Network Take: Assessing Trump’s First Six Months

It has been a tumultuous first six months for the Trump Administration, as the ongoing investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election has dominated the headlines, and frustrated and preoccupied the president. Still, the White House released a statement on Thursday touting its national security successes. It stated, “President Trump has put America First in world affairs and national security” and listed a series of accomplishments, including brokering a ceasefire in southwest Syria and authorizing airstrikes after the Syrian regime used chemical weapons on civilians, pressuring Iran to scale back its ballistic missile ambitions, and working with allies in the Middle East to defeat ISIS.

On this half-year anniversary, The Cipher Brief asked some of its network experts for their assessments of President Donald Trump’s national security policies so far, and what the Administration should focus on in the coming months and years.