President Trump was secretly moved off Air Force One and onto another aircraft during his trip to Turkey amid a reported Iranian threat. Retired senior Secret Service agent Donald Mihalik explains why deception is a critical presidential protection tactic. Then former U.S. Ambassador Gordon Gray assesses the proposed 60-day Strait of Hormuz arrangement, Iran's negotiating leverage, and why regime change in Iran could be extraordinarily difficult.

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The United States finds itself at the center of two of the world's most dangerous conflicts. In the Middle East, the war with Iran is testing American military endurance, precision weapons inventories and the limits of deterrence. In Europe, Ukraine is running dangerously low on the air-defense interceptors needed to stop Russia's growing missile campaign.

This week on Target USA, former Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Robert Wilkie examines the strategic and military consequences of a prolonged conflict with Iran, while Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler, Senior Director of the Counter Extremism Project, explains how these wars are reshaping global security, empowering America's adversaries and increasing the risk of wider escalation.

Together, they provide a sobering assessment of two conflicts that are no longer separate wars, but interconnected tests of American power, industrial capacity and global leadership.

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The war with Iran is widening, but Washington still has no clear path to end it. Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker argues that limited strikes are not changing Tehran’s strategy—and warns the United States may soon face a stark choice between a negotiated ceasefire and a much larger war.

Meanwhile, Sudan is enduring what Professor Jok Madut Jok calls the world’s greatest humanitarian crisis, largely beyond the glare of international attention. Millions have been displaced, aid systems have collapsed, and outside powers continue to fuel a conflict neither side can win.

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Retired Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery, Sr. Fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, joins us from Kyiv with a direct assessment: Ukraine is not losing, its military is adapting fast, and its drone and long-range strike campaigns are hurting Russia. But Kyiv is uneasy after President Zelenskyy fired popular Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, sparking protests, then removed the senior military leader Fedorov had been feuding with just days later. Montgomery says Russia will exploit the turmoil, but Ukraine’s military and society are still not breaking.

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As Russia unleashes one of its largest missile and drone attacks on Kyiv, a resident describes what it's like to survive another night under fire and wake up to shattered streets and shattered lives. Then, as fighting resumes between the United States and Iran, former U.S. Ambassador Gordon Gray explains why the ceasefire collapsed, what President Trump's next moves could be, and why the Middle East may be heading toward a wider regional war. Two conflicts. Two front lines. One world growing more dangerous.

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The latest U.S.-Iran fighting didn't erupt because diplomacy collapsed. According to geopolitical analyst Nick Redman, the negotiations may never have truly begun. In this episode of Target USA, Redman explains why Washington and Tehran interpreted the same agreement in completely different ways.

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Ukrainian MP Halyna Yanchenko watched an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin recently. For the first time she saw a man that looked defeated. What Ukraine's military is doing and what Putin said confirmed it.

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Former Veterans Affairs Secretary and former senior Pentagon official Robert Wilkie joins Target USA to argue that today's wars are not isolated conflicts—they are interconnected fronts in a global struggle led by Russia, Iran, and China. Wilkie explains why NATO remains indispensable, why Ukraine is America's best defense investment, why Iran's threat extends far beyond the Middle East, and why the Pentagon needs sweeping reform to prepare for the next era of great-power competition. He also outlines what he would tell President Trump to do now to reshape America's national security strategy.

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The U.S. and Iran have agreed to stop fighting and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but the toughest issues—including Iran's nuclear program and sanctions relief—have been pushed into future negotiations. The next 60 days could determine whether this is the start of peace or just a pause in the conflict. Former eSecreteary of Defense Leon Panetta joins us t explain the problems

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After four years covering the war in Ukraine, I've rarely encountered intelligence as insightful as that gathered by retired Swedish Ambassador Lars Freden. Instead of relying on reports and briefings, he rode a bicycle more than 1,000 miles along the front line—twice. In this episode, he shares what he saw, what he learned, and the human reality of a war that continues to reshape Europe.

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The military operation was a success. The strategy may have been a failure. In this episode, Gordon Gray is the Kuwait Professor of Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Affairs at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University, examines how the Trump administration may have underestimated Tehran, why negotiations continue to stall, and whether the White House is now looking for a face-saving exit rather than a decisive victory.

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