Deal or no deal: It’s all the same to Trump

“We’ll see what happens,” Trump said, employing his standard catchphrase. “But we’d like to see if we can do something. And if we can, that would be great. And if we can’t, that’s fine.”

MISSILE TESTS ‘NOTHING SPECTACULAR’: Trump continues to downplay North Korea’s recent missile and multiple-launch rocket tests, which threaten Japan and South Korea, as no big deal. “We didn’t have an agreement on short-range missiles. And a lot of people and a lot of countries test short-range missiles; there’s nothing spectacular about that,” Trump said.

“We’re going to talk about it. But I didn’t really discuss that with Kim Jong Un. That was never a part of our discussion. We did discuss nuclear testing and other things. And frankly, he’s lived up to his word on those things that we discussed.”

‘COULD HAPPEN SOON’: Just hours after Trump said another meeting with Kim “could happen soon,” South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers in a private briefing in Seoul that nuclear negotiations will likely resume within a month, according to the Associated Press.

One of the lawmakers who attended the briefing by the National Intelligence Service was quoted as saying there is “a high possibility for working-level talks to restart within two to three weeks.”

At the U.N., South Korean President Moon Jae-in told Trump he believes the North Koreans are ready to talk again. “Soon, I will be expecting the working-level negotiations between the United States and North Korea to prepare for the third — your third summit with Chairman Kim to resume — to be resumed soon.”

OVER THE MOON FOR TRUMP: Well aware that Trump is a big fan of being praised, Moon laid it on thick at his joint appearance with the U.S. president.

“Your visit to Panmunjom will go down as a historic moment that embodied peace through action. And I have to say that I always marvel at your imagination and bold decision-making,” Moon said of Trump’s stop at the demilitarized zone. “Thanks to your leadership, we have been able to achieve great progress in terms of inter-Korean relations.”

Good Tuesday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Kelly Jane Torrance (@kjtorrance). Email us here for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter: @dailyondefense.

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HAPPENING TODAY: All eyes will be on President Trump at 10:15 a.m. as he addresses this morning’s session of the United Nations General Assembly. He’s expected to focus on America’s maximum pressure campaign against Iran, as Britain, France, and Germany have now all said they agree with the U.S. assessment that Iran was behind the attacks on key oil facilities in Saudi Arabia 10 days ago.

“We have a lot of pressure on them right now, more pressure than they’ve ever had and Iran knows that,” Trump said. “Let me just put it this way, a lot of things are happening with respect to Iran, a lot more than you would know, a lot more than the media knows. But a lot of things are happening.”

The leaders of the three U.S allies said “there is no other plausible explanation” but that “Iran bears responsibility for this attack.” But the statement also reaffirmed their support for the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which Trump pulled the United States out of, deriding it as the “worst deal ever.”

“The U.S. thanks our close friends, UK, France, and Germany, for their clear articulation of Iran’s sole responsibility for the act of war against Saudi Arabia and its impact on the region and the world,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted last night.

The European allies urge Iran to abide by the old agreement while working toward a new deal that would be acceptable to the United States. “The time has come for Iran to accept negotiation on a long-term framework for its nuclear program as well as on issues related to regional security, including its missiles program and other means of delivery,” the three countries said.

Before he arrived in New York, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson indicated that the United Kingdom might join a U.S.-led military effort to bolster Saudi Arabia’s defenses in the wake of the drone and cruise missile attacks.

N. KOREAN MISSILES GOOD, IRAN MISSILES BAD: While Trump is fine with North Korea testing short-range missiles, he sees the lack of any prohibition against Iranian missile testing as a major flaw in the Iran nuclear deal.

“What kind of a deal is that? And ballistic missiles, they’re allowed to test ballistic missiles and other things,” Trump said at a media availability with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan. “But one of the biggest things is the fact that the agreement is going to expire in a very short number of years,” Trump said. “We’re dealing with countries. You have to go long term.”

IRAN SAYS LIFT SANCTIONS, THEN WE’LL TALK: In an interview with CNN, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif says Iran would be willing to negotiate an additional protocol to the 2015 agreement “provided that the United States would also do what they’re supposed to do … that is to lift the sanctions through U.S. Congress.”

“We are prepared, if President Trump is serious about [a] permanent, peaceful nuclear program in Iran and permanent monitoring of Iranian nuclear facilities … through the most intrusive IAEA inspection mechanism that exists, in return for what he has said he is prepared to do and that is to go to Congress and have this ratified, which would mean Congress lifting the sanctions.”

ALSO TODAY: Defense Secretary Mark Esper is on a short domestic trip today, traveling to Jacksonville, North Carolina, and Norfolk, Virginia, to talk to U.S. service members and senior leaders.

In Jacksonville, Esper is scheduled to meet with Marines from Marine Corps Air Station New River and Camp Lejeune. They will discuss hurricane response and new technology. From there, Esper goes to Norfolk to meet with sailors and family members.

STICKING TO THE SCRIPT: Yesterday, Esper met at the Pentagon with Germany’s new defense minister, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, and he raised a familiar sore subject, Germany’s failure to meet the NATO goal of spending 2% of GDP on defense by 2024.

“With the largest economy in Europe, we believe Germany is in a strong position to make an investment to bolster the capabilities for the alliance,” Esper said before his meeting with Kramp-Karrenbauer.

Germany argues that while its defense spending is only 1.36% of GDP, its military budget at $50.6 million is among European allies second only to the United Kingdom in total dollars spent.

“I also want to make clear that we do stand by our commitment that we have made in the NATO framework — for example, when it comes to financial burden-sharing and developing military capabilities,” Kramp-Karrenbauer said through a translator. “I will do everything in my power as the minister of defense … to do just that.”

Esper noted that Germany is the largest non-American contributor to NATO operations — especially in Afghanistan.

SOLDIER ARRESTED ON TERROR CHARGES: A U.S. Army soldier has been arrested in Kansas after, the FBI says, he told a confidential informant that he wanted to attack 2020 Democratic candidate Beto O’Rourke and an American news network, and join a far-right Ukrainian paramilitary group.

The charges against Jarrett William Smith, 24, of Fort Riley, are outlined in a criminal complaint filed in federal court yesterday.

“On August 19, 2019, SMITH engaged with a Confidential Source in an online chat group and discussed a plan of conducting an attack within the United States and that he was looking for more ‘radicals’ like himself,” the complaint alleges. “SMITH talked … about killing members of the far left group, Antifa, as well as destroying nearby cell towers or local news station.”

Federal authorities say Smith also “disseminated guidance” on Facebook on “how to construct, Improvised Explosive Devices” and spoke about his “desire to travel to Ukraine to fight with the Ukraine-based violent far-right paramilitary group, Azov Battalion.”

Azov Battalion is a Ukrainian national guard regiment known for ultra-nationalism and its use of neo-Nazi symbolism.

ROCKET ATTACK IN BAGHDAD: Yesterday, two rockets were fired into Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, landing about a half-mile from the U.S. embassy.

“There have been no claims of responsibility,” said Col. Myles Caggins, a U.S. military spokesman in Iraq. “No Coalition or US-occupied facility was struck, but we take this incident seriously as do our Iraqi Security Forces partners.”

“We have made clear that attacks on Coalition personnel and facilities will not be tolerated and Coalition Forces retain the right to defend ourselves,” Caggins said in a statement this morning. “We are here at the invitation of the Government of Iraq, and we continue to support them at their request.”

GENETIC DEFENSES: In the future, the U.S. military may have the ability to edit a soldier’s genetic makeup to protect against chemical and biological attacks, writes Russ Read in the Washington Examiner.

It sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but Steven Walker, head of the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, says he believes gene editing has the potential to be one of the most consequential technological advances for the American military.

“Why is DARPA doing this? [To] protect a soldier on the battlefield from chemical weapons and biological weapons by controlling their genome — having the genome produce proteins that would automatically protect the soldier from the inside out,” Walker said during a panel at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“And so just the amount of technological change in that area and the … more capability we have to engineer biology for use is why I think it’s just the most exciting field right now.”

BOB ZELNICK: Longtime ABC News correspondent and Boston University journalism professor Robert Zelnick died yesterday at the age of 79.

Zelnick was ABC’s Pentagon correspondent from 1988 to 1994 and covered the 1991 Persian Gulf War. He was known for his sharp reporting, acerbic wit, and sometimes irascible demeanor.

Early in his career, Zelnick worked for the Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, and the Anchorage Daily News and was executive editor of the Frost–Nixon interviews, according to the authoritative Wikipedia.

The Rundown

Washington Examiner: 6,000 veterans have committed suicide each year for a decade, VA finds

Washington Examiner: Three sailors aboard USS George H.W. Bush commit suicide in one week

Military Times: Three U.S. Service Members Wounded in Afghanistan Insider Attack

Washington Post: U.S. and Afghan Forces Carry Out Deadly Raid on al Qaeda

New York Times: Tehran Finds Sympathy at the U.N. Evaporating

Breaking Defense: NATO’s Not Ready for Saudi-Style Drone Attacks; ‘It’s a Serious Problem’

NBC News: Why U.S. Patriot missiles failed to stop drones and cruise missiles attacking Saudi oil sites

Agence France-Presse: Iraq to Join China’s Belt and Road Project

Bloomberg: Countering Huawei Requires Help From U.S. Allies, Warner Says

Stars and Stripes: In His First Interview in New Role, Chief of Naval Operations Talks Goals, China Threat

Bloomberg: Air Force Sees ‘Viable’ Contenders in Contest for Space Launches

Air Force Magazine: USAF Mulls Cuts to Munitions Buys as Production Hums

USNI News: Marines: Lack of Training, Command Problems Contributed to Fatal 2018 Crash off Japan

Calendar

TUESDAY | SEPTEMBER 24

8:15 a.m. 600 14th Street N.W. National Defense Industrial Association breakfast discussion on the latest news and developments in critical electronics technologies, with Joye Purser, deputy director for analysis and innovation for the director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation in the office of the defense secretary, and Matthew Casto, program manager for microelectronics in the office of the defense undersecretary. www.ndia.org/events

8:30 a.m. 700 F Street N.W. The three-day 2019 Atlantic Festival with Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M.; Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif.; John Shanahan, director of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center; Tom Arseneault, president and COO of BAE Systems; Michele Flournoy, CEO of WestExec Advisers; Kara Frederick, associate fellow at the Center for a New American Security; Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii; Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kan.; Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa.; Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va.; Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va.; Afghanistan Ambassador to the United States Roya Rahmani; Swedish Ambassador to the United States Karin Olofsdotter; and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. www.theatlanticfestival.com/agenda

10 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. Brookings Institution discussion on “How Is the Army Modernizing?” with Lt. Gen. Eric Wesley, deputy commanding general of Army Futures Command, and Michael O’Hanlon, senior fellow at Brookings. www.brookings.edu/events

12 p.m. 1619 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies debate on “Pivot or Double Down: The Future of Middle East Policy,” with former deputy assistant defense secretary Mara Karlin, director of strategic studies at SAIS, and Peter Mansoor, chair of military history at Ohio State University. sais.jhu.edu/campus-events

2:30 p.m. 2212 Rayburn. The House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Technology Modernization Subcommittee and the House Armed Services Committee Military Personnel Subcommittee member roundtable discussion with principals from the Defense Department and Veterans Affairs to discuss the DoD Healthcare Management System Modernization and VA Electronic Health Record Modernization programs.

8 p.m. 1212 Cathedral Street, Baltimore. Former secretary of state John Kerry delivers remarks as part of Stevenson University’s “Baltimore Speaker Series.” baltimorespeakers.org

WEDNESDAY | SEPTEMBER 25

8 a.m. 700 F Street N.W. Day two of the Atlantic Festival, with former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, R-Calif.; former White House national security adviser Susan Rice, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and House Judiciary Committee ranking member Doug Collins, R-Ga. www.theatlanticfestival.com/agenda

9 a.m. 1615 H Street N.W. U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Procurement and Space Industry Council discussion on “Maritime Security, Trade, and Travel,” with Coast Guard Commandant Karl Schultz, retired Navy Vice Adm. William Burke, and Tom Vecchiolla, president and CEO of ST Engineering North America. www.uschamber.com/event

5:45 p.m. 214 Massachusetts Avenue N.E. Heritage Foundation discussion on “Veterans in Public Policy: Making the Career Transition,” with Brandt Anderson, national security adviser to Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind.; Colby Kuhns, legislative director to Rep. Paul Cook, R-Calif.; Julio Rosas, journalist at the Washington Examiner; and Thomas Spoehr, director of the Heritage Center for National Defense. www.heritage.org/defense/event

THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 26

7:30 a.m. 610 F Street N.W. Day three of the Atlantic Festival, with HHS Secretary Alex Azar, former defense secretary James Mattis, and Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill. www.theatlanticfestival.com/agenda

8:50 a.m. 1900 North Quinn Street, Arlington. Institute for Defense and Government Advancement Defense Logistics Conference, with Maj. Gen. Deborah Kotulich, chief of staff at U.S. Transportation Command. www.idga.org/events

12:15 p.m. 1779 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace discussion on “The Future of Nuclear Arms Control,” with former Irish president Mary Robinson, chair of the Elders; former Norwegian prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland; and George Perkovich, vice president for studies at CEIP. carnegieendowment.org

12:30 p.m. 1777 F Street N.W. Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan participates in a discussion on the role of the Homeland Security Department and the challenge of immigration in the United States at the Council on Foreign Relations.

3 p.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W. Woodrow Wilson Center discussion on “Atomic Condominium: The Soviet Union and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, 1958-1970,” with Jonathan Hunt, lecturer at the University of Southampton. www.wilsoncenter.org/event

4 p.m. 1301 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Institute for Policy Studies discussion on “What Went Wrong? The Unexpected Downturn in Korea-Japan Relations,” with John Feffer, director of Foreign Policy in Focus; Jenny Town, managing editor at 38 North Stimson Center; Stephen Costello, CEO of Asia East; and Emanuel Pastreich, director of the Asia Institute. ips-dc.org/events/what-went-wrong

FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 27

8:30 a.m. 300 First Street S.E. Air Force Association’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies “Space Power to the Warfighter” seminar on “StandUp of the U.S. Space Command,” with Air Force Gen. John Raymond, commander of U.S. Space Command and Air Force Space Command. www.mitchellaerospacepower.org

12 p.m. 1763 N Street N.W. The Middle East Institute discussion on “War Crimes in Syria: Identifying Perpetrators and Seeking Justice,” with Wael Sawah, president and director of Pro-Justice; Charles Lister, director of the MEI Countering Terrorism and Extremism Program; Anne Barnard, journalist at the New York Times; and Joyce Karam, Washington correspondent for The National. www.mei.edu/events/war-crimes-syria

1:30 p.m. Pentagon River Entrance. Defense Secretary Mark Esper welcomes Norway’s Defense Minister Frank Bakke-Jensen to the Pentagon.