Connect with us

Washington

Mike Johnson to detail conservative vision for U.S. foreign policy

Published

1 year ago

on

Mike Johnson to detail conservative vision for U.S. foreign policy


House Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday will lay out his vision for a conservative American foreign policy, addressing the interconnected global threats posed by China, Russia and Iran and the path to counter them through U.S. deterrence and hard power.

The discussion, hosted by the Hudson Institute, a Washington think tank, will mark the first time Johnson (R-La.) has publicly commented at length on his foreign policy views.

Monday’s event comes as European and other foreign leaders descend on Washington this week for the annual summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), whose member nations will be focused on efforts to safeguard the alliance from an increasingly aggressive Russia and further help Ukraine repel Russia’s invasion. Russian missiles on Monday struck a children’s hospital in the Ukrainian capital, killing dozens.

This is also a fraught moment is U.S. politics, as President Biden struggles to contain mounting concerns within the Democratic Party — and among foreign allies — about his physical and cognitive fitness to win a second term in November and lead the country for another four years.

Advertisement

“We’ve got a lot of instability in the Middle East, in Europe and in Asia,” said Rebeccah Heinrichs, a senior fellow and defense policy expert at the Hudson Institute, who will moderate Monday’s conversation with Johnson. “And so I think there’s a real demand right now [to hear]: Does Speaker Johnson and the Republican Party, from his perspective, have an assessment, a handle, on the threats facing the country, and a way forward?”

There is a desire amid the domestic turmoil, Heinrichs said, to “see a steady hand at the helm” and a clear vision for U.S. foreign policy. “I think that this is one Republican leader who has great influence, and an ability to set a course.”

Johnson’s foreign policy views have been the subject of speculation since he assumed the House speakership in October. The four-term Republican was not widely known and had little formal foreign policy experience before moving into his leadership role.

Johnson has allied himself with Biden’s expected opponent in November, former president Donald Trump, who has contemplated withdrawing the United States from NATO. Johnson also joined Republican hard-liners in opposing aid to Ukraine, a stance he later reversed after delaying for months a House vote on billions of dollars in additional military support for the country.

Johnson, who has spoken about his support for the “peace through strength” foreign policy doctrine espoused by President Ronald Reagan, ultimately sided with Democrats and moderate Republicans to approve Ukraine aid as part of a larger emergency national security spending package. At the time, some characterized the move as an evolution in his thinking.

Advertisement

An aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss Johnson’s thinking, said the speaker’s initial resistance to additional Ukraine funding stemmed from a desire to better understand how the Biden administration was conducting oversight of the vast amount of U.S. weaponry being shipped to the war zone. His “views on a ‘peace through strength’ posture were then what they are now,” the aide said.

Johnson’s office said he will host a reception Monday evening for visiting leaders who are attending the NATO summit and will hold separate meetings with several of them over the course of the week, including his Italian counterpart Lorenzo Fontana and, later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.



Source link

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Washington

Suspect in National Guard shooting faces new federal charges that allow death penalty discussions

Published

11 hours ago

on

December 26, 2025

By

Suspect in National Guard shooting faces new federal charges that allow death penalty discussions


WASHINGTON — A man accused of shooting two National Guard troops near the White House has been charged in a complaint with federal firearms charges in connection with the ambush on November 26 that fatally wounded one of the West Virginia National Guard members and seriously injured the second.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, has been charged with transporting a firearm in interstate commerce with the intent to commit an offense punishable for more than one year. He has also been charged federally with transporting a stolen firearm in interstate commerce.

“The transfer of this case from Superior Court to District Court ensures that we can undertake the serious, deliberate, and weighty analysis required to determine if the death penalty is appropriate here,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro. “Sarah Beckstrom was just 20 years old when she was killed and her parents are now forced to endure the holiday season without their daughter. Andrew Wolfe, by the grace of God, survived but has a long road ahead in his recovery.”

Lakanwal remains charged with first-degree murder, assault with intent to kill and illegal possession of a firearm in the shooting that killed Beckstrom, 20, and wounded Wolfe, 24, in violation of D.C. code. Lakanwal, who was shot during the encounter, has pleaded not guilty to the D.C. charges.

Advertisement

There is no death penalty in D.C. Superior Court.

Beckstrom and Wolfe were deployed with the West Virginia National Guard for President Donald Trump’s law-enforcement surge in the nation’s capital, which has flooded the city with federal agents and troops since August. Lakanwal is accused of driving from Bellingham, Washington to Washington, D.C. while in possession of a stolen firearm and ambushing the two Guard members outside a subway station three blocks from the White House.

An Afghan national, Laknawal worked with the American government, including the CIA, “as a member of a partner force” in Kandahar, Afghanistan, CIA Director John Ratcliffe said.

Lakanwal, 29, entered the United States in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, officials said. That Biden administration program evacuated and resettled tens of thousands of Afghans after the U.S. withdrawal from the country.

Lakanwal’s lawyer was not immediately available for comment.

Advertisement

The video in the player above is from an earlier report.

Copyright © 2025 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.



Source link

Continue Reading

Washington

Video Shows Moment Man Carjacks Washington State Patrol Lieutenant’s Car

Published

23 hours ago

on

December 26, 2025

By

Video Shows Moment Man Carjacks Washington State Patrol Lieutenant’s Car


TMZ.com

Here’s an easy way to find yourself on the naughty list … a man in Seattle is in police custody after stealing a patrol car from a Washington State Patrol lieutenant … and only TMZ has video of the suspect shoving the cop to the ground and taking off in her car.

Advertisement

We obtained footage showing a man casually crossing a busy Interstate-5 in Seattle when a WSP patrol car shows up … the guy stops in his tracks, paces around, then goes up to the driver side door and yanks the cop out of the car. He pushes her to the freeway pavement, then gets behind the wheel and speeds off.

pursuit-x-wspd2pio-1

That’s where our wild video ends, but the story doesn’t end there … because an intense police pursuit ensued … and it ended with WSP officers pinning the car and taking the guy into custody.

Advertisement

122525_seattle_carjacking_stolen

Washington State Patrol Trooper Rick Johnson tells TMZ … the female lieutenant from the video was not injured and she will not be reprimanded for the incident.

This all started just before noon on Christmas Day … and we’re told the guy is now getting grilled by detectives. Sounds like he’s having a not-so-merry Christmas.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Washington

RFK Jr. declares public health emergency for Washington state flooding

Published

1 day ago

on

December 25, 2025

By

RFK Jr. declares public health emergency for Washington state flooding


RFK Jr. declares public health emergency for Washington state flooding – OPB

“),r.close()),!r)throw Error(“base not supported”);var a=r.createElement(“base”);a.href=n,r.getElementsByTagName(“head”)[0].appendChild(a);var i=r.createElement(“a”);return i.href=t,i.href}finally{e&&e.parentNode.removeChild(e)}}());var l=i(t||””),f=function(){if(!(“defineProperties”in Object))return!1;try{var e={};return Object.defineProperties(e,{prop:{get:function(){return!0}}}),e.prop}catch(t){return!1}}(),h=f?this:document.createElement(“a”),m=new o(l.search?l.search.substring(1):null);return m._url_object=h,Object.defineProperties(h,{href:{get:function(){return l.href},set:function(e){l.href=e,r(),u()},enumerable:!0,configurable:!0},origin:{get:function(){return”origin”in l?l.origin:this.protocol+”//”+this.host},enumerable:!0,configurable:!0},protocol:{get:function(){return l.protocol},set:function(e){l.protocol=e},enumerable:!0,configurable:!0},username:{get:function(){return l.username},set:function(e){l.username=e},enumerable:!0,configurable:!0},password:{get:function(){return l.password},set:function(e){l.password=e},enumerable:!0,configurable:!0},host:{get:function(){var e={“http:”:/:80$/,”https:”:/:443$/,”ftp:”:/:21$/}[l.protocol];return e?l.host.replace(e,””):l.host},set:function(e){l.host=e},enumerable:!0,configurable:!0},hostname:{get:function(){return l.hostname},set:function(e){l.hostname=e},enumerable:!0,configurable:!0},port:{get:function(){return l.port},set:function(e){l.port=e},enumerable:!0,configurable:!0},pathname:{get:function(){return”https://www.opb.org/”!==l.pathname.charAt(0)?”https://www.opb.org/”+l.pathname:l.pathname},set:function(e){l.pathname=e},enumerable:!0,configurable:!0},search:{get:function(){return l.search},set:function(e){l.search!==e&&(l.search=e,r(),u())},enumerable:!0,configurable:!0},searchParams:{get:function(){return m},enumerable:!0,configurable:!0},hash:{get:function(){return l.hash},set:function(e){l.hash=e,r()},enumerable:!0,configurable:!0},toString:{value:function(){return l.toString()},enumerable:!1,configurable:!0},valueOf:{value:function(){return l.valueOf()},enumerable:!1,configurable:!0}}),h}var c,s=e.URL;try{if(s){if(“searchParams”in(c=new e.URL(“http://example.com”))){var f=new l(“http://example.com”);if(f.search=”a=1&b=2″,”http://example.com/?a=1&b=2″===f.href&&(f.search=””,”http://example.com/”===f.href))return}”href”in c||(c=undefined),c=undefined}}catch(m){}if(Object.defineProperties(o.prototype,{append:{value:function(e,t){this._list.push({name:e,value:t}),this._update_steps()},writable:!0,enumerable:!0,configurable:!0},”delete”:{value:function(e){for(var t=0;t1?arguments[1]:undefined;this._list.forEach(function(n){e.call(t,n.value,n.name)})},writable:!0,enumerable:!0,configurable:!0},toString:{value:function(){return r(this._list)},writable:!0,enumerable:!1,configurable:!0}}),”Symbol”in e&&”iterator”in e.Symbol&&(Object.defineProperty(o.prototype,e.Symbol.iterator,{value:o.prototype.entries,writable:!0,enumerable:!0,configurable:!0}),Object.defineProperty(u.prototype,e.Symbol.iterator,{value:function(){return this},writable:!0,enumerable:!0,configurable:!0})),s)for(var h in s)s.hasOwnProperty(h)&&”function”==typeof s[h]&&(l[h]=s[h]);e.URL=l,e.URLSearchParams=o}(),function(){if(“1”!==new e.URLSearchParams([[“a”,1]]).get(“a”)||”1″!==new e.URLSearchParams({a:1}).get(“a”)){var r=e.URLSearchParams;e.URLSearchParams=function(e){if(e&&”object”==typeof e&&t(e)){var a=new r;return n(e).forEach(function(e){if(!t(e))throw TypeError();var r=n(e);if(2!==r.length)throw TypeError();a.append(r[0],r[1])}),a}return e&&”object”==typeof e?(a=new r,Object.keys(e).forEach(function(t){a.set(t,e[t])}),a):new r(e)}}}()}(self);}).call(‘object’ === typeof window && window || ‘object’ === typeof self && self || ‘object’ === typeof global && global || {});

document.createElement(“picture”);



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending