Accessibility links

Tom Bowman Tom Bowman is a NPR National Desk reporter covering the Pentagon.
Tom Bowman 2010
Stories By

Tom Bowman
100 Days In, Trump's Generals Seen As A Moderating Force

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, his national security adviser, at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, in February. Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images

National Security

100 Days In, Trump's Generals Seen As A Moderating Force

President Trump relies on a group of current and former generals to run national security. Does that increase the chances that he'll order military action?

100 Days In, Trump's Generals Seen As A Moderating Force

Listen · 3:28
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/525909535/525992276" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

National Security

U.S. Drops Largest Non-Nuclear Bomb Ever Used In Combat

The U.S. on Thursday released one of the most powerful non-nuclear bombs ever built — the 22,000 pound Massive Ordnance Air Blast weapon — against ISIS fighters in eastern Afghanistan. It marked the first use of this weapon but was not expected to bring the end of the conflict any closer.

U.S. Drops Largest Non-Nuclear Bomb Ever Used In Combat

Listen · 3:40
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/523804412/523804442" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Afghanistan

U.S. Soldier's Death Highlights Threat Of ISIS In Afghanistan

An American soldier was killed fighting ISIS over the weekend in Afghanistan. NPR takes a look at how serious the ISIS threat is there and how it fits into the wider conflict between American forces, their Afghan allies and anti-government insurgents and terrorists.

U.S. Soldier's Death Highlights Threat Of ISIS In Afghanistan

Listen · 3:55
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/523450918/523450919" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Middle East

News Brief: U.S. Strategy On Assad Lacks Details, North Korea Aggression

The White House is sending mixed messages about how to handle Syria's president. And, a U.S. Navy group is moving toward the Korean peninsula as concerns mount over the north's missile program.

News Brief: U.S. Strategy On Assad Lacks Details, North Korea Aggression

Listen · 10:19
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/523237711/523237712" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

World

U.S. Launches Airstrikes At Syrian Air Base

The U.S. launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian military air base in what President Trump called a response to a chemical attack on civilians by the regime of Bashar Assad.

U.S. Launches Airstrikes At Syrian Air Base

Listen · 3:20
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/522968582/522968583" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Trump Orders Syria Airstrikes After 'Assad Choked Out The Lives' Of Civilians

President Trump leaves the podium at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., Thursday night after the U.S. fired a barrage of cruise missiles into Syria in retaliation for this week's chemical attack against civilians. Alex Brandon/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Alex Brandon/AP

Middle East

Trump Orders Syria Airstrikes After 'Assad Choked Out The Lives' Of Civilians

U.S. officials said that more than 50 Tomahawk missile strikes were carried out against a single Syrian air base from the USS Porter and USS Ross in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Politics

Morning News Brief: Chemical Attack In Syria, China's President In The U.S., Beyonce

A roundup of news: President Trump condemns the apparent chemical attack in Syria, China's president will visit Trump Thursday and Friday at his Florida resort, and Beyonce releases a new video.

Morning News Brief: Chemical Attack In Syria, China's President In The U.S., Beyonce

Listen · 10:24
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/522690527/522690528" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Afghanistan

Defense Secretary Expresses Concern Over Russian Support For Taliban

Russia has begun supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan against U.S. forces and the government in Kabul. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis warned in London that the U.S. is "concerned" about this support, first revealed earlier this year, as it weighs the next phase of its approach to the longest-running war in American history.

Defense Secretary Expresses Concern Over Russian Support For Taliban

Listen · 3:43
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/522232584/522232585" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

World

Trapped Civilians Complicate U.S. Efforts in Northern Syria And Iraq

NPR's Pentagon Correspondent Tom Bowman explains U.S. and coalition efforts to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa and the ongoing fight for the Iraqi city of Mosul. Recent airstrikes in Mosul may have led to the deaths of more than one hundred civilians, including women and children.

Trapped Civilians Complicate U.S. Efforts in Northern Syria And Iraq

Listen · 4:46
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/521622780/521622781" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Big Changes And Major Dilemmas Loom In Next Phase Of ISIS War In Syria

U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, made up of an alliance of Arab and Kurdish fighters, regroup on the northern outskirts of Deir Ezzor as they advance to encircle the ISIS bastion of Raqqa on Feb. 21. Delil Souleiman/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Delil Souleiman/AFP/Getty Images

Parallels

Big Changes And Major Dilemmas Loom In Next Phase Of ISIS War In Syria

The U.S. considers deploying hundreds more American troops to Syria in the final phase of the war against ISIS — one that could reshape borders and relationships in the Middle East.

Big Changes And Major Dilemmas Loom In Next Phase Of ISIS War In Syria

Listen · 4:48
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/521270804/521274767" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

National Security

Top Marine Testifies Before Congress On Nude-Photo Scandal

Senators excoriated Navy Department witnesses, including the commandant and sergeant major of the Marine Corps, over an online ring in which service members shared explicit photos of their female colleagues. The Pentagon is investigating a scandal that now appears to go beyond just the Marine Corps as first believed.

Top Marine Testifies Before Congress On Nude-Photo Scandal

Listen · 4:03
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/520162903/520162904" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

National Security

Trump's New National Security Adviser Is Known For Speaking His Mind

After the resignation of retired Gen. Michael Flynn, President Trump has picked three-star Army Gen. H.R. McMaster to be national security adviser. He's known as an intellectual military strategist.

Trump's New National Security Adviser Is Known For Speaking His Mind

Listen · 5:18
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/516375448/516375454" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Trump Names Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster New National Security Adviser

President Trump (right) shakes hands with Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., on Monday. Trump called McMaster "a man of tremendous talent and tremendous experience" as he announced that he would replace Michael Flynn as national security adviser. Susan Walsh/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Susan Walsh/AP

The Two-Way

Trump Names Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster New National Security Adviser

The Silver Star recipient is a three-star Army general known as a military intellectual. The president called him "a man of tremendous talent and tremendous experience."

National Security

Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg Named Acting National Security Adviser

President Trump's National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has resigned amid allegations he inappropriately talked about U.S. sanctions in December with a Russian official.

Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg Named Acting National Security Adviser

Listen · 4:54
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/515138449/515138450" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript