseth approved a plan for the US military to attack again if survivors of a boat strike took what the US deemed to be a hostile action, like communicating with suspected cartel members, American officials said.

NEW: Hegseth asked SOUTHCOM Adm. Alvin Holsey to step down, a de facto ouster that was the culmination of months of discord between the two that intensified when Holsey had initial concerns about the legality of lethal strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean With

Serious question: What is Trump doing in this video as Rubio speaks?

This is a terrible, disingenuous, condescending argument, and nobody buys it. I 1st went to Jerusalem as a young reporter in 2002, with no dog in the fight & an open mind. I’ve studied the laws and history and watched how Israel’s occupation plays out on the ground for years.

Our scoop: The Trump administration has paused all immigration applications filed by immigrants from 19 countries it restricted from travel to the U.S. earlier this year, halting green card and U.S. citizenship processing for broad swaths of people. https://t.co/XyI5e7W1q0