Respond to prefers-color-scheme dark in app web views

Follow section front redirects in Spectrum

Enable NLP source in PCS for load testing

Switch off the News Alerts Survey Widget when we have enough responses

Poll to determine if new LUF updates are available

Allows the winning A/B test variant to be turned on without Spectrum deployment

Show infinite scrolling sections in Assembler MultiView

Show option for NLP article summaries in Action Bar

A general feature flag for Recipe Features that aren't yet released

Feature flag for media team features that aren't yet released

Use new Orca video player for preroll plugin in Spectrum

Show the snow tracker (instead of the heat tracker) on Spectrum

Israel’s offensive is destroying Gaza’s ability to grow its own food

Riot police and over 2,000 arrests: A look at 2 weeks of campus protests

‘It’s been abused’ Rep. McCaul on motion to vacate threat

Ask Amy: Should I be the best man if I think the bride is abusive?

Carolyn Hax: Husband keeps pushing modest spouse to wear sexier clothes

Miss Manners: Host eats luxurious breakfast, leaves cereal for guest

What’s the best bus to New York? We tested 5 for comfort and value.

You asked: Do I need a passport for my cruise?

Adaptive equipment is making national parks more inclusive

The New York Times, alone in its outrage over access to Biden

Wait, what is Stephen A. Smith talking about? Find out with our quiz.

Stephen A. Smith would like even more of your attention

The Capitals, a team in transition, know what they want this offseason

Is Pastis as good as our food critic thought? He sent spies to find out.

Nationals can’t solve Nate Eovaldi, drop series finale to Rangers

Teen grabs wheel when driver passes out and school bus veers into traffic

Cat climbed into Amazon return box, found alive 630 miles away

Brave Little Hunter is free: Baby orca escapes lagoon for open seas

Trump Media auditor charged by SEC with ‘massive fraud’

Biden honors distinguished Americans; Trump back in N.Y. court

Google’s empire is massive. A judge will soon rule if it’s a monopoly.

An I bond is now at 4.28 percent. Are they still a good deal?

Use these 6 points to say no to a college you and your kid can’t afford

How this new rule protects retirement savers from costly advice

Journalism in India is under assault

The dangerous new call for regime change in Beijing

Ukrainian men abroad voice anger over pressure to return home to fight 

Hope Hicks witnessed nearly every Trump scandal. Now she must testify.

State laws measure if a woman is close enough to death for an abortion

On Press Freedom Day, little to celebrate for Hong Kong’s journalists

Young Georgians want to be part of Europe. Their government is in the way.

Taxes are inevitable. Paying to prepare them doesn’t have to be.

President Trump on Wednesday named Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, as the next acting director of national intelligence, placing a fiercely loyal ally atop an intelligence structure he has frequently railed against.

It is unclear whether Trump intends to nominate Grenell to fill the top intelligence post on a permanent basis, which would require Senate confirmation.

The appointment took many in Washington, including on Capitol Hill, by surprise.

Grenell, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/who-is-richard-grenell/2012/04/24/gIQA9xnleT_blog.html" title="www.washingtonpost.com">a former State Department official and communications executive</a>, has been a Trump confidant and ad hoc adviser on issues beyond his ambassadorial work in Berlin.

He is a conservative foreign policy hawk and sometime media critic, as well as a vocal supporter of Trump on social media. He has sparked controversy in his diplomatic role, but also won praise in Germany and elsewhere for taking on issues such as gay rights in Eastern Europe and the long-running tensions between Kosovo and Serbia.

Grenell would be the first openly gay member of the Trump Cabinet. He did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump was being pushed by some in the intelligence community to nominate the current acting intelligence director, Joseph Maguire, to take the job permanently, but the president has been fixated on appointing people he believes are loyal to him, according to White House officials who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

In recent weeks, he has asked aides which employees are “bad” or “leakers” and deserve to be fired, aides said.

In a statement, Maguire said “it has been an honor to work alongside the men and women of the intelligence community” as acting director of national intelligence, and that he was “committed to leading [them] until Ambassador Grenell assumes the role.”

Maguire, who was scheduled to meet with White House officials Thursday afternoon, was blindsided by the news, said a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive situation.


<i>[Trump dismisses John Rood, the Pentagon’s policy chief]</i>


The New York Times first reported Grenell’s expected appointment.

Grenell’s loyalty to the president extends beyond his public statements. In 2018, internal documents from the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/politics/trump-hotel-business/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">Trump International Hotel</a> in Washington listed Grenell as a “Gold” level member of the Trump Organization’s “Trump Card” loyalty program.

This is the second time that Trump has given a prominent post to a high-level Trump Card member. Kelly Craft, Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, also had gold status, according to the 2018 documents — “VIP Arrivals” lists that the hotel used to alert employees to important guests. The lists were obtained by The Washington Post.

Grenell’s appointment is likely to exacerbate tensions between the president and members of the intelligence community, who have been frequent targets of Trump’s ire.

Current and former officials questioned Grenell’s qualifications to lead the intelligence agencies and said his loyalty to Trump appeared to be the reason for his appointment.

“Nothing in Grenell’s background suggests that he has the skill set or the experience to be an effective leader of the intelligence community,” said Nicholas J. Rasmussen, who was the director of the National Counterterrorism Center under Trump and President Barack Obama and who has known and worked with Maguire for over a decade.

“His chief attribute seems to be that President Trump views him as unfailingly loyal — hardly sufficient to make someone qualified to perform the duties of the DNI.”

Marc Polymeropoulos, a former senior CIA official, questioned why the White House had again chosen not to nominate a permanent intelligence director.

“How are both sides of the aisle not outraged by yet another ‘acting’ role?” he said. “We are in need of the DNI designate to provide his thoughts on the whistleblower statute, the intelligence community plan to thwart potential Russian interference in the 2020 elections, possible Iranian retaliation for <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/senior-administration-officials-struggle-to-explain-intelligence-behind-killing-of-soleimani/2020/01/12/daf7e896-3582-11ea-bf30-ad313e4ec754_story.html" title="www.washingtonpost.com">the Qasem Soleimani strike</a> and other key national security challenges.”

Grenell inspired controversy almost from the moment he became ambassador in 2018. In a tweet he posted hours after Trump said the United States would exit the Iran nuclear deal, Grenell wrote that “German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately.”

Germany and other key U.S. allies said they intended to remain in the agreement and the perceived ultimatum angered some officials in Berlin. Grenell has also focused on NATO and the shortfall in German defense spending, an issue Trump mentions frequently.

Grenell also drew criticism from diplomats and foreign officials for an interview with the right-wing Breitbart news site, in which he said he wanted to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/world/wp/2018/06/04/trumps-envoy-to-germany-wants-to-empower-conservatives-but-he-doesnt-appear-to-mean-merkel/" title="www.washingtonpost.com">“empower” conservatives in Europe. </a>

One U.S. official familiar with the decision said Grenell is expected to take up his new post quickly.


<email>shane.harris@washpost.com</email>



<email>anne.gearan@washpost.com</email>



<email>josh.dawsey@washpost.com</email>


Anne Gearan, David A. Fahrenthold and Ellen Nakashima contributed to this report.

Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, The Washington Post, 2021

George Polk Award, The Washington Post, 2021 

Finalist, Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, The Washington Post, 2019  

Helen Bernstein Book Award For Excellence In Journalism, 2011

Gerald R. Ford Prize for Distinguished Reporting on National Defense, 2010

The Watchers: The Rise of America's Surveillance State 

@War: The Rise of the Military-Internet Complex 

Wake Forest University, B.A. in Politics

Shane Harris writes about intelligence and national security. He was a member of reporting teams that won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, as well as two George Polk Awards. He is also the winner of the Gerald R. Ford Prize for Distinguished Reporting on National Defense. Shane is the author of two books, "The Watchers" and "@War." 

Shane Harris

Associated Press Virginia staffer of the year

Allegheny College, BA in English and History

Anne Gearan is a White House correspondent for The Washington Post, with a focus on foreign policy and national security. She covered the Hillary Clinton campaign and the State Department for The Post before joining the White House beat. She joined the paper in 2012.

Anne Gearan

White House Correspondents Award for Deadline Reporting

University of South Carolina

Josh Dawsey is a political enterprise and investigations reporter for The Washington Post. He joined the paper in 2017 and previously covered the White House. Before that, he covered the White House for Politico, and New York City Hall and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for the Wall Street Journal.

Josh Dawsey

The Washington Post

FILE PHOTO: Grenell, U.S. ambassador to Germany, attends the "Rally for Equal Rights at the United Nations (Protesting Anti-Israeli Bias)" in Geneva

Reuters

Foreign Policy

Intelligence

Justice

Military

National Security

iptc-media/politics/political_process

iptc-media/conflict_war_and_peace/armed_conflict

iptc-media/politics/international_relations

iptc-media/crime_law_and_justice

iptc-media/politics/election

iptc-media/politics/government/defence/security_measures_(defence)

iptc-media/politics

iptc-media/politics/government

iptc-media/politics/government/defence

iptc-media/conflict_war_and_peace

iptc-media/politics/government/espionage_and_intelligence

iptc-media/politics/government/defence/security_measures_(defence)/national_security

client-blocklists/Client List: Morgan Stanley KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Amazon KWs - EXCLUDE ALL 

client-blocklists/Client List: Becton Dickinson KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Boeing KWs 2021 - EXCLUDE ALL 

client-blocklists/CLIENT LIST: Nomura KWs 2021 - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Bed Bath & Beyond KWs - INCLUDE ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Exxon Mobil  - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: T. Rowe Price KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Microsoft KWs 2 - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/T. Rowe Price KWs - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/B2_Asian Lifestyle Content_legacyaux_im0

advertising/B2_National Security_legacyaux_oe1

client-blocklists/HBO KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Ford/Lincoln KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Bank of America KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Diageo - Johnnie Walker KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/WaPo: Combined Disaster Keyword List - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: ExxonMobil 03312021 KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Apple TV+ KW – INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Navy Federal Credit Union NFCU KWs 2 - EXCLUDES ALL - 12.23.20

client-blocklists/ CLIENT LIST: AT&T KWs 2021 - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/GEICO KWs - INCLUDES ANY_4.26.21

client-blocklists/Blockist: Capitol Building Mob

client-blocklists/Client List: Eli Lily KWs - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/B2_Corporate Responsibility_legacyaux_FTM

advertising/B2_Cyber Security & Intelligence Community_legacyaux_E8X

advertising/B2_Defense and National Security 2.12.15_legacyaux_o1b

advertising/B2_Defense_legacyaux_yxn

advertising/B2_Digital Authentication_legacyaux_c2u

advertising/B2_Embassy, Ambassador, & Diplomat Content_legacyaux_1ho

client-blocklists/Client List: Purina KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

advertising/B2_Government & Policy_legacyaux_mza

advertising/B2_Health and Beauty_legacyaux_3fv

advertising/Racing and Nascar Enthusiasts

client-blocklists/BP KWs - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/B2_LGBT & Same Sex Marriage_legacyaux_l3o

advertising/B2_Lifestyle_legacyaux_ipv

advertising/B2_Lifestyle_legacyaux_stu

advertising/B2_Luxury_legacyaux_75o

advertising/B2_Positive News_legacyaux_hlt

advertising/B2_Russia & Putin_legacyaux_F55

advertising/B2_Shopping_legacyaux_sa6

advertising/B2_Women's Beauty_legacyaux_9jv

advertising/B2_Men's Grooming_legacyaux_1ve

advertising/B2_Middle East Content_legacyaux_tde

client-blocklists/Client List: KPMG KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Navy Federal Credit Union NFCU KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/WaPo: Human Disaster

client-blocklists/Client List: Verizon KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Novo Nordisk KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Siemens KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Cisco KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Capital Concerts KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: AT&T ALT KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Mercedes KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/FX Excludes All Disney

client-blocklists/Client List: PMI KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Citibank KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Boeing KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Inpixon KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Philip Morris KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Google KWs - INCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Dupixent neg kws - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Capital One KWs 2 - INCLUDES ANY - 1.4.21

client-blocklists/Bank of America Merrill Lynch KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/CME KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Google PG KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Chase KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Office Depot KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: ETrade KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

prism://prism.query/site,/national-security&limit=20

Sign up for Fact Checker, our weekly review of what's true, false or in-between in politics.

The Washington Post's coverage of national security issues, including the military, intelligence, justice, and foreign policy.