Charlie Savage
@charliesavage.bsky.social
150K followers 1.6K following 540 posts
The New York Times national security and legal reporter. Not the Welsh footballer, Roddy Doyle character or 19th Century adventurer in Fiji.
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charliesavage.bsky.social
Trump, Drug Cartels, Venezuela and War: What We Know

The Trump administration is ratcheting up pressure on Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s president, while attacking boats in the Caribbean Sea.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/u...
Trump, Drug Cartels, Venezuela and War: What We Know
www.nytimes.com
charliesavage.bsky.social
C.I.A. Deputy Director Has Replaced Agency’s Top Legal Official With Himself

It is not clear what is behind the move by Michael Ellis, a Trump loyalist. A legal ethics specialist said it could raise conflict-of-interest issues.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/u...
C.I.A. Deputy Director Has Replaced Agency’s Top Legal Official With Himself
www.nytimes.com
charliesavage.bsky.social
I turned on Alexa+, Amazon's new AI enhanced voice assistant, yesterday. While eating dinner a few minutes ago, asked for an update on the Cubs-Padres game and it said this. In real life, the Cubs were up 2-0 in the bottom of the fifth. So Alexa+, like other AIs, hallucinates and is unreliable.
charliesavage.bsky.social
Trump ‘Determined’ the U.S. Is Now in a War With Drug Cartels, Congress Is Told

A notice calls the people the U.S. military recently killed on suspicion of drug smuggling in the Caribbean Sea “unlawful combatants.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...
Trump ‘Determined’ the U.S. Is Now in a War With Drug Cartels, Congress Is Told
www.nytimes.com
charliesavage.bsky.social
Top Trump Aides Push for Ousting Maduro From Power in Venezuela

An opposition movement whose figures have met with U.S. officials says it is communicating with Washington on plans to dismantle Nicolás Maduro’s “criminal structure.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/29/u...
Top Trump Aides Push for Ousting Maduro From Power in Venezuela
www.nytimes.com
charliesavage.bsky.social
Fight Over Hidden Report on Trump Documents Case Goes to Appeals Court

Meanwhile, previously secret passages in court filings over grand jury fights in two cases against the president have been revealed.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/u...
Fight Over Hidden Report on Trump Documents Case Goes to Appeals Court
www.nytimes.com
charliesavage.bsky.social
The Testimony at the Heart of the Comey Indictment, Examined

The charges against the former F.B.I. director center on an appearance he made before a Senate committee in September 2020. Here’s a closer look.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/u...
The Testimony at the Heart of the Comey Indictment, Examined
www.nytimes.com
charliesavage.bsky.social
The Daily did an episode today w/ me on Trump's ordering the US military to summarily kill drug smuggling suspects in the Caribbean, including why this has raised legal alarms & what it may portend for Venezuela. w/ Natalie Kitroeff
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/p...
The U.S. Keeps Killing Venezuelans on Boats. Is That Legal?
www.nytimes.com
charliesavage.bsky.social
DM is called "Chat" here, in the menu on the left side of the screen under Notifications and above Feeds
charliesavage.bsky.social
I appreciate that Tom Brady is resisting the NFL sportscaster fad of clownishly garish men’s suits
charliesavage.bsky.social
I experienced this last week & refused, saying I had never before been asked to provide the names of any analysts I was planning to quote to get a comment. Spox replied that maybe they were D donors. (In that case, it was 3 retired top military JAG officers.) I guess that was not a weird oneoff.
shannonbond.bsky.social
we wrote about this WH tactic recently. they’re asking journalists for expert source names and then using them to look up political donations in FEC records to try to discredit those sources as biased.

www.npr.org/2025/08/18/n...
amykristinsanders.bsky.social
I had this exact same experience this morning. Same reporter as Heidi.

This is *not* normal.

I have spoken to the press on these issues for two decades. No government official has ever demanded to know my identity in order to give a comment on a story.
charliesavage.bsky.social
A draft Authorization for Use of Military Force, circulating in exec branch & on the Hill, would grant Trump the power to kill people he deems narcoterrorists and to attack any nations he says are aiding/harboring them (e.g. a Venezuela regime change war). www.nytimes.com/2025/09/19/u...
Draft Bill Would Authorize Trump to Wage Drug Trafficking War
www.nytimes.com
charliesavage.bsky.social
Can Trump Actually Designate Antifa a Terrorist Group? Here Are the Facts.

The president made the same declaration in 2020, but nothing came of it. His new declaration came amid broader threats against liberals after the Charlie Kirk killing.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/u...
Can Trump Actually Designate Antifa a Terrorist Group? Here Are the Facts.
www.nytimes.com
charliesavage.bsky.social
Congratulations to my friend and colleague David Gelles on his new book “Dirtbag Billionaire: How Yvon Chouinard Built Patagonia, Made a Fortune and Gave It All Away”
charliesavage.bsky.social
Boat Suspected of Smuggling Drugs Is Said to Have Turned Before U.S. Attacked It

The Trump administration has argued that the summary killing of 11 people it accused of running drugs was legal under the laws of war.

w/ Helene Cooper

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/10/u...
Boat Suspected of Smuggling Drugs Is Said to Have Turned Before U.S. Attacked It
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Charlie Savage
racex.bsky.social
Congratulations to JJ McCarthy for throwing his first career touchdown to his hometown Chicago Bears! The stuff dreams are made of!
charliesavage.bsky.social
When Congress Should Be Notified About National Security Operations, Explained

The Trump administration failed to tell lawmakers about a 2019 SEAL Team 6 incursion into North Korean territory that went awry.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/u...
When Congress Should Be Notified About National Security Operations, Explained
www.nytimes.com
charliesavage.bsky.social
Military Lawyers Wanted as Immigration Judges, No Experience Required

Emails sent out call for volunteers to take six-month assignments hearing asylum and deportation cases

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/04/u...
Military Lawyers Wanted as Immigration Judges, No Experience Required
www.nytimes.com
charliesavage.bsky.social
Trump Claims the Power to Summarily Kill Suspected Drug Smugglers

The move to treat criminals as if they were wartime combatants escalated an administration pattern of using military force for law enforcement tasks at home and abroad.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/04/u...
Trump Claims the Power to Summarily Kill Suspected Drug Smugglers
www.nytimes.com
charliesavage.bsky.social
news analysis

L.A. Ruling Complicates Trump’s Threats to Send Troops to More Cities

As Democratic cities brace for possible military deployments, Democratic governors see in a lower-court ruling the potential for legal protections.

gift link
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/02/u...
L.A. Ruling Complicates Trump’s Threats to Send Troops to More Cities
www.nytimes.com
charliesavage.bsky.social
White House Counsel Eases Trump’s Path on Aggressive Agenda

David Warrington, the top lawyer inside the West Wing, focuses on “the art of the possible,” as one Trump adviser said.

gift link

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/02/u...
White House Counsel Eases Trump’s Path on Aggressive Agenda
www.nytimes.com
charliesavage.bsky.social
Gift link

Trump Administration Weighs Having Military Lawyers Work as Immigration Judges

No final decision has been made, but the proposal comes as President Trump increasingly uses the military in various aspects of domestic life.

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/29/u...
Trump Administration Weighs Having Military Lawyers Work as Immigration Judges
www.nytimes.com
charliesavage.bsky.social
Trump Again Escalates Power Grabs in Bid to Fire Fed Member

President Trump claimed he has cause to remove a member of the independent board who has not obeyed his demands to vote for lower interest rates.

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/u...
Trump Again Escalates Power Grabs in Bid to Fire Fed Member
www.nytimes.com