From the Magazine
September 2017 Issue

President Donald J. Trump’s Agenda Items and Threat Matrix, Ranked

Here’s what Trump’s daily brief may or may not consist of as he moves into his seventh month in the Oval Office.
All from Getty Images.

“When he took office, Trump signaled to his national security team that he favors concise points boiled down to a single page . . . [with] as many visual elements as possible.”— THE WASHINGTON POST

TOP SECRET: CONFIDENTIAL

To: President Donald J. Trump
From: Dan Coats, Director of National Intelligence
Subject: President’s Daily Brief Good morning, President Trump! Hope you slept well and tweeted effectively overnight. Per your request, today’s Big Picture:

NORTH KOREA: Lil’ Kim still shooting off ICBM’s & testing nukes. Bad guy. Very bad guy. Invite to W.H.? Y/N?

ISIS: Still trying to annihilate “Evil losers” with drone-strike/ridicule campaign. Pentagon wants $$$ for more effective bombs/barbs. Y/N?

SYRIA: Assad still won’t get out. Donnie Jr. suggests we deploy Trump building managers w/ “final” eviction notice. Swears 100% success rate. Y/N?

CHINA: Still militarizing islands in S. China Sea; refuses to help w/N. Korea. Eric Trump proposes “Winner take all” golf tourney at Trump Bali property. Y/N?

RUSSIA: C.I.A. reports Putin may be launching a full-scale Twitter war w/ U.S.A. Q: POTUS reply, or send Ivanka and Jared on charm offensive?

Transgender Troops React to Trump’s Ban

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Photograph by Justin Bishop.
Brynn Tannehill
Rank/branch of military: Lieutenant Commander, U.S. Navy. In the reserves until July 1, 2017
Hometown: Phoenix, AZ
Proudest moment: “All the years of training and dedication came together for me in those moments where I was there for my shipmates when they needed me the most. They survived because we were there.”
Biggest misconception: “The idea that it’s too expensive to retain transgender service members is laughable to me. It costs more to replace two highly trained transgender service members than to provide health care for every last one of them.”