President Trump’s remarks, suggesting without evidence that diversity in hiring and other Biden administration policies somehow caused the disaster, reflected his instinct to immediately frame major events through his political or ideological lens.

There were no Situation Room meetings and no quiet calls to de-escalate a dispute with an ally. Just threats, counterthreats, surrender and an indication of the president’s approach to Greenland and Panama.

President Trump jabs at the Russian leader with threats; Vladimir Putin responds with flattery. But there are notable signals in their jousting, including a revived discussion about nuclear arms control.

Wiser about the use of power, the newly sworn-in president suggests that this time he will not take no for an answer, whether in enacting an ambitious domestic agenda or in his expansionist worldview.

President-elect Donald J. Trump has made big promises on Ukraine, Iran, China and crises around the globe. But he will have to make difficult choices.

As C.I.A. director, William J. Burns was deeply focused on China and Russia when the Middle East conflict plunged him back into his old life.

The president’s latest executive order accelerates the move to mandatory compliance by software providers. It may run afoul of the Trump mandate to deregulate.

Rarely have representatives of current and new presidents of different parties worked together at such a high-stakes moment. But the president and the president-elect didn’t quite share credit.

The White House scrambled to get a message to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia last year after U.S. intelligence agencies said a Russian military unit was preparing to send explosive packages on cargo planes.

President-elect Donald J. Trump’s news conference at Mar-a-Lago was a reminder of what the next four years may have in store.

The episode comes at a particularly sensitive moment, just as the Biden White House is dealing with one of the most far-reaching, and damaging, hacks into American infrastructure in the cyberage.

The overthrow of the Assad government could mean Russia’s bases in Syria are closed and Iran’s pathway to Hezbollah is cut off. Now Iran, newly vulnerable, will have to decide between negotiation and the bomb.

© Daniel Berehulak/The New York Times

The United Nations chief inspector says production has quadrupled. But it is not clear whether Iran is trying to touch off a crisis or gather bargaining chips for negotiations with the United States.

© Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA, via Shutterstock

The United Nations chief inspector says production has quadrupled. But it is not clear whether Iran is trying to touch off a crisis or gather bargaining chips for negotiations with the United States.

© Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA, via Shutterstock