SOFREP | Military Culture, Foreign Policy & Defense News

Evening Brief: Hillary Clinton Testifies in Epstein Probe as Pentagon Pressures AI Firms and F-35 Adds Machine Assist

As Hillary Clinton fields Epstein questions behind closed doors, the War Department leans on Silicon Valley to loosen AI guardrails, and the F-35 starts letting algorithms help sort targets in the sky, it’s clear the machinery of power, politics, and war is moving faster than anyone’s comfortable admitting.

By Guy D. McCardle

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Evening Brief: Cuban Forces Kill Four Aboard Florida-Registered Speedboat After Exchange of Gunfire

Four dead after a Florida-registered speedboat traded fire with Cuban forces, as Freedom Shield ramps up in Korea, winter damage tops $4 billion at home, and the War Department races to field counter-drone defenses in a year already testing readiness on multiple fronts.

News / by Guy D. McCardle
The USS Ford Toilet Story Is Real: Here’s What It Says About the U.S. Navy

A clogged toilet on a $13-billion aircraft carrier makes for easy propaganda, but it doesn’t ground the air wing, sideline the strike group, or signal the fall of American sea power — it just means sailors are fixing pipes while the ship stays on mission.

News + Intel / by Guy D. McCardle
Spy Gun and Status Symbol: Russia’s PSM Compact Pistol

Designed for discreet KGB carry rather than battlefield firepower, the ultra-thin Soviet PSM pistol traded stopping power for concealment, mystique, and a lasting reputation as both spy gun and status symbol.

Military History / by Warren Gray
Imminence and Authority: What Law Governs a Presidential Strike on Iran?

Whether a President may strike Iran without Congress turns not on politics but on a single legal threshold, the difference between stopping an imminent attack and launching a preventive war.

News + Intel / by Steve Gottlieb
The Bolduc Brief: The Role of Discipline in Leadership and Organizational Success

Discipline is not blind obedience but the daily choice to serve the mission, manage risk with clear eyes, and lead with humility so teams can adapt, innovate, and win.

Expert Analysis / by Donald Bolduc
Morning Brief: State of the Union Highlights Iran Warning as Epstein Scrutiny Resurfaces

President Donald Trump’s 2026 State of the Union address focused on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, border enforcement and economic policy. Meanwhile, separate reporting shows Russia assessed capable of sustaining the war in Ukraine through 2026 as global defense spending continues to rise.

Headline / by Benjamin Reed
State of the Union Preview: Inflation, Border Security, and What Americans Want to Hear Tonight

As the President steps to the podium tonight, Americans aren’t looking for applause lines, they’re looking for straight talk on inflation, border control, and whether the country is actually on stable footing at home and abroad.

News / by Guy D. McCardle
The Pizza Theorem: Nobody Wins the Argument… When a University Does Its Job

When the shouting stopped and the questions started, three kids in a sticky-floored pizza joint learned that justice, like most hard truths, refuses to fit inside a single statistic or a single story.

Op-Ed / by Tegan Broadwater
Sovereignty Without Security: The Western Hemisphere’s Cartel Crisis

Across the Western Hemisphere, governments invoke sovereignty while cartels exercise coercive authority, and until security and law are restored in fact, not rhetoric, the contest for control will continue to tilt toward those who rule through fear.

Op-Ed / by Mario Duarte
The Bolduc Brief: The Importance of Physical, Mental, and Emotional Strength – A Holistic Approach to Resilience

Real strength is not measured by how much weight you can carry into a fight, but by whether your mind stays clear and your emotions stay disciplined when the pressure is on and lives depend on your next decision.

Op-Ed / by Donald Bolduc
Why Russia Chose War: Four Years After the Invasion

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was not improvisation but doctrine. Four years later, the war reveals how restoration politics and instability became instruments of state survival.

Editorial / by Benjamin Reed
Morning Brief: Ukraine War Fourth Anniversary, West Bank Mosque Arson, and ICE Training Scrutiny

Four years into the Ukraine war, the conflict remains defined by attrition and energy pressure as Russian forces sustain offensives and Kyiv relies on Western support; meanwhile, tensions rise in the West Bank after a mosque arson during Ramadan, and scrutiny grows in Washington as a former ICE official calls the agency’s training program “broken.”

World / by Benjamin Reed