An Afghan national shot two National Guard members in Washington, D.C. Counterterrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler says this may be more than a mental health case. He warns extremist networks in Taliban-run Afghanistan now reach directly into Afghan diaspora communities online. The attacker’s travel, target selection, and ambush tactics match modern lone-actor terror patterns. Schindler says social media platforms—not law enforcement—hold the real early-warning data. A close look at a threat environment turning darker in the U.S.

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Today on Target USA, a story that cuts straight to the core of military culture, extremism, and truth. The U.S. Coast Guard, under intense public pressure, has reversed course on a deeply controversial policy shift. A draft manual, first uncovered by The Washington Post, appeared to downgrade the swastika and the noose, two of the most violent, hate-laden symbols in American and world history, from outright banned imagery to merely “potentially divisive.”

The backlash from veterans, lawmakers, and civil-rights groups was immediate and fierce. Now the Coast Guard says it never changed its stance. But the documents tell a different story. Coast Guard and Navy veteran Lene Mees De Tricht joins us on this.

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Grenada is facing one of the most consequential national security decisions in its modern history, after the United States quietly requested permission to install a radar system and station military personnel on the island as it pursues action against Venezuela. Veteran Grenadian journalist Linda Straker breaks down the mystery behind the U.S. request, the growing anxiety on the island, and the high-stakes diplomatic trap Grenada now finds itself in. 

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U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to send troops or cut aid to Nigeria has triggered a diplomatic and security storm across Africa. In this episode, we speak with humanitarian journalist Usman Abba Zanna from Maiduguri, who explains how Trump’s words could inflame tensions, embolden extremists, and reshape Nigeria’s ties to the West.

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In this gripping conversation, Belarusian legal expert and exiled journalist Natalia Belikova explains how disinformation in Belarus isn’t just a tactic; it’s the regime’s operating system.

She describes how the Lukashenko government has built an alternative reality, where familiar words like “democracy,” “elections,” and “human rights” are redefined to serve state power.

In a sometimes emotional interview, Natalia shares what it’s like to be exiled from your home, to lose colleagues to prison, and to raise children abroad while fighting to preserve your national identity. She also issues a warning to Western democracies.

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When President Trump agreed to meet Vladimir Putin in Budapest, it looked like a potential breakthrough. Instead, it became a masterclass in manipulation. Within 24 hours, the Kremlin pulled the plug — and the world saw how quickly leverage can shift. In this episode, Ambassador Kurt Volker, former US Special Envoy to Ukraine and current Distinguished Fellow at the Center for European Policy analysis unpacks how Putin’s “summit offer” was never about peace talks, but about power, humiliation, and control — and what it reveals about the fragile state of U.S.–Russia diplomacy.

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After twenty years of covering the U.S. military, I turned in my Pentagon press credential today. But that’s all that changes; My commitment to covering the men and women of the U.S. military and the institution they serve remains exactly the same. Let me explain.

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We go deep inside the mind of one of Ukraine’s most unflinching voices—two-time former Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. The man who stood at the helm during the nation’s darkest hour after Russia’s first invasion in 2014 returns with a stark warning and a message of resilience. In this powerful conversation, Yatsenyuk, now Chairman of the Kyiv Security Forum, dissects Vladimir Putin’s endgame, the limits of Western resolve, and what it truly means to fight for democracy when your nation’s survival hangs in the balance. From the corridors of Kyiv to the frontlines of the disinformation war, his words cut through the noise—revealing what Ukraine needs most and what the world stands to lose if it turns away.

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Investigative journalist Andrei Soldatov has tracked the rise of Putin’s propaganda machine from the inside; and paid the price in exile. In this gripping conversation, he connects the dots between Russia’s early media crackdowns and the chilling parallels unfolding in the United States today. From late-night comedy to Pentagon press restrictions, Soldatov explains how free speech erodes step by step; and what Americans must do to fight back. This episode is both a history lesson and a warning: freedom of expression isn’t lost overnight; it’s chipped away until silence becomes the norm.

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Russia is turning up the pressure on NATO’s doorstep. Estonia says three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets stormed into its airspace over the Gulf of Finland, lingering for twelve minutes in what Tallinn calls a “brazen and deliberate” violation. It’s the fourth breach this year, but the first involving multiple high-performance fighters—and NATO isn’t brushing it off, especially not Estonia. Krisjan Prikk, Estonia's ambassador to the U.S., explains what happened and the consequences.

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In this episode we look at how Immigration and Customs Enforcement is believed to have access to Graphite—powerful spyware capable of silently hacking smartphones and reading encrypted apps like WhatsApp and Signal. At issue is what Graphite can do, the legal red lines it risks crossing, and what it means for civil liberties inside the U.S. if you carry a phone. Joining us are Eric O'Neill, a former FBI counterintelligence operative, author, and current national security strategist with Nexasure, and Theresa Payton, CEO of Fortalice Solutions and former White House Chief Information Officer.

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