The overdue end of NATO is finally coming fast.
The American president and secretary of state have signaled that the defense umbrella provided to Europe under the auspices of the North Atlantic Treaty is no longer a priority for the U.S. government.
This cannot have been a surprise in European capitals, but apparently it nonetheless is being treated as a shock.
President Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday in a major shakeup to his cabinet.
“We love Pam, and she will be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector, to be announced at a date in the near future, and our Deputy Attorney General, and a very talented and respected Legal Mind, Todd Blanche, will step in to serve as Acting Attorney General,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
FBI officials recently reached out to members of Congress to alert them to a cyber hack classified as a “major incident.”
Fox News is told that China is the culprit and that the breach could pose a threat to national security.
The FBI made this designation last week when notifying several members of Congress.
It would be the biggest divorce in history. For eight decades, Nato has weathered internal disputes, enemy plots and shooting wars in Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan.
But if Donald Trump acts on his threat to finally leave, having told The Telegraph he is strongly considering pulling out after allies failed to join his war on Iran, the transatlantic family will be torn asunder. At which point, the club that calls itself the most successful alliance in history may as well close its doors. And the pain could match that of the most acrimonious breakups.
‘I came, I saw, I conquered:’ Trump set to claim victory in Iran at primetime address
President Donald Trump will use a primetime Oval Office address Wednesday night to declare that the month-long war in Iran is winding down, against a backdrop of spiking oil prices and increasingly dismal poll numbers.
The president has telegraphed that message in interviews, social media posts and public comments over the past 24 hours, laying the groundwork for a speech that is expected to claim that all military objectives have been met, according to six people familiar with the planning and granted anonymity to speak candidly. He also intends to harshly scapegoat NATO allies for the biggest unresolved matter of the war, Iran’s ongoing restrictions of shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
Shipping and military expert John Konrad spent all day in D.C. on Tuesday talking to his military sources and concluded that “the Navy appears to be in no rush to reopen the strait,” even while Iran dictates whose oil tankers are allowed to pass.
“What is this administration trying to leverage?” Konrad wondered, and that nobody he talked to was willing to discuss the fate of Hormuz “until European politicians and media stop calling Americans war criminals and monsters.”
Let’s unpack this..
What if the White House has no intention of reopening the Strait of Hormuz?
What if this war is really about ships & tariffs?
I had a long discussion with senior DOE official yesterday on background. I can’t share any details but it’s clear everyone’s… https://t.co/DCP0uw7C4E
— John Ʌ Konrad V (@johnkonrad) March 18, 2026
Donald Trump has told The Telegraph he is strongly considering pulling the United States out of Nato after it failed to join his war on Iran.
The US president labelled the alliance a “paper tiger” and said removing America from the defence treaty was now “beyond reconsideration”.
It is the strongest sign yet that the White House no longer regards Europe as a reliable defence partner following the rejection of Mr Trump’s demand that allies send warships to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
When I write about threats to Western civilization, I struggle to find the sweet spot between describing the myriad problems we face and my firm belief that we are capable of winning this fight. I do not think all is lost. I do, however, think that it is important for as many people as possible to recognize what our enemies are doing.
King Charles will go ahead with a state visit to the US in April, Buckingham Palace has confirmed, despite some politicians saying the trip will be a “humiliation” while Donald Trump’s war with Iran is ongoing.
MPs have privately expressed concerns there is potential to embarrass the king if the US president continues his criticisms of the UK’s armed forces before or during the trip.
The chair of the foreign affairs select committee, Emily Thornberry, is among those who have said there should be a delay while the war continues, although the Foreign Office has said it is intended to mark the 250th anniversary of US independence.
Washington — American journalist Shelly Kittleson was kidnapped in Baghdad on Tuesday, according to two sources familiar with the matter as well as an Iraqi official.
Iraq’s Interior Ministry announced that a foreign journalist was kidnapped by “unknown individuals” but did not identify who was taken. The ministry said that security forces had managed to arrest one suspect and seize a vehicle used in the abduction.
BREAKING: American Journalist Shelly Kittleson was KIDNAPPED in Baghdad, Iraq, after being ripped out of her car by unidentified armed men.
Iraqi officials confirm the abduction and claim they are investigating.pic.twitter.com/u53wSF0zfu
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 31, 2026
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that the NATO alliance will have to be “re-examined” given the failure of European powers during the Iran conflict.
Speaking with the Qatari-owned Al Jazeera Media Network, Secretary Rubio expressed deep disappointment with the response of allies in Europe to the conflict in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz and suggested that America may be better off without NATO.
PROVO, Utah (AP) — Lawyers for the man charged with killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk have asked to delay a preliminary hearing scheduled in May, saying they need time to review an enormous amount of material and a bullet analysis that could contribute to his defense.
Tyler Robinson’s defense team said in recent court filings that an analysis from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, a federal law enforcement agency, could not conclusively connect a bullet fragment recovered during an autopsy to the rifle found near the scene. The FBI is running additional tests, according to court documents.
When Donald Trump was first elected in 2016, New York State resident Ellen Robillard briefly looked into getting Canadian citizenship. Her mother, after all, was born in Nova Scotia.
As a Democrat, Robillard was despondent at the election results, but she abandoned the idea after realizing that her young son wouldn’t be eligible for citizenship under a law that barred Canadians born abroad from passing their citizenship to children if they were also born outside Canada.
On Feb. 27, 2025, fifteen online MAGA influencers walked out of the West Wing holding white binders stamped “The Epstein Files: Phase 1.” Rogan O’Handley, AKA “DC Draino,” held his high for the cameras. Liz Wheeler went live on X and flipped through the pages. Jessica Reed Kraus described the scene as though she’d been handed the Pentagon Papers. Attorney General Pam Bondi had personally delivered the documents, with President Donald Trump and FBI Director Kash Patel in attendance.
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has called for the withdrawal of all US soldiers from the country.
Tino Chrupalla, the far-Right party’s co-leader, told a meeting on Saturday that it was time to remove allied troops and nuclear weapons from Germany in order to pursue an “independent” foreign policy.
“Let’s start implementing this with the withdrawal of US troops from Germany,” he told supporters in Saxony.
Long a popular opinion in Germany, it may hasten the end of NATO.
