Target USA Podcast by WTOP
by WTOP | Hubbard Radio
Whether its terrorists, anarchists, cyber criminals or nation states, America has a target on its back. WTOP National Security Correspondent J.J. Green investigates the threats facing the U.S., the people behind them, the agencies fighting them and their impact on Americans.
Episodes
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550 | The Global Fallout From the U.S. Midterm Elections
The 2026 U.S. midterm elections resulted in a historic, sweeping Democratic landslide that triggered a global response. Kurt Volker, former U.S. Ambassador to NATO and current Distinguished Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis said this comes at a time when the U.S. standing in the...
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549 | NATO to Putin: Today Is NOT the Day
Target USA is brought to you by The Noise War: How to Fight Disinformation and -Find Truth When Everything is Lying to You Russia is testing NATO's resolve, but the alliance's top military commander has a blunt warning for Vladimir Putin: "Today is not the day." On this episode of Target USA…
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548 | Trump's "Birthday Present" to Putin
Ukraine Member of Parliament Halyna Yanchenko, says President Donald Trump's "diesel deal" was devastating to Ukraine and calls the logic behind it, "BS". She says Trump is "blackmailing" Ukraine.
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547 | Germany's Former Spy Chief Arrested
August Hanning, the former head of the BND, Germany's Foreign Intelligence Service was arrested this week on espionage charges. He's accused of being linked to the foreign intelligence service of Azerbaijan, which is thought to be very close to Russian intelligence. Former CIA undercover officer...
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546 | Ukraine asks Starlink to help them Reach Russian targets
Could a change in Starlink access help Ukraine strike the Russian weapons attacking its cities—and give Washington new leverage for a ceasefire? Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO and former U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations Kurt Volker joins JJ Green following a meeting with...
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545 | 9/11 25th Anniversary Special
Twenty-five years after the September 11 attacks, America is safer from the kind of large, coordinated terrorist plot that struck New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. But the threat did not disappear. It evolved. In this sometimes emotional, special report, I revisit the day that changed the...
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544 | The Iran War is pulling America's focus off of China
The Iran war is beginning to create consequences far beyond the Middle East. Retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery joins Target USA to examine what the extraordinary deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln—and the decision to replace it with the Pacific-based USS George Washington—reveals...
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543 | For Ukrainian, Independence has a new meaning
Olen Cherkun left Ukraine for Spain when the war started, to study and prepare herself for the say when she could return. While away, with war raging, she has a new view of independence. She talks to Target USA about it.
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542 | CIA Director Turns Up in Moscow
CIA Director John Ratcliffe made an unusual and unannounced trip to Moscow and Washington is saying virtually nothing about it. The world of intelligence rarely reveals details of its developments. But this visit may be one of the biggest developments in years. We spoke with former CIA Director...
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541 | Trump’s Threats Abroad: Oman, Iran and a New Opening to North Korea
President Trump threatens Oman over Iran as retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery warns his rhetoric could undermine U.S. strategy. Meanwhile, former Ambassador Joseph DeTrani examines Washington’s new overtures to North Korea after a surprise reduction in U.S.–South Korean military exercises.
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540 | Deception, Danger and the Iran War
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...
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539 | When Wars Collide
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...
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538 | Two Wars, No Easy Exit: Iran Escalates as Sudan Disappears
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....
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537 | Ukraine Is Not Breaking — But Kyiv Is Worried
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…
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536 | Two Wars, One World on Edge
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...
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535 | The Iran Deal That Never Really Existed
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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534 | Evidence Suggests Russia is Losing War with Ukraine
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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533 | Robert Wilkie: Winning in Ukraine and Iran Is the Key to Containing China
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…
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532 | The Shooting Stopped. The Countdown Didn't: Inside the Fragile U.S.-Iran Deal
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...
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531 | The Ambassador Who Biked the Ukraine War Front Line
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...
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530 | DEAL OR THE DELUSION? Inside Trump's Struggle to End the Iran War
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...
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529 | Putin’s Pressure Point — Estonia Says Russia Is Weaker Than It Looks
In this explosive episode, Estonia’s Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna delivers a stark warning about Russia’s growing instability and the escalating battle over the Baltic Sea. He explains how Moscow accidentally exposed its direct ties to the shadow fleet used to evade sanctions, why Russia is...
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528 | The US War With Iran: A Conflict With No Clear Winner
Where does the US war with Iran stand? One day there's talk of peace; the next they are shooting at each other. Husain Haqqani, Pakistan's former Ambassador to the US and a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, says there is no clear winner, and that may never change.
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527 | Inside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Shooting: America's New Threat Environment
A rare insider look at the 2026 White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting. Former Secret Service Deputy Director A.T. Smith explains how the attack unfolded. He breaks down the security response, failures, and lessons learned. And he warns America is entering a far more dangerous political era.
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526 | The War in Iran: A Stalemate is unfolding
Grant Rumley, Meisel Family Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute, and Nick Redman, Director of Analysis at Oxford Analytica from Dow Jones explain why the negotiations appear to have slowed almost as much as the shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.
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525 | The U.S.–Iran Crisis, the Hormuz Blockade, and Donald Trump's fight with the Pope
The U.S.–Iran crisis has entered a volatile new phase—and the stakes are rising fast. In this episode, Ambassador Gordon Gray, veteran diplomat and the Kuwait Professor of Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Affairs at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University, breaks…
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524 | Civilization on the Brink? Trump’s Threat, the Stepdown, and the New Geometry of Power
In one of the most volatile stretches of the Iran conflict, a warning came from President Donald Trump that “a whole civilization will die” if escalation continued, followed by a sudden stepdown into a cease-fire framework. In this episode, we sit down with Ambassador Gordon Gray, Kuwait…
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523 | The War in Iran: Power, Pressure, and the New Global Order
In this episode, Ambassador Gordon Gray, the Kuwait Professor of Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Affairs at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University, delivers a clear-eyed assessment of the rapidly evolving global security landscape. Drawing on deep experience inside...
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522 | Winning the Battle, Losing the War: Inside the Iran Conflict’s Strategic Failure
The United States and Israel have devastated Iran’s military capabilities—crippling its air defenses, missile systems, and leadership ranks. But the bigger picture tells a different story. In this episode, Dana Stroul, Research Director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, explains…
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521 | The Expanding War: How One Conflict Is Rewiring Global Security
The Iran war has crossed a critical threshold. What began as a military campaign is now expanding across leadership structures, regional boundaries, domestic security systems, and global power competition. In this episode, we break down the most important developments from the war, including...
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520 | The Iran Conflict at the Edge of Escalation
The war between the United States, Israel, and Iran is entering a dangerous phase. While the fighting is still concentrated in the Middle East, the ripple effects are already spreading across global energy markets, international security networks, and cyberspace. Dr. Nick Redman, director of...
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519 | Iran: War of Congested Skies, Expanding Fronts, and Strategic Fragility
Over the past 5 days, the war in Iran has been confusing. The air space in the region has been clogged with fighter jets, drones, and missiles. The objective has evolved. Joining us on this episode to put it into perspective are Alireza Jafarzadeh, deputy director of the National Council of...
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518 | Peace Through Pressure: Why Ukraine Says Only Strength Will End the War
As discussions of ceasefires and negotiations circulate, Ukraine faces its deadliest year for civilians since the full-scale invasion began. With more than 2,500 killed and nightly shelling nearly constant, Ukrainian leaders outline how Ukraine’s rapidly evolving defense industry and battlefield...
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517 | Two Fronts, No Breakthrough: Sudan’s Humanitarian Collapse and Ukraine’s War Without Pause
Sudan’s war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces has driven more than ten million people from their homes and pushed parts of Darfur toward famine. Dan O’Malley, Red Cross chief in Sudan, joins us with a firsthand assessment of a crisis accelerating beyond control. At…
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516 | Frozen But Unbroken: Ukraine Endures as Missiles Fall
As Russian missile and drone strikes continue to hammer Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, hundreds of thousands are living in brutal winter conditions—minus 15 to minus 20 degrees at night—with no electricity, no heat, and sometimes no running water. Former Ukrainian Ministry of Defense spokesman...
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515 | Germany Warns Its Citizens: What U.S. Street Violence Signals to the World
Germany has issued a formal travel warning for its citizens visiting the United States — a move that would have been almost unthinkable just a few years ago. The advisory cites escalating violence tied to protests and confrontations involving government authorities, raising alarms among European...
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514 | The Alliance on Edge: How Trump’s Greenland Gambit Shook Europe’s Trust in America
The transatlantic alliance is facing its most serious test in decades. President Donald Trump’s aggressive push to assert control over Greenland—combined with mounting pressure tactics against U.S. allies—has accelerated a quiet but consequential shift in Europe’s strategic thinking. In this...
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513 | Wait! Trump did what in Davos?
After a blistering speech that lasted more than an hour, which centered around the US taking Greenland, President Donald announced that a deal had been made. Listen to an excerpt of his speech and hear Ambassador Kurt Volker, former U.S. Ambassador to NATO, explain what happened.
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512 | Greenland tells the U.S. "We're not interested"
Former Greenland finance minister Maliina Abelsen delivers a blunt warning about President Donald Trump’s renewed talk of “taking” Greenland. This episode examines how power politics, symbolism, and messaging are colliding with international law, alliance norms, and Arctic security—and why...
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511 | Lines in the Ice and Fire: America’s New Red Lines
As U.S. military actions stretch from Venezuela to the North Atlantic, allies and adversaries are reassessing what American power now means. This episode, featuring retired General Ben Hodges and Ambassador Kurt Volker, examines the seizures, the rhetoric, and the growing concern in Europe that...
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510 |PART TWO | Unchecked Force: The Legal, Strategic, and Moral Cost of America’s New Military Drift
Retired General Ben Hodges, former Commander of U.S. Army Europe, says the U.S. military activity off Venezuela is repeating one of the most dangerous mistakes of Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan: no clear strategy, no defined end state, and questionable legality. And the consequences, he argues,...
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509 |PART ONE | Unchecked Force: The Legal, Strategic, and Moral Cost of America’s New Military Drift
Former U.S. Army Europe commander General Ben Hodges delivers a blunt assessment of America’s shifting military posture and the risks it carries. He raises urgent questions about the legality of recent U.S. strikes on suspected drug-smuggling vessels, the absence of clear rules of engagement, and...
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508 | Living in the Dark: Russia's War on Civilian Life in Ukraine
This episode pulls back the curtain on daily life inside a country under siege. From a darkened apartment in Kyiv, Ukrainian Member of Parliament and mother Halyna Yanchenko describes nights without electricity, heat, water, or internet. Elevators stop. Food cannot be cooked. Homes go cold. This…
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507 | Ukraine’s War, Ukraine’s Problem: The Fight Within the Fight
As Russia intensifies its campaign, Ukraine faces another threat from within: systemic corruption undermining its own war effort. In this episode, Kurt Volker, former U.S. Ambassador to NATO, Special Envoy to Ukraine, and Distinguished Fellow at CEPA explains how corruption is weakening Western...
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506 | When the War Follows You Home: The DC National Guard Attack Explained
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...
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505 | The Coast Guard’s About-Face: The Hate-Symbol Reversal That Shook the Military
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...
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504 | Grenada’s Impossible Choice: The U.S. or Venezuela
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...
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503 | Trump’s Threat to Nigeria: A Nation on Edge
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…
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502 | Alternate Reality: How The Government of Belarus Built its Own Parallel Truth
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...
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501 | The Summit That Wasn’t: Putin’s Power Play
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…
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About this show
Whether its terrorists, anarchists, cyber criminals or nation states, America has a target on its back. WTOP National Security Correspondent J.J. Green investigates the threats facing the U.S., the people behind them, the agencies fighting them and their impact on Americans.
Hosted by
WTOP | Hubbard Radio
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