The D Brief: Allies mull nukes; Syrian breakthrough?; Base-refineries proposal; Judge demands DOGE records; And a bit more.

Experts fear cascade of nuclear proliferation as Trump shakes alliances. U.S. allies around the world are warming to the idea of developing their own nuclear weapons, former senior defense and White House officials told Defense One’s Patrick Tucker. Decades of efforts to persuade countries to forgo such destabilizing arsenals, work led by the United States through security guarantees, are under threat. Even one new nuclear project by a non-nuclear U.S. ally could draw a military respo