The Trump administration is missing a chance to sharpen its thinking, spurned security analysts say.
ASPEN, Colorado — The national security elites gathered in this mountain retreat this week are finding themselves playing defense about their beliefs, motivations and patriotism — and whether they even deserve attention from the people in power.
It’s a result of the Trump administration’s 11th hour decision to pull nearly all of its speakers from the annual Aspen Security Forum, with the Pentagon alleging that the gathering “promotes the evil of globalism.”
Many of the current and former officials I’ve spoken to here have wielded enough influence and dealt with enough criticism in their careers that at first, they responded to the administration’s move with eye-rolls and words such as “moronic.” Some questioned, in genuine frustration, what the administration means by “globalism.” That America can ignore the world? Others suggested it is all a performative stunt by the administration, or at least Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, to gain favor with a MAGA base angry over issues like the Jeffrey Epstein case.
Still, attendees and organizers aren’t completely dismissing the Trump attack, which could be just the first of more assaults on the event and those like it. The president has gone after a range of U.S. institutions at an impressive pace, and many are bending, not least because businesses and other factions that care what the U.S. president thinks can pull funding.