Alex Marquardt
@MarquardtA
Former @CNN Chief National Security Correspondent, @ABC in Beirut/Jerusalem/Moscow
The number of Pentagon Press Briefings and the number of times Miss America 2025 has visited the briefing room since Jan. 20, 2025 are now equal if my count is correct. The standing number is one.
It was great to welcome Miss America 2025 to the Pentagon today. Thanks for stopping by, Abbie! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Some personal news: I’m leaving CNN after 8 terrific years. Tough to say goodbye but it’s been an honor to work among the very best in the business. Profound thank you to my comrades on the National Security team & the phenomenal teammates I’ve worked with in the US and abroad.
Further highlighting that Saudi-Israel normalization is dead in the water. MBS is calling for recognition of Palestinian statehood and Israel announces the biggest expansion of West Bank settlements in decades. cnn.com/2025/05/29/mid…
Saudi Arabia will send its top diplomat to the West Bank this weekend, Palestinian officials said, in what would be the highest-level Saudi visit to the area since it was occupied by Israel in 1967. cnn.com/2025/05/30/mid…
A senior Hamas official told me tonight that they've responded to the US proposal w/ 3 counterpoints, incl US assurances negotiations over permanent ceasefire will continue & fighting won't resume after 60 days + IDF must pull back to Mar 2 positions. cnn.com/2025/05/29/wor…
.@PressSec tells @KristenhCNN that the White House is not currently planning to send a representative to Istanbul next week for peace talks between Russia & Ukraine Russia proposed the meeting & the two sides said they hope to exchange written proposals for a potential ceasefire
Big congrats to my friend @ZcohenCNN for his promotion to Senior National Security Reporter as he joins CNN's Pentagon team alongside @NatashaBertrand & @halbritz. A better reporting partner you will not find.
Canadian PM's office reiterates Canada is "an independent, sovereign nation, and it will remain one" after Trump's claim they want in on "our fabulous Golden Dome System" that will be "ZERO DOLLARS if they become our cherished 51st State."
The Kremlin says Trump is having "emotional reactions"
When Trump & Putin spoke the Russian leader committed to drafting & sending what he described as a “memorandum of peace” in the coming days laying out Russian requirements for a ceasefire w/ Ukraine, sources tell me & @KristenhCNN. cnn.com/2025/05/27/pol…
Former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert tells @biannagolodryga why he thinks Israel is now committing war crimes in Gaza.
Israel has never privately alleged or offered evidence of Hamas stealing the majority of Gaza aid from the UN/NGO channels, says @ambsatterfield who ran the humanitarian effort under Biden. Whatever aid Hamas might've taken from UN/NGOs was "minimal."
The campaign being waged online to deny the reality that 9 children were killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza this weekend is appalling. Yahya, Rakan, Raslan, Gebran, Eve, Rival, Sayden, Luqman & Sidra were killed. There is no denying this horrific truth. cnn.com/2025/05/24/mid…
Despite this, GHF says it intends to begin operations today, with plans to ramp up to feed over 1 million Palestinians by the end of the week.
The head of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation just resigned, following a weekend of reports that raised questions about its neutrality & independence. This new Israeli-approved aid mechanism may be dead in the water before it becomes operational
"During the Great Patriotic War, the very fact of captivity was a disgrace not only for the captive, but for all family members."
1/ While the Ukrainians welcome home their exchanged prisoners of war, Russian warbloggers criticise their own POWs for not having died fighting and call for them to be interrogated and/or prosecuted for surrendering. ⬇️ x.com/raging545/stat…
I asked ChatGPT to write a Seussian poem about today's reported firings of most of the NSC staff.
Now more than 100 staffers, per @MarquardtA @kylieatwood
The Trump administration has put multiple National Security Council staffers on administrative leave, sources say cnn.it/4kbvKPG
Bland statement from US side on today's Iran nuclear talks: “The talks continue to be constructive – we made further progress, but there is still work to be done."
Netanyahu has dispatched top aide Ron Dermer to see Witkoff in Rome as the 5th round of nuclear talks with Iran gets underway. Dermer and Mossad director Barnea did the same for another round in Rome last month. No doubt to try to keep the US on side.
Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim hailed from different parts of the world, but their paths led them both to pursue careers in diplomacy and to the Israeli embassy – where they found each other and fell in love. W/ @jeremyherb @OrenCNN @LaurenGKent cnn.com/2025/05/22/us/…
