Trump Versus Putin.
In national security, punishing people can be an art form. Figuring out the right tool to use—and how high to raise the volume in response to bad behavior—takes a lot of careful thought and analysis about what really matters to your target and what your own end goal is. The U.S. announcement—which followed similar announcements from several other countries—that it will expel Russian diplomats and shutter the Russian consulate in Seattle in response to a Russian chemical weapons attack on British soil was likely the result of careful deliberation.
But don’t assume that’s the last of it. I spent a lot of time in the Situation Room debating how to respond to naughty global players—President Vladimir Putin and others—and President Donald Trump has a lot of other tools to use if he wants to ...