Ellen Nakashima
@ellenwapo.bsky.social
Intelligence and national security reporter at The Washington Post. Reach me securely on Signal at Ellen.626.
SCOOP: For the Trump admin's Sept. 2 strike targeting 11 men on a boat suspected of ferrying drugs, SecDef Hegseth gave an order, officials say, to kill them all. When two men were still alive, orders were given to strike again, finishing them off.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill all crew members in the Sept. 2 strike on a suspected drug boat. Navy SEALs fired a second missile.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 28, 2025 at 6:03 PM
SCOOP: For the Trump admin's Sept. 2 strike targeting 11 men on a boat suspected of ferrying drugs, SecDef Hegseth gave an order, officials say, to kill them all. When two men were still alive, orders were given to strike again, finishing them off.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
NEW: White House blew past legal concerns in deadly strikes on drug boats. Work began on secret CIA finding early in the administration, prompting pushback re use of lethal force. Officials persisted in seeking, military and covert options.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
White House blew past legal concerns in deadly strikes on drug boats
The Trump administration sidestepped skeptical lawyers across national security agencies as it pursued a military campaign against alleged narcotraffickers, officials say.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 22, 2025 at 1:30 PM
NEW: White House blew past legal concerns in deadly strikes on drug boats. Work began on secret CIA finding early in the administration, prompting pushback re use of lethal force. Officials persisted in seeking, military and covert options.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
A former top State Dept lawyer, Brian Finucane, assesses the Trump admin is using "creative lawyering" in dismissing War Powers Res application to cartel strikes. "It is a power grab in the service of killing people outside the law based solely on the President’s own say so."
shorturl.at/8AKIS
shorturl.at/8AKIS
Dissecting the Trump Administration’s Effort to Circumvent the War Powers Resolution for Boat Strikes
Analysis of Trump administration's claim that War Powers Resolution's regulating US troops in "hostilities" does not apply to boat strikes.
shorturl.at
November 3, 2025 at 2:37 PM
A former top State Dept lawyer, Brian Finucane, assesses the Trump admin is using "creative lawyering" in dismissing War Powers Res application to cartel strikes. "It is a power grab in the service of killing people outside the law based solely on the President’s own say so."
shorturl.at/8AKIS
shorturl.at/8AKIS
Scoop: Trump’s OLC head tells lawmakers the War Powers Act doesn’t apply to cartel strikes, and the administration does not need to cease strikes by Monday.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Trump administration tells Congress war law doesn’t apply to cartel strikes
A top Trump administration lawyer told Congress that the War Powers Resolution, which would require the end of hostilities within 60 days, doesn’t apply to cartel strikes.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 1, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Scoop: Trump’s OLC head tells lawmakers the War Powers Act doesn’t apply to cartel strikes, and the administration does not need to cease strikes by Monday.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Exclusive report by @johnphudson.bsky.social on how a U.S. govt watchdog has found that Israeli military units committed “many hundreds” of potential violations of U.S. human rights law in the Gaza Strip that would take the State Dept multiple years to review.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Classified U.S. report finds backlog of hundreds of possible Israeli human rights violations
The report found “hundreds” of possible Israeli human rights violations, further complicating a process to review credible allegations against IDF military units in Gaza.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 31, 2025 at 12:49 AM
Exclusive report by @johnphudson.bsky.social on how a U.S. govt watchdog has found that Israeli military units committed “many hundreds” of potential violations of U.S. human rights law in the Gaza Strip that would take the State Dept multiple years to review.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Cool story! Bubbes volunteer to do what they do best: Counsel troubled souls. By Sophia Solano, who was hanging out at the Sixth and I synagogue.
www.washingtonpost.com/style/2025/1...
www.washingtonpost.com/style/2025/1...
Bubbes volunteer to do what they do best: Counsel troubled souls
Why crowds of young professionals have been lining up to get advice — and hugs — from other people’s bubbes.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 25, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Cool story! Bubbes volunteer to do what they do best: Counsel troubled souls. By Sophia Solano, who was hanging out at the Sixth and I synagogue.
www.washingtonpost.com/style/2025/1...
www.washingtonpost.com/style/2025/1...
The entire NSC legal team-some half-dozen-has been emptied out, inc Paul Ney Jr.,a onetime DOD GC who served briefly as NSC legal adviser. Lawyers at NSC, State, DOJ & DOD earlier questioned the legal basis for military cartel strikes, and were able for awhile to forestall action.
shorturl.at/dBKDZ
shorturl.at/dBKDZ
Top Democrats demand details of spy agencies’ role in boat strikes
Democrats are demanding that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard share intelligence on lethal operations against alleged narcotics traffickers.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 25, 2025 at 1:18 PM
The entire NSC legal team-some half-dozen-has been emptied out, inc Paul Ney Jr.,a onetime DOD GC who served briefly as NSC legal adviser. Lawyers at NSC, State, DOJ & DOD earlier questioned the legal basis for military cartel strikes, and were able for awhile to forestall action.
shorturl.at/dBKDZ
shorturl.at/dBKDZ
GOP hawks are feeling the whiplash of Trump’s China policy. So far they've largely failed to stiffen his spine on China competition. It's a "WIP: work in progress," Rep. Young Kim (CA) told my colleague Noah Robertson.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
GOP hawks feel the whiplash of Trump’s China policy
Republican hawks worry Trump will soften his stance on China as a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping looms.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 25, 2025 at 1:10 PM
GOP hawks are feeling the whiplash of Trump’s China policy. So far they've largely failed to stiffen his spine on China competition. It's a "WIP: work in progress," Rep. Young Kim (CA) told my colleague Noah Robertson.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
While legal experts say military operators are not likely to be prosecuted for involvement in the cartel strikes, junior officers are nervous, sources say. Some have asked military lawyers for written sign-off before taking part; such sign-off hasn't happened, said one source.
shorturl.at/0u6Ge
shorturl.at/0u6Ge
Top Democrats demand details of spy agencies’ role in boat strikes
Democrats are demanding that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard share intelligence on lethal operations against alleged narcotics traffickers.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 24, 2025 at 7:22 PM
While legal experts say military operators are not likely to be prosecuted for involvement in the cartel strikes, junior officers are nervous, sources say. Some have asked military lawyers for written sign-off before taking part; such sign-off hasn't happened, said one source.
shorturl.at/0u6Ge
shorturl.at/0u6Ge
The president has long attacked the media as “fake news,” but the White House has found ways to bring a new crop of friendly journalists into curated presentations that have the look and feel of news to advance its policy priorities, Sarah Ellison reports.
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
For Trump, media manipulation is his show of force
The president has long attacked the media as “fake news,” but the White House has created a new crop of journalists to advance its policy priorities.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 11, 2025 at 1:56 PM
The president has long attacked the media as “fake news,” but the White House has found ways to bring a new crop of friendly journalists into curated presentations that have the look and feel of news to advance its policy priorities, Sarah Ellison reports.
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
None of the people who spoke with The Post could recall a defense secretary ever ordering so many of the military’s generals and admirals to assemble like this. Several said it raised security concerns.
"People are very concerned," one told me. "They have no idea what it means."
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"People are very concerned," one told me. "They have no idea what it means."
wapo.st/4nidndf
Hegseth orders rare, urgent meeting of hundreds of generals, admirals
The Pentagon has summoned military officials from around the world for a gathering in Virginia. Top generals and their staffs don’t know the reason for the meeting.
wapo.st
September 26, 2025 at 1:37 PM
None of the people who spoke with The Post could recall a defense secretary ever ordering so many of the military’s generals and admirals to assemble like this. Several said it raised security concerns.
"People are very concerned," one told me. "They have no idea what it means."
wapo.st/4nidndf
"People are very concerned," one told me. "They have no idea what it means."
wapo.st/4nidndf
BREAKING: Hegseth fires head of Defense Intelligence Agency, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Hegseth fires head of Defense Intelligence Agency, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has fired Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, the latest national security senior officer to be purged.
www.washingtonpost.com
August 22, 2025 at 6:17 PM
BREAKING: Hegseth fires head of Defense Intelligence Agency, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Former intelligence analyst Joseph Francescon is named NSA deputy director. “Francescon has an understanding of the mission and would be able to champion the workforce to carry it out,” said a former senior NSA official.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Former intelligence analyst is named NSA deputy director
Joseph Francescon, a former intelligence analyst and counterterrorism aide at the White House, will be the new NSA deputy director.
www.washingtonpost.com
August 22, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Former intelligence analyst Joseph Francescon is named NSA deputy director. “Francescon has an understanding of the mission and would be able to champion the workforce to carry it out,” said a former senior NSA official.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
US scrambles to bring back VOA’s Persian service amid Iran-Israel conflict politi.co/3HHsTQ4, via @politico.com
US scrambles to bring back VOA’s Persian service amid Iran-Israel conflict
President Donald Trump ordered the service to shut down in March.
politi.co
June 14, 2025 at 12:39 AM
US scrambles to bring back VOA’s Persian service amid Iran-Israel conflict politi.co/3HHsTQ4, via @politico.com
Former Manhattan U.S. attorney Damian Williams leaves Paul Weiss, which cut a deal w the Trump administration, for Jenner & Block, which didn't and chose to fight. wapo.st/3HIdsXK
Former U.S. attorney Damian Williams leaves Paul Weiss for Jenner & Block
The former prosecutor is leaving a firm that made a deal with the Trump administration for one that fought it.
wapo.st
June 6, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Former Manhattan U.S. attorney Damian Williams leaves Paul Weiss, which cut a deal w the Trump administration, for Jenner & Block, which didn't and chose to fight. wapo.st/3HIdsXK
The MAGA faithful celebrate the end of the Trump-Musk bromance. Patrons of the pro-Trump Butterworth’s Restaurant hope that a feud that broke out between the two men marks the end of Musk’s influence in Washington.
wapo.st/4jBvtEk
wapo.st/4jBvtEk
The MAGA faithful celebrate the end of the Trump-Musk bromance
Patrons of the pro-Trump Butterworth’s Restaurant hope that the feud between the two men marks the end of Musk’s influence in Washington.
www.washingtonpost.com
June 6, 2025 at 2:31 PM
The MAGA faithful celebrate the end of the Trump-Musk bromance. Patrons of the pro-Trump Butterworth’s Restaurant hope that a feud that broke out between the two men marks the end of Musk’s influence in Washington.
wapo.st/4jBvtEk
wapo.st/4jBvtEk
NEW: DNI Gabbard has placed a top adviser inside the ODNI’s watchdog office, U.S. officials say. The move potentially compromises the integrity of the Intelligence Community Inspector General as it is conducting an investigation of Signalgate, they say.
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wapo.st/4dUcEey
Gabbard placed top adviser inside the ODNI’s watchdog office, officials say
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard installed one of her top advisors within the office of the inspector general of the intelligence community, compromising the watchdog office’s integrity...
wapo.st
June 5, 2025 at 6:49 PM
NEW: DNI Gabbard has placed a top adviser inside the ODNI’s watchdog office, U.S. officials say. The move potentially compromises the integrity of the Intelligence Community Inspector General as it is conducting an investigation of Signalgate, they say.
wapo.st/4dUcEey
wapo.st/4dUcEey
NEW: “Any country that has strategic bombers, strategic missiles and silos, or strategic nuclear submarines at port is looking at [Ukraine's drone] attack and thinking the risk to our arsenal from a containerized set of drones disguised as a semitrailer poses a real risk."
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wapo.st/4mJRALK
Ukraine’s surprise drone strike underscores vulnerability of U.S. defenses
The audacious attacks on Russian airfields highlight the power of unconventional, asymmetric warfare — and the threat to U.S. strategic bases and ports, experts say.
wapo.st
June 4, 2025 at 12:38 PM
NEW: “Any country that has strategic bombers, strategic missiles and silos, or strategic nuclear submarines at port is looking at [Ukraine's drone] attack and thinking the risk to our arsenal from a containerized set of drones disguised as a semitrailer poses a real risk."
wapo.st/4mJRALK
wapo.st/4mJRALK
“Some of our best recruits aren’t going to tell you what Xi Jinping thinks,” a former senior U.S. intel official said.“They work in communication departments & have access to those key systems.That’s why we target them.''
NEW: CIA faces stiff test in bid to revitalize human spying.
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NEW: CIA faces stiff test in bid to revitalize human spying.
wapo.st/4jpfaKO
CIA chief faces stiff test in bid to revitalize human spying
CIA Director John Ratcliffe wants to rebuild the agency’s diminished ranks of spies and foreign agents. But have espionage’s golden days passed?
wapo.st
May 28, 2025 at 2:35 PM
“Some of our best recruits aren’t going to tell you what Xi Jinping thinks,” a former senior U.S. intel official said.“They work in communication departments & have access to those key systems.That’s why we target them.''
NEW: CIA faces stiff test in bid to revitalize human spying.
wapo.st/4jpfaKO
NEW: CIA faces stiff test in bid to revitalize human spying.
wapo.st/4jpfaKO
NEW: The WH has rebuffed Pegasus spyware-maker, NSO Group, which is in town this week, in its effort to get off a trade blacklist that has dented its financial fortunes.
U.S. officials tell WaPo they are not seeking to get NSO off the Entity List.
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U.S. officials tell WaPo they are not seeking to get NSO off the Entity List.
wapo.st/4jaClsk
Pegasus spyware maker rebuffed in efforts to get off trade blacklist
Executives from NSO Group, the controversial Israeli manufacturer of Pegasus spyware, are in Washington this week for meetings with Republican officials.
wapo.st
May 20, 2025 at 6:22 PM
NEW: The WH has rebuffed Pegasus spyware-maker, NSO Group, which is in town this week, in its effort to get off a trade blacklist that has dented its financial fortunes.
U.S. officials tell WaPo they are not seeking to get NSO off the Entity List.
wapo.st/4jaClsk
U.S. officials tell WaPo they are not seeking to get NSO off the Entity List.
wapo.st/4jaClsk
Trump’s actions are pushing thousands of experts to flee government. NIH. FAA. Treasury. First round saw 75k fed workers leave. Second round could potentially hit hundreds of thousands, reports hannahnatanson.bsky.social and colleagues.
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wapo.st/43fc1aw
Trump’s actions are pushing thousands of experts to flee government
The U.S. DOGE Service’s push for early retirement and deferred resignation is leading to a federal brain drain, longtime staffers fear.
wapo.st
May 17, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Trump’s actions are pushing thousands of experts to flee government. NIH. FAA. Treasury. First round saw 75k fed workers leave. Second round could potentially hit hundreds of thousands, reports hannahnatanson.bsky.social and colleagues.
wapo.st/43fc1aw
wapo.st/43fc1aw
Trump is repeatedly bypassing Netanyahu on urgent issues like Iran nuke talks, Houthi rebels conflict, hostage talks with Hamas, stoking dismay among Israelis.Trump is visiting 3 countries in the MidEast this week - Israel is not among them. WaPo's Gerry Shih reports from Jerusalem.
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wapo.st/4mbKn6Z
Trump repeatedly bypasses Netanyahu, stoking dismay among Israelis
Netanyahu has long trumpeted his ties to Trump. But the president is sidelining him on urgent issues like the Iran nuclear talks and the conflict with Houthi rebels.
wapo.st
May 12, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Trump is repeatedly bypassing Netanyahu on urgent issues like Iran nuke talks, Houthi rebels conflict, hostage talks with Hamas, stoking dismay among Israelis.Trump is visiting 3 countries in the MidEast this week - Israel is not among them. WaPo's Gerry Shih reports from Jerusalem.
wapo.st/4mbKn6Z
wapo.st/4mbKn6Z
Qatar is discussing with the Pentagon donating an aircraft for POTUS to use as his new Air Force One, an idea that ethics experts say violates the Constitution.
No final agreement has been reached. Trump will visit Qatar on his Middle East trip this week.
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
No final agreement has been reached. Trump will visit Qatar on his Middle East trip this week.
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Trump administration in talks with Qatar over plane gift
A deal on a plane that would become Air Force One has not been reached, but ethics experts say accepting it from Qatar would violate the Constitution’s emoluments clause.
www.washingtonpost.com
May 11, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Qatar is discussing with the Pentagon donating an aircraft for POTUS to use as his new Air Force One, an idea that ethics experts say violates the Constitution.
No final agreement has been reached. Trump will visit Qatar on his Middle East trip this week.
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
No final agreement has been reached. Trump will visit Qatar on his Middle East trip this week.
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
NEW: How a little-known Japanese American battalion freed Jews from a Nazi death march 80 years ago.
Some of the soldiers had been in relocation camps in the U.S. In Europe, they helped liberate prisoners on a Dachau death march.
Their example resonates today.
wapo.st/44x0Ig6
Some of the soldiers had been in relocation camps in the U.S. In Europe, they helped liberate prisoners on a Dachau death march.
Their example resonates today.
wapo.st/44x0Ig6
How a little-known Japanese American battalion freed Jews from a Nazi death march
They were Japanese American soldiers, part of a storied military unit that faced down prejudice and suspicion to fight Adolf Hitler’s armies in Europe.
wapo.st
May 9, 2025 at 3:17 PM
NEW: How a little-known Japanese American battalion freed Jews from a Nazi death march 80 years ago.
Some of the soldiers had been in relocation camps in the U.S. In Europe, they helped liberate prisoners on a Dachau death march.
Their example resonates today.
wapo.st/44x0Ig6
Some of the soldiers had been in relocation camps in the U.S. In Europe, they helped liberate prisoners on a Dachau death march.
Their example resonates today.
wapo.st/44x0Ig6
Joseph Nye, who extolled ‘Soft Power,' died this week. “Seduction is always more effective than coercion,” he said in 2005. “And many of our values, such as democracy, human rights and individual opportunity, are deeply seductive.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/u...
Joseph Nye, Political Scientist Who Extolled ‘Soft Power,’ Dies at 88
www.nytimes.com
May 9, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Joseph Nye, who extolled ‘Soft Power,' died this week. “Seduction is always more effective than coercion,” he said in 2005. “And many of our values, such as democracy, human rights and individual opportunity, are deeply seductive.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/u...