Afternoon all. I sat down with Rep. Adam Smith earlier today for a comprehensive discussion of our current political moment. In our talk we cover a lot of ground, including: Trump’s embrace of Putin and betrayal of Ukraine and our European allies; how Dems should be approaching the coming Continuing Resolution vote; why it is critical that Dems fight as hard as they can to stop the damage Trump and Musk are doing to the country; and the critical role all of you are playing in helping blunt Trump’s momentum.
I hope you will watch or listen to our discussion or for those who would rather read check out the rough transcript above. Rep. Smith is an old friend, a fierce fighter and one of the most important foreign policy and defense leaders we have in Congress today. It’s a timely and informative interview, and gives you an important window into how people are approaching this very important week in Washington.
Three items of note from the interview:
1 - Rep. Smith was in broad agreement with the main argument from this morning’s Hopium post - that with Trump’s extraordinary stumbles out of the box it is time for Democrats to get far more aggressive in challenging him and Musk.
2 - Rep. Smith explains how with Congress and our democracy under assault, Democrats in Congress have been reticent - and I think appropriately so - to further weaken what is left of Congress’s authorities and standing. It is important for folks to hear this perspective for “shutting down the Senate,” walking out of a Presidential speech or shutting down the government are not easy things to do when the Institution itself is under unprecedented assault; or now, when the President is having the worst week of his second term and he is looking for a way to shift the blame for all the chaos to us. Next up in this process is to see if House Rs can pass their own highly partisan Continuing Resolution tomorrow.
3 - Rep. Smith talks about he’s started working with other foreign policy Dems in the Senate and House to more aggressively challenge Trump and Musk. For those who are advocating for a “Shadow Cabinet” we may want to think of this new working group as the beginning of a Shadow National Security Cabinet.
What follows is their most important joint statement to date, one that is very much in the spirit of our call spirit to open A Second Front against Trump and of our recommendation that Dems detail Trump’s abuses in A Letter to America:
Trump Is Undermining America’s Security, 3/4/25
“President Trump’s early statements and actions are threatening the national security of our country. Since taking office a little more than a month ago, the president has alienated nearly every international partner and ally we have, leaving us isolated in an increasingly dangerous world as Russia, North Korea, Iran, and China work together. We need partners and allies to effectively address the multitude of national security threats we face—or could face. Yet, Trump has shown more alignment with Vladimir Putin, who threatens the international rules-based order, than with our long-standing partners and allies. This was most recently and appallingly demonstrated by Trump’s order yesterday to freeze delivery of all U.S. military aid to Ukraine, even as it endures constant bombardment and the decimation of its people.
At the same time, and acting under the president’s direction, Elon Musk is destroying our federal national security workforce, terminating thousands of men and women with deep expertise and a proven commitment to securing our interests around the world. This has weakened our ability to respond to international crises by decimating our global foreign assistance investments, our nuclear safety protections, and our cyber security, just to name a few. And the federal workforce that hasn’t been fired yet is living under constant threat. Chaos at our national security departments and agencies does little to promote a secure America. It does the opposite. We should all be afraid that Trump has turned over access to these locations and our national security workforce to Musk and a collection of his staff, many of whom have no clue what they are reviewing and have never held security clearances.
We are speaking out and urging others to join us before it’s too late. Because make no mistake—this is a concerted effort by Trump and Musk to dismantle our system of government and exploit our weakness to consolidate power that benefits the very countries threatening our national security. It is time to act for the sake of our national security and the American people we were elected to serve.”
The letter was signed by:
Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee
Rep. Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY), Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee
Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Ranking Member of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party
Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee;
Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Senator Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
Senator Chris Coons (D-DE), Member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
To underscore the importance of this conversation, earlier today Elon Musk called decorated veteran and Senator Mark Kelly a traitor for defending our support of Ukraine and our European allies:
Head back to this morning’s post for a list of our recommended actions to take and campaigns to support. Paid subscribers should note that I’m leaving the comments section open on this post to encourage a dialogue about the topics specific to this interview.
Keep working hard all. The wheels have started coming off the Trump-Musk bus from hell and we need to keep fighting - Simon
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