Eric Bazail-Eimil

Washington, D.C., United States

National Security Reporter at POLITICO

National security reporter @politico. Dolphins/Hoyas apologist. Talk to me: [email protected] and DM for Signal.

Articles

Trump announces Israel-Iran ceasefire

4 days ago | politico.com | Megan Messerly |Eli Stokols |Eric Bazail-Eimil

The president said it would begin just after midnight, after a conflict that lasted 12 days and the U.S. joined over the weekend. President Donald Trump on Monday announced on social media that Israel and Iran would enter a ceasefire. | Carlos Barria/Getty Images President Donald Trump on Monday announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran after a nearly two-week war between the two countries.
Iran’s nuclear Rorschach test

1 week ago | politico.com | Amy Mackinnon |Eric Bazail-Eimil

President Donald Trump speaks as a flag pole is installed on the South Lawn of the White House, June 18, 2025, in Washington. | Evan Vucci/AP With help from John Sakellariadis, Maggie Miller and Daniel LippmanSubscribe here | Programming note: We’ll be off this Thursday but will be back in your inboxes on Friday. Is Iran close to developing a nuclear weapon with its vast stockpiles of highly enriched uranium? The answer depends on who you ask.
Khamenei in the crosshairs

1 week ago | politico.com | Eric Bazail-Eimil |Connor O'Brien |Nahal Toosi

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today that killing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “would end the conflict” and didn’t rule out targeting the cleric who sits atop Iran’s Islamist government.
Iran’s down. But far from out.

2 weeks ago | politico.com | Eric Bazail-Eimil |John Sakellariadis |Nahal Toosi

An excavator removes debris from a residential building that was destroyed in today's attack by Israel, on June 13, 2025, in Tehran, Iran. | Majid Saeedi/Getty Images With help from Daniel LippmanSubscribe here | Israel and its boosters in Washington are making the case that its overnight strikes in Iran were an unmitigated success. But analysts and former officials across the spectrum are offering words of caution about the effects of the attack. “We have a lot of things still ahead of us.
Bracing for an Israeli strike

2 weeks ago | politico.com | Eric Bazail-Eimil |Maggie Miller

The Iranian government, led by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, is facing internal pressure from hardliners who felt that Tehran’s decision not to respond forcefully to previous Israeli strikes hasn’t benefited Iran.
Trade deals can’t stop China’s rare earth edge

2 weeks ago | politico.com | Phelim Kine |Jack Detsch |Joe Gould |Eric Bazail-Eimil

President Donald Trump said a deal reached Wednesday with China will end industry worries about rare earth shortages. | Alex Brandon/AP With help from Nahal Toosi and Daniel LippmanSubscribe here | The Trump administration says a “framework” agreement sealed by U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators in London on Tuesday will lift Beijing’s crushing export restrictions on rare earth minerals essential to U.S. defense industry production lines.
How national security has gone local under Trump

2 weeks ago | politico.com | Amy Mackinnon |Eric Bazail-Eimil

A woman waves the Mexican flag as flames erupt from a burning dumpster during a protest in downtown Los Angeles, June 8, 2025. | Ethan Swope/AP With help from Daniel LippmanSubscribe here | President DONALD TRUMP’s conception of national security is much more domestically focused than his predecessors — as we’re seeing play out right now in California.
How Israel could return to Washington’s radar

3 weeks ago | politico.com | Eric Bazail-Eimil |Jack Detsch

Israel struck sites in Beirut’s southern suburbs Thursday night as part of efforts to combat militant group Hezbollah. | Ibrahim Amro/AFP via Getty Images With help from Sam Skove, Megan Messerly and Daniel LippmanSubscribe here | The Trump administration has shifted its focus away from Israel as it looks to broker a nuclear deal with Iran. But recent Israeli actions in Gaza and Lebanon may force the White House to turn its attention back.
Ukraine reveals Russia’s larger war strategy

3 weeks ago | politico.com | Amy Mackinnon |Eric Bazail-Eimil |Felicia Schwartz |Diya Contractor

Colonel Pavlo Palisa told reporters at the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington that Russia wants to occupy the entirety of Ukraine east of the Dnipro River.
Big trouble for the Cuban exception

3 weeks ago | politico.com | Ali Bianco |Eric Bazail-Eimil

A Cuban immigrant advocate wears a button reading in Spanish "Migrating is not a crime," during a press conference to denounce a recent Supreme Court decision which allows the Trump administration to strip humanitarian parole protection for more than 500,000 immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. | Rebecca Blackwell/AP POWER OUTAGE — Until Friday, Cuban immigrants occupied a special place in American immigration policy.