National Security News

The Daily Signal provides reports on national and homeland security issues, including military readiness, intelligence operations, border protection, and global conflicts. Featuring news, analysis, and commentary, this section explores how security policy decisions affect America’s national defense and freedom.
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  • news

    Republicans Fire Back at Democrats Who Tell Military Members to ‘Refuse Illegal Orders’
    Republicans are firing back after a group of six Democrat lawmakers created a video telling U.S. military members and the intelligence community they do not need to follow “illegal orders.”   “Like us, you all swore an oath to protect and defend this Constitution. Right now, the threats to our Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad, but from right here at home,” the Democrats say in the video message. “Our laws…
    Virginia Allen
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  • news

    US Working With 2 Key Allies to Combat Russia Threat in Arctic 
    The U.S. is working alongside Canada and Finland to build more special ships capable of operating in the Arctic—a critical region that has drawn increased attention from Russia and China.   “The Trump administration is taking a monumental step forward to protect the Arctic against our enemies,” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Tuesday at the signing of a “Joint Statement of…
    Virginia Allen
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  • news

    EXCLUSIVE: VA Houses Largest Number of Homeless Veterans Since 2019
    FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—The Department of Veterans Affairs has permanently housed the largest number of homeless veterans since 2019. The VA housed 51,936 veterans experiencing homelessness in fiscal year 2025, the agency announced in a news release first provided to The Daily Signal. This represents the largest number since fiscal year 2019 and 4,011…
    Tyler O’Neil
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  • news

    BREAKING: Texas Governor Designates Largest Muslim Activist Group a Foreign Terrorist Organization
    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, designated the largest Muslim advocacy group in the country, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a foreign terrorist organization, authorizing a host of state actions against the group. CAIR condemned his attack as “defamatory” and “lawless,” threatening to sue in response. “The Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR have long made their…
    Tyler O’Neil
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  • opinion

    Payroll Costs of the Federal Swamp Exploded 24% During Biden Era
    There were 5% more federal workers—2.77 million in 2020 to 2.90 million in 2025—when President Joe Biden left the White House, but the costs of paying this vast legion of bureaucrats exploded 24% during the same period, according to a new report by a nonprofit government watchdog. Much of the skyrocketing payroll costs is due to spiking…
    Mark Tapscott
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  • news

    How Terrorists Are Using AI 
    The Islamic State is leveraging artificial intelligence to recruit new members and further its ideology, according to a new report.   The Islamic State has not held any significant amount of land since 2019, yet it has found a way through AI to reinvent itself, Mohammad Taha Ali explained in a new report for the Middle East Forum.   “Unlike earlier jihadist…
    Virginia Allen
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  • news

    Trump Open to Talks With Venezuela’s Maduro
    Amid growing tensions, President Donald Trump says Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro “would like to talk,” and the U.S. might agree.   “I’d talk to anybody. We’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters Sunday night.   Trump made the comments only hours after Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the U.S. is designating a prominent Venezuelan criminal cartel as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Maduro, according to Rubio, is the head…
    Virginia Allen
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  • opinion

    Poland Strengthens Its Military Muscle
    As NATO countries ramp up their defense spending, Poland has taken its place at the vanguard—perhaps because of its long history stained by tragedy. Recognizing Russia’s ambitions and it’s assertive tactics, Poland has embraced a robust deterrence strategy centered on readiness, resilience, and forward defense to fortify NATO’s eastern flank. In the past decade, Poland…
    Joseph Wozniak | Wilson Beaver
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  • news

    Trump Will Save Hundreds of Thousands From Fentanyl Crisis Through ‘Brilliant Leadership,’ Kash Patel Says
    When it comes to stopping fentanyl production, “no one has bothered to engage China. The Biden administration didn’t even do it,” Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” with Maria Bartiromo. Patel recalled his recent trip to China with President Donald Trump, aimed at halting the flow of…
    Lorenzo Prieto
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  • opinion

    Department of War Shake-Up: More Women Enlist as ‘Common Sense’ Replaces Woke
    Woke is out at the Department of War, and higher fitness standards are back. Since being sworn in as secretary, Pete Hegseth has acted to “remov[e] the distractions” from the department, including getting rid of “political correctness” and “DEI offices.”   “No more dudes in dresses,” Hegseth said during a recent speech, adding, “We are restoring a ruthless, dispassionate, and commonsense application of standards.” …
    Virginia Allen | Elise McCue
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  • news

    Chinese Conduct Cyber Hack With AI
    Chinese-sponsored actors are responsible for an artificial intelligence cyberattack against about 30 entities. Experts are calling the hack the first documented case in which a cyberattack was executed with very little human intervention.   The hack “represents multiple firsts in AI-enabled threat actor capabilities,” according to a report by Anthropic, an AI safety and research company, detailing the findings of the attack.   In the middle of September,…
    Virginia Allen
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  • opinion

    The Army Transformation Initiative’s Big Bets on Drones
    War rarely remains static—a reality made clear through the conflict in Ukraine, which has underscored how technology advances can reshape the battlefield. Under directions from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, the U.S. Army is now incorporating lessons learned from recent and ongoing conflicts to adopt new technology and tactics at the unit level. On April…
    Sophie Collins | Wilson Beaver
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  • news

    Government Shutdown Ends With Trump’s Signature Hours After House Passes Funding Bill
    The longest government shutdown in history is over after President Donald Trump signed a bill to fund the government into law on Wednesday night, just hours after the House of Representatives passed the measure. “Today, we’re sending a clear message that we will never give in to extortion,” Trump said before signing the bill. “The…
    Bradley Devlin | Jacob Adams | George Caldwell
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  • news

    Noem vs. Pritzker: Battle Over Illegal Immigration in Chicago
    The Department of Homeland Security will “surge more resources” to Chicago to crack down on illegal immigration, Secretary Kristi Noem said after Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker called a top immigration official a “snowflake.”   “Gov. Pritzker’s personal attacks against President [Donald] Trump puts his people in jeopardy each and every day,” Noem said on “Fox and Friends” Wednesday morning. “I’m just so thrilled…
    Virginia Allen
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  • news

    With These 3 Bills, Arizona’s Biggs Salutes Veterans
    Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., has introduced three bills intended to enhance the well-being of American veterans through improvements in burial procedures, oversight of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and vets’ health care. “As Veterans Day approaches, Congress must recommit to honoring our nation’s heroes not just in word, but in deed,” Biggs told The Daily Signal….
    Jacob Adams
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  • opinion

    Strengthening Veteran Mental Health: A Vital Mission
    Every morning, the secretaries of Veterans Affairs and War receive updates on suicides among service members and veterans. The numbers paint a dire picture of mental health across the armed forces. The Department of War’s most recent data, released in its 2024 Annual Report on Suicide in the Military, reported 523 suicides across the Total…
    Mo Syed | Carrie Sheffield
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  • news

    5 Veteran Presidents Who Fought on the Battlefield
    On Veterans Day, Americans celebrate the valor of members of the United States armed services, but did you know that 31 of the 45 men who have served as president of the United States served in the military beforehand? Here are five presidents who served on the battlefield before the White House. Harry Truman Before…
    George Caldwell
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  • news

    Senate Defeats Schumer-led Opposition to Opening Government; Funding Bill Heads to House
    The government shutdown is another step closer to coming to an end after the Senate voted in favor of a bill to fund the government. The Senate passed a measure that would fund the entire government through Jan. 30 by a vote of 60 to 40 on Monday night. Thirty-eight Senate Democrat Caucus members, led…
    Bradley Devlin | Jacob Adams | George Caldwell
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  • news

    EXCLUSIVE: ICE Arrests Child Rapist
    Immigration officials in Boston have taken a convicted child rapist into custody, according to the Department of Homeland Security.   “Unlike the Democrats— who perpetuated the longest government shutdown in American history—[Immigration and Customs Enforcement] law enforcement officers are hard at work for the American people,” Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary, told The Daily Signal.   In 2018, Manuel…
    Virginia Allen
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  • news

    Did the Military Violate Trump’s DEI Executive Order?
    The U.S. Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps appear on a list of sponsors for a conference of the American School Counselor Association, which supports diversity, equity, and inclusion—an activist ideology that President Donald Trump directed the federal government to eliminate. A Department of War source with knowledge of DOW Community Engagement Planning noted that…
    Tyler O’Neil
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