While I Was Gone, Part 4: US Security

Peter Zeihan 5 min

The administration is leaking classified information massively and using the military for urban pacification. We are nearing a point where severe degradations in our models will take decades to unfuck.

  • Donald Trump

Chapters

  1. 0:00

    John Bolton Raid

    The FBI raided John Bolton's business and home for allegedly mishandling classified materials.

  2. 2:20

    Military in Urban Centers

    The military is being ordered to form specialized units to patrol and pacify American urban centers.

Key points

  • 0:19

    The Trump administration is the least information secure we have ever had.

  • 0:19

    Cabinet ministers shared operational data on a Russian-penetrated platform called Signal Chax.

  • 0:19

    Personal information of security and diplomatic personnel was left on a printer at the Alaska summit.

  • 0:19

    The DNI outed covert agents around the world on Twitter.

  • 1:55

    Accusing Bolton is rich since he served over 20 years without such concerns.

  • 2:20

    Using the FBI as a hit squad is something the United States has never done.

  • 2:20

    The U.S. military is not good at law enforcement and has never been trained for it.

  • 2:20

    Putting the military in a law enforcement role causes things to go to hell quickly.

  • 2:20

    Only governments where occupying their own people is a national security issue use military for urban pacification.

  • 4:02

    This approach erodes the U.S. military's capacity to function.

  • 4:02

    We are nearing a point where severe degradations in our models will take decades to unfuck.

Who and where

People · 1

  • Drawing of Donald Trump

    Donald Trump 2

    President of the United States (2017–2021; since 2025)

    Photo 1

1. Photo: Daniel Torok, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons · Wikidata · redrawn in our house style (Donald Trump)

9:09

Who Needs National Security Guidance Anyways

Peter Zeihan

The new national security document functions as a domestic political campaign tool rather than strategic guidance. The inability to build institutions while tearing them down reduces global influence for decades.

8:24

What Happens After Trump and Putin Split?

Peter Zeihan

Donald Trump must either dedicate his entire presidency to the Ukraine issue or rebuild a competent government staff to avoid disastrous national security decisions. The current administration's lack of competent staff and reliance on uninformed advisors prevents effective policy implementation.

+1
10:25

Trump and Putin Split, Ukraine Gets Aid Again

Peter Zeihan

Trump's potential overreaction could trigger erratic military and economic policies that cause long-term problems. These actions will fall under the category of things that you wish for don't always go the way that you were hoping.

8:24

The Question of Leadership…And Management

Peter Zeihan

Three world leaders are actively destroying their states' ability to function. Xi will destroy China, while Trump's actions may teach the US what to do and not do with its government.

11:37

The U.S. Dollar: Short vs. Long Term

Peter Zeihan

The U.S. dollar will rise over decades due to structural strengths but drop in the short term due to active policy choices. The result is at the moment, in a moment of global crisis, surprisingly small gains for the US dollar.

AI-generated summary · model qwen3.5:9b-12k · prompt version whole-3.window-7.combine-10.s-f4be8e · video id HEOdR57n1so · Watch on YouTube