Why the Hell Did JD Vance and Erika Kirk Hug Like That?

“Anyone who thought that there was some sophisticated strategy to try and intimidate Kim didn’t know the truth,” Taylor said. “Which was that, the president was freestyling. It was scaring his team. The secretary of defense walked out of one of those meetings and turned to us at the Department of Homeland Security and said, ‘I hope you are preparing for the United States to go to war.’”

Taylor drew national attention in 2018 when he anonymously penned an op-ed for The New York Times claiming to be part of the internal “resistance” against Trump’s agenda, lumping himself in with a group of senior officials who did not believe Trump was fit for the nation’s highest office. He has since written several books assessing Trump’s behavior in the White House that revealed intimate insider accounts.

Just 10 months into his second term, Trump has already illustrated a lackadaisical attitude toward unwarranted explosions. Earlier this month, Trump threw a parade in California to celebrate the Marine Corp’s 250th anniversary—a month before the actual anniversary date, and conveniently timed to coincide with the nationwide No Kings protests. The most controversial element of the plan, however, involved plans to shoot live ordnance over sections of Interstate 5 toward Camp Pendleton in San Diego County. During the display, shrapnel ended up hitting vehicles in Vice President JD Vance’s motorcade.