As president, Trump was known for his "bromance" with North Korean dictator Kim Jung Un, holding two summits in Singapore and Hanoi and engaging in a "love letter" correspondence with him that he took with him to Mar-A-Lago after he left office. But before that, journalist Zach Dorfman reminds us, Trump came perilously close to unleashing a nuclear strike on the country--an attack that, then Secretary of Defense feared, would "incinerate a couple of million people." In a SpyTalk podcast, Dorfman also talks about how, under Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign on the country, the Pentagon and CIA updated ambitious-- and somewhat quixotic-- plans for regime change. Which Trump will guide U.S. policy should he return to the Oval Office: The peacenik who tried to engage Kim in diplomacy or the MAGA warrior who once threatened North Korea "with fire and fury" unlike the world has ever seen? As Dorfman points out, it's a pressing question given that, with North Korea's accelerated missile tests and a growing alliance with Vladimir Putin's Russia, including sending equipment and troops to Ukraine, some scholars believe the threat of a conflict on the Korean Peninsula is greater than it has been in years.  Zach Dorfmanhttps://twitter.com/zachsdorfmanInside the Trump Admin’s Secret Battle Plans for North Koreahttps://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-north-korea-secret-battle-plans-nuclear-war-1235132893/  Follow Jeff Stein on Twitter:https://twitter.com/SpyTalkerFollow Michael Isikoff on Twitter:https://twitter.com/isikoff Follow SpyTalk on Twitter:https://twitter.com/talk_spySubscribe to SpyTalk on Substackhttps://www.spytalk.co/Take our listener survey where you can give us feedback.http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=BffJOlI7qQcF&ver=short

Janessa Goldbeck, CEO of the Vet Voice Foundation and former U.S. Marine captain, discusses the alarming results of the War Game simulation, which explores a coup scenario sparked by January 6. She reveals motivations behind understanding veteran involvement in extremism and the implications for national security. The conversation touches on misinformation, military counterintelligence, and the challenges of addressing rising violence within polarized politics. Janessa highlights the urgent need for public accountability and principled leadership in these turbulent times.

Former FBI analyst and Hezbollah expert Matt Levitt says an attack on Iranian intelligence facilities - rather than nuclear sites- may be coming.Matthew Levitthttps://x.com/levitt_mattHezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon's Party of Godhttps://a.co/d/9Ln5srY  Follow Jeff Stein on Twitter:https://twitter.com/SpyTalkerFollow Michael Isikoff on Twitter:https://twitter.com/isikoff Follow SpyTalk on Twitter:https://twitter.com/talk_spySubscribe to SpyTalk on Substackhttps://www.spytalk.co/Take our listener survey where you can give us feedback.http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=BffJOlI7qQcF&ver=short

Can a good spy become a good politician? I mean, not as an undercover agent—spy agencies are pretty good at that—but in an overt way, in, say, the messy US Congress.Or, put another way, can the skills that a CIA officer employs in clandestine operations—gregariousness, empathy and, let’s face it, a learned talent for manipulating people, be put to good use in a place like a deeply polarized Congress?This week I’m putting those questions to Abigail Spanberger, a former member of the CIA’s clandestine service, who in 2018 won a seat in Congress from Virginia as a Democrat, breaking, by the way, a nearly 40-year long Republican chokehold on a sprawling district in the near and far suburbs Washington, DC.  Since then Spanberger has developed a strong reputation for working across the aisle with Republicans on bills that help constituents. And now she’s running for governor of Virginia with no primary opposition.  Follow Jeff Stein on Twitter:https://twitter.com/SpyTalkerFollow Michael Isikoff on Twitter:https://twitter.com/isikoff Follow SpyTalk on Twitter:https://twitter.com/talk_spySubscribe to SpyTalk on Substackhttps://www.spytalk.co/Take our listener survey where you can give us feedback.http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=BffJOlI7qQcF&ver=short

Top cyberwar expert and former Trump White House Homeland Security Advisor Thomas Bossert tells host Michel Isikoff that Israel’s deadly exploding pagers op was a “brilliant” tactic that Hezbollah's terrorists deserved.Tom Bosserthttps://twitter.com/tombossertTrinity Cyberhttps://www.trinitycyber.com/  Follow Jeff Stein on Twitter:https://twitter.com/SpyTalkerFollow Michael Isikoff on Twitter:https://twitter.com/isikoff Follow SpyTalk on Twitter:https://twitter.com/talk_spySubscribe to SpyTalk on Substackhttps://www.spytalk.co/Take our listener survey where you can give us feedback.http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=BffJOlI7qQcF&ver=short

Sam Goodwin tells us about his harrowing ordeal as a prisoner in one of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad's torture chambers. It is an extraordinary story of a young American from St. Louis who embarked on a personal adventure to visit every country in the planet only to be ensnared when he made it into Syria by Assad's security forces, who threw him into one of their most notorious prisons as a suspected CIA spy. His account, told in his new book called Saving Sam, the true story of an American's disappearance in Syria and his family's extraordinary fight to bring him home, is a reminder of the still ongoing atrocities in Syria's 13 year long civil war.More from Sam Goodwin:https://www.samrgoodwin.com/https://www.samrgoodwin.com/book/ Follow Jeff Stein on Twitter:https://twitter.com/SpyTalkerFollow Michael Isikoff on Twitter:https://twitter.com/isikoff Follow SpyTalk on Twitter:https://twitter.com/talk_spySubscribe to SpyTalk on Substackhttps://www.spytalk.co/Take our listener survey where you can give us feedback.http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=BffJOlI7qQcF&ver=short

Over a period of roughly 14 years, according to the feds, Linda Sun rose through the ranks to become deputy chief of staff to Governor Hochul, before she was fired for unspecified reasons and became a target of federal investigators. But according to the DoJ, the 41-year-old was secretly using her position to advance Chinese political and business interests and steal relevant documents. In return, the feds say, Beijing’s spy service showered the couple with millions of dollars that afforded them lavish homes, a Ferrari Roma sports car, and—people had fun with this—special salted duck dishes prepared by a Chinese Embassy chef. In court on Tuesday the couple entered not guilty pleas to charges of acting as unregistered foreign agents.One person who is absolutely not surprised by all this is Nicholas Eftimiades who became a leading expert on Chinese espionage over his 34-year government career, which included work for the CIA, the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security, and as a Senior Intelligence Officer in the Defense Intelligence Agency. Today he teaches at Penn State and is a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council's Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. He is also the author of “Chinese Intelligence Operations,” which will soon be reissued with an update. China’s MSS spy agency, of course, couldn’t care less about which party, or level of US government, it infiltrates. Its goal is to weaken the United States by any means necessary.Nick Eftimiadeshttps://twitter.com/neftimiadeshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/eftimiades/ Follow Jeff Stein on Twitter:https://twitter.com/SpyTalkerFollow Michael Isikoff on Twitter:https://twitter.com/isikoff Follow SpyTalk on Twitter:https://twitter.com/talk_spySubscribe to SpyTalk on Substackhttps://www.spytalk.co/Take our listener survey where you can give us feedback.http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=BffJOlI7qQcF&ver=short

John Sullivan, the former U.S. ambassador to Moscow under Presidents Trump and Biden, worries that the Ukraine war could go on for "decades" and offers some candid views on his dealings with Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Follow Jeff Stein on Twitter:https://twitter.com/SpyTalkerFollow Michael Isikoff on Twitter:https://twitter.com/isikoff Follow SpyTalk on Twitter:https://twitter.com/talk_spySubscribe to SpyTalk on Substackhttps://www.spytalk.co/Take our listener survey where you can give us feedback.http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=BffJOlI7qQcF&ver=short

Washington Post investigative reporter Craig Whitlock, author of “The Afghanistan Papers,” is Jeff Stein’s guest on the sad anniversary of the chaotic retreat. Craig WitlockCraig Whitlock - The Washington Post Follow Jeff Stein on Twitter:https://twitter.com/SpyTalkerFollow Michael Isikoff on Twitter:https://twitter.com/isikoff Follow SpyTalk on Twitter:https://twitter.com/talk_spySubscribe to SpyTalk on Substackhttps://www.spytalk.co/Take our listener survey where you can give us feedback.http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=BffJOlI7qQcF&ver=short

Join investigative journalist Michael Isikoff and Colin P. Clarke, a senior research fellow at The Soufan Group, as they delve into the alarming resurgence of ISIS-K and evolving terror threats post-Afghanistan withdrawal. They discuss the implications of weakened U.S. intelligence and border security challenges while highlighting the complex leadership dynamics within ISIS-K. With rising fears linked to emerging ideologies, they urge a critical reevaluation of national security strategies to safeguard against potential threats reminiscent of 9/11.